Buzz Williams on Maryland basketball's offensive struggles vs. Oregon, Solomon Washington, analytics

Ahmed Ghafir
5 days ago
9 min read

Everything that head coach Buzz Williams said after Maryland basketball’s ten-point home loss vs. Oregon:

On shooting 27% vs. Oregon

“Well, always give credit to coach and his staff and their team. Nothing that we were trying to do was easy. I thought a lot of the things that we were trying to accomplish offensively, I would judge them as the right things to do. We didn't shoot the percentage that we need to shoot, but I wouldn't necessarily say that it was what I would call a red light shot. I thought we shot a lot of green light shots - we just didn't make them. But I thought the momentum of some of the things that we're trying to accomplish, I understand the results and how we'll be judged, but I thought within the process, our staff was really good. I thought our preparation was as good as it has been all year long. I thought our guys understood what was required. I thought their spirits were excellent.”

On Solomon Washington overcoming 1-of-6 shooting night for season-high 17 points

“Probably a combination of both. Solo is really intelligent. Solo is much more intelligent than I am. I think their changing of defenses was maybe a part of some of that. I thought his mentality towards attacking improved. I thought we were much better in the second half relative to the pace of how we were attacking. I thought in the first half it was just kind of okay. I think with the roster changes that we've had over the last few weeks, one of the ways we've tried to improve is earlier in the clock, to be a little faster, not necessarily to shoot but just to have quicker ball and body movement earlier in the possession. And I thought in the first half, we were dramatically faster in the second half than we were in the first half. But I think it was probably a little bit of both.”

On Solo Washington being effective on both ends of the floor

“So some of the adjustments that we've made with the roster has impacted him, specifically defensively. He's an elite level defender, and we're trying to - he's carrying a lot of invisible burden to do some of the things that we've always asked him to do, and then also do some of the things that were missing relative to injury. And so I thought his concentration level - and I told him, when I pulled him out there at the end - I thought his concentration level relative to executing those things was was the best that it has been. I think this is his fifth or sixth game. I think he's starting to get in better shape. I think his flow is better, but I thought he did a really good job in the things that we're asking him on both ends.”

What unraveled after game was tied at 43

“The radio guy just mentioned it was 43, I knew it was tied. I didn't remember exactly what the score was. So then from that point forward, we scored 11 and they scored 21.

Do you know what the timing of that was? When it was tied? This says it was tied twice. Does anybody know what it was?

“I think we won the first media time out by one. Myles [Rice] called that timeout when he fell. I think they had scored one up until that point, we ended up getting two turkeys before the 12-minute media. I don't know how many turkeys we finished with, but there was a stretch there that led to the 43-43 and then - we're dependent on getting to the bonus. Oregon doesn't foul at a high rate. We don't foul at a high rate. We never got to the bonus. I don't think until the very, very end of the second half. I think some of that needs to be with our pace in attacking the rim. I thought we did better with that to start the second half. But again, like I mentioned in the first question, I wouldn't necessarily say that we took what we call red light shots. I thought they were the shots that we need to take. I thought we did a good job on the offensive glass, not a great job. They were 18th in the country. We did a phenomenal job keeping them off the glass. But to your point, we didn't score enough points, we didn't make enough free throws. We didn't shoot the percentage that you need to shoot to win a Big Ten game.”

On season-high 35 three-point attempts

“I think it's got to tilt that way with our roster the way that it is. I don't necessarily think - a couple of things, we're probably going to be able to get to the rim some. It'll be a different way of getting to the rim with the injuries being what they are. When we do get to the rim, we have to finish at a higher rate. You have to be able to make layups. And then the next thing is, because there's not anybody to throw it to, per se, you're probably going to shoot more threes. When do we want to shoot those threes? Our pace has probably got to quicken some. It's going to lead to more threes. But I don't necessarily think that we're going to be a money ball team. Our shot diet has been pretty good throughout the year. I do think our three point jump shot shooting percentage is probably going to grow with our roster the way that it is. And if that's the case, the consequence to that is, if you're shooting more long shots, it's hard to get long rebounds, and so it's a little bit of a delicate balance. And a credit to our guys, I think we've showed them a lot of really good pictures of understanding is the light green? Is the light yellow? Is the light red. And I think we've done a good job over the last three weeks as things have changed of understanding that.”

On the frontcourt vs. Oregon’s size

“I thought they competed. They were 18th in the country at 44% offensive rebounding percentage. They got 29%. We did a good job of not fouling. We created more turnovers than they're used to. We played with a low turnover rate. I know there [were] a couple of turnovers there at the very end that messed up our number. We didn't shoot as many free throws as we need to shoot and we didn't make the percentage of shots that we need to make. We have to make layups at a higher percentage. We've been practicing that two segments per practice exclusively drive in there and get banged around with multiple pads to make layups. I thought the competitive spirit, I thought their ability to try to play to the scouting report, I thought the staff's ability to find margins for us to measure - I thought we were as good as we've been from start to finish. We call them buckets. We have three buckets per game. We measure every single thing within those buckets. They're aware of it. We grade it during practice so they can see themselves. I thought we did a really good job within the buckets. If there's an outlier stat, it doesn't mean that you're going to win. But I think within the buckets, our execution was as good as it's been in a 200 minute game. The outlier stat is we shot 28% from the field and 20% from three. That's the outlier stat. But again, I don't think it was that we were shooting ill advised shots. I'm not saying - I haven't seen it - but I'm not saying every single shot we shot was green.”

