WKU Basketball: Grading the Tops in their 84-71 Win Over FIU

How did WKU grade out individually and as a team?

Western Kentucky is back in the winning column with a pretty dominant victory over what should be a pretty good FIU team in Conference USA.

WKU (9-6, 1-1 C-USA) defeated the Florida International Golden Panthers (10-5, 0-2 C-USA) in pretty convincing fashion, 84-71 Saturday afternoon in E.A. Diddle Arena in Bowling Green. FIU played fairly well offensively, but WKU’s offense was too much.

So it’s clear WKU played well. But how well did they play? Was it all luck? How did they do with my Keys to Victory?

So let’s grade out the Tops, starting with my Keys to Victory.

Grading the Keys to Victory

Bench Play: A

Josh Anderson came off of the bench and provided 16. That was pretty much to be expected and it’s something obviously Rick doing jus to keep the flow going. Josh came off of the bench and WKU has been pretty good with him as the sixth man. Fortunately, Rick did decide to play some of his other bench players to great dividends, specifically Jaylen Butz. Frankly, I think he should have gotten more than 13 minutes with the way he played, but hopefully he earned his way emphatically back into the rotation. Sherman Brashear also provided four minutes off of the bench. It’s inexplicable why he couldn’t get 10-15 minutes a night and provide an eight man rotation that spells Justice, Frampton, and McKnight a little more, but it’s clear Brashear is getting the Tolu Smith treatment, playing every single game but only getting 10.8 minutes per game. Give Rick credit: He played the bench and three starters actually played 33 minutes or less.

Jamarion Sharp Needs to Get His Averages: A-

Call me crazy, but this was a tale of two halves for Sharp: He was incredible from the field, not missing a shot on seven attempts. But those were all early. WKU went away from him in the second half, and the field goal percentage dropped ten points. Then again, FIU’s production came down significantly so it all evened out. But two blaring concerns came from this game, if you will. Sharp only had three blocks, number one. He’s leading the country and really needed to be more of a presence. Frankly, FIU did everything to avoid Sharp, including sneaking a guy from the weak side to distract him, placing Tevin Brewer (certified beast) in the middle of the 2-3 to draw Sharp away from the basket. Nonetheless, Sharp was not as much of a dominant presence in this game defensively. The other average that was a concern is just his average impact on the game is usually pretty large. Of course, he affected the game simply by being 7’5”. But he did not leave his mark on this game like he normally did. And WKU went away from him in the second half and the offense suffered.

Make Denver Jones and Tevin Brewer Work: A

Here’s the line for these guys: 62 minutes, 12/30 FG, 3/12 3 PT, zero FTs, 8 reb, 27 points, 11 ast, 4 TO, 0 stl.

Although that is a productive line with a really good assist-to-turnover ratio like we talked about, the rest of it is pretty pedestrian. 27 points on 30 FG is not very efficient, shooting slightly below average and not drawing fouls or creating chaos defensively. Both of these guys are productive, and were productive in this game. Brewer gave WKU difficulty all night, and he went for 20 by himself. But he didn’t go wild and he needed 19 shots to get to his nice 20 point effort. Keeping these guys at bay means WKU likely wins almost every time. Good job, Tops on this one.

Don’t Let Seth Pinkney Wreak Havoc: B-

I’m not sure why this guy doesn’t get more minutes, but in 18 minutes, a 7’1” guy shot 80%, scored ten, grabbed five boards, got two blocks, and didn’t turn the ball over. All of that is at or above his average, and for me, this was something that helped FIU somewhat neutralize Jamarion Sharp. This guy was clearly of fairly equal stature to Sharp and was able to make him look a little more normal than most teams can. But frankly, he came in and gave FIU some really good minutes.

Jairus Hamilton Can’t Be Awful: C-

Well, he wasn’t quite a “disaster”, like I said of him at La Tech. WKU made a definite effort to get him involved, running several set plays for him. He seems to be in a funk. But even though he wasn’t his productive self points-wise, he still produced a 7-7-3 line with zero turnovers. So for those saying he was terrible, that’s not the case. There’s no question he must get more on track for WKU to be its very best. But yeah this is a pretty poor grade because it’s important for him to be a good player or WKU will struggle in the long term.

Individual Grades

Dayvion McKnight: B

This kid is an amazing player. He always finds a way to make an imprint on the game. You’ve got to hand it to him. He takes a beating driving to the hole all night, but he was rewarded with six foul calls on his opponent and got to shoot nine free throws, making seven of them. He was only 3-of-7 from the floor, but then again, he only had to get up seven shots all night to score 13 points. He was a prolific passer, but one serious knock that he needs to continue to work on is his tendency to turn it over three to five times per game. He assists so much that if he would just keep his turnover total under three, he would be an incredibly efficient point guard. But give him a solid “B”.

