Photo By Alex Edwards | The Daily Mississippian
Jarvis Summers is in a rut. He’s struggling to score at the efficient rate that he was throughout the season.
In the last four games, in which Ole Miss is 1-3, Summers is averaging 11.8 points. He has scored under 12 points three times in that stretch; in the previous 21 games, Summers scored under 12 points just twice.
His field goal percentage has taken a hit, as he has shot 36.2 percent from the field, and just 2 of 12 on threes. He has as many personal fouls, 15, as he does made field goals in the last four games.
Defenses have adjusted to Summers, especially on the pick-and-roll. Summers was the most efficient ball handler on the pick-and-roll earlier in SEC play. He’s fallen back to third now.
But what defenses are doing has more to do with Summers teammates than it does with Summers’ playmaking.
Ole Miss is running its most familiar form of the pick-and-roll, as both big men have come high to set ball screens. Summers is going to drive right off of Sebastian Saiz’s screen. When he does this, Georgia is going to double Summers.
As Summers is doubled, Saiz rolls to the basket, and Nemanja Djurisic, who was originally guarding Dwight Coleby drops into the lane with Saiz. Summers, seeing the hard double, looks to pass. He can’t hit his top option, which would be Saiz. So he swings it over to Coleby.
And Coleby shoots a long two with 20 seconds on the shot clock. This is exactly what Georgia wants; Ole Miss’ fifth scoring option taking a long two. Between Coleby, Saiz, Aaron Jones and Demarco Cox, this is a low percentage shot that should be a last option. That’s what defenses are trying to force.
Potentially, Anthony Perez could make this work, but playing him at a forward position hurts Ole Miss’ woeful rebounding even more.
But Summers also has to do a better job of recognizing when to pass the ball. He has forced a lot of shots in traffic recently. In fairness, he has converted some of them, but not the majority.
Here, four Georgia players have packed the paint and are staring at Summers. The fifth defender is chasing him from behind. This leaves two Rebels open for a three, but Summers elects to shoot.
Defenses are doubling Summers and rotating off of one of the Ole Miss big men with more frequency. This is largely due to the ineffectiveness of the Rebel frontcourt; three of the four post players are shooting under 50 percent.
Kentucky is a more athletic team, and since all of their starters are six-foot-six or taller, they can switch screens much more easily. That’s exactly what they did on Summers’ ball screens in the first matchup, which kept Summers from creating off the screens.
Summers would often go into an isolation when one of Kentucky’s big men switched on to him.
Here, he has Julius Randle defending him on the wing. Summers showed aggression attacking Kentucky’s size, and he converted a handful of tough shots in the lane. But one thing was consistent; Kentucky always contested the shot – Willie Cauley-Stein blocked six shots. Summers won’t have many open opportunities regardless of who switched on him.
Teams are taking Summers away – and his first passing option – but leaving the third guy open. Kentucky will play more straight up than most teams, but Ole Miss has to do a better job of getting that third option in a high percentage opportunity.
An Anthony Perez three is far better than a Dwight Coleby mid-range jumper. And Summers has to do a better job of finding that open man once he’s in a good position to score.
For continuing coverage of Ole Miss men’s basketball, follow @Tyler_RSR and @thedm_sports on Twitter.
— Tyler Bischoff
tfbischo@go.olemiss.edu
