UMass Hoops Notebook
Frank Martin was happy with the win over CMU, but knows his defense still needs to improve.
Even in a hard-fought 95-89 home victory over Central Michigan on Tuesday night, UMass head coach Frank Martin was candid about where the Minutemen continue to fall short, namely his team’s defense.
“Defense takes a person to have accountability and the desire, and then it takes their teammates behind them to trust the rotations that coaches put in place every day,” Martin told reporters after the game.
“And as good as the guys in the locker room are, we don’t do a very good job of helping each other defensively and we’re not great individual defenders.”
Martin has made it clear how exasperated he’s been with his team’s defense all season.
“If you want to ask me where I get frustrated, that’s what I get frustrated with,” Martin said.
Still, he pushed back hard against any notion that Central Michigan was an easy opponent.
“Everyone pays attention to records,” he said of the Chippewas who came into the game 3-7 in the MAC.
“I watch film. There’s no such thing as an easy league game. Never has been, never will be.”
A Night for the Shooters
Guard Marcus Banks Jr., drained a UMass record 10 three-pointers en route to 37 points only to see Central Michigan’s Logan McIntire set his own school record with 12 threes and 40 points.
“I’ve been a part of some crazy stuff,” Martin said when asked if he’d been a part of anything like that shooters duel.
“I can’t answer that question as far as points go. I’ve never been in a game where two guys, a guy on each team, put on the shooting exhibition those two guys put on.”
Martin thought back to a pair of games he had when he was the head coach at Kansas State when Michael Beasley went off, including one against Blake Griffin and Oklahoma.
“That’s probably the closest thing I’ve been a part of where there’s two guys just completely dominating the game offensively.”
Where the Defense Broke Down on McIntire
Martin traced McIntire’s eruption back to early mistakes, allowing him to get comfortable.
“Attention to detail was bad,” he said. “If you want to defend shooters, it starts with the guy on the ball.”
When the point guard is able to drive, defenders are forced to help off shooters and once a shooter gets into a rhythm, the floodgates can open.
“When you let a shooter get a lick, it’s over,” Martin said. “Even if he misses, you let a good shooter get his feet under him and lift and see that rim and shoot that ball in rhythm, you’ve created a problem.”
As frustrated as he was with his team’s defense, Martin did credit both McIntire and Banks with making the shots.
“We look really smart as coaches when guys make 10 out of 15 threes,” he said. “Give those two guys credit for the way they shot the ball. That was impressive.”
Pressing the Right Button Late
Martin acknowledged nearly running out of defensive strategies against Central Michigan.
“I was at a loss defensively,” he admitted. “I didn’t know what to do defensively on the sideline to help our team and we couldn’t guard.
“And then when we got down…11, I decided to go to that 2-2-1 press. That was the last tool in the toolbox.”
Martin downplayed the idea of schematic changes, instead framing the moment as survival basketball.
“You hear coaches talk about adjustments,” he said. “Adjustments are the most overrated thing in the world. The game starts and then you’ve got to manage the game and you go from Plan A to Plan B to Plan C to Plan Guess.”
Even with limited practice reps, the press flipped the game.
“I hadn’t even practiced that 2-2-1 in a while, but we executed and we created some turnovers,” Martin said. “The two guys that were at the head of the press, Danny (Carbuccia) and Banks, were the two guys that gave us that defensive energy and the two guys that gave us the offensive energy to lift the team in a moment when we needed uplifting.”
He credited others for joining the push.
“And then Dan Sanford kind of jumped in and Jayden (Ndjigue), who hadn’t played well, he jumped in and the rest is history,” Martin said.
“We were able to figure out a way to win the game. We guarded the last three minutes. We didn’t guard all game. We guarded the last three minutes.”
Carbuccia Continues To Grow At The Point
Martin highlighted ball movement and spacing as the foundation for Danny Carbuccia’s record-setting night.
“I thought we played with great spacing, great body movement, great ball movement, and he was playing downhill,” he said.
Carbuccia, who dished out a school-record 17 assists, took command of the offense.
“He’s telling guys, ‘I can’t see you there. ‘Get to this side,’” Martin said. “And the guys off the ball were moving and creating space.”
The freshman continues to be extremely efficient with just two turnovers against the 17 assists.
“His energy was really good,” Martin said. “Really, really good.”
Handling Foul Trouble and the Frontcourt Rotation
With big man Leo Bettiol in foul trouble, Martin was encouraged by what he saw from Dmitri Clerc and Luka Damjanac.
“Dmitri’s been a lot better in practice,” he said. “I’m not playing guys in games that don’t practice properly. I’m just not.”
Martin didn’t hide his ongoing challenge with Bettiol defensively, especially when it comes to being physical on that end.
“Offensively, physicality don’t bother him, but defensively all he does is grab and slap,” he said. “Leo committed some really bad fouls, but he had a huge offensive impact. It’s a big hit on our team when we lose him offensively.”
With about a month left in conference play, improvement remains non-negotiable.
“We still got three, four weeks of conference play,” Martin said. “We got to figure out a way to get a little better defensively.”
Managing the Swings and the Emotions
Despite multiple momentum shifts throughout the night, Martin says he isn’t one to get stressed out down the stretch.
“I’ve done this for 40 years,” he said. “I know everyone thinks I’m some kind of maniac because I like to yell, hoot and holler. I’ve coached games in front of 75,000 people.
“When the game’s on the line, I’m not going to hoot and holler.”
Martin added that at this point of the season, the players need to be self-motivated.
Before the game, he challenged his team to own the result.
“I put it on them.”
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