That. Is. Awesome. Hate floppers.
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In order to guard Royce, it takes a smart defender. Like has been discussed, the opposing team cannot leave shooters open. So the guy guarding Royce must:
A. Keep him out of the paint
B. Force him to shoot jumpers
C. But, you cannot sag off him with the ball in his hands, because of the dribble handoffs. If the defender is not there to hedge, it'll be open shots all day.
What I'm saying is that I agree Drummond/UConn's big men may be athletic and long enough to give Royce some problems. However, those defenders must play smart enough to know when to hedge/who to hedge on and still be able to not give up any dunks to Royce. If Royce senses his defender hedging to early, he'll make a quick move to the basket and end up with a dunk.
wasn't there a stat about being undefeated when royce (taylor) white scores in single digits? sometimes, i prefer this because it means he's likely making the D collapse down low and kicking out for a plethora of threes, so long as we're hitting them. 'shutting down' royce could mean scotty going for 25 or allen going for 25 or blah blah blah. i love that we have options.
I think that this will be a key point. I think Drummond matches up physically with White very well but he is young. How smart he plays will go a long way toward how long he stays in the game. Roscoe Smith doesn't that the same wide body but it he is a tough defensive player, who can sink an open shot or clean up off the glass. White will see him if Drummond isn't effective.