Film room: How Northwestern’s defense corrected first-half mistakes to escape Michigan

Five days earlier, it was room temperature on a Thursday in the eighth week of winter quarter, and a men’s basketball team in Evanston, Illinois was en route to a second consecutive March Madness berth in February. It wasn’t the Michigan Wolverines. There was a Northwestern star about to break a scoring record in front of a packed crowd. There were no open seats in Welsh-Ryan Arena’s student section.

There was no Dug McDaniel. There was no Olivier Nkamhoua. Michigan was the last-place team in the Big Ten, and Northwestern was favored to win this game by 12 points. Somehow, that wasn’t the warm spell in question.

The Wildcats are in the middle of their first five-game stretch without Ty Berry, and they’re facing opponents with the following three-point shooting percentages: 28.9%, 33.3%, 31.5%, 29.1%, 36.6%. The middle three made some early offensive struggles adjusting to life without Berry salvageable. But, that last clip belonged to Michigan… before it shot a season-best 8-of-11 from beyond the arc against Northwestern.

This team, without its two best players and a forward in Will Tschetter who drained 56.5% of his threes, went up 16-5 on NU in the first half by torching it from beyond the arc. Man, warm spells feel weird. There were so many questions.

Northwestern answered a bunch of them in a 14-point win. While that’s not a spectacular result, it marked an important step of growth for a new-look rotation that’s looking to mesh as it looks to secure a postseason spot. Defensive adjustments haven’t always been NU’s forte this year, but Thursday night flashed encouraging signs for a group that took on the most efficient perimeter offense it’s faced in a full game since losing Berry.

Let’s dive into those early issues, and how Northwestern fixed them:

A terrible, horrible, some good, very bad first 13 minutes

After giving up 22 points on 10-of-14 shooting to Indiana’s Kel’el Ware last Sunday, Northwestern probably had paint defense in the back of its mind. Given the Wolverines were without McDaniel and Nkamhoua, that made sense. However, the ‘Cats really over-committed to stopping center Tarris Reed Jr. early, and it started with NU’s high-screen coverage.

It’s been well-documented that NU’s drop coverage hinges on its centers being aggressive by hard-hedging at the level of ball screens, usually around the three-point line. To prevent a free-rolling screener, Northwestern often has a strong-side wing defender step in the lane to deny a passing opportunity.

When a ball-handler can jump on that quickly and trust a knockdown shooter, though, it creates problems like this one. Watch Ryan Langborg here:

Since Matthew Nicholson is recovering, it makes sense that Langborg is helping. However, he overcommits to leave Terrance Williams II open for the three. Reading Jaelin Llewellyn’s (the ball-handler) eyes, Williams is never out of his field of vision entirely.

The Princeton transfer might have over-extended once Llewellyn crossed the top of the key to go to his right (technically making the pass to the left wing two passes away), but Nicholson wasn’t getting beat off the roll that badly where Langborg needed to stay in the middle of the floor for as long as he did. Once he stepped toward the ball as Llewellyn delivered the assist, Northwestern’s two-guard couldn’t take a great angle to recover.

Here’s a somewhat similar issue.

Even if Tray Jackson were to slip to the rim, Nicholson is already helping at the top of the key behind him, and the shot clock is approaching zero. There’s absolutely no reason for Langborg to be helping that strongly one pass away with two defenders in the middle of the floor already. With two seconds for UMich to shoot, his eyes are pointed toward the screen action when he could’ve denied the passing lane toward Williams.

Langborg over-helping wasn’t the only problem, though.

I’m not sure who to chalk this up to, but it’s probably not Brooks Barnhizer. With Luke Hunger recovering slowly, Barnhizer has to hold up to keep Reed from running to the rim while also defending the corner. That’s a recipe for disaster. He appeared to make a good effort fighting through Reed’s screen, but a 2-on-1 never ends well.

Hunger has to either blitz less aggressively or get his head around quicker to notice that Llewellyn never looked at his big man. It wouldn’t have been decisive, but Langborg (at the right elbow) could have positioned a little lower to provide some back-side help on Reed, given Nick Martinelli was already in deny mode at the top of the key.

