Scouting Report: Oakland Golden Grizzlies

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March Madness is officially here. Everyone is back to a clean slate now as the postseason begins. Disappointing regular seasons can be forgotten, but so can conference championships. For Kentucky, the stakes have reached an all-time high. When the 2020 NCAA Tournament was cancelled it set off a chain of events that have culminated in a make-or-break postseason. The Wildcats have just one tournament win since making the Elite Eight in 2019 and that simply doesn’t fly for many in Big Blue Nation. Both the blessing and the curse of March Madness though is how quickly those feelings can change. A trip to Glendale for the Final Four would forgive a few years of pain. Meanwhile, another first weekend exit could border on catastrophic.

Now, it is time to put the meaningless discourse of what this game means behind us and focus on what actually matters, the opponent. The Oakland Golden Grizzlies earned a 14-seed after winning the Horizon League Tournament. They enter with a 23-11 overall record and went 15-5 in regular season conference play to earn the top seed in their tournament. Coach Greg Kampe is the longest tenured head coach in Division I having led the Golden Grizzlies program for 40 years. However, despite relatively sustained success, this is his first trip to the NCAA Tournament since 2011. Oakland is led by Horizon League Player of the Year Trey Townsend along with a pair of sharp-shooters in Blake Lampman and Jack Gohlke. This won’t be a cakewalk for the ‘Cats.

Getting a few full days to prepare helps, but the Golden Grizzlies do present a unique matchup in round one. They will play zone defense almost exclusively which is obviously uncommon in today’s game. Additionally, their three-point shooting will put constant pressure on Kentucky’s suspect defense. However, despite some legitimate reasons for concern, this is still a team that lost five games in the Horizon League and received a 14-seed. Oakland doesn’t have a dynamic, explosive guard like the Wildcats have struggled with routinely this season. Also, their defense, while unique, features a lot of holes. One of the best offenses in college basketball should have no trouble putting up the 90 points they need to move on to the next round.

As always, we have prepared a full, in-depth scouting report for Kentucky’s next opponent. We will take a deep dive into the Golden Grizzlies’ personnel, break down their offensive and defensive schemes, and highlight the keys to the game for the ‘Cats. Let’s dive in and get to know more about the Oakland Golden Grizzlies.

Oakland Golden Grizzlies Personnel

Starters

#10 DQ Cole: 6’3″ 189 lbs, Junior Guard

8.7 ppg, 4.0 rpg, 2.1 apg

Left-handed. He will generally be the primary ball handler when he is in the game. Very willing and capable shooter. Over half of his shots have been 3’s. Shooting 35.2% from 3. You need to be there to take away the obvious catch-and-shoot 3’s. Even better off of the bounce as a left-hand driver. No left-hand drives!!! After you take away the initial catch-and-shoot you need to bounce back and contain the left-hand drive. He is an excellent finisher at the end of his drives. Loves to spin, shot fake, and step through at the end of his drives to finish with his left hand. He is always coming back left! Stay down, wall up, and make him score over you. Do not help off of #11 Lampman or #3 Gohlke when he drives it. LEFT HAND!!! No straight line, left-hand drives.

#11 Blake Lampman: 6’3″ 184 lbs, Graduate Student Guard

13.2 ppg, 3.2 rpg, 3.3 apg

SHOOTER!!! NO 3’s!!! 225 of 282 shots have been 3’s. Shooting 36.9% from 3. You have to be tight to him at all times to take him away from 3. Absolutely no help off of him. He will handle the ball some. Pressure him and make him uncomfortable. Get OVER the ballscreens and handoffs. CHASE off of downscreens and get OVER the flares. Switch anytime there is too much space, but switch OUT into the passing lane and all of the way to his body to take up the space. Find him in transition and pick him up well beyond the three-point line. You have to force him to put the ball on the floor and drive it. Not nearly as good inside of the arc and will get uncomfortable against pressure. He wants space to catch-and-shoot. NO HELP!!! NO 3’s!!! Be TIGHT!!!

