Whitehaven needs outside shots to fall against Memphis East
In the second half of the first meeting, Whitehaven went ice cold from the perimeter, junior big man Jordan Wilmore was in foul trouble, and there was nothing the Tigers could do with James Wiseman. It’s not unusual for teams…
Access all of Prep Hoops
Continue reading this article and more.
Continue ReadingIn the second half of the first meeting, Whitehaven went ice cold from the perimeter, junior big man Jordan Wilmore was in foul trouble, and there was nothing the Tigers could do with James Wiseman.
It’s not unusual for teams to have a hard time slowing down Wiseman, who has a niche for finishing strong at the rim and taking his defender off the dribble. Whitehaven may not be able to slow him down, but the Tigers have to convert on outside shots to put themselves in position to get a huge league road win Thursday night.
Whitehaven has a plethora of guards that are capable of making outside jump shots, and in the first meeting, for three and a half quarters of action, the Tigers made all of the necessary shots to jump out on the Mustangs. Whitehaven was led by junior combo guard Matthew Murrell, who had 13 points in the first half, converting on three 3s in the first eight minutes.
At halftime, the Tigers were up 38-27.
But, in the second half, the outside shots stopped falling, and Wiseman took control of the game. The Memphis signee scored his team’s final 11 points of the third quarter to give Memphis East the 48-45 lead. Wiseman continued his offensive outing with a 3 from the top of the key over Wilmore in the final quarter as the Mustangs extended their lead to 63-52.
Wiseman ended up finishing with 31 points and 14 rebounds in the 64-55 win. Wiseman’s teammate, Malcolm Dandridge, another Memphis signee, added 17 points and 13 rebounds. Murrell finished with 21.
Add the dominance of Wiseman in with the missed, uncontested outside shots from Whitehaven, and that equaled a disastrous ending for the Tigers, who only made six 3s in the loss.
Thursday night will be another make or miss game for Whitehaven.
“I think in that third quarter, we couldn’t make a shot,” Tigers head coach Faragi Phillips said. “We