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Comparing Final Four offenses by play type

By Chris Stone

NEW YORK, NY - MARCH 10: Jalen Brunson #1 of the Villanova Wildcats celebrates his three point shot in the first half against the Providence Friars during the championship game of the Big East Basketball Tournament at Madison Square Garden on March 10, 2018 in New York City. (Photo by Elsa/Getty Images)
NEW YORK, NY - MARCH 10: Jalen Brunson #1 of the Villanova Wildcats celebrates his three point shot in the first half against the Providence Friars during the championship game of the Big East Basketball Tournament at Madison Square Garden on March 10, 2018 in New York City. (Photo by Elsa/Getty Images) /
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Who needs defense? The Final Four features some of the country’s best offenses.

The final weekend of the 2017-18 college basketball season is here. Four programs will vie to become national champions in San Antonio and although the old adage says defense wins championships, the four teams left in the NCAA Tournament all got here with elite offense.

Kansas, Loyola, Michigan and Villanova all rank in the top 30 in terms of raw points per possession scored on offensive trips. So, I thought it might be fun to do a quick dive into how each team generates its points.

Last week, I put together a review of Duke’s new look offense featuring two traditional bigs by comparing how its offense finished possessions over time. It seemed to go over well and I felt like a similar approach would be interesting here.

Here’s how each Final Four offense stacks up by play type:

Some interesting takeaways:

  • It’s no surprise to see the Ramblers finish the lowest percentage of their possessions in isolations. Head coach Porter Moser’s offense blends principles of Rick Majerus’ old motion scheme with ball screens and spacing. Loyola has assisted on 60.0 percent of its made field goals this season, the 24th best mark nationally and the highest number among teams left in the tournament, per KenPom.
  • Although last season’s national champion, North Carolina, dominated on the offensive glass, don’t expect to see too many putbacks in this year’s Final Four. No team left in the field ranks higher than 270th in Division I in terms of percentage of possessions finished with a putback. The de-emphasis on offensive rebounding is consistent with recent trends in college basketball.
  • Kansas and Loyola may run more post ups than Villanova, but its the Wildcats’ post ups that take on a unique style. Head coach Jay Wright frequently inverts his offense by posting up either point guard Jalen Brunson or wing Mikal Bridges. Brunson, who averages 1.216 points per possession (98th percentile) on such plays, is one of the most dominant post scorers in college basketball despite standing just 6-foot-2.

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  • Michigan’s heavy emphasis on ball screens is obvious to see. The Wolverines finish 32.1 percent of their possessions with either the ball-handler scoring out of the pick-and-roll or a pass out of it. That’s the highest number left in the Final Four and the 43rd highest number in Division I.
  • Finally, it looks like the Jayhawks generate plenty of offense from off-ball cuts, but that’s a bit deceiving. Yes, Lagerald Vick is a smart cutting threat who’s often on the receiving ends of lobs to the rim, but about a fifth of the team’s cutting possessions belong to center Udoka Azubuike. And nearly all of his cuts are simple dump offs from penetrating guards who draw his defender as help. To beat Kansas, you’ve got to keep Devonte’ Graham and Malik Newman out of the paint.

All statistics sourced via Synergy unless otherwise noted.

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