Attention to spacing can make Winthrop offense elite

Winthrop came away from its road game against Illinois with greater national notoriety and a better understanding of the importance spacing plays in its offensive success.

Pat Kelsey’s team relied heavily on Keon Johnson’s 38-point effort to get the program’s first win over a Big Ten opponent, despite 22 turnovers. Improving Winthrop’s offensive spacing was a focus in the few days immediately after the head-turning win in Champagne.

“Continuing to play as a unit and play connected is really important, and that goes for Keon as well,” said Kelsey. “He’s one of the best players in the country with the ball in his hands, and the growth that he needs to continue to make is without the ball in his hands.”

The Eagles welcome New Hampshire to Rock Hill on Sunday afternoon in the final game of the two teams’ participation in the ESPN NIT Tip-Off. The Wildcats offer a perfect test of this Winthrop’s team ability to compartmentalize big wins like the Illinois success. New Hampshire doesn’t have the same name recognition and only claims two winning seasons since 1995, but Bill Herrion’s team is still dangerous.

“We’re gonna treat each opponent with the same respect,” said Kelsey. “And listen, New Hampshire is really good. There is no attention-getting necessary with me, with our coaching staff, with our players. They’ve already had high-level statement win and our guys have unbelievable respect for them.”

The Wildcats won 20 and 19 games the last two years, those aforementioned two winning campaigns since ‘95. They knocked off Temple in their season opener, but also lost to Abilene Christian and fell flat in a 59-point loss to West Virginia. It’s not clear which New Hampshire team will show up Sunday, but if the Eagles clean up some of their offensive maneuvering, it might not matter.

Kelsey has the most balanced roster yet in his five years at Winthrop, and it starts on the perimeter. In Johnson, Anders and Bjorn Broman, Xavier Cooks and Roderick Perkins, the Eagles have at least five dangerous shooters from 3-point range. In Johnson and Cooks, they have two of the best dribble penetrators in the league. Cooks is getting more paint-touches - when he literally steps foot in the painted area with the basketball - than at any point in his career, a good sign for the Eagles.

“It’s one of the things that makes him really special,” Kelsey said. “He has an elite ability, at 6-foot-8, to pass off the dribble. That’s why spacing is so important when Xavier attacks, when Keon attacks, any of our guys. It’s playing off that penetration.”

The penetration and floor spacing feed off the other to make Winthrop one of the most dangerous mid-major offenses in the country. When everything is clicking, it’s nice to watch.

When an Eagle drives the lane on Sunday, look and see if Kelsey’s team has two shooters in opposing deep corners, another beyond the arc directly adjacent to the dribbler, and a big man lurking on the baseline for a dump-off and easy slam. Tick those boxes and chances are the play ends well.

But there were times against Illinois where several Eagles were bunched together in certain quadrants of the offensive end, or didn’t move in concert off players’ penetration into the paint.

“Keon had a legendary offensive game but I think as a whole, it wasn’t the best we can play,” Kelsey said. “Our ball security wasn’t there.”

The Eagles are certainly capable of playing better offensively. They turned it over far less against higher pressure defenses in Manhattan and Florida State.

That’s why Kelsey was preaching former college basketball coach Don Meyer’s quote “offense is spacing and spacing is offense” during last Wednesday’s practice. Winthrop players will probably hear it again before Sunday’s game.

This story was originally published November 26, 2016 at 4:22 PM with the headline "Attention to spacing can make Winthrop offense elite."