There’s an old saying in basketball: Jimmies and Joes beat x’s and o’s.
That was pretty much the story behind FAU's 83-58 rout of previously unbeaten Liberty on the opening night of the Field of 68 Tip-Off.
This matchup of teams that are mirrors of each other in preparedness, connectedness, relentlessness and competitiveness was settled in favor of the 6-1 Owls by superior athletes making superior athletic plays.
The Flames (5-1) were ranked 20th nationally in defense, allowing 60 points, by staying disciplined to team concepts and scouting reports and then mixing in some handsy physicality. That was evident at the opening tip when they broke up an action that could have led to an FAU backdoor layup. What was equally evident was that the Flames’ choice of sticking with FAU's three-point shooters at the arc opened the game for the Owls to other palatable options. It simply was hard for Liberty to stop one-on-one drives to the basket.
FAU coach Dusty May praised his team for taking what the defense gave it. He noted that Alijah Martin (20 points), Bryan Greenlee (12 points) and Jalen Gaffney (eight points) “all got to the rim repeatedly and were able to finish efficiently. We took advantage of the right matchups. We took advantage of the right spacing.”
That’s not something you often see against Liberty.
“We’ve had teams try to drive the ball against us, some really good teams, and we’ve been able to stand 'em up, get in front of ‘em, take the charge, give up a tough two and not putting them on the line, but that didn’t happen,” Flames coach Ritchie McKay said.
If stopping drives was difficult for the Flames, it was almost impossible for them to stop 7-foot-1 Vlad Goldin when the Owls got him the ball isolated in the paint against a single defender six inches shorter. Goldin scored 18 points on 7-of-9 shooting and 4-of-4 free throws to lead FAU to a 46-26 edge in points in the paint. Giancarlo Rosado (pictured via Bob Markey II) added nine points and nine rebounds in just 15 minutes off the bench.
“We haven’t had that trouble with interior presence for awhile, but that’s why they have a chance to be a national champion,” McKay said.
McKay likes to say his team has been successful by being able to “see the need, identify the need and address it.” On Thursday, there was no way to address:
– Goldin whirling left and scooping an underhanded layup beneath his defender's two vertical arms.
– Brenen Lorient leaping almost over the baseline in transition and turning an overthrown alley-oop pass into an assist on a Martin corner 3-pointer.
– Martin (six rebounds, three steals) doing all kinds of the usual Alijah Martin things.
“Even though Alijah had a great stat line, the biggest impact he had were the loose basketballs and the extra possessions that alleviate stress for our guys of having to make shots or doing something great at the offensive end," May said.
– Johnell Davis, held scoreless except for two free throws, doing other Johnell Davis things like rebounding his own missed layup as he was landing on the other side of the basket and in one motion finding Greenlee out front for an open three.
The Owls were equally connected at the other end, beginning with holding Flames leading scorer Kyle Rode to six points—10 below average—and none in the first half.
“All of our guys were very decisive,” May said. The switching, the rotating … all those things, I thought the guys really locked in.”
The Owls next play Saturday against College of Charleston, the third team in the Field of 68 round-robin. Liberty plays Charleston on Friday, with FAU safely in the rearview.
“They’re incredibly impressive," McKay said of the Owls. “I love their team, their individual parts, but their cohesion makes them a really tough out. They made us unlike the best version of ourselves."
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A little more on FAU-Liberty
Their "spurtability"—defined as the ability at any moment to break open a close game with a decisive scoring run.
"Their spurtability is as good as any in the country," McKay said.
"The game can be going on, and pretty even on each side. And …"
… he snapped his fingers …
"… within a 2 1/2-minute span, you're out of the game."
To the Flames' credit Thursday night, they forestalled the Owls' run until the late going. FAU had taken a comfortable control with a series of the kind of plays—passes, steals, dunks—that typically jolt momentum and jump-start those runs. Nothing game-breaking came of them, though. Liberty was hanging in admirably, with a nifty backcut layup here and 30-foot rainbow 3-pointer from Colin Porter there. The Flames actually tightened a 20-point FAU lead to 62-48 with 8:51 still left.
Game on?
With FAU ahead 66-50 about two minutes later, Coach Dusty May signaled the Owls to spread the floor on offense.
Game over.
FAU had opened its lead to that point by finding individual exploitable matchups within the Flames' team defense in normal offensive sets. Now the Owls were eliminating any possible help against drives to the basket—or at worst creating 2-on-1s. Not surprisingly, the Owls' execution was next-level.
Bryan Greenlee beat his man and earned two free throws. Flying through the lane, Alijah Martin dropped a pass off to Vlad Goldin for a dunk. Martin ripped a 3-pointer. Giancarlo Rosado drove for a layup, then a tad later hit two free throws, then a tad after that found Brenen Lorient with a beautiful high-low pass. Suddenly it was 79-50.
That, folks, is spurtability.
Credit the Flames some more, though. This run took 3 1/2 minutes instead of 2 1/2.
Johnell hasn’t been as consistent and still keeps making way too many turnovers for the NBA.
I think Goldin and Johnell still need another season to grow and build their resume
Martin has a great chance against Illinois and Arizona this month…
Let’s see how those 2 games work out.
I like Martin and want to see him do well. I think he could score from anywhere and he is one of the best college players today. But at 6'2 I think he'd need to become a better playmaker and ball handler to make it to the NBA
What to expect tonight, and what they're saying
Charleston was disruptive inside on defense (even after giving up offensive rebounds), hounded the Flames' three-point shooters, and led led from the start to finish.The Cougars' overall record (4-3) doesn't reflect how the team has played overall. Coach Pat Kelsey has been blending in newcomers after losing four players who were culture-drivers a year ago when the Cougars won 31 games and matched FAU's 20-game winning streak. Charleston actually led good Vermont and Wyoming teams before getting outplayed down the stretch.
Friday they were extremely solid in those final eight minutes, which Kelsey calls "winning time."
Whatever advantages Florida Atlantic might have against the Cougars tonight, one won't be a clear advantage in depth, at least in distribution of minutes. The Owls' bench production is well-documented, but the Cougars are a top-40 team this season in bench scoring and Friday their bench outscored Liberty's 35-11. "It's kinda what we do," Kelsey said. "We like to play a lot of guys. It allows us to play at a high rate in terms effort because we're always bringing fresh bodies into the game."
Also like FAU, Charleston strives to whip the ball around at high tempo in its offensive sets to keep defenses on the move—Kelsey labels it "pace, space and zing."
Kelsey had this to say about FAU on his local postgame radio interview Friday: "Florida Atlantic is one of the premier team in America this year. … They're not big in terms of height, but they're strong as ox. They get downhill, they finish at the rim, they shoot it very, very well from three. They have great cohesiveness, they've been together for a long, long time. Their defense is very underappreciated. I think that's one of the greatest things they do. They just have a bunch of big, strong, physical guys that are all like-sized. They switch everything and try to muddy you up. Their hands are all all over the place. It's a great challenge but also a great opportunity."
Nobody is in better position to assess Charleston's path to potential victory tonight than Liberty coach Ritchie McKay.
"I think Charleston has ability to match their tempo," McKay said. "I think it will be a matter of whether Charleston's offense can make it hard on FAU. Two pretty good teams. Should be a great game."