WKU Basketball: Grading the Tops at Old Dominion
Out of nowhere, WKU pulls out of a slump in style, winning two road games by an average of 18. How?
Well, that’s one way to get out of a funk.
Western Kentucky is officially out of its slump, but it’s certainly not out of the woods. WKU still sits in fifth place, out of the nightmarish sixth seed position, meaning the Tops should not have to win five games in five days when their most likely opponents could have played as few as three total.
But what beating Old Dominion meant, especially in the way that it was done, really put the conference on notice that WKU is not dead yet.
There’s not much to say about the game, except that WKU got down pretty early and exploded midway through the first. WKU played really well, both as a team and on an individual level.
The only major news of the night besides obviously officially snapping the slump, Luke Frampton, who played a massive role in turning the game around, hitting four straight threes amidst a 20-4 spurt to end the half, appeared to have a knee injury one minute into the second half. After Rick Stansbury’s postgame commentary and press conference, basically what we know at the moment is that Rick does not like what he knows about Luke’s knee.
Again, there’s no medical input, but it’s deeply concerning going forward. Just in case that news was missed, I did want to include that somewhere. We will continue updating you as we gather info ourselves, be it by public information or from our connections at WKU. Update: Sources say barring setback, Luke should be good to play Thursday.
But I digress. Let’s grade the Tops by my Keys to Victory, individually, as a team, and we’ll grade Rick Stansbury, as well.
Grading the Keys to Victory
Focus on You: A+
Without question, winning once you’ve already made a statement in the previous game and the other team knows you’re not stuck in the mud of a long losing streak is way more impressive than surprising someone by finally breaking out of the slump. So to say that the Tops were focused and ready to go is a huge statement for what is hopefully a more intense approach to C-USA play. You’re not going to win many games by not being the hardest playing team, and I think WKU can absolutely say the last two games were in their favor in that department. Even though WKU came out down seven halfway through the first half, the signs were there. WKU was hustling. They were closing out. They weren’t just hanging out watching rebounds drop into their opponent’s lap. There was an active fight, and WKU was on a mission. The question now is, “Can WKU keep this up?” We shall see.
Do it for Rick: A+
I’m certain the team knows the criticism that was out there a week ago against their coach. To some degree, it’s still there. But obviously winning two pretty much quells any possibility that Rick Stansbury gets fired in the middle of the season. But without question, this team did exactly what it needed to in order to have their coach’s back. That’s what you like to see. Despite 4-6 and overall the equivalent of a double digit seed right now in C-USA, WKU is fighting and scratching and clawing. Ultimately, WKU may have six losses, but all of them are by single digits. Some portion of that is just bad luck. Then again, none of the four wins are by single digits, so others would suggest Rick Stansbury has trouble winning close games. Regardless, a dialed in WKU is terrifying to the rest of C-USA.
Do it for Each Other: A+
Without question, again, this is a full mark. Why? What better example of playing for each other do you have than Luke Frampton going down after being the first half hero and the Tops not only expand their lead but don’t really allow an ODU run of more than a couple of baskets the rest of the game? That’s some solidarity right there. Hopefully, Luke will be back, but regardless, this team does seem to be coming together more and more by the game.
Play Your Style: A+
I thought WKU did exactly what it needed to do in this game to drive ODU crazy. Apparently no one had really played zone against ODU according to the (ODU) announcers on ESPN+. Why no one had is a complete conundrum to me, because if I see a team that likes to create matchup problems with a methodical offense but can’t shoot, why would an experienced coach not think zone or trap or both against a team like ODU? The color analyst even said, “I would play zone against the Monarchs every time.” Well, WKU used a 2-3, used a matchup zone, used a 1-3-1, and ran some token 1-2-2 2/3 court pressure. WKU played up-tempo, played smart basketball, and got everyone involved that played significant minutes. That’s a great job.
