Marshall University Athletics
BOGACZYK: D'Antoni Looks Back, Presses Forward
4/1/2016 12:00:00 AM | Men's Basketball
By JACK BOGACZYK
HERDZONE.COM COLUMNIST
HUNTINGTON, W.Va. - When Marshall men's basketball in 2015-16 is considered in years down the road, the reference point is likely to be a Conference USA Tournament semifinal spot or 12 regular-season league wins for the first time since 2000-01 back in the Mid-American Conference days.
But there was much more to Marshall's 17-16 finish in Coach Dan D'Antoni's second sideline season at his alma mater than 14 C-USA, school and Henderson Center records broken or tied.
James Kelly paved his way to the first 600/300 Herd season (points/rebounds) since Russell Lee over four decades earlier ââ'¬Â¦ and also landed one of the 64 coveted senior spots in the Portsmouth Invitational Tournament, a tradition-rich launching pad for so many NBA careers in the past.
Guards Jon Elmore, Stevie Browning and C.J. Burks and forward Terrence Thompson burst onto the Herd scene, and junior Ryan Taylor heads toward his senior season with more than 1,300 points and 700 rebounds - a numbers combo previously reached by only Herd players named Greer, Slack, Stone, Lee and VanHoose.
As for their coach?
"What pleased me the most is that they adapted," D'Antoni said earlier this week. "They started the season 0-6. Did they fall apart? Turn on one another? No, they buckled down harder, said they'd get better and they did. And did we have a disappointment at the Conference USA Tournament? Yes. Did we have a disappointment when Louisiana Tech) hit a 45-foot shot to win? Yes. That's all part of it. Was I disappointed they didn't call that Ryan was fouled (at the end of a tough home loss to UAB)? Yes.
"Am I going to sit there and let it ruin my life? Hell, no. I'm going onto the next game. You have to. Let's go play. I think our kids adopted that attitude and they stuck together and that was great. To me, that's an admirable trait."
Against a schedule that ranked in the top 100 of the RPI - and a non-conference schedule in the top 30 entering the NCAA Tournament - the Herd made significant improvement. One example came in one of D'Antoni's favorite measurables - effective field goal percentage.
In that measurement, a 3-point goal counts as 1.5 made field goals. In D'Antoni's first season, the effective field goal percentage was .462 as the Herd finished 11-21. This season, the EFG number climbed to .542 ââ'¬Â¦ and that hike of .080 topped the nation's 351 Division I teams.
There's more.
In 2014-15, the Herd had the pace it wanted - ranking No. 7 (among 351 Division I teams by analytics guru Ken Pomeroy) in adjusted tempo (or possessions). But Marshall was only No. 311 in adjusted offense - efficiency. This season, the Herd was No. 3 in tempo, and the adjusted offense ranking soared to No. 54.
D'Antoni also had a goal for his team to average one point per possession or better. The Herd accomplished that (1.077 points, ranking No. 51 in Division I). That was after a ranking of 323rd at .905 points per possession.
OK, that was then. Going forward, D'Antoni said the Herd is still recruiting for 2016-17, when the strength of schedule will remain solid with games at Ohio State, Cincinnati, Chattanooga and Akron and maybe another power conference team, too.
And he understands - but refuses to accept - the Herd fan base's hand-wringing over the loss of Kelly, who had one of the best individual seasons in Herd history in his different sort of "one-and-done" appearance.
He also said he isn't worried about another whisper making the rounds - that Taylor will graduate this summer and then take a final season of eligibility as a graduate transfer closer to his Indianapolis home.
"I just talked to Ryan again (Tuesday)," D'Antoni said. "Ryan is very happy here and he's looking forward to being the centerpiece of our ballclub that will have an opportunity to get into the NCAA Tournament next season.
"We're going to be good, and he's going to be a cornerstone here - not just a piece -- for a team that can contend in the conference and have a chance for an NCAA bid. I have Ryan's word. That's all I have to go by, and it's good enough for me."
Replacing Kelly is another story, but D'Antoni said he is ready to move forward with a team that loses only one of its top seven players from 2015-16.
"James had a special season, and yes, there are points and rebounds to replace," the Herd coach said. "I look at it like this ââ'¬Â¦ I think we're going to have development in our bigs. As for points, they're a funny thing. They shift around. Let's put it this way: I don't think scoring points will be a hang up. We'll score points.
