In Saturday’s win over Vanderbilt, Jarvis Summers had to deal with an unusual matchup, as Kevin Stallings decided to use 6-foot-9 Rod Odom to defend the 6-foot-4 point guard for parts of the game, including the last four minutes.
If you have followed Ole Miss basketball for just a little bit longer than the Marshall Henderson era, you may remember a Mississippi State Ole Miss game in which Andy Kennedy put 6-foot-9 Terrance Henry on the Bulldogs 6-foot-2 point guard Dee Bost. Ole Miss upset No. 18 Mississippi State as Bost was 4 of 15 from the field for 15 points.
Summers was more efficient as he scored 12 points on nine shots, but Vanderbilt did a pretty good job keeping him quiet.
Since Ole Miss could play Vanderbilt in the second round of the SEC Tournament – Ole Miss has a bye, Vanderbilt plays Mississippi State – let’s take a look at this matchup.
In the first half, with Odom defending him, Summers decides to strike quickly. He brings the ball up the floor in a hurry and gets a quick ball screen from Aaron Jones.
Summers finishes off the play with a nice reverse finish, but Odom and the Vanderbilt help defense are not quick enough to cut Summers off. This is what Ole Miss exploited down the stretch.
The problem for Vanderbilt is that when Ole Miss runs a pick-and-roll for Summers with any big man, the Commodores are trying to keep the quick Summers out of the lane with two forwards. Now, Odom isn’t a traditional post player; he likes to play on the perimeter. But he isn’t a quick guard either.
Late in the game, when Odom was guarding Summers again, Andy Kennedy went with one of the main plays for this season – bring both posts high to set screens and let Summers try to find a path to the basket.
You can see Summers finish this play off as he goes right through the slower Vanderbilt big men.
It wasn’t all wonderful for Summers, as he only took nine shots, one of which came after the Vanderbilt defense completely collapsed on him.
Ole Miss has just run the same high ball screen action, but Vanderbilt has swarmed Summers. Two defenders are on either side of Summers. A third defender has slid into the lane, and Rod Odom is chasing from behind.
Summers shoots and misses. But this play has a lot of potential with Vanderbilt committing four guys to Summers. Newby is all alone in the corner for a three or a drive. Saiz and Jones can roll to an open spot on the floor or crash for an offensive rebound.
Another option for Ole Miss would be to have Anthony Perez as a forward. He could pop to the three-point line and be wide open if Summers can kick it to him.
Now something Vanderbilt did – and a lot of teams have been doing – to silence Summers is straight double him when he gets a screen. This usually cuts his lane to the basket off. And because the Ole Miss big men have struggled so much, team aren’t afraid to leave them.
Saiz just set a screen for Summers, but Vanderbilt doubled it. Summers ends up swinging the ball to Martavious Newby on the right side of the court. As Vanderbilt rotates, Ole Miss gets the ball to Saiz who actually does score at the rim.
It is a matchup Ole Miss and Summers could see again in the SEC Tournament. And if there is success, it could set a precedent for what remains of this season and next year when teams try to figure out how to stop Summers.
— Tyler Bischoff
tfbischo@go.olemiss.edu
