ATLANTA — Marshall Henderson fired up an SEC record 19 three-point attempts in Ole Miss’ victory over Mississippi State last night.
But there weren’t many forced jumpers, and for the most part Henderson’s shot selection was pretty good. Ole Miss’ offense is centered around Henderson getting threes, if he’s open 19 times, he should shoot at least 19 times.
The second half played a huge role in Henderson’s night, as he hit four threes in the final 20 minutes of the game. A major reason for the second half surge was an adjustment Andy Kennedy made in reaction to Mississippi State’s defense.
“They were guarding on the opposite side of the basket,” Kennedy said. “Usually people always keep the defender between the guy they’re guarding and the rim. They weren’t they decided to get on the other side so they could chase over the top, so we adjusted some angles.”
And early in the game, you can see Fred Thomas defending Henderson in the corner by standing on top of him.
By playing on top, rather than behind, Thomas could do a better job of chasing Henderson around screens.
So the adjustment came on where the screeners for Henderson would be positioned. Normally, Henderson runs through screens in the baseline. The screeners stand facing parallel to the sideline. But that’s where the angles changes in the second half.
Marshall Henderson is coming up from the block as Aaron Jones is setting the new-angled screen. It is essentially a down screen for Henderson to come free at the wing, as opposed to the baseline screens designed for him to get open in the corner.
Notice that on the near side of the court, Dwight Coleby is in the same position as Jones, ready to set a down screen if Henderson chooses to come his way.
Thomas gets picked off by Jones’ screen. But also notice the lack of help from Gavin Ware – Aaron Jones’ defender. A lot of teams would all out double Henderson, but Rick Ray was worried about offensive rebounds, so he had his big men stay close to the screeners rather than commit to Henderson.
Now Summers and Henderson draw a lot of attention from defenses, while the frontcourt players have struggled. That attention has allowed Ole Miss to grab offensive rebounds from Summers and Henderson’s misses.
This is something Rick Ray talked about after Mississippi State fell to Ole Miss in the regular season, and here’s is a breakdown of those offensive rebounds. Ray even mentioned the same issue after his team beat Vanderbilt.
So Marshall Henderson has a new SEC record, 19 three-point attempts in a single game. The previous record was 17. But he was open – or at least open for Marshall Henderson – and Andy Kennedy made a small adjustment to help get him free.
You can read more on Henderson’s night here.
–Tyler Bischoff
tfbischo@go.olemiss.edu