Adjust the Scouting Report: A+
I really think Rick Stansbury deserves a ton of credit for adjusting his plans after Luke Frampton went down with his apparent injury. That is not an easy loss. Luke provides some size, experience, shooting, team defense, and production from all areas. Without him, I’m not sure WKU would be as good as it would be with him on the floor. But you have to give the Tops full marks, and specifically Rick Stansbury, for pushing all of the right buttons Saturday. We can take issue with the fact that he basically played five guys the entire second half, but ultimately, WKU pulled away with ease and swung the game 24 points over the last 30 minutes of the game. And WKU was steadily increasing the entire game. Good for WKU and good for Rick Stansbury.
Individual Grades
Dayvion McKnight: B
14 points and six assists is another good effort from Dayvion, don’t get me wrong. Obviously he’s one of the main two or three players on this team McKnight in and McKnight out. But a couple of things stand out to me as issues in this game. One is turnovers. McKnight committed four turnovers while only assisting six times. The six assists is fine, but he needs to continue working on his decision making. Or if he’s going to commit four turnovers, he needs to combat that with eight or more assists. Sometimes he makes a play that makes you scratch your head. Also, he only pulled down one rebound. He generally averages over six. He did grab four steals, which is great. However, several of the guys he would have been responsible for defensively had good offensive nights, so knock him down a little for that, too. Still a solid B effort.
Camron Justice: A-
Cam made some huge shots, but he was not effective in the first half. He absolutely poured it on in the second, and he was actually the better distributor, dishing five dimes and committing no turnovers. He even grabbed seven rebounds in this one, as well. The main ding here is just taking a lot of shots to get to his 18 points. However, this was a great game from him, and WKU needed him to step up in Luke Frampton’s absence.
Luke Frampton: A+
If it’s his last game as a Hilltopper, I’m not going to give him any grade other than A+. I’m sincerely hoping Luke is fine, but as of right now, we have no definitive information and the belief that he would be completely fine seemed absent from anyone from WKU that we know. But after missing a couple of threes to start, Frampton got fired up and nailed four three pointers in a row. You talk about making your presence felt! Frampton was without question the game MVP, simply because he changed the dynamic of the game. The Tops went from down seven to up seven at half, mainly because of Luke’s heroics.
Jairus Hamilton: C
Jairus did not fare as well against ODU as the other main players for WKU, only shooting 33% on the night and only putting up nine points. Perhaps this was a matchup issue more than anything, with ODU’s relative bulk but sneaky athleticism with a really good 6’7” rebounder, Austin Trice, a Power Five talent with the ability to handle Hamilton. But regardless, Jairus still needs to continue to improve and grow upon moving from role player to star. He was looking to be the best player on the team in November. Now he is the fourth most consistent player, at best. The Tops will need him to step up big time the rest of the season.
Jamarion Sharp: A-
The big man absolutely crushed it offensively. With 11 points, perfect from the field, making 1-of-2 free throws late in the game, and five blocks, Jamarion absolutely earns a high grade. However, two rebounds playing nearly the whole game should not ever happen. He has to find a way to clean up some boards. But again, only one turnover, two assists, and a steal? Those are nice extra contributions by a 7’5” player that you just don’t expect.
Josh Anderson: B
First of all, Josh Anderson felt more involved than seven points and eight rebounds and zero steals. He was active defensively, causing issues as he always does on both ends of the floor. But he did not produce his best, right? But it’s just a testament to the work this guy has put in over the years that he has gone from a gangly freakish freshman that couldn’t shoot a midrange jumper to an experienced threat from all levels of the court that could possibly be classified as the best player on the team.
Rest of Bench: C+
There wasn’t anything spectacular, but at least they played! WKU got up with the game in hand and let its bench play a few minutes at the end. All told, the bench took away a few of the minutes of the main players, allowing all players to play no more than 35 minutes each. For those that don’t follow WKU as diehards, that’s actually an accomplishment for this squad. But those few minutes Rick Stansbury can find to scrape out of someone else will bring WKU a little bit more energy later when the Tops need the top six to carry the bulk of the responsibility. It was nice to see Sherman Brashear hit a three, something he hadn’t done since the first game of conference play.
