Saint Louis Basketball: 3 takeaways from Billikens big win over NC State

Limiting Wolfpack to one shot

When Saint Louis was beginning to trim down NC State’s lead one possession at a time (in the second half), there was one thing that the Billikens couldn’t afford to do, which was let the Wolfpack pull down numerous offensive rebounds.

There is no doubt that Manny Bates and Jerricole Hellems were battling for position after each shot went up for NC State, but unfortunately for them, Hasahn French, Javonte Perkins, and Jordan Goodwin were more than willing to put a body on them, or any other Wolfpack player that was fishing for offensive boards.

On Thursday, French, Perkins, and Goodwin combined for 24 defensive rebounds, and it was evident they were not too keen on playing swarming defense for 29 seconds, and subsequently allowing an NC State player to bail one of his teammates out.

I don’t know know if Devon Daniels was doing this on purpose or not, but I was stunned by his refusal to keep the ball moving on the offensive end. The 6’5″ senior guard shot 5/16 from the field (31%) and notched 15 points against Saint Louis on Thursday, but there were too many times when the ball would stay in his hands for extended periods of time, which is exactly what the Billikens wanted to happen in the second half.

I don’t think that I’m alone when I say that, Daniels doesn’t have a tight enough handle for him to abandon Kevin Keats’ gameplan, and attempt to make plays on his own.

If we’re really being honest here, Daniels is lucky that Jordan Goodwin didn’t elect to reach for the ball, when he decided to complete wobbly crossovers right in front of Goodwin’s face, without trying to protect the ball. Be that as a may, Goodwin did a good job of repeatedly cutting off Daniels’ initial move, and forcing him to work extremely hard in order to get off a decent look.

As this was occurring, French, Perkins, and even Collins (who pulled down 4 defensive rebounds on Thursday), made sure that they completed their box-outs, before attacking the ball as it was coming off the rim with two hands.

Likewise, if players like Thomas Allen, Braxton Beverly, or Jerricole Hellems were able to get a shot off in transition or in the half-court (but couldn’t convert), those same guys were all ready to keep the Wolfpack off the offensive glass, so that they quickly get out and run.

If the Billikens are able to limit most of their opponents to one shot moving forward, and ensure that the one shot they receive is as difficult as possible, I don’t see many teams taking down the red-hot Billikens in the near future.