Tiger Defense Short-Circuits Valpo Offense
July 28, 2016 at 4:25 p.m.
VALPARAISO - If Warsaw's basketball team were a football team, the Tigers' defense would probably have a nickname by now.
But people don't hang nicknames on basketball defenses like they do football defenses.
Two Saturdays ago, Columbia City scored six points in the second and third quarters combined against Warsaw. This past Saturday, Valparaiso (3-1) mustered only 11 points in the second half as the Tigers (4-0) won 58-34.
"Geez, what did we get, 11 points in the second half?" Valparaiso coach Bob Punter said. "You're not going to win any games with that kind of output."
No, and with the loss, Warsaw snapped the Vikings' home winning streak, dating back to the 1996-1997 season, at 15. Six-foot-6 junior center Zach Nelson hit 9 of 14 field goals and led Warsaw with 22 points and eight rebounds. Senior point guard Rob Kesler added 14 points.
Less than 24 hours earlier, Valparaiso was a 3-0 offensive juggernaut that launched 31 three-pointers in an 88-49 Friday road win over Gary Roosevelt.
The Vikings ran one offensive play - it left three-point specialist Dirk Rhinehart open on the baseline - that Roosevelt never stopped.
No matter what they tried, nothing worked against Warsaw.
Warsaw's stingy half-court defense dismantled the juggernaut on its home floor.
"There's so much of a difference between the two teams (Warsaw, Roosevelt) defensively," Punter said. "Warsaw is just so much, so much better at being at the right place at the right time. You hope an 88-point game will carry over."
He hoped, but it didn't.
Warsaw and Valparaiso were tied at 16 at the end of the first quarter. The Tigers outscored the Vikings 42-18 the rest of the way as Valparaiso hit just 6 of 27 field goals (22 percent) in the last three quarters.
Valparaiso had one offensive weapon against Warsaw, Rhinehart. Rhinehart hit 6 of 14 threes and scored 20 against Roosevelt. He picked up where he left off, hitting three threes in the first quarter against Warsaw.
Then he scored only three more the rest of the way to finish as Valparaiso's leading scorer with 12.
Whether or not Warsaw coach Al Rhodes knew Rhinehart's name before the game is not known. What is known is that Rhinehart must not have made a lasting impression. Rhodes could not recall his name after the game, thanks to forward Ross Kesler, who chased after and contained Rhinehart.
"Forgive me for forgetting names, but No. 4 had four threes in the first half," Rhodes said. "We wanted to concentrate on No. 4. We just weren't switching screens well enough. In the second half, primarily Ross Kesler, with help of Chris Wiggins and Jason Barrett, got after him."
Number four - Rhinehart - scored no points in the second half.
By taking Rhinehart out of the game, Ross Kesler and the Tigers pulled the plug on Valparaiso's offense. On this night, Rhinehart was the Vikings' one and only power supply, and the juice stopped flowing after one quarter.
The Vikings had two big men in 6-foot-5 junior center Laroy Blake and 6-4 senior forward Adam Moore, a former Warsaw product. But they combined for just seven points.
"You'd like to get more people involved," Punter said, "but no one else has stepped up."
Compare that to Warsaw's big men, 6-6 junior center Zach Nelson and 6-5 junior forward Steve Siebenmorgen, who combined for 28.
"The height was the same, but Zach and Steve are physical underneath," Rhodes said. "When they get into people's legs, they are very difficult to keep from getting the ball. Once they get it, they do good things."
Defensively, Valparaiso spent much of the night in a diamond and one defense that focused on shutting down Warsaw guard Chris Wiggins.
The Vikings and early foul trouble contained Wiggins, who finished with five. But Valparaiso never found an answer for Nelson.
Siebenmorgen entered the weekend scoring 22 points per game, but Rhodes has said all along Nelson will score and score big.
"Offensively in the second half, we were able to get them out of their collapse defense, where they were playing a diamond and one and a 2-3 zone," Rhodes said. "When they came out, Zach Nelson inside played really, really well. When the inside opened up, he took care of things.
"With this team, we never know where our scoring is going to come from. We have done a good job of taking what the defense gives us."
And as they have in the first three games, Warsaw players like reserve Jason Barrett, Wiggins, Ross Kesler and Rob Kesler, to name a few, realized what was working. They willingly dumped the ball inside. Rhodes says his team's passing, it's ability to unselfishly get the ball where it needs to go, is its biggest strength so far this season.
