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

Weakness No. 2: Lack of off-ball attentiveness defensively

While addressing Mac McClung’s defensive issues in my July article I noted that “Last season, there were times where players would backdoor him because he didn’t have his head on a swivel, but I think that as long he continues to find a balance between focusing on the current ball handler (which he does too much sometimes), and ensuring that his man does not take advantage of his occasional lack of off-ball attentiveness defensively, he won’t have much of a problem fixing that issue.”

Being a reliable off-ball defender is critical for McClung at this stage of his career because it will show NBA scouts that he is quickly learning how to watch his defender’s every move, while simultaneously making sure that he knows what the ball handler at the time is up to.

If you had asked me what McClung’s off-ball defense was looking like prior to Texas Tech’s last two contests, I would have told you that McClung was doing a decent job of managing both of the responsibilities that I pointed out above, but McClung took his off-ball defense to another level against Kansas State and Iowa State.

With a little over 13 minutes to play in the second half against Kansas State, McClung’s tremendous off-ball awareness led to a Terrence Shannon Jr. steal and dunk that forced Bruce Weber to call his 2nd timeout of the half.

Essentially, Carlton Linguard Jr. caught the ball a few steps above the free throw line and looked to see who he could distribute the ball to. When Linguard turned in the direction of Rudi Williams (who was McClung’s man), Williams instinctively cut toward the rim at full speed in hopes of getting an easy layup at the rim.

As opposed to staring down Linguard and forgetting that his man was fighting to make himself available to Linguard (which is something I would have expected him to do earlier in his college career), McClung executed a simple technique that worked out perfectly for him on that possession.

As soon as Williams bolted toward the rim, McClung turned his head while fully extending his right arm, so that the ball would immediately hit that arm if Linguard tried to squeeze a pass into Williams. It is clear that Linguard is not 100% comfortable setting up shop 15+ feet from the basket, because as soon as option #1 (which was hitting Williams in stride for an effortless deuce) fell through Linguard fired an errant pass over to Mike McGuirl on the left-wing, and Terrence Shannon Jr. was all over it which led to an emphatic left-handed flush seconds later.

In the first half of the same game, McClung made an underrated play that made it tougher for Kansas State to get a decent look on the offensive end. As Nijel Pack was initiating the Wildcats’ offense after crossing half-court, DaJuan Gordon began to sprint off of a screen set by Davion Bradford two steps below the left-wing. Kansas State was hoping that McClung would remain behind Gordon as he was trying to get around Bradford’s screen so that Gordon could curl it and decide how he wanted to score the basketball.

However, because McClung stayed alert during the entire possession, he was able to run side by side with Gordon and meet him immediately on the catch, which forced Gordon to hold the ball for a few seconds before finally bringing it back out. This may seem like a minor victory for McClung, but his ability to take away Kansas State’s first option on that possession, caused the Wildcats to scramble and ultimately turn the ball over as the shot clock was expiring.

Late in the first half of Texas Tech’s contest against Iowa State, McClung made another effort play that led to a successful defensive possession for the Red Raiders. It all started when Jalen Coleman-Lands was handling the ball on the right-wing and decided to kill his dribble. Before that even occurred, McClung decided to camp out inside the restricted area and provide help if needed.

In all honesty, McClung easily could have fallen asleep when Coleman-Lands delivered a pass over to Rasir Bolton at the top of the key, but he brilliantly sprinted over to Javan Johnson as the ball was in the air, and deterred Bolton from rifling a quick pass over to Johnson on the left wing (who slid up to the left-wing from the left corner).

As a result, the rhythm of Iowa State’s offense disappeared which prompted Bolton to dribble over to the ride side of the floor and hoist up a contested mid-range jumper (that he didn’t sink).

And finally, in the same half of that game, McClung used the same defensive technique that proved to be beneficial to him against Kansas State. Similar to Kansas State’s Carlton Linguard Jr., Iowa State’s Solomon Young doesn’t seem like he is at his best when he has the ball further away from the basket.

I say this because, on the possession that occurred approximately midway through the first half, Young instantly tried to find a guard to dish the ball to. Tyler Harris (who was McClung’s man) tried to catch McClung off guard by dashing toward the basket in a straight line, but once again McClung turned his head right away and made sure that he stretched his right arm out as far as he could, which is why Harris never received a pass from Young.

This resulted in the Cyclones having to settle for a Javan Johnson smothered three at the end of the possession (which he missed), which was a huge win for the Red Raiders. Many people may have a problem with me giving McClung credit for doing the basics defensively, but there was a time when it was rare for me to see McClung locked in when he was defending off the ball (and his opponents weren’t standing in the same spot).

This is why I feel the need to applaud McClung for taking a huge step forward in his game, and demonstrating that he is willing to make the little plays that will make Texas Tech a stronger basketball club.

Will McClung slip up occasionally in the future and surrender an open layup at the rim? Or bail one of his defenders out by taking a shot with a high degree of difficultly? Most likely, but I am confident that McClung will make the adjustments that need to be made on the following possessions, and make others quickly forget about his previous mistakes.

I know that it is still relatively early in the season, but if McClung can continue to make the little plays on both ends of the floor, The Red Raiders will continue to stack up wins in a challenging conference like the Big 12.