#13 Osei Price: 6’4″ 188 lbs, Junior Guard

1.3 ppg, 0.7 rpg, 0.2 apg

Long, athletic wing. Not very aggressive at all. He plays sparingly, but started all three conference tournament games. Likely won’t play much, or at all, if #0 Watts and #7 Jones are available. Has just 30 field goal attempts in 29 games played. 19 of 30 shots have been 3’s. No catch-and-shoot 3’s! You need to be there to take away the obvious catch-and-shoot 3’s. He won’t really look to do anything if you are there on the catch. Don’t let him be comfortable on the perimeter. More turnovers than assists. If he does drive it he is looking to drive it right. We will live with anything he gets inside of the arc, but we don’t want to give up wide open, catch-and-shoot 3’s. Chase off of downscreens and get over the flares. Pressure him. No catch-and-shoot 3’s.

#4 Trey Townsend: 6’6″ 228 lbs, Senior Forward

16.9 ppg, 7.8 rpg, 3.1 apg

Best player. Physical, skilled, undersized 4-man. He is essentially a NON-SHOOTER from the perimeter. 9-26 from 3. You need to BACK UP and be ready for him to drive it. Relentless right-hand driver. NO RIGHT-HAND DRIVES!!! They will run a lot of action for him to get a catch at the elbow or off of a cross screen along the baseline. Always looking to face up and drive it. Bounce back and be ready for him to bring it to your chest. He is going to initiate contact. You have to be physical, stay down, wall up, and make him score over you. He loves to go left to set up the spin back right. He is ALWAYS spinning back right to finish. Loves to shot fake, spin, and step through. Stay down. Take away the quick spin baseline. Be physical. Stay between him and the basket. RIGHT HAND!!!

#2 Chris Conway: 6’9″ 221 lbs, Senior Forward

10.1 ppg, 4.1 rpg, 1.2 apg

Long, thin 5-man. He is a non-shooter on the perimeter. Just 2-12 from 3. Looking for deep post catches. He does a good job of cutting block-to-block inside and will duck you in. Don’t let him catch you standing straight up and down where he can slam into you and get position. They will run some high-low action to throw it over the top to him as well. Right hand, left shoulder in the post. Be physical and get him off of the block. His percentages will go down the further off of the block you make him catch it. Contest if he shoots the turnaround jump shot. Stay down, wall up, and make him score over you. Don’t let him play harder than you inside. Take away the deep post catches and then wall up. You’ll have a size advantage so stay down. No deep left shoulder baskets.

Bench

#3 Jack Gohlke: 6’3″ 215 lbs, Graduate Student Guard

12.2 ppg, 4.1 rpg, 1.1 apg

SHOOTER!!! NO 3’s!!! 327 of 335 shots have been 3’s. Shooting 37% from 3. You have to be tight to him at all times to take him away from 3. Absolutely no help off of him. Pressure him and make him uncomfortable. Get OVER the ballscreens and handoffs. CHASE off of downscreens and get OVER the flares. Switch anytime there is too much space, but switch OUT into the passing lane and all of the way to his body to take up the space. Find him in transition and pick him up well beyond the three-point line. He isn’t going to drive it no matter what. Loves to shoot the side step 3. Stay tight on his hip and give all of his 3’s a hard contest. Gets great elevation and has a quick release so just be as tight as possible and contest. NO HELP!!! NO 3’s!!! Be TIGHT!!!