"What James did for us was he gave us exciting plays that turned momentum and he gave us some tough rebounds. We'll have to replace that. Anytime you lose a really good player, one selected to the coaches' (NABC) all-district teams and invited to Portsmouth, it's a big deal.
"But you replace players like that. That's what all programs do, and I think we've gotten into the deal where we don't get someone of big prospect status, then the sky is falling. What I'm trying to say is one of my strengths - and a strength of our coaching staff -- is developing players. Look at Terrence Thompson; he came a long way; I think he'll come even further. Milan (Mijovic) and Ajdin (Penava) are close and they'll help. We have players here whose games will step up into that type of status with the opportunity.
"We have kids who will work hard between now and next year and with experience and the work of our staff, we'll replace James - maybe not in the same ways James gave us, but in other ways so we can be successful. We recruited two bigs on the inside, Phil Bledsoe from Wheeling, another 6-foot-6 Ryan-like player we think will develop quickly, then Jannson Williams from Georgia, who's 6-9, plays out on the floor. We don't play with a true center. So, we're looking for basketball players who will scramble and play hard. We're not looking for the typical true center.
"The way I see it, it's always going to be like that. To always think you have to go get a name player, it's just not going to happen. What we're trying to do is develop a program, get good players who we build into great players, who will step up and fill every year.
"Shoot, a year from now you have to replace Ryan Taylor. Three years from now we'll have to replace Jon (Elmore). Nobody knew much about Jon - and then all of a sudden Jon is a player. I feel confident that you don't always have to have the scout's pick on what is a great player or not. There are a lot of players out there who can play at this level, if you develop them, season them - which we can. And we can do that into an NCAA team."
If D'Antoni were impressed by his team's resilience and improved offensive efficiency, was there anything that surprised him about the '15-16 Herd that finished in a third-place C-USA tie after being picked ninth in the preseason by league coaches?
"Yeah, the quality of some of the plays," D'Antoni said, smiling. "The pass Jon made to Stevie on that out-of-bounds play (a 35-foot alley-oop lob from the sideline hashmark Jan. 28 against Middle Tennessee). A play like that, you don't see. I tell you what ââ'¬Â¦ you go through all the NCAA games this year and I bet you don't see one made like that. Really, we may have seen a one-and-only.
"And some of James' plays, the left-handed catch off the lob and dunk, you don't see that. Those are high-quality plays that the NBA ââ'¬Â¦ you'd have to watch a lot of games to find something like that.
"I also think you saw a team that lost together - like you're supposed to - and when they won together, they all rushed the court and were all genuinely happy. You saw a bench that came out supportive, even though they had to swallow pride to not be on the floor - but they were there for the team. (Graduating senior) Justin Edmonds was the leader of that group. That's a warrior who wants to be on the damn floor. I know he does. And he handled a real tough situation as well as I've ever seen it handled.
"These are things I think should make it well worth the support of our fans. Win and lose with us, but we'll give them the type of team you can win and lose with, but is the type of team they'll be proud of - Marshall is out there making them proud."
D'Antoni said the Herd still needs two games to finish the 2016-17 non-conference schedule, and one of those is to replace the lost Capital Classic series with West Virginia. He said he expects some movement on the schedule soon, and replacing the six-figure revenue lost with the WVU date is a factor.
D'Antoni said Marshall may add another power conference "buy" game to the Buckeyes and Bearcats, or possibly go for a one-season, home-and-home series with another mid-major program.
To date, the Herd has home games with North Carolina Central, Morehead State, Western Carolina, Jackson State, Ohio and Toledo, and road games at OSU, Eastern Kentucky, Chattanooga, Cincinnati and Akron. Two home exhibitions are against West Virginia State and the University of Charleston.
"We're always going to play a good schedule," D'Antoni said. "We want to put 8,000 in the (Henderson Center), and we're going to have a competitive program and support is very important. We showed this season the kind of fun we can provide.
"We're going to score points. We're going to play hard; we're going to play fast. We're going to do things the right way and act the right way off the floor. I think we've got a chance to win it and when we do, great.
"What I'm trying to do is build a competitive basketball team at Marshall, a program that represents the university and the state with the quality type of people that we have, people who become good alumni, young men who will compete every year in Conference USA at a high level, and can punch out into the NCAA once in a while. And all of us will be able to enjoy that ride."
