Elite 8: Trojans' ball movement is team's forte

By Allen Etzler
Published in Sports on March 21, 2015 11:28 PM

• Print
• Email

aetzler@newsargus.com

MOUNT OLIVE -- Dontrell Brite never thought he would play this way.

Dominique Reed played the exact same way in high school.

No matter the background, the University of Mount Olive basketball players come to campus and play the way coach Joey Higginbotham wants them to play. They fit his system.

It's a system predicated on perpetual motion, players finding the open man and then moving without the ball. They focus on setting hard screens to get teammates open. No one player is more important than the other.

"We give up good shots for great shots," Reed said.

The Trojans have played by the mantra that the go-to guy is a different guy every night. Their motion offense is a big reason for that. Plays are not consistently designed for certain players, but based on reading the defense and reacting to hit the open man.

"We don't want to be a one-trick pony who relies on one guy," Higginbotham said. "We want the ball to never stop moving and we want to move without the ball and make plays in space when we can."

The results are proof positive that the system is working.

Brite led the Conference Carolinas in assists as an individual with 5.6. The Trojans as a team led the conference in assists per game (18.1) and assists-to-turnover ratio (1.4:1).

If Brite had it his way, he would probably have more assists, but he also has the responsibility to score the basketball as well. He averages 14 points per game.

"In high school all I did was try to set my teams up, I'd rather them score than me," Brite said. "But with Dory here last year he took care of that, so I had to score more. Now this year I kind of have to do both."

Brite adds that Higginbotham makes sure to let him when he doesn't do both.

"He'll let me hear about it after a game if I only have two assists, or if I only score three points. He gives me a hard time if I don't do it," Brite said.

Everyone knows what the Trojans' guards do to help set up their teammates. But an aspect that often goes unnoticed is how well the Trojans big men pass the ball.

Reed, Mike Moore and Jordan McCain are all versatile big men who know how to found the open man when defenses collapse on them. Reed has been used to this style of play since high school.

"In high school I was the guy, so a lot of defenses would double- or triple-team me when I had the ball," Reed said. "So I learned how to kick it out, or find a guy cutting, or hit someone with a skip pass.

"It's a lot of the same things we do here."

Higginbotham understands the importance of all of his bigs being good passers as well.

"It's huge," Higginbotham said. "Dom is a really good passer. Our bigs are versatile. And we want them to be. We don't want them to just sit in the post. We want them coming out and making plays and setting screens. That's when we're dangerous."

Perhaps even more important than all five players having the ability to pass the ball, all five players have to know what to do after they pas the ball. Moving without the basketball is where the open shots come from.

It's a system similar to how the NBA's San Antonio Spurs run their offense. There are no superstars on the Spurs and that is why they succeed.

"Coach would probably love to hear you say that," Reed said of comparisons to the Spurs.

As the Trojans head into the Elite Eight against Tarleton State next week, their ball movement will be critical. It's what makes them so difficult for opposing teams to scout against, so if they don't move the ball well they will struggle.

"You can't know what we're going to do, we don't know what we're going to do," Higginbotham said. "That's part of the reason I like to run the motion offense is it's hard to scout against. It's really hard when everybody has bought in and runs the offense the right way like we have."