Scouting Report: Vanderbilt Commodores

Tournament basketball is officially here. It is all about surviving and advancing now that the calendar has turned to March. Kentucky will get their first opportunity to advance on Friday night as they take on the Vanderbilt Commodores in the late game of the Southeastern Conference tournament. This will be the rubber match for these two teams that split their matchups in the regular season. Kentucky defeated Vanderbilt down in Nashville 69-53 but then recently lost on Senior Day at Rupp Arena 68-66. The Commodores are trying to improve their NCAA Tournament bubble status while the ‘Cats are still looking to improve their seed line.

Coach Jerry Stackhouse earned co-SEC Coach of the Year honors for the job he did getting the Commodores to the #6 seed in the conference tournament. He has slowly but surely turned Vanderbilt into a respectable SEC program. After two seasons in the cellar to begin his tenure, Coach Stackhouse got the ‘Dores above .500 in year three and then in NCAA Tournament consideration here in year four. This is a team that has produced a Top 25 offense and the fifth best offense in the country, per Bart Torvik during their recent 9-1 run. They are very dangerous with their three-point shooting ability and will be playing with a lot on the line against the Wildcats on Friday night in Nashville.

Another game, another scouting report. We’ve been hard at work in the KSR Film Room preparing an opponent deep-dive for your pregame reading pleasure. You’ll get a full in-depth look at Vandy’s personnel, a breakdown of both offensive and defensive schemes, and the ever-important keys to the game. Let’s dive on in and get to know more about the Vanderbilt Commodores.

Vanderbilt Commodores Personnel

Starters

#5 Ezra Manjon: 6’0″ 170 lbs, Senior Guard

9.3 ppg, 2.8 rpg, 3.8 apg

Aggressive, quick point guard. Going to be in attack mode with the ball in his hands. He is a NON-SHOOTER!!! 4-27 from 3. BACK UP and stay between him and the basket. Go under the ballscreens and handoffs. Closeout short to him on the perimeter. He is looking to drive it right. NO RIGHT-HAND DRIVES!!! No reason for you to be all the way out on the perimeter guarding him. Likes to use the left-to-right crossover to get downhill. Don’t let him come back right. Stay down and wall up. Make him score contested 2’s going to his left. Don’t over-help when he is driving it left. Get the ball stopped in transition. Help off of him when he doesn’t have it and then close out short. The goal is to keep him out of the paint. Dare him to shoot jumpers. No right-hand drives. No layups!

#0 Tyrin Lawrence: 6’4″ 200 lbs, Junior Guard

12.2 ppg, 4.2 rpg, 1.8 apg

Lefty. Play him straight up. Have to respect his shooting ability more now. 34.2% from 3. No catch-and-shoot 3’s. Tighten up as the ball comes towards you. Closeout and then bounce back to cut off the left-hand drive. You can go under the ballscreens and handoffs. Chase him off of downscreens and get over the flares. Switch if there is too much space. Will shoot the pull-up some going right. Be ready to contest the pull-up jumpers. Do not over-help when he is driving it right. Not a threat. When he drives it left you can pick your spots to come take it off of him. You are only helping to try and force a turnover. You can help off of him when he doesn’t have it but closeout more aggressively. No catch-and-shoot 3’s. No left-hand drives!

#4 Jordan Wright: 6’6″ 220 lbs, Senior Guard/Forward

10.3 ppg, 5.0 rpg, 1.9 apg

Big, physical wing. Will play both on the perimeter and around the basket. Good shooter. 33-97 (34.0%). No catch-and-shoot 3’s!!! Need to be there to give a hard contest to the obvious catch-and-shoot 3s. Closeout more aggressively than in the past. Have to respect his shooting more. Once you take away the initial catch-and-shoot bounce back and guard against thWill get some catches off of the block with his back to the basket. Right hand, left shoulder in the post. Will shot fake and pivot. Stay down and wall up. If they ballscreen for him in the post you need to switch it. Make him score over you. Be physical at the end of his drives and don’t go for the shot fakes. Want to stay between him and the basket. Box out! No uncontested catch-and-shoot 3’s. No right-hand drives.