#0 Rocket Watts: 6’2″ 182 lbs, Senior Guard

7.8 ppg, 1.7 rpg, 1.5 apg

Backup guard. Explosive athlete. Much more dangerous as a right hand driver than he is as a shooter. NO RIGHT HAND DRIVES!!! You don’t need to be guarding him out beyond the arc. If you guard him at 30 feet he is going to be you in a straight line to his right hand. Back up and stay between him and the basket. 17-67 from 3 in 31 games this season. Go UNDER the ballscreens and handoffs. He likes to bounce it into a mid-range pull-up. Good from 15-feet coming off of zoom action. You can go up through the downscreen and meet him on the other side ready to contest the jump shot. Do not help off of #11 Lampman or #3 Gohlke when he drives it. Stay down, get your hands up, and make him finish. Better free throw shooter than finisher. No right hand drives. No layups.

#7 Isaiah Jones: 6’7″ 213 lbs, Sophomore Guard/Forward

5.3 ppg, 4.5 rpg, 1.6 apg

Had been starting at the 3 for them, but did not play in the Horizon League Tournament due to injury. If he is back, expect him to take over the minutes of #13 Price. Athletic, physical wing. He is a NON-SHOOTER! 4-17 from 3 in 31 games this season. You need to BACK UP and be ready for him to drive it. Drives it hard to his right. NO RIGHT-HAND DRIVES!!! He is going to initiate contact. You have to be physical, stay down, wall up, and make him score over you. Crashes the offensive glass hard. Find him when the shot goes up and make contact. Averages two offensive rebounds per game. Box out! Help off of him some when he doesn’t have it and then closeout short. Stay between him and the basket. No right hand drives. No layups for him.

#12 Tuburu Naivalurua: 6’6″ 218 lbs, Junior Forward/Center

3.5 ppg, 3.4 rpg, 0.3 apg

Backup forward. He is exclusively looking to score directly at the rim. Will ballscreen and roll to the basket. Just give ground and stay lower than him on the roll. Right hand, left shoulder in the post. Be physical and get him off of the block. His percentages will go down the further off of the block you make him catch it. Stay down, wall up, and make him score over you. Don’t let him play harder than you inside. Very good offensive rebounder. Averaging nearly two offensive rebounds per game. Find him when the shot goes up and make contact. Box out! Take away the deep post catches and then wall up. You’ll have a size advantage so stay down. No deep left shoulder baskets.

#21 Tone Hunter: 5’11” 148 lbs, Junior Point Guard

2.0 ppg, 1.3 rpg, 1.6 apg

Backup point guard. Likely won’t play as much if #0 Watts is able to go. He is primarily in there as a distributor looking to get them into offense. Much better and more aggressive as a right-hand driver than he is as a shooter. NO RIGHT HAND DRIVES!!! He is just 3-12 from 3 in 28 games this season. You need to BACK UP when he has it on the perimeter and be ready for him to drive it. Go UNDER the ballscreens and handoffs. We want to stay between him and the basket at all times. Do not help off of #11 Lampman or #3 Gohlke when he drives it. No right hand drives. No layups for him!

Oakland Golden Grizzlies Offense

In 2022 and 2023 the Oakland Golden Grizzlies were among the worst shooting teams in college basketball. To change that, Coach Greg Kampe went to the transfer portal and landed Jack Gohlke from Division II Hillsdale College. He, along with a major improvement from Blake Lampman, has led to Oakland now being one of the more potent teams from beyond the arc. They shoot 35.1% as a team on over 24 attempts per game.

In terms of scheme, Coach Kampe still wants to control the pace and slow the game down. He runs a lot of excellent plays in the half court with Trey Townsend typically on the receiving end. The Golden Grizzlies are 307th in average offensive possession length so they are more than happy to grind it out. We must do a good job of blanketing #11 Lampman and #3 Gohlke at all times while containing #4 Townsend as much as possible inside. Let’s step inside the film room and take a look at some of what Oakland will do offensively.

At their core, this is what the Oakland Golden Grizzlies want to do offensively. Coach Kampe has so many creative set plays up his sleeve that he will utilize to get #4 Townsend the ball inside. This is an elevator doors action used as a decoy to free up Townsend. After #3 Gohlke runs through the elevator doors, #2 Conway curls over the top of Townsend. You can see how physical he plays inside in this clip. Stay down, wall up, and make him score over you. Everything is going to be with his right hand over his left shoulder.