On Baylor signing a player who was drafted two years ago

“This is all I've done my whole life. I've never had another job. And you know this in your business, or you guys know this in your business, the only thing that's constant is change. And I also am very aware of myself at 53 and all that goes into what you guys think, and all the things that you don't know that goes into this. I've really tried to pour myself into giving my best to our group. And I'm aware of what's going on. I probably study this and pay attention, and I read a lot, but I also know that the worst reaction is an emotional reaction, and so this is probably not the right time for me to say anything. I'm following. I have helpers that give me content to study. I know what's being said. I want to know what's being said. I want to understand our business and the era that we're in and the evolution that we're in, but relative to what you have seen of our program, I want to give my best to this group. And I don't think anybody cares or is listening to what Buzz has to say on the industry. And so I have a lot of thoughts, but I also don't want it to be fodder - is that a good word? - I don't want it to be fodder for just a tweet or a post. I love kids. I love to compete. I'm not trying to be holier than now. I understand I'm well compensated. I understand the world has changed. But one of the intangibles we're focusing on and have been focusing on is don't blame, don't complain, don't defend. Figure out how to get better. And so within whatever the rules are, they're not or whoever the governing body is, or there's not, I've got to figure out how to dissect this so I can help our guys so that we can begin to prepare for Indiana on Wednesday.”

On being outscored 32-12 in the paint

“Entering tonight, 60% of their baskets were assisted, 87% of the threes that they had attempted were off the catch. In their all shots through 13 games, they had shot 350 threes. 350 threes, and all but 76 of them were off the catch. The other 76 were off the bounce. 53 of those 76 were by number three off the bounce. So I understand your point, and defensively, we've done a lot of different things, and we're doing more things since the second half against Michigan. Some of what we're trying to do to Eli's question is we're probably going to shoot more threes. We probably need the pace to be slightly faster than it had been prior to the first half of Michigan. And then, just from an analytical standpoint, we were among the nation's worst at three point field goal percentage defense and the points coming from three. So a little bit of your question is kind of the margin that we're trying to attack, just without acting like I know, just giving you some historical context, 48% of the shots that UVA shot was from three and they made 42%. So one of the games that we've been playing at UVA, 30% of their shots were from three and they made 35%. Lost by eight, Buzz needs to be a better coach. But from a statistical standpoint, we made them at least have to do something a little bit different than what they had been doing. Tonight, 47% of the shots that Oregon had shot through 13 games had been from three. Their assist rate, 60% of their shots had been assisted. Normally, those are threes, not always. They can throw it to [Nate Bittle] they can throw it to [Kwame Evans Jr], they can throw it to [Sean Stewart] inside. They did some of that to us. But a little bit of it is tonight, they shot 35% of their shots from three and they made 31%. So some of it is a little bit of pick your poison.

Hey, Buzz, you can't get beat up like that and kicked in the ear in the paint at that rate. I agree. The counter is you also can't let a team shoot half of their balls from three at 45% or it's not going to be a game. So it's a little bit of this. And I'm not saying this is the right answer. I'm saying, without being sarcastic and giving away all of what we're trying to accomplish, we can't let teams make 12 and 14 and 15 threes. We've tried that and it was never even a game. And then the flip side of it is we have to play to get fouled because we need to skew the points per possession and we have to defend without fouling. So I think at halftime they had made three threes. So this says they made five. So they made five threes, so 15 points from three and they made 13 free throws. That's a little too high. We made seven threes and we made 11 free throws. I'm not saying we're going to win, but I'm saying I don't know that right now, based on what we've done through 13 games, we had to kind of lean towards one direction, and so one of the things we've been charting is, not just this game, how many threes are one pass? Buzz has it. He pitches it to John. John makes it. We were atrocious. We have made great improvement. And then what we've also done, and we'll do it tomorrow, they shot 16 threes. Every single shot that they shoot from three since the Michigan game, when John shoots it, the closest defender that contest, what is his contest rate? And then we do the same thing every day in practice as if it's a game. And so we've done better. But the consequence, which is not unintended, it's part of it. Buzz, they scored 32 in the paint. And so it's a little bit of in a perfect world, we don't want either. We don't want to foul, we don't want to get bullied in the paint, and we want them to miss every three. I know that sounds condescending, but a little bit of it has been we're trying to change the margins in which we're competing in and then trying to have measurements not just on game day, but in practice where our guys see improvement.”

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