After promising start to season, Weber State's new-look offense hoping to maintain identity


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OGDEN — For the better part of 11 years, offensive efficiency characterized Randy Rahe’s tenure as head coach at Weber State.

Now in his 12th season in Ogden, his history of maximizing under-talented outfits remains alive as ever, having survived 410 games, five Big Sky Player of the Year winners and, most recently, an offensive system change.

The winds of change began blowing during the offseason from a multitude of moving parts from the previous season’s roster.

Impact players graduated, including the school’s all-time leading scorer Jeremy Senglin. Uncertainity stemmed from outgoing and incoming transfers, such as current BYU forward McKay Cannon and former Utah forward Brekkott Chapman.

And it didn’t stop there, even after the dust finally settled regarding player movement. Instead, the winds of change ensued—though this time by design rather than consequence.

After years of staying true to the famed “flex” offense, Rahe moved during the offseason to install the rudiments of a “motion” system—which involves more ball-screening and fewer individual sets—to buttress a new-look roster brimming with shooting and athleticism.

The idea was simple: space players to the slot and wing stations around the perimeter and, in turn, incorporate constant ball-movement and screening. If executed properly, it’s a system capable of conjuring open threes and at-rim shots in equal measure.

As the season neared, the pretext ended with a reveal and Rahe proving himself as the rare leopard capable of changing his spots when he met with reporters for media day in October.

“We’re changing a few things. We’re trying to open the floor,” Rahe said of his refashioned offense, adding, “I think it’s going to fit our personnel really well.”

To this point, that intuition has paid off. While Rahe has never been the type to paint by numbers, his team’s statistical portrait is a flattering one. At present, WSU ranks 20th nationally in team 3-point percentage (40.2), seventh in effective field-goal percentage (59.4) and sixth in true shooting percentage (62.0). In the half-court, they rank second nationally in non-transition effective field goal percentage (59.8), according to hoop-math.com.

Anecdotally, players have waxed optimistic about playing in open real estate. This year, offensive purchase has, at times, been a painless—even enjoyable—process, they say.

“I’ve enjoyed (the new offense) a lot,” sophomore standout Jerrick Harding told KSL.com this week. “It’s a lot more player reads and just reading off our teammates. I feel like it’s more free-flowing this year. It helps us get open shots and better shots.”

Through 15 games, the flowering of their new offense has been almost seamless. While a new-look roster and offense figured to experience some turbulence on its maiden voyage, their progress has been steadily ahead of schedule. In fact, the Wildcats’ offensive sins have been so few they can be shortlisted: a stray blowout loss against Utah Valley University, one turnover-filled half against Fresno State and a confusing outing in their Big Sky opener against Idaho State.

But since their stumble against ISU earlier this month, the Wildcats have returned to form. In games against Northern Arizona and Southern Utah, they have shot a combined 45 percent (21-46) from behind the arc, assisted on 37 of their 64 field goals, approached or exceeded several players' career highs in various counting stats and posted offensive ratings of 122.7 and 128.4, respectively.

Rahe, for his part, has been pleased with the recent returns.

“We’re starting to get our identity,” Rahe said following Saturday’s victory against SUU. “Now we’ve got to make sure it’s a consistent identity and then we can move forward. … If we can keep this group of guys on the floor, our best basketball is ahead of us and maybe a little bit down the road.

“This is gotta be who we are now. We can’t falter from who we are.”

Only a few months into a system predicated on constant ball and player movement, WSU’s assist percentage (54.7) has risen nearly six percentage points from last season’s mark.

With ball movement functioning as a team-wide responsibility, a few unlikely names have emerged as situational quarterbacks, most notably junior center Zach Braxton. At times, his post presence has left defenders spinning in his orbit, leading to heady inside-out passing out of double-teams.

“That’s what we try to do around here is inside-out basketball,” said Braxton, who boasts the second-highest assist percentage (8.6) and third-lowest turnover percentage (12.3) among Big Sky centers over the last two seasons, according to sports-reference.com.

“When we throw him the ball, he demands double-teams,” Rahe said of Braxton in December. “And our wings sure like it when he gets double-teamed because they get shots. He kicks it out and they get good looks.

“He’s made so much improvement over the years. When he does get double-teamed, he’s getting better at finding the open guy.”

It’s not only Braxton and the passing game that’s improved, either. For context, nearly every holdover from last year’s group has seen their at-rim scoring efficiency improve this season, most significantly with Dusty Baker (61.1 to 68.4 percent) and Jordan Dallas (59.3 to 71.4), per hoop-math.com. Even Harding has managed a modest increase (65.4 to 67.6) despite earning priority on opponents’ scouting reports.

Collectively, that deepened impact at the rim grows more pronounced in the team’s shot profile as the season rolls along.

When looking under the hood after 15 games, the Wildcats’ shot profile shows a 4 percent decrease in 2-point jump shots from last season and a nearly equal increase in the number of shots taken at the rim this season, according to hoop-math.com.

That exchange of mid-rangers for shots at the rim is owed, in large part, to Harding’s shot creation in the half-court and his ability to finish over length. Standing at 6-foot-1, the lefty point guard is taking a little over 48 percent of his shots at the basket this season, the highest such number for any rotation-quality guard at Weber State in the seven seasons of data tracked at hoop-math.com.

When asked about his off-the-dribble, acrobatic finishes adding a level of dynamism to the offense, the soft-spoken guard’s lips curl into a knowing smile.

“It’s something I’ve been doing all my life,” said Harding, who’s been assisted on just 15.1 percent of his field goals at the rim this season. “I just try to make shots and make plays.”

Harding's dribble penetration and scoring polish have also helped weaponize Weber State's pick-and-roll offense. When he is featured in four-out shooting lineups, the additional spacing has loosened enemy defenses and, by extension, created navigable corridors for players to travel through. As a result, Rahe can often dictate the terms of engagement between his offense and the opponent's defense.

“We’ve got some shooters and we can spread you out a little bit. We kind of make them pick their poison,” he said. “You gotta take the big guy on the roll and leave the shooters open, or you’re gonna cover up the shooters and let the big guys go. We’ve gotten better at it.” Dillon Anderson is studying literary journalism as a student at the University of Utah. You can follow him on Twitter @DillonDanderson.

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