When they aren’t running some for #4 Townsend to isolate, Oakland will look to get #3 Gohlke open from 3. Running action like this is how he has been able to attempt 327 3’s this season. Notice how little space he needs to get his shot off because of his quick release and the elevation he gets on his jump shot. This is pretty good defense in terms of chasing, staying on his hip, and contesting. However, sometimes there just isn’t much you can do. Be very willing to essentially hard hedge that handoff and aggressively step out to try and take away the initial pull-up.

This is another look at essentially the same action for a Gohlke 3 as Oakland ran in the previous clip against Xavier. Even when you chase he isn’t ever going to drive it. Instead, he is really good at that little side step dribble to create the space he needs to squeeze off the attempt. There isn’t much more you can do defensively other than being higher up there to hedge on the handoff.

We will spend a lot of time about the Oakland Golden Grizzlies’ shooters, but at the end of the day #4 Townsend is their best player and the toughest matchup. This is exactly what he likes to do offensively in this clip. Drive it from the perimeter, turn it into a post move, and get to his left shoulder at the midline. Get in there and wall him off if you are guarding #2 Conway!

Oakland is a team where it is definitely okay to guard them out around half court. You need to be chasing #11 Lampman and #3 Gohlke around no matter where they are. However, #0 Watts is one guy who you do need to back up against and stay between him and the basket. He is not much of a shooting threat but very aggressive off of the dribble. Do not let him drive it in a straight line to his right hand!

#4 Townsend has been very effective throughout the season regardless of who the Oakland Golden Grizzlies were going against. His ability to handle the ball at 6’6″ 228 pounds makes him a very difficult matchup. You have to be ready for him to be physical and then spin, shot fake, or step through at the end of his drives. Stay down, wall up, and make him score over you.

Oakland Golden Grizzlies Defense

Coach Greg Kampe is going to have the Oakland Golden Grizzlies in a zone defense for the overwhelming vast majority of defensive possessions. However, this isn’t your traditional 2-3 zone defense. This would best be described as a “tandem” 2-3 with a lot of switching man-to-man principles. They will declare on the ball at the top, have a second guard around the top of the key, and play very extended on the wings to deter a pass to the corner. Essentially, they are looking to take away the traditional “soft spots” within a zone defense. Here is the best way to describe the principles of Oakland’s zone defense before we take a look at some clips.

No middle penetration. They are going to make it very difficult to drive it from the top of the key or from the wings to the middle of the floor.
No direct passes from the slot to the corner. Their low man will step up and play above the wing to deter that pass to the corner.
“Tandem” front to play man-to-man on the ball and take away the middle.

This gives you an idea of what that “tandem” front looks like and how the Golden Grizzlies sell out on stopping penetration from the top of the key. Then, you see how extended they are on the wings essentially matching up with a man. When the ball comes back to the right side, notice #3 Gohlke’s positioning. He jumps all of the way out above the wing in the passing lane to take away that direct pass to the corner and forces the ball to where his help is in the middle of the floor.

Open three-point attempts will be there. However, we need to try and make them be inside-out attempts. Without real penetration the deep three-point attempts will feel forced. In this clip, Xavier needed to drive it to the middle of the floor one more time. It will be hard to penetrate off of the first or second pass, but once you get them moving and into a scramble it will really loosen up that middle of the floor.

The key to attacking the Oakland Golden Grizzlies’ zone is to treat it like it is man-to-man. Ballscreening at the top will be very effective. You need to get two guys guarding one and then attack. You can see in this clip how both top guys are guarding the ball, but then #10 Cole for Oakland ends up guarding nobody on the drive. Keeping passing and keep cutting. They are undersized and will provide little to no true rim protection. We want to shoot all of the open, inside-out three-point shots we can get, but there will also be a lot of opportunities to score at the rim.