#10 Myles Stute: 6’7″ 215 lbs, Junior Forward

8.8 ppg, 4.8 rpg, 0.7 apg

SHOOTER!!! NO 3’s!!! 195 of 258 shots have been 3’s. Shooting a much better percentage from 3 than 2. You have to run him off of the 3-point line and take away his ATTEMPTS. Be tight to him at all times. Absolutely no help off of him. Your only job when guarding him is taking away his 3-point attempts.Pressure him on the perimeter. If he isn’t dribbling you aren’t close enough. Make him drive by you. Not comfortable handling it. 19 assists to 44 turnovers. Make him dribble! Loves to pick-and-pop. Have to switch when he ballscreens to take away the pick-and-pop 3’s. Will slip the ballscreens into a pop as well. If there is no screen there is no switch. Stay attached to him at all times. Tighten up as the ball comes toward you. No 3s!!!

#42 Quentin Millora-Brown: 6’10” 245 lbs, Fifth Year Center

3.4 ppg, 3.9 rpg, 0.7 apg

Physical 5-man. Will ballscreen and roll to the basket. Looking to score almost exclusively at the rim. Will score it with either hand, but is better going to his right hand over his left shoulder. Need to be physical and get him off of the block. His percentages will go down the further off the block you make him catch it. Will shot fake and pivot to try and finish around you at the rim. Stay down on the fakes and wall up. Make him score over you inside. No drop steps. Going to be very physical when the shot goes up. Averaging 2 offensive rebounds a game. Don’t let him play harder than you. Be physical and box him out! Stay lower than him when he ballscreens and rolls to the rim. No dunks on the roll. No right hand, left shoulder baskets inside.

Bench

#12 Trey Thomas: 6’0″ 160 lbs, Junior Guard

6.4 ppg, 1.8 rpg, 1.1 apg

SHOOTER!!! NO 3s!!! 148 of 181 shots have been 3s. Shooting nearly the same percentage from 3 as he is from 2. Have to be tight to him at all times to take away the 3s. Get over the ballscreens and handoffs. Chase off of downscreens and get over the flares. Switch if there is too much space and get OUT to take him away from 3. Not worried about him scoring 2s. We want to make him drive it. Has only made 13 2s on the season. Absolutely no help off of him on the perimeter. Tighten up as the ball comes toward you. You want to be close enough that you force him to drive it. Do not over-help when he drives it. Just get your hands up and make him score over you. Your only job when guarding him is taking away his 3-point attempts. No 3s!!!

#1 Colin Smith: 6’8″ 215 lbs, Freshman Forward

4.3 ppg, 2.4 rpg, 0.6 apg

Stretch 4-man. Shooter! No catch-and-shoot 3’s! 73 of 109 shots have been 3’s. Shooting nearly the same percentage from 3 as he is from 2. Need to be tight to him on the perimeter to take away the catch-and-shoot 3’s. Pressure him and force him to drive it. Looking to pick-and-pop on the perimeter. Be very willing to switch when he ballscreens to take away the pick-and-pop 3’s. Right hand, left shoulder around the basket. Will face up and shoot the jumper. Contest all jumpers. Very good offensive rebounder. Box out. Tighten up to him as the ball is driven towards you. Do not help off of him so much that you can’t get back to take away the catch-and-shoot 3. No catch-and-shoot 3s!!!

#3 Paul Lewis: 6’2″ 170 lbs, Freshman Guard

2.4 ppg, 1.0 rpg, 0.6 apg

Backup point guard. Shooter! No 3’s! 28 of 46 shots have been 3s. Shooting nearly the same percentage from 3 than 2. Need to be tight to him to take away the 3s. 11-28 from 3. Get over the ballscreens and handoffs. Get up into him on the perimeter and make him drive it. Chase off of downscreens and get over the flares. When he does drive it he is looking to drive it right. No right-hand drives. Do not over-help when he is driving it left. Would rather make him finish 2’s than let him get going from 3. Will shoot them off of the dribble. Have to break his rhythm. Pressure him. No 3’s!

#34 Lee Dort: 6’10” 255 lbs, Freshman Forward

2.1 ppg, 2.5 rpg, 0.2 apg

Backup 5-man. Going to play a lot more now in the absence of Liam Robbins. Exclusively looking to score at the rim. Will ballscreen and roll to the rim. Just need to stay lower than him on the roll to take him away. Make him score with you between him and the basket. Right hand, left shoulder in the post. Not going to look to score if you are between him and the basket. Be physical and get him off of the block. Stay down on the shot fakes. Will be physical when the shot goes up. Box out! No layups or dunks of him.

