The 5 on 4 Advantage - How to get it......

I watched parts of the Gonzaga- Oklahoma State game last night on ESPN.

GAME OUTCOME:

OSU held a 37-36 halftime lead, and sophomores Jame Anderson & Obi Manuel0 along with "grandpa" Terrel Harris led the Cowboys in battling even steven with the Zags for 34 minutes.

OSU held a 63-62 lead with just over 6 minutes left before Gonzaga erupted on a 15-2 run to put the game away. Gonzaga seemed to turn up the defensive intensity at this point and OSU may have ran out of gas defensively, especially inside against the deeper and stronger Zags.

OSU point guard and leader of this years squad, Byron Eaton [E-tahn] dished out 10 assists, but was just 2-15 from the field and zilch for 7 from the 3 pt line. The POKES were rewarded with a consolation game against the nation's 3rd ranked Michigan State squad tonight at 7 pm.

OK... the 5 on 4 Advantage. What???

Freshmen 5'10" OSU guard Keiton Page is undersized AND is limited athletically with his jumping and quickness. However, he understands the game, and how to utilize the assets he does possess.

One of the top two scorers in Oklahoma High School basketball history [I can't remember if he or former teammate Rotnei Clark hold the all time scoring record.], Page has a knack for creating space against opponents who are typically taller, quicker and better overall athletes.

Deceptive moves, with and without the ball, enable Page to create space and either make a shot or create correct passing angles to assist teammates with entry passes.

Last night, Page utilized his shot fake on three different occasions against the Zags to propel OSU into 5 on 4 advantage situations. All 3 fakes were from behind the 3 pt arc, and the "move" only needs 3 variables to work for you.

1- You have to have earned the respect of your opponent that you CAN knock down the 3 pt shot. Obviously if you knock down 3(s) in the game you are playing, or , if your reputation and/or stats have provent that you are a capable long range bomber

2- Your fake has to be realistic. ie; you must LOOK like you are actually in prep mode to launch your shot.

3- Defender must be running at, or manned up with you, and mentally is thinking of "he is NOT going to get this shot off uncontested!"

Against Gonzaga, the Zags defender was hustling over towards Page when he initiated his "fake" shot, three times the Zags defender left his feet, and all three times Page penetrated past the defender to put OSU into the 5 on 4 situation.

Typcially, Keiton will launch the shot himself at that point, but due to his teammates this year being just a bit better than the Pawnee Bears teammates he's played with in high school, Page opted to kick OUT or IN for potential assists. He did record assists on two of his passes, and third he should have but a missed 8 foot shot kept him from the assist.

Page used the same manuever against Tulsa and North Texas, and has no problem with shooting himself.

I'll add that Keiton did an excellent job defending point guard Jeremy Pargo of Gonzaga, who is both quicker and much stronger than Page.

DEVELOPING YOUR SHOT FAKE:

If your shot fake is too quick, then the defender can't see it and react to it. So slow it down. Think .....slow shot fake, but quick drive.

As you develop your shot fake, don't try to do too much. Keep it simple.
Just take your normal shot motion, and stop short before the ball gets to your nose. Don't raise up and come out of your triple attack position or you’ll lose the ability to be explosive.

Try it in front of a mirror and see if you can sell yourself with your own shot fake.

Now, the shot fake should go no higher than your nose for two reasons.
First, you don’t want to block your vision of the goal or the rest of the players.
Second, a high shot fake slows down your drive. I don't care how quick your feet are. In order to drive, you must put the ball on the ground. So you can't begin to go by the defender until the ball has moved from the top of your shot fake, back down to hip level, and then to the floor with your first step. A high shot fake means the ball has to travel a long way and that takes a longer time. A shorter shot fake means you can initiate that first step quicker, and it's the FIRST STEP when you BEAT your opponent.

Oklahoma State Destroys Hurricane....dribbles

#23 TU's Jerome Jordan battles for ball with OSU's Terrell Harris.........

Afew dribbles......that I thought about while sleeping.....

Travis Ford showed ME a little "sumpin sumpin" about this years Cowboy squad. The Pokes completely frustrated Doug Wojcek's Tulsa University team with their superb quickness and athleticism. Terrel Harris plucked the ball away repeatedly from Tulsa's two gunners, Hurtt and Andrews. The Hurricane had 15 turnovers in the first 14 minutes of the game!! Ridiculous.

A 20-1 run basically ended the game in the first half, although Tulsa had one 2nd half spurt that cut the lead down close to single digits. But Ford put his quickest group in, applied full court pressure, and quickly elevated the advantage to back over 20 points.

Ben Uzoh, who Wojcek was forced to move to the point guard position [due to BAD recruiting decisions?] was the only Hurricane player to not succumb to OSU's relentless pressuring defense. Uzoh is a special player.

It was said that at least 7 NBA scouts were in attendance last night in Gallagher Iba arena to see Tulsa's Jerome Jordan perform. Hmmm.... well, he sure didn't "make himself a million" last night. His lack of strength in his hands and body were magnified with OSU's aggressive interior defense. They say you can't coach HEIGHT, and he definitely possesses that,, and will undoubtedly make a nice living "performing" basketball. I just wonder if it will be in Europe as opposed to stops in the USA like , Ok City, Dallas, Chicago, NY, LA, Philly etc.

On the bright side for the Cane, Tulsa backup center Steven Idlet was quite impressive both offensively [8 pts on 4 of 7 shooting] and on the boards. I wonder if Coach Wojcek might consider playing him in the same lineup with Jordan. That could be interesting......

A highlight reel powerjam by 6'6" California freshmen Joe Richard {Re-Shard} was very impressive and a highlight for the Hurricane. Going right down the lane from the keyhole he tomahawk slammed over an OSU player and displayed athleticness reminiscent of Eric Coley, a member of Bill Self's Elite 8 team. I look forward to watching REEE-SHARD in the Reynolds wrap-house.

Back to the NBA..... OSU's slimmed down version of last year's chunky point guard Byron Eaton, may have earned a few hundred thousand dollars by virtue of his performance last night. The still thick Eaton displayed not only his strength and quickness but his improving ability to stylishly assist his teammates while opponents converge on his very difficult to stop drives to the hole. He had 26 points and 7 assists on the night.