This theme of prioritizing Reed above the perimeter players continued, especially on this sequence where Hunger went all the way out to the elbow to monitor him when he could’ve continued helping Boo Buie in isolation:

There were some positives here. As the primary help defender, Martinelli tags Reed before reacting quickly to seal off the corner. Hunger does a nice job of closing off Llewellyn’s first baseline angle. Not only does that prevent a layup, but it also keeps Michigan’s floor general from hitting the wrap-around pass for another open three when it was available. However, Hunger didn’t need to go all the way out to the elbow to deny Reed. Consequently, he couldn’t help Buie at all.

Progress, but not success, defined the first 10 minutes. While the second Langborg clip happened on this same possession, here’s No. 0 doing a great job of giving Reed a bump in help following Nicholson’s hedge before sliding to the wing. Buie did this well constantly.

Northwestern’s biggest issue in the next few minutes was its inability to prevent mismatches. Here are two instances:

For the first one, Buie points to Justin Mullins to indicate that he wants the sophomore to stay down low as the dribble handoff at the top of the key is unfolding. That leaves the 6-foot-2 Buie guarding Jackson, a 6-foot-10 forward, instead of Nimari Burnett, who’s 6-foot-4. The guards probably had time to follow their assignments. Even if that allowed Burnett to go against Buie in the post, that’s a much better matchup than Jackson.

Michigan’s Youssef Khayat immediately recognizes this, and Jackson isolates on Buie. Consequently, Barnhizer has to help inside, which leaves Khayat open for the trey.

In the second clip, Michigan lines up in a Horns offense, which is basically a set where two players start at the elbows with the other two off-ball players in the corners. That wreaks a bit of havoc, but not on Williams’ initial slip. Martinelli follows him without needing to switch off.

That makes Barnhizer’s next action a bit confusing. The 6-foot-7 Martinelli is already guarding the 6-foot-7 Williams, but the NU junior rotates over from the left corner to front Williams. Perhaps he anticipated Reed’s ensuing roll, but the Michigan big isn’t even out of his screening position before Barnhizer goes over. Although the Wolverines beat Buie, who went over the top, the paint is cluttered enough where Reed wouldn’t have an open path.

Barnhizer appears to recognize this, but Williams’ back screen prevents him from getting over to contest Jace Howard’s three-pointer. Communicating a little more with Martinelli or providing a little less help could’ve prevented that from happening.

But then, Northwestern began to embark on its run, and it started small.

The recovery

In addition to some terrific on-ball defense from Langborg (even if that contest on Williams should have been a foul), this is some nice three-man action on the pick between the grad student, Buie and Nicholson. The center’s drop coverage is excellent here, cutting off Williams while also keeping Reed within range. Plus, Buie’s eyes meet Williams’ the moment he glances over right (pause at 16 seconds in the shot clock).

There were some exclamation points during Northwestern’s 8-0 run to seize control of the game — including a thrilling weak-side block from Barnhizer just a few seconds later — but this was the start on the defensive end. That fluidity and off-ball quickness marked a stellar turnaround for the ‘Cats.

This is a beautiful 30 seconds of basketball. Try and count up all of the defensive positives on this possession:

I found nine:

• Blake Smith’s on-ball defense (really insightful Twitter thread about that, highly recommend you read it here)
• Smith and Barnhizer switching off with a single point in the same direction where Llewellyn is about to replace Jackson (even if it was obvious, this is just such a great picture)

• Buie and Langborg switching seamlessly on the first ball screen
• Hunger slowing down Burnett’s cut with a small bump
• Buie fighting through Reed’s screen to not only follow Burnett but deny him
• Langborg helping on the first screen… and then dropping back to the wing promptly when Barnhizer steps into the lane! Then, he shades middle and forcefully recovers again!
• Barnhizer recovers back to the corner with five seconds on the shot clock
• Hunger with a forceful step on the hedge, but doesn’t all-out blitz
• Smith having the awareness to box out Llewellyn as the shot clock’s expiring, even though Reed doesn’t even attempt a shot

Just wonderful. This five-man combo had played a grand total of one (1) minute together before this game, per CBB Analytics, yet it communicated like a starting lineup with years of experience here. This was one of Northwestern’s best team defensive possessions all season. It set the tone for a resurgent second half, one marked by fluid play recognition, great drop coverage and mindful help defense.