Vanderbilt Commodores Offense

There isn’t a coach in the Southeastern Conference, or maybe even in the country, who runs more unique offensive actions than Coach Jerry Stackhouse. He and his staff are incredibly creative with different entries, screening actions, and ways to get their best players in space. The Vanderbilt Commodores will ballscreen the post some, run a lot of zoom and staggered zoom action, run staggered Iverson cuts from the corner, and get some set plays from a 1-4 high alignment. They are going to throw a lot at you with their halfcourt offense. 

This season, Coach Stackhouse has been able to mix his excellent scheme with the most talent he has had since taking over the Vanderbilt program. That has proven out on the floor as the Commodores currently have the 23rd-rated offense per KenPom’s adjusted efficiency metric. They have now lost leading scorer Liam Robbins again, their shooters have been putting the ball in the basket from beyond the arc. Let’s take a look at some of what you’ll see on Friday night.

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One of the key differences to guarding the Vanderbilt Commodores today will be the additional attention that must be paid to #4 Wright as a shooter. He has been lighting it up of late and must be treated as a major catch-and-shoot threat. That means staying much tighter to him and not helping as much. It also starts with not allowing #0 Lawrence to get to his left hand as he does in this clip. Stay tight to Wright and take away the catch-and-shoot 3’s!

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Here is a look at one of Vanderbilt’s favorite offensive actions. They will run #4 Wright off of diagonal backscreens to get him around the basket where he can use his size and skill against smaller defenders. After the backscreen they will set a staggered double for the screener. You need to chase #12 Thomas off of the staggered double. At the end of the possession the pitfall was paying far too much attention to #5 Manjon. You have to BACK UP and contain his penetration. The deeper he drives it the more he is driving to pass. Stay with #4 Wright on the perimeter and take him away from 3! Way too much help here.

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Coach Stackhouse dials up this Horns ballscreen quite a bit. Anytime you are guarding #10 Stute on an elbow you need to be ready for them to set the high cross screen after the initial ballscreen. The Vanderbilt Commodores are shooting the ball very well of late and we have to be conscious of taking their best shooters away from beyond the arc. When guarding Stute your ONLY responsibility is taking him away from 3.

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#5 Manjon is a good player, but he is a complete non-shooter. He is 4-27 from 3 on the season. You have to back up and contain dribble penetration. When he is driving the ball you need to tighten up to your man and take away the shooters. The deeper he drives it the more he is driving to pass. You should be playing off of him enough that there is no need to over help.

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A major key to success on Friday night against the Vanderbilt Commodores will be Kentucky’s attention to the personnel-specific scouting report. We want to make sure to take away 3’s from the shooters, but #5 Manjon is a complete non-shooter. You have to be disciplined enough to back up, contain the dribble, and stay between him and the basket. Your ability to stay in front of the ball will work towards not being tempted to help off of the Commodores best shooters. There is no reason to be guarding him out beyond the 3-point line.

Vanderbilt Commodores Defense

The Vanderbilt Commodores are a man-to-man defensive team. They will extend a little fullcourt pressure from time to time, but it is mostly token pressure to just slow you down. For as dangerous as the Commodores have been offensive, they have struggled on the defensive end of the floor. They are among the worst in the country at forcing turnovers, aren’t great on the defensive boards, and have allowed nearly 77 points per game in SEC play. Losing 7-footer Liam Robbins back around the basket has once again really hurt their ability to protect the rim.

Keys to the Game

• No 3’s for #10 Stute or #12 Thomas. Have to be tight to them at all times. Need to limit them to no more than four combined 3s. Now, we have to plan on no for #0 Lawrence or #4 Wright either.
• Dominate the glass. Vanderbilt struggles on the boards without 7-footer Liam Robbins. Must be 77% or better on the defensive glass once again.
• Contain the ballscreen. The Vanderbilt Commodores have a lot of success playing off of ballscreens. #5 Manjon, #0 Lawrence, #12 Thomas, and #4 Wright are the primary ball handlers. Only #12 is a shooting threat so we need to give ground and stay in front of the other three. No 3’s behind the ballscreen for #12 Thomas. No strong hand drives for layups for the other three.
• Shoot 75% or better from the free throw line.