Here’s a good site for the flex offense, which shows plenty of opportunities for centers to pass for assists, inside and out:

http://www.coachesclipboard.net/Animations/FlashFlexOffense.html

On the surface, it doesn’t seem like too big a deal. But I think it shows a gaping hole in Maryland’s offensive strategy and structure.

Most of the teams baskets come as a product of (1) driving the ball, (2) driving and dishing, or (3) working the ball around the perimeter for an open shot.

I think one aspect of the flex offense that Maryland has failed to conquer is in getting the ball into the middle to our big man. Getting JWill the ball inside the key and allowing him to post up could potentially suck defenders in, and the 6’ 10" freshman could easily dish the ball out to one of our shooters (i.e. Hayes, Cliff, Greivis, maybe even Landon and Sean) for an open look at the basket. THAT is how JWill should be racking up assists.

So on the surface, the lack of assists for a center does not seem overly concerning. But considering the dynamics of our team, I think he should at least be getting a couple a game.

Good post Ben. I too was pleased by these numbers, although we should expect some regression during conference play.

However, you fail to point out the improvement that Mosley has shown from last year. He’s essentially doubled his eFG% from this point last year. It would be difficult to maintain his current eFG% of 65 in conference, but he’s elevated his shooting so drastically it’s a wonder what happened during the offseason. And even then he’s still had some notable misses on easy shots.

Also, William’s lack of assists is certainly a cause for interest, but note that he’s exhibiting very good ball control as a freshman big man by turning it over on less than 10% of his personal possessions. Both assists and turnovers should increase as he gets more involved in the offense, though.

One reason that Jordan isn’t getting the ball is that he is not very good yet at creating space and setting himself up to receive a pass. He needs to put defenders on his hip and control space so that he can receive a pass. He also can’t sit back on his heels but has to go after passes. He’ll get better. He has the size and good hands. When he does improve he will start getting passes…there is too much scoring potential there to not use it.

I agree with GoBabyTerps that GW has done a great job with big men. Our half-court offense for the 2002 team was built around going inside to Lonnie. However, the basic flex also requires big men to do things they don’t have to do in other offenses. Post players rotate out to the top of the key in the basic flex…remember Ekene hooking those bounce passes into the low post? Fortunately for this team, Gary is not running the basic flex very much. As kckb8 wrote, a lot of our offense is built around penetration by Greivis. I think it is better for Jordan because it allows him to stay closer to the basket where we need him. Starting the offense with Greivis also gives us an inside-out offense. Greivis is one of the best players I’ve seen at driving to the basket and then making a great pass back out to an open player on the perimeter.