Camron Justice: B+

Another strong performance, Justice played the most of all of the Tops, playing virtually the entire game at over 38 minutes. His steady Eddie church league type of game is entertaining to watch. He doesn’t look like much, but he’s a baller. And he makes really solid decisions and brings a level of maturity to college basketball that is rare: He’s married, he’s had a big boy job, and he’s certainly a grown man in a young man’s game and it shows night in and night out. In this case, he was productive as he has been of late, dropping in 15 with three treys and five assists. He did have three turnovers, so again, he’s got to clean that up just like Dayvion. Without his and McKnight’s turnovers, WKU had two turnovers. Why are the guards turning the ball over?

Luke Frampton: A+

With Hamilton struggling and McKnight not absolutely going off, Frampton, I daresay was the difference in FIU possibly winning and WKU being in complete control virtually throughout. Frampton is a streaky shooter, and anytime you have someone throwing up double digit shots not scoring close to double digits, that’s an offensive liability. But with Frampton also comes experience and hustle. He was all over the court in this game, making noticeable plays on both ends in addition to dropping 5-of-6 from deep.

Jairus Hamilton: D+

This was way better than La Tech, but obviously he still took a ton of shots and only scored seven points. Sure he had some production, but for someone averaging 14 on the same number of shots he took this game (12), he’s unquestionably in a funk. Give him credit for being above his average in rebounds and assists, as well as not turning the ball over. But his role is now to be the leading scorer. Get double digits every night or it’s a failing grade.

Jamarion Sharp: A-

Let’s not complain too much. The big fella was perfect from the field and way above his averages, except for blocks. But he definitely wasn’t the same defensive presence he’s been since joining the starting lineup, “only” blocking it three times. But he also wasn’t the talk of the game by the announcers, either. Several other Toppers were the “monkeys in the circus”, so to speak. Announcers have been gushing about Sharp. Sure, he had some awesome dunks. But he wasn’t the talk of the entire game, impacting every possession like normal. I believe a lot of that was really good coaching by FIU, avoiding Sharp at all costs. But Western definitely wants him to be more impactful. He was also virtually non-existent late in the game. WKU fell asleep on their assignment of getting him involved.

Bench: A

This current version of the bench is never going to be deep. It is what it is. But Rick Stansbury actually used the people he has at his disposal for the most part. Josh Anderson is an absolute luxury as a bench player. Then Jaylen Butz played like a man possessed. Surely he has earned his spot back in the rotation. And Sherman Brashear got a few minutes, missing a couple of shots and not seeing the floor again. The bench could each stand several more minutes and not hurt anything, but let’s just grade the results and not overly nitpick. The bench depth issue is obvious.

Efficiency: A+

Western was great all game, making 50% from three and nearly that from the field. On top of that, only ten turnovers. This was absolutely the key to victory. Without it, would WKU have even won? Possibly not with FIU playing so well.

Performance in Big Moments: B-

WKU definitely had several opportunities to completely bust the game open. They would miss free throws or easy bunny shots to allow FIU to hang on to hope.

Coaching: B

In-Game Coaching: B

I don’t remember a true head scratching moment in this game from Stansbury, but for me it’s really about the big picture. How did this game feel? For me, WKU should have won by more than 20 points and there should have been several minutes at the end that the bench got to play. I think FIU outcoached WKU in this game and gave themselves a chance despite WKU making shots and being the clearly better team.

Coaching Strategy: B

Again, when I compare coaching strategy, what did FIU do vs. what did WKU do? FIU clearly sagged a man from the weak side and also put Brewer into the paint when WKU was in the 2-3, forcing Sharp to pick someone to guard. They also made some really interesting choices offensively and were able to find ways to get in to the paint and keep Sharp way below his block average. Good for them. I can’t necessarily say what Rick Stansbury’s strategy was and what he did except for run some plays for Hamilton intentionally and switch between 2-3 zone and man-to-man.

Effort: A+

Western definitely played their guts out this game. Give them credit for playing extremely hard. There were double digit moments in this game where guys were on the floor, tipping balls and chasing, tapping back, attempting to make a play, offensive rebounds, etc.

Overall: A

Hey, there may have been some flaws here, but ultimately the conversation was, “We should win this game by double digits.” Well, WKU did that and they did it against an FIU team that honestly played really well and really hard. If WKU hadn’t been focused and on task, FIU could have easily won this game outright. Credit to the Tops and Coach Stansbury for having them ready to play. This team has had some lackadaisical moments, like late against La Tech, but this game was not one of them.

The Tops draw Rice at home this week, who just beat UAB. Then North Texas, defending conference tournament champion, follows the Owls on Saturday. Stay tuned for all of the analysis.

GO TOPS!