Barrett led the team with five assists, while Ross Kesler added four. The Tigers assisted on 15 of their 20 field goals. So far this season no team has been able deny passes to stop Warsaw's players from getting the ball where they want it to go.
The combination of Ross Kesler, Jason Henthorn and Siebenmorgen jumpstarted the Tigers and sent them on their way.
Kesler stole the ball near halfcourt and passed it to Henthorn, who dumped it off to Siebenmorgen under the basket for an easy two points. That is how the first half ended, and this was the play that Punter agonized over.
Warsaw led 28-23 at halftime.
"We had the ball down three (26-23) and throw it away," he said. "They make a spectacular play, a momentum-builder. That really, really hurt us."
Just as Warsaw's defense did throughout, especially in the third quarter. Fueled by 10 Nelson points, the Tigers outscored Valparaiso 15-3 in the third to blow the game open at 43-26.
"Warsaw's defense tipped the scales for them," Punter said. "I was thinking we would have a tough time with them because they are so well-coached and so well-drilled. They just got after us. We didn't react very well."
Punter was asked if Warsaw's defense is the best Valparaiso has seen after four games.
"Oh yeah, no doubt," Punter said. "They get out there and deny the wing pass and don't let you enter the ball to start your offense. They really gummed us up."
Two Saturdays ago, the Tigers gummed up Columbia City by allowing only six points over two quarters. Then they gummed up Valparaiso by allowing only 11 in the second half. And if you were talking to Rhodes after the game, he would have pointed out the number .42 to you on his stat sheet.
Points per possession is one of his key categories, and Valparaiso was at .42 in the second half. To give you a barometer, 1.0 is what the Tigers shoot for, and they were at .94 in the second half.
To Rhodes, .42 showed just how gummed up Valparaiso's offense was. He was asked if he has a reason for his team's defensive success.
"We adjust," he said. "Everybody who guarded No. 4 played him like we wanted them to. Against Columbia City, we wanted to keep Jason Elkins from getting the ball. Tonight, we wanted to concentrate on No. 4." [[In-content Ad]]
VALPARAISO - If Warsaw's basketball team were a football team, the Tigers' defense would probably have a nickname by now.
But people don't hang nicknames on basketball defenses like they do football defenses.
Two Saturdays ago, Columbia City scored six points in the second and third quarters combined against Warsaw. This past Saturday, Valparaiso (3-1) mustered only 11 points in the second half as the Tigers (4-0) won 58-34.
"Geez, what did we get, 11 points in the second half?" Valparaiso coach Bob Punter said. "You're not going to win any games with that kind of output."
No, and with the loss, Warsaw snapped the Vikings' home winning streak, dating back to the 1996-1997 season, at 15. Six-foot-6 junior center Zach Nelson hit 9 of 14 field goals and led Warsaw with 22 points and eight rebounds. Senior point guard Rob Kesler added 14 points.
Less than 24 hours earlier, Valparaiso was a 3-0 offensive juggernaut that launched 31 three-pointers in an 88-49 Friday road win over Gary Roosevelt.
The Vikings ran one offensive play - it left three-point specialist Dirk Rhinehart open on the baseline - that Roosevelt never stopped.
No matter what they tried, nothing worked against Warsaw.
Warsaw's stingy half-court defense dismantled the juggernaut on its home floor.
"There's so much of a difference between the two teams (Warsaw, Roosevelt) defensively," Punter said. "Warsaw is just so much, so much better at being at the right place at the right time. You hope an 88-point game will carry over."
He hoped, but it didn't.
Warsaw and Valparaiso were tied at 16 at the end of the first quarter. The Tigers outscored the Vikings 42-18 the rest of the way as Valparaiso hit just 6 of 27 field goals (22 percent) in the last three quarters.
Valparaiso had one offensive weapon against Warsaw, Rhinehart. Rhinehart hit 6 of 14 threes and scored 20 against Roosevelt. He picked up where he left off, hitting three threes in the first quarter against Warsaw.
Then he scored only three more the rest of the way to finish as Valparaiso's leading scorer with 12.
