The Daily Mississippian men’s basketball beat writer Tyler Bischoff will break down Ole Miss basketball each Tuesday and Thursday leading up to 2013-14 season. In part five of the seven-part series, Bischoff breaks down Derrick Millinghaus’ offensive inefficiency.
Ole Miss guard Derrick Millinghaus provided the most important bucket of last year he when lofted a floater that found the bottom of the net and beat Missouri. But throughout the course of the season, Millinghaus showed poor shot selection.
There were way too many times that Millinghaus fired up a three with a ton of time on the shot clock and with no one in position to grab an offensive rebound.
The only good thing about this shot is that there is no one contesting his shot. Otherwise, there is still plenty of time in the shot clock to set up some baselines screens for guard Marshall Henderson or get a post up for forward Reggie Buckner. Also, two of the best rebounders in Ole Miss history are standing 20 feet away from the basket when Millinghaus launched this three, meaning there would be little chance for an offensive board.
Millinghaus was second on the team last year with 5.7 three pointers per 40 minutes. You don’t want your pack up point guard jacking up threes with such frequencies when he only shoots 32 percent from deep.
When Ole Miss ran a play, like those screens for Henderson or a post isolation, and it didn’t create an open look, Millinghaus would often get a pass so that the offense could be reset. However, he viewed this pass as an open invitation to shoot.
Millinghaus’ biggest strength is his quickness. This got him into a lot of trouble as well. He has the tendency to dribble right into multiple defenders, often with no regard for his teammates.
Guess where Millinghaus is about to dribble the ball?
A better question would be which Vanderbilt player is going to block his shot.
It is not all bad for Millinghaus. His tendency to dribble right at defenders can become a strength. Since he is so quick, Millinghaus often dribbles into or right past defenders who have their backs turned or are just out of position. This is why he got to the free throw line on 13.4 percent of his possessions, the second highest mark among the guards on the Ole Miss roster. If Millinghaus can develop his court vision, he can really use his quickness as a way to rack up the assists.
Since Millinghaus often gets defenders out of position this creates opportunities for his teammates to be wide open. If he can start to pick them out as he drives into multiple defenders, he can swing a quick pass to them for an open three or clear lane for a dunk. Like he did here where, instead of firing up a shot in traffic, he found Murphy Holloway for a dunk. Bonus points for doing so late in the shot clock.
The other positive of Millinghaus’ style is that sometimes the Ole Miss offense needed someone to just do anything. Defenses made stopping Henderson a priority, and when they succeeded at denying him the ball, the offense would frequently stall. This is where Millinghaus’ go-go-go style helps Ole Miss actually get a look at the basket.
Take the final offensive possession of the SEC Tournament game against Missouri. Ole Miss ran their signature screens for Henderson. Henderson was double-teamed, and surprisingly decided not to shoot, but passed back to Millinghaus. The ball was swung to LaDarius White who did nothing but take a dribble and pass it back to Millinghaus, with five seconds left on the clock.
Now in full scramble mode, Millinghaus took it upon himself to make something happen. He put a beautiful crossover on Jabari Brown of Missouri and got free in the lane allowing him to loft the floater up. It fell and Ole Miss kept playing. Millinghaus’ inefficient offensive style was exactly what the offense needed.
If he can develop his style and become more efficient at finding teammates and taking quality shots, Millinghaus can be a serious weapon for Ole Miss.
Part One: Breaking down the Rebels’ most used play
Part Two: Using Marshall Henderson as a decoy
Part Three: Aaron Jones’ potential to be an excellent post defender
Part Four: Ole Miss looking for LaDarius White to improve offensive efficiency
Photos and Stats courtesy of Synergy Sports
For continuing coverage of Ole Miss men’s basketball, follow @Tyler_RSR and@thedm_sports on Twitter.
