An N.C. resident's scouting report

[MU82]

Looking into it a little further, looks like Cohen can be foul-prone: fouled out of 5 games, had 4 fouls in 10 other games.  And, at 6-10 235, he's going to have trouble banging with Otule and Gardner.  Brooks isn't too much better--2 foul outs, 4 fouls in 10 games as well.  Both fouled out against Gonzaga.  I think if we can get into these guys with Gardner and Otule early, as well as lots of slashing with the guards, we can take control of the paint and really reduce them to a one-dimensional team.

Excellent point that underscores Davidson's lack of defensive ability. We definitely can shoot lots of FTs in this one. Hopefully, it's one of our good FT shooting games.

[GGGG]

Do you think we put Jamil/Steve/Juan on Cohen to stay with him and limit him on the outside, and then let our centers guard Brooks?  Or, better to go zone and just be real aggressive on the perimeter?

IMO you don't zone this team at least at first.  I question if they have guards that can break down our defense and get them into their offense.  Like last year against BYU, which is a team that I recall had a similar scouting report, our quickness on the perimeter meant we were constantly breaking down their defense and caused them trouble setting up their offense.

If they have a guard that can break down our defense like Grant did last week, they could be in trouble.

[4everwarriors]

Yeah, our strength is penetration.

[MU82]

IMO you don't zone this team at least at first.  I question if they have guards that can break down our defense and get them into their offense.  Like last year against BYU, which is a team that I recall had a similar scouting report, our quickness on the perimeter meant we were constantly breaking down their defense and caused them trouble setting up their offense.

If they have a guard that can break down our defense like Grant did last week, they could be in trouble.

They will have three good 3-pt shooters on the floor at most times, so we leave them open at our peril. Cochran and Mann are especially deadly, but Czerapowicz, Cohen and Mann all can get hot, too. So yes, ball pressure and daring them to beat us on the dribble should work pretty well. If our defenders are undisciplined and wander away from the guys standing on the perimeter -- a la Connaughton last week -- we can really get burned. There is no reason to leave a guy like Cochran wide open. It's not as if he's going to blaze past his defender. Any of our 3/4s -- Jamil, Taylor, Anderson -- can get into Cohen, too. Will they do so without fouling? That's a question.

[GGGG]

They will have three good 3-pt shooters on the floor at most times, so we leave them open at our peril. Cochran and Mann are especially deadly, but Czerapowicz, Cohen and Mann all can get hot, too. So yes, ball pressure and daring them to beat us on the dribble should work pretty well. If our defenders are undisciplined and wander away from the guys standing on the perimeter -- a la Connaughton last week -- we can really get burned. There is no reason to leave a guy like Cochran wide open. It's not as if he's going to blaze past his defender. Any of our 3/4s -- Jamil, Taylor, Anderson -- can get into Cohen, too. Will they do so without fouling? That's a question.

OK, this is good.  The reason that Connaughton was able to be open so much is because ND kept running pick and rolls to get Grant marching down the lane.  If they can defend that well and keep their guards up top (the anti-paint touches approach to defense) then MU should be fine.

[Skatastrophy]

Yeah, our strength is penetration.

QFE

[MUMountin]

They will have three good 3-pt shooters on the floor at most times, so we leave them open at our peril. Cochran and Mann are especially deadly, but Czerapowicz, Cohen and Mann all can get hot, too.

You've got Mann listed twice here--did you mean someone else?

And, isn't Mann injured?  In the other thread I mentioned that it looked like he got a concussion in January and hasn't played since, but I'm having trouble finding any info about it.  Their message board seems to have a policy (replete with lots of bullying and public shaming if you try to question it) of not discussing injuries--at all.  So, there are a few oblique references to Mann and his status, but having trouble finding anything concrete.

I bring it up because it seems like he was their other decent big in the nonconference, averaging about 20 mins off the bench.  Seems like they lost a lot of frontcourt depth without him.

[MU82]

You've got Mann listed twice here--did you mean someone else?

And, isn't Mann injured?  In the other thread I mentioned that it looked like he got a concussion in January and hasn't played since, but I'm having trouble finding any info about it.  Their message board seems to have a policy (replete with lots of bullying and public shaming if you try to question it) of not discussing injuries--at all.  So, there are a few oblique references to Mann and his status, but having trouble finding anything concrete.

I bring it up because it seems like he was their other decent big in the nonconference, averaging about 20 mins off the bench.  Seems like they lost a lot of frontcourt depth without him.

Brain fart ... I mean to say Kuhlman.

They miss Mann. He has been out for quite a while. He supposedly was making progress and there was talk he might be able to play in the conference tourney but he didn't. If he can come back and be as good as he usually is, it would help them a lot because he is talented.

[Sunbelt15]

I live in the Charlotte area and have seen Davidson a lot. Here's my scouting report.

Strengths:

Very experienced. Well coached. Brooks is a 6-7 forward who is very good on the low post; plays bigger than his size and is very tough and skilled; lots of people think he's an NBA player. Cohen is a 6-10 inside-outside threat who definitely will get a long look from NBA. They have several good to very good 3-point shooters, including Cohen, who likely will take MU center outside often. They have nice size at every position, even guard. They make their FTs.

Weaknesses:

Not unathletic but not super athletic, either -- kind of like a teamful of Locketts. When they hit 3s they are a threat against anybody but they have long cold stretches and they definitely need to make 3s to beat top opponents. They do not put much pressure on the ball and really aren't a great defensive team at all. As talented as Brooks and Cohen are, they disappear sometimes in games -- or at least can be taken out of games by good defensive teams.

My take:

Marquette is the only team I've seen more than Davidson this season, so I have a pretty good feel for both. With our guys being 3 seeds, I'm not thrilled that we have to play such an experienced team that has such a huge edge on us in 3-point shooting and that will not be the least bit intimidated by us. Yes, they have a few bad losses, but they also played Duke, New Mexico and Gonzaga well. (Tied with Duke at halftime; tied with Zags well into 2H; tied with NM until final minutes.)

If I weren't a Marquette fan, I'd be tempted to pick this as one of my first-round upsets. I think we'll be able to run on them and wear them down with our bigs, and I think both Junior and Vander should be able to get to the rim. If we take care of the ball and defend 3s reasonably well, we can win by double-digits. But very few things have gone ideally for the Warriors this season, so I think this will be closer than it has to be.

Marquette 81, Davidson 74.

I don't see 81, do see tough win in a close game.

[MUMountin]

Brain fart ... I mean to say Kuhlman.

They miss Mann. He has been out for quite a while. He supposedly was making progress and there was talk he might be able to play in the conference tourney but he didn't. If he can come back and be as good as he usually is, it would help them a lot because he is talented.

I saw that because I was looking to see how they played in non-conference against teams with decent bigs, and saw his name pop up a lot.  Its a little tough for us to compare how they played UNM, Gonzaga, Duke, etc., because it seems like he was a significant part of their game plan before (also interesting to note that he was just as foul prone as the other two in most of those games). 

Do you know if there was anyone that they played in conference after Mann went down that had dominant bigs for a comparison?  I don't really know much about the rest of the Southern Conference.  Just wondering if they tryed to match up, play small against them, etc. and how their two bigs fared in those games.