City of Basketball Love

Stephen Pianovich (@SPianovich)
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At this point in the season, La Salle is looking to level the playing field.

With three transfers sitting out and two more players not available, the team can’t do much about the bodies or talent it has at its disposal. But it can do something about the tempo of the game.

Against No. 25 Dayton on Saturday, La Salle had one simple strategy: hold the basketball. For pretty much the entire game, La Salle handled possessions as if the shot clock was the game clock at the end of a half and the team wanted to get one shot. Nearly every time the Explorers had the ball, the point guard would dribble out top, and they took most shots with less than 10 seconds left on the shot clock.

It worked. And La Salle upset Dayton, 61-57, Saturday afternoon at Tom Gola Arena.

“People like to be comfortable. Not a lot of people want to play against that,” Explorers coach John Giannini said. “As we see it, playing that way is pretty good for us, but I’m not sure it’s enjoyable for the opposition. There’s a coaching thing that I believe in: the most comfortable team wins the game. If you feel comfortable doing something and they’re not, you probably have the advantage. Whenever you are comfortable and you’re opponent is not, for whatever the reason, you have an advantage.”

The team was again without big men Rohan Brown (knee) and Yevgen Sakhniuk (illness), so the slowed pace worked to its advantage for a few reasons.

First of all, it got Dayton out of a rhythm offensively. The Flyers, who average close to 75 points per game, looked out of sync for the entire game.

They shot just 30.9 percent from the field and a lousy 28.6 percent (8-for-28) from beyond the 3-point arc.

“It was a funny feeling in the game,” Dayton coach Archie Miller said. “What we prepped for and what we were doing offensively -- yes I definitely think the game felt different.”

Secondly, the slowed down pace gave a team using just six players an opportunity to rest while the clock was running. The shorthanded Explorers got at least 33 minutes from every one of their starters, but they looked fresh as the game wore on and actually outplayed the Flyers, who used 10 players, in the final five minutes. It also allowed La Salle to respond to an 8-0 Dayton run which put the away team up by seven points with 12 minutes left.

“We definitely had a lot more energy on defense,” said Amar Stukes, who had 13 points in 40 minutes. “We were able to lock down and get some good stops, especially at the end. So the energy from the rest on offense really helped us out this game.”

With the limited looks, the Explorers were still able to capitalize as they broke a seven-game losing skid and got their first win against a Division-I opponent since topping Lafayette on Nov. 23. They shot 43.5 percent from the field, going 10-for-23 in both halves.

Jordan Price led the way with 17 points – which included the 1,000th point of his career – and all five La Salle starters were in double figures. Johnnie Shuler had 11 and five rebounds, big man Tony Washington had 10 points and six boards before fouling out and Cleon Roberts also had 10 points.

Giannini noted that he used a slowdown tactic earlier this season, as La Salle was also undermanned in its first trio of contests. The team won all three of those games, so it seems like the style of play will continue.

“In hindsight, if you are 4-0 doing something, that’s just how we should play with this particular group. Period,” Giannini said.

But regardless of how it happened, the coach was just happy his players could celebrate in the locker room again.

“We are also thrilled because it has been a long time coming. This has really been a struggle for all of us, more so the kids than the [coaches] because playing is a lot harder than coaching, Giannini said.

“I’m thrilled for these guys. I think we are going to compete and keep getting better and we’ll get some more good wins. I think for as much as we’ve struggled this year the long term future here is just terrific. With kids like this and adding talent, I am really excited.”