Putting it all together in the second half

Just watch the help defenders, and compare it to those first few clips. Here, it’s Martinelli taking good angles and checking off the lane:

Here’s Langborg navigating through Reed’s fake roll and quickly noticing the ensuing pindown. Some really nice drop coverage from Nicholson, too. Plus, a roller tag in the next clip.

Those roller tags and helps aren’t even that much quicker, but the wings follow them up with much cleaner, sharper angles to the perimeter on better timing. Even though Langborg’s last one was a little slow after Reed bumped him, he keeps his eyes on Llewellyn’s passing lane instead of the ball.

This was the biggest factor behind Michigan’s lack of perimeter scoring in the second half. After shooting eight threes in the first 20 minutes (and making six of them), the Wolverines took just three. Northwestern limited catch-and-shoot looks off pick-and-rolls, and it paid off.

Its communication was also much more on point, especially here.

While Barnhizer cheats to help on Burnett, he and Martinelli make up for it. The sophomore forward displays great recognition, sticking in between Williams (in the corner) and Jackson (on the wing) until he notices the latter pushing into his explosion step before he even catches the ball. Barnhizer sees it, replaces Martinelli in the corner, and points toward Langborg to watch Llewellyn on the weak side for a potential kickout.

The clip below is another great moment between Barnhizer and Nicholson. Take note of how the big man forces U of M’s point guard right into Barnhizer’s help, and utilizes it to switch immediately.

The duo does a really great job of defending the double screen, with No. 13 on Reed and Nicholson on an island with Llewellyn. Off the ball, Buie helps deny a cutting Khayat. Somehow, that’s not all they do here. On that second Reed pick, the Northwestern senior doesn’t just hedge on the double-team. He’s quick enough to cut off the ball-handler’s lateral path again, which supplies the ball pressure strong enough to make that pass to an open Reed a weak one.

Speaking of Nicholson, his recovery defense shined in the second half. He made some great plays in that area at Indiana that may have gone under the radar due to his offensive explosion, but he built on them on Thursday night. While it wasn’t really an issue in the first half, his interior help played a significant role in keeping momentum in the Wildcats’ favor.

Buie and Langborg are a little slow with the off-ball switch, which leaves the baseline open for Khayat. However, Nicholson does a great job of keeping Reed from sealing him out of the way. He leverages his size to stay in Khayat’s path, and contests the shot without fouling.

This next one? Um, not a lot of explaining to do about why this is good.

Particularly in the last two weeks, Nicholson has made some serious defensive strides. He’s displayed the mobility and the motor that distinguished him one of Northwestern’s defensive engines in 2022-23, and that improvement couldn’t have come at a better time. The Wildcats gave Julian Reese fits when Maryland came to Welsh-Ryan Arena in January, and limiting him off pick-and-rolls with Jahmir Young is going to be crucial for Northwestern to emerge from their College Park rematch victorious.

UMD’s shooting struggles should benefit the ‘Cats here. As noted way up above, the Terps are shooting 28.9% from three-point land, which is 347th in the entire country. They haven’t had a single game all season where they’ve shot more than 50% from beyond the arc.

Does that mean Northwestern shifts back to that Michigan first-half identity, where it was much more conscious of rolling bigs than it was shooters? Potentially. After all, a higher three-point rate for a team whose best wing shooter is 34% from deep (Donta Scott) probably helps NU.

Nevertheless, Young is a maestro when it comes to operating a pick-and-roll. En route to his 36-point performance against Northwestern, he made seven shots at the rim. That’s his highest total of the entire season. Thus, the fluid communication, switching and play recognition the ‘Cats displayed against Llewellyn coming off screens in the second half should collectively serve as a good foundation to prevent Maryland’s superstar from getting to the hoop as much as he did in the first matchup.