Whether or not Warsaw coach Al Rhodes knew Rhinehart's name before the game is not known. What is known is that Rhinehart must not have made a lasting impression. Rhodes could not recall his name after the game, thanks to forward Ross Kesler, who chased after and contained Rhinehart.
"Forgive me for forgetting names, but No. 4 had four threes in the first half," Rhodes said. "We wanted to concentrate on No. 4. We just weren't switching screens well enough. In the second half, primarily Ross Kesler, with help of Chris Wiggins and Jason Barrett, got after him."
Number four - Rhinehart - scored no points in the second half.
By taking Rhinehart out of the game, Ross Kesler and the Tigers pulled the plug on Valparaiso's offense. On this night, Rhinehart was the Vikings' one and only power supply, and the juice stopped flowing after one quarter.
The Vikings had two big men in 6-foot-5 junior center Laroy Blake and 6-4 senior forward Adam Moore, a former Warsaw product. But they combined for just seven points.
"You'd like to get more people involved," Punter said, "but no one else has stepped up."
Compare that to Warsaw's big men, 6-6 junior center Zach Nelson and 6-5 junior forward Steve Siebenmorgen, who combined for 28.
"The height was the same, but Zach and Steve are physical underneath," Rhodes said. "When they get into people's legs, they are very difficult to keep from getting the ball. Once they get it, they do good things."
Defensively, Valparaiso spent much of the night in a diamond and one defense that focused on shutting down Warsaw guard Chris Wiggins.
The Vikings and early foul trouble contained Wiggins, who finished with five. But Valparaiso never found an answer for Nelson.
Siebenmorgen entered the weekend scoring 22 points per game, but Rhodes has said all along Nelson will score and score big.
"Offensively in the second half, we were able to get them out of their collapse defense, where they were playing a diamond and one and a 2-3 zone," Rhodes said. "When they came out, Zach Nelson inside played really, really well. When the inside opened up, he took care of things.
"With this team, we never know where our scoring is going to come from. We have done a good job of taking what the defense gives us."
And as they have in the first three games, Warsaw players like reserve Jason Barrett, Wiggins, Ross Kesler and Rob Kesler, to name a few, realized what was working. They willingly dumped the ball inside. Rhodes says his team's passing, it's ability to unselfishly get the ball where it needs to go, is its biggest strength so far this season.
Barrett led the team with five assists, while Ross Kesler added four. The Tigers assisted on 15 of their 20 field goals. So far this season no team has been able deny passes to stop Warsaw's players from getting the ball where they want it to go.
The combination of Ross Kesler, Jason Henthorn and Siebenmorgen jumpstarted the Tigers and sent them on their way.
Kesler stole the ball near halfcourt and passed it to Henthorn, who dumped it off to Siebenmorgen under the basket for an easy two points. That is how the first half ended, and this was the play that Punter agonized over.
Warsaw led 28-23 at halftime.
"We had the ball down three (26-23) and throw it away," he said. "They make a spectacular play, a momentum-builder. That really, really hurt us."
Just as Warsaw's defense did throughout, especially in the third quarter. Fueled by 10 Nelson points, the Tigers outscored Valparaiso 15-3 in the third to blow the game open at 43-26.
"Warsaw's defense tipped the scales for them," Punter said. "I was thinking we would have a tough time with them because they are so well-coached and so well-drilled. They just got after us. We didn't react very well."
Punter was asked if Warsaw's defense is the best Valparaiso has seen after four games.
"Oh yeah, no doubt," Punter said. "They get out there and deny the wing pass and don't let you enter the ball to start your offense. They really gummed us up."
Two Saturdays ago, the Tigers gummed up Columbia City by allowing only six points over two quarters. Then they gummed up Valparaiso by allowing only 11 in the second half. And if you were talking to Rhodes after the game, he would have pointed out the number .42 to you on his stat sheet.
Points per possession is one of his key categories, and Valparaiso was at .42 in the second half. To give you a barometer, 1.0 is what the Tigers shoot for, and they were at .94 in the second half.
To Rhodes, .42 showed just how gummed up Valparaiso's offense was. He was asked if he has a reason for his team's defensive success.
"We adjust," he said. "Everybody who guarded No. 4 played him like we wanted them to. Against Columbia City, we wanted to keep Jason Elkins from getting the ball. Tonight, we wanted to concentrate on No. 4." [[In-content Ad]]