Houston Cougars vs Rider Broncs

I’m going to keep this one short and sweet (rare, huh?). The Rider Broncs come to the Fertitta Center on Thursday night with a 1-3 record to take on No. 2 Houston (4-0).

This will not be pretty.

The Broncs really struggle on both ends of the court. They lost to Texas on Tuesday night by 34 points. Houston should win this fairly easily and it be an excellent opportunity for the Coogs to work on some things they have struggled with. It should give everyone on the bench an opportunity to shine against other competition as well.

The Broncs are led by Flash Burton, who is by far their best player. He has the coolest name of the year so far and is the head of the snake for this one. Flash is really good at shooting off the bounce and creating for himself. He had 16 points Tuesday night vs Texas. He is not an elite outside shooter at 25%. Burton loves to work out of the pick-and-roll, but blitzing him should give him fits, as he averages 4 turnovers per game.

Rider Offense Notes

• The Broncs have 234 field goal attempts on the season. Of those 234 Flash Burton and Zion Cruz have attempted 104. They are clearly their top two scoring options.
• Rider is a poor outside shooting team. They have only attempted 69 three-pointers and have made 16 (23%).
• The Broncs tend to panic against teams that defend tough. This should be a GREAT opportunity to get Kalifa some practice blitzing and recovering.

Broncs Defense Notes

• Rider plays a mix of half-court, m2m defense and a variety of half-court zone defenses. So far this season, they have played 189 m2m possessions and 71 zone possessions. They’re not very good at either.
• They may try a mix of a 2-3 and 3-2 half-court zone.
• The Broncs play a match-up zone, where they guard their man tight, but stay in their designated zone on the court, rather than chasing him to other area’s.

Rider Personnel (*Indicates likely starters)

*#11 – Flash Burton – 6’3″ – SO – Guard – 14ppg, 4rpg, 2 apg, 4TOpg.

• Scoring point guard; Head of the Snake;
• Nice dribble pull-up jumper; Excellent floater in the paint;
• Flails on some of his jumpers to make the ref think he’s being fouled;
• Takes and makes some REALLY difficult shots;
• Averaging 4 turnovers per game; Blitzing his on ball screens is going to give him fits.

*#0 – Zion Cruz – 6’5 – SR – Guard/ Forward – (Pratt CC, DePaul) – 11ppg, 3rpg.

• Shooting guard; 2nd leading scorer;
• Good cutter to the basket;
• Nice pull-up jumper;
• Capable outside shooter (25%).

*#2 – Caleb Smith – 6’5″ – JR – Guard – (Garden City CC, Pratt CC) – 9ppg, 8rpg.

• Athletic guard;
• Good at driving to the rim; Pretty decent around the basket;
• Really good rebounder for a guard.

*6 – Mohamad Diallo – 7’0″ – SR – Forward – (Florida Memorial, Clayton St, Morehouse, Labette CC) – 5ppg, 5rpg, 1bpg.

• Premier world traveler; At his 5TH college;
• Really big post player; Moves pretty well for a seven-footer;
• Not a bad little jump hook with his left hand over his right shoulder.

*#21 – Cole McCabe – 6’8″ – SO – Forward – 5ppg, 4rpg, 1bpg.

• Big body forward;
• Was at IMG Academy at the same time as Chase McCarty;
• Does a decent job cutting to the basket;
• Capable of going over either shoulder in the paint; He’s gonna get blocked though;
• Can step out and shoot the three-pointer; 4-10 (40%).

#13 – Daniel Helterfhoff – 6’10” – SR – Forward – (Our Lady of the Lake, USC Upstate) – 5ppg, 3rpg.

• Big body forward;
• Not overly skilled. Decent around the basket;

#7 – Davis Bynum – 6’9″ – SO – Forward – (Cal State-Fullerton) – 3ppg, 2rpg.

• Long/athletic forward;
• Can finish with his either hand in the paint; Not bad off the bounce;
• Capable of stepping out for the three.

#3 – Shemani Fuller – 6’9″ – RS SR – Forward – (Clark Atlanta, Western Michigan) – 3ppg, 4rpg.

• Long/very athletic forward;
• Not bad around the basket.

#14 – Antwan Wilson – 6’5″ – JR – Guard – (Weatherford College, Maryland Eastern Shore) – 2ppg, 2rpg.

• Athletic guard;
• Likes to get to the rim if possible;
• Horrible outside shooter.

What I’m Watching For…

1. Hold Flash Burton under double-digit scoring. He’s a really good mid-range jump shooter, but the Coogs will make his life hell for 40 minutes.
2. Bench production. I think we see Mercy Miller get double digit points in this one. Should be a GREAT opportunity to get everyone on the bench involved. I’d like to see Kalifa get some work on blitzing the ball screen and recovering quickly. He can be so good, but needs those reps.
3. Hold them under 40 points. I think holding them under 20 points per half is very attainable!

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