Forcing turnovers 101: aggressive ball pressure, quick hands, and knowledge of tendencies. Right now, GW (3-1) has all three – and they needed all three to secure their first road win of the season.
In Wednesday night’s low scoring win, 48-37, against USC Upstate, the Colonials showcased their core defensive mentality and proved once again that they have a knack for creating turnovers. In total, GW forced 33 Spartan turnovers – 21 in the first half – off of 22 steals.
“Offensively were not where we need to be yet,” head coach Jonathan Tsipis said. “But the good part is, I think they’re understanding that if we defend people and rebound and can force turnovers, we can really make people uncomfortable.”
This ability to force turnovers seems to stem from the team’s up-tempo, man-to-man defensive scheme. Wednesday, Tsipis said, the team did a good job of getting deflections and allowing enough time for the other off-ball defenders to slide over and get the steal. That was key, especially against a team like USC Upstate, which relies on dribble penetration to set up their kick-out offense.
In addition, the Colonials looked to extend their pressure out even more tonight, keeping the quick Spartan guards in front of them and forcing them to settle for poor options. By the final whistle, GW had held the Spartans to 36 percent shooting and a dreadful eight percent shooting from behind the arc.
“I think the thing that happened today was we were able to get them deep in the shot clock with our pressure,” Tsipis said. “Whether it was extended or just even in the half court, it forced them to try and make plays late in the shot clock at speeds they weren’t used to making them at.”
Making opposing teams feel uncomfortable is something Tsipis has stressed this season as crucial to winning games. On the other side of the ball, transition offense is another piece of the winning puzzle that Tsipis is looking for – something the team couldn’t find tonight.
With a second half in which the Spartans were forced to foul three straight times and send GW to the double-bonus, the Colonials somehow still only attempted 15 free throws for the entire game. This, Tsipis said, showed their team’s lack of aggressiveness in transition and wanting to get to the charity stripe for easy points.
“They played zone the whole game except the two last minutes, when they had to press and try to come from behind,” Tsipis said. “We’ve got to be able to attack people before they can get set in whatever they’re zone is and still look for the same openings that we do with man to man.”
The overall passiveness in transition led to only 19 points off of their 33 turnovers, and a field goal percentage of 25 percent. Tsipis said the team needs to do a better job of finding easier shots and taking advantage of their early successes on defense.
Thus far, the Colonials have been able to overcome this thanks to a well-balanced team attack that can have a different leading scorer each night. Pacing the way tonight were seniors Shi-Heria Shipp and Danni Jackson, who both finished with 11 points apiece.
For now, the Colonials will continue to play to their defensive strengths and look to make some offensive adjustments in this short break and throughout the season moving forward.
“If you can guard and if you can rebound, you can win a lot of games,” Tsipis said.
