Texas Tech Basketball: Evaluating Mac McClung’s growth as a player

Weakness No. 1: Forcing shots

While discussing one of McClung’s offensive weaknesses in my July article, I stated that “I think that at Texas Tech, McClung should try to emphasize making the plays that defenses give him a little more. Those plays may not be as flashy as he may want them to be, but making them will prevent defenders from being able to easily predict that he will try to take a selfish shot.”

Now, we all know that McClung is no stranger to drilling improbable shots, but wouldn’t you rather sit back and see what he can accomplish in the flow of Texas Tech’s offense? Of course, you would, because the Red Raiders’ offense is all about constant ball and player movement, which allows players to see that they have a good chance of receiving the ball a second time during any given possession if they kick the ball out when they can’t create a clean look for themselves initially.

Going into Tuesday’s and Saturday’s game McClung had scored 15 or more points seven times in 2020-21 but had only shot above 50% from the field (while scoring in double-figures) 3 times in 11 games. Sometimes, McClung did everything right but simply couldn’t finish the job, but there were several times when he reverted to old habits and made his defenders’ lives less complicated by taking head-scratching shots.

That certainly explains why McClung notched 21 points on 5-16 shooting against Kansas, 16 points on 5-14 shooting against Oklahoma, and 16 points on 3-11 shooting against Houston (just to give a few examples). Nevertheless, McClung managed to put together back-to-back 15+ scoring performances while shooting above 50% from the floor (which is something he hasn’t done since the very beginning of the season).

So how did McClung do it? Well, the simple answer would be he played smart basketball in those two games, but I think that it would useful for me to look at a few instances where McClung opted to forgo a shot attempt so that he could put his teammates in position to succeed (which is mainly why he enjoyed two highly efficient double-digit scoring outings in a row).

At the 4:50 mark in the second half of Texas Tech’s contest against Kansas State, McClung made a decision that showed me that he is moving in the right direction. As soon as McClung’s defender at the time (who was Nijel Pack) took a few steps toward McClung (who was dribbling the ball at the top of the key), McClung executed a between the legs dribble move into a left to right crossover, before completing a smooth behind the back move and then taking three dribbles, slowing down slightly, and performing a controlled spin around Nijel Pack.

However, as soon as McClung got into the paint he encountered Davion Bradford (who stepped up and offered to assist Pack) and had to quickly make the right read. Earlier this season and even at Georgetown, McClung would have attempted to rise up and prove that no shot was too difficult for him to make, but instead of trying to prove a point in this instance, McClung went through each of his progressions, reverse pivoted while staying on balance, and found Terrence Shannon Jr. at the top of the key.

Unfortunately for the Red Raiders, Shannon got his shot blocked in the lane at the last second after getting by his initial defender with a beautiful pump-fake, but there is no doubt that McClung gave Shannon an opportunity to score on that possession.

McClung draws a lot of attention when he puts the ball on the floor, so when McClung finally entered the paint, multiple Kansas State defenders (including Selton Miguel who was defending Shannon) turned their attention toward him, which allowed Shannon to easily trick Selton Miguel into thinking that a triple was on the way when he received the ball (because Shannon knew that Miguel would respect his three-point shot).

And again, although the play didn’t work out the way Texas Tech wanted it to, the main takeaway here is McClung showed that when he gets stuck he is willing to make the play that will benefit his team the most (which will help the Red Raiders for the remainder of conference play). I can almost guarantee you that with the way Shannon attacks the rim, there won’t be a whole lot of defenders who will get the best of him when he goes up strong, which is why McClung made the right decision on that specific play.

Earlier in the second half, McClung caught the ball on the left-wing, jabbed to his left, and took off toward his right after noticing that Mike McGuirl’s footwork and closeout were screaming “explode to your right”, pulled Davion Bradford closer to him during his drive to the basket, and then delivered a pinpoint pass to Marcus Santos-Silva on the right block (who finished a reverse layup).

I know that deep down McClung wanted to elevate and knock down a pull-up jumper in a crowded lane, but he understood that the Red Raiders’ chances of scoring on that possession would skyrocket if he got the ball to Santos-Silva at the right time.

The last two examples of McClung’s improved decision-making that I want to highlight occurred against Iowa State on Saturday. With 18:45 remaining in the second half, McClung used the screen that Marcus Santos-Silva gave him, and took a few dribbles to the right before getting cut off by Jalen Coleman-Lands.

Typically, McClung would attempt to step back and try to create as much separation as he could before firing a jumper, but in this case, he wisely pivoted, examined all of his options, and found Santos-Silva near the free throw line area.

Oddly enough, Santos-Silva couldn’t convert the same right-handed jump hook that he has made plenty of times throughout his college career, but if Santos-Silva had the opportunity to take that same shot 10 times in a row, I can assure you that he would drain it  8 or 9 times in those 10 tries (which is why you have to try and identify the positives in each offensive possession).

At the end of the first half, McClung refused Kevin McCullar’s screen on the right-wing, instantly collided with Jalen Coleman-Lands (causing Coleman-Lands to hit the deck), took one dribble to his right, and then had to deal with two help-side defenders. McClung easily could have chucked up a low-percentage 15-footer when he saw the game clock winding down, but he intelligently kicked the ball out to Kevin McCullar at the top of the key who had a good look from three-point land, but he was unable to send Texas Tech into the break with a 27-point advantage.

Now, I know that McCullar didn’t knock down the open triple in the example that I just provided, but imagine that the Red Raiders had an opportunity to advance to the final four in the NCAA Tournament this year, and then ask yourself this, would you be content with McCullar releasing an above-average three-point shot at the top of the key?

Or McClung unnecessarily trying to be the hero? I don’t know about you, but I would take my chances with McCullar trying to help the Red Raiders secure their second Final Four appearances in three seasons because I would have confidence in his ability to reward McClung for making a winning play.

In short, McClung may not always get the results that he is looking for right now after he makes the right decisions, but if he continues to resist the urge of forcing shots that have maybe a 25-30% chance of falling, he may find himself making the pass that leads to a big-time basket in a crucial NCAA Tournament contest later on.

So yes, it isn’t very difficult to score 16 points on 6-11 shooting (against Kansas State) and 18 points on 8-10 shooting (against Iowa State) when you commit to looking for ways to score without disrupting the flow of your team’s offense (which is something that McClung will have to do moving forward if he wants to continue to have great success).