Coaching: A
I know people read my articles and comments on Facebook and probably think that I hate Rick Stansbury, that I think incredibly lowly of him or whatever. The guy teaches good fundamental defense, his principles are sound for the most part, his game plans are good, and his players play generally good basketball. I think his main flaws are not being able to sniff out character issues (and thereby having umpteen drama queens in only a few years) and adjusting the game plan once it doesn’t go according to plan. And I think there are game management issues. But there are also times that I think Rick Stansbury is absolutely brilliant.
All of that long-winded thought vomit to say this: I think he did a phenomenal job Saturday in moving his pieces around to get good results. He switched up defenses. His players fought through screens and ran at the shooters like they should have been all season. They boxed out as far as I could tell; I don’t remember any moments that Old Dominion got a ridiculous rebound that shouldn’t have happened. There may have been lapses, but that’s called being human. No big deal there. The offense was also really good. The only drawback was the rotation. I’ll cover it below, but Luke Frampton goes down with some kind of knee issue (sources say he may actually be ok; initial thoughts straight from Rick were that he “didn’t feel good” about Luke’s knee) and Jairus Hamilton gets bonked in the back of the head and all of a sudden, Rick Stansbury is forced to play his seventh man. In this case, that was Sherman Brashear.
I’ll cover this issue below in depth (once again).
Motivation: A+
Without question, WKU came out this week ready to go and fired up. I covered this in my Keys to Victory, but good for WKU and good on Rick Stansbury for getting his boys ready to go. They certainly came on a business trip and took no prisoners. They burned the boats (feel free to insert whatever cliché reference to a desperate battle here), so to speak. Full marks.
Game Plan: A+
I thought this was Rick’s most solid pure game plan of the season. Ole Miss was more emotion than anything. Louisville was frankly a lucky result that Malik Williams was out and the Cards missed shots. UAB was really good, but I thought it could have been better. In this game, I thought Rick really did his best work. I think the past couple of games, he’s allowed the Tops to press, something they’re very good at doing, especially Josh Anderson and Dayvion McKnight. Those two near the front of a press are pretty terrifying. And their abilities to finish are second to none. But also, WKU ran zone against an ODU team that hadn’t seen much zone all season. That takes some guts to know that and try something no one has tried. Even though WKU has ran a ton of zone this year because of Jamarion Sharp, to junk it up and keep ODU perplexed all game is the exact formula to beat an organized system like ODU’s. I’ve been calling for pressure on ODU since the start of his tenure, and finally he does it and it paid huge dividends.
In-Game Adjustments: A+
I thought the fact that Frampton went down with virtually half of the game remaining and WKU just kept on building a lead, it’s really difficult to not give a perfect grade here. Plus, Rick continued to push nice buttons with different defenses that actually made sense, and offensively, WKU didn’t just kill the ball when they were up big. They ran their motion and continued to attack. That’s a nice adjustment from taking the air out of the ball and going one-on-one.
Roster Management: F
This game proves the huge concern about not playing the bench on its own. Forget any other game. WKU played six men virtually all game. Isaiah Cozart and Sherman Brashear get a couple of minutes each in the first half. Other than that, the top six get their minutes throughout the game until a minute or two left. However, this is how fragile the six man rotation is. I’ve been asking, “What if two guys get injured? What if two guys get quarantined? What if somebody violates team rules?” These things happen. Hopefully none of that happens.
But do you want to know what derailed the six man rotation? Luke Frampton goes down with a knee. Jairus Hamilton gets banged in the back of the head. That was it. Nothing else happened. In addition, this now marks all six of the main rotation guys having some kind of injury scare or concern. As far as we knew, Luke had no injury issues this year. Well, now he’s got his knee, Josh had COVID, Jairus had a back issue, Cam has back issues, Dayvion twisted an ankle in this game and walked it off and was limping in another, and Jamarion had some knee concerns for a couple of games, wearing a sleeve.
Rick is going to play this one of two ways:
Risk the fact that you have no bench and deal with the issue when it comes and hope the inexperienced players figure it out.
Experiment now and find you one or two players you can really trust to add to the end of the rotation and save some injuries and fatigue. Possibly sacrifice a win or two for conserving energy and building up confidence for March.
Which way will he play it? No idea. But you just cannot roll with six players and expect to win in a tournament format. And in the short term, you can’t play six players and expect to get your best night in and night out. With a 4-6 record, Western needs to make a run in order to get the crucial first or second seed in the East. Certainly, the Tops need to avoid a lower seed so they don’t immediately have to face a brutal opponent from the West. Come tournament time, with six players, you might win one or two, but winning three takes depth and sustained effort, or it takes an extraordinary six that has to be extraordinary in three straight games. In my experience studying these tournament settings, most often, the teams that actually won the championship one of three things: Way more talented, they overcame incredible odds, or they were just more efficient with their energy.
Well, in a three games in three days format (or four in four or five in five), the winning team either needs to be truly superior where they are going to win no matter what, or they need to save energy every chance they get so they can unleash it later. I sincerely hope the lesson is learned and the bench gets some PT. Maybe it will be fairly short against FAU and Rick will relax a little against two awful teams in USM and UTSA. Perhaps that is the chance to solidify a seventh and/or eighth player. If I’m the coach, I’m telling my team that I’m looking for a seventh and eighth player before tournament time. Anyone can step up and grab the spot. Be up front and honest with them. Clean slate from here, but we’re going to experiment as we can, because we cannot head in to tournament with six players. Somebody’s got to lighten the load.
Overall: A+
You can’t go to Norfolk and outscore ODU by 24 after getting down early in the game and not get a perfect score. Not only did WKU win by a nice margin, winning by 17 against a Jeff Jones pace is like the tortoise losing by a mile and a half. Not only did the tortoise lose, but the hare stayed on the course and finished the race with focus. In other words, Jeff Jones’ ODU teams are extremely methodical in their pace, but they’re efficient and they’re always fundamentally solid on both ends. ODU slows the pace down so much that winning by 17 is like winning by 35 against most schools.
The starting lineup was excellent, and although Josh Anderson didn’t get his normal double figures, he was present, and he contributed and played his part. The bench also got to see some minutes, and instead of two or three guys playing nearly 40, no starter or Josh Anderson saw more than 35 minutes. A few minutes here and there could really make the difference later in the year.
Going Forward
But it was really nice to see WKU get two really good road wins. Unfortunately, not one thing has gone right for WKU in terms of other teams faltering in the conference standings. So WKU sits two games ahead of FIU and three ahead of Marshall. But the rest of the East is ahead of them. Fortunately, WKU still gets everyone but FIU at least one more time, and Western is also the only team in the East that hasn’t played Marshall yet. With Marshall being in the cellar, that’s another advantage to WKU’s scheduled going forward.
East Division leading FAU comes into the hostile confines of E.A. Diddle Arena with a 7-3 record, including a convincing win at home against WKU. However, FAU has not proven it can beat a team with more than one conference win on the road. FAU owns two road wins at Marshall and at UTSA. My grandmother needs one win to match those two programs so far in conference play in the win column.
FAU has proven it can play, but how will it fare away from Boca? That is the question. If WKU can find a way to get it done Thursday, WKU will tighten the race in the East considerably just by continuing to win. FAU and Old Dominion play Tuesday, so if ODU could do WKU and the rest of the East a solid and take down the Owls, that would really make an impact. If not, WKU would be dead tied with ODU at 4-6. Then ODU gets MTSU Thursday. Charlotte gets La Tech at home. Then ODU gets UAB Sunday and Charlotte plays MTSU. Meanwhile, WKU gets to travel to UTSA.
So one way or another, if WKU takes care of business, the East second seed is going to look a lot more attainable for the Tops. Worst case scenario would be Middle and FAU continue winning, in which case WKU should be ahead of ODU and tied with Charlotte for third. But if Middle or FAU loses one or two, things really open up and WKU would be sitting on a chance down the road to possibly take over an MTSU, FAU, or Charlotte in a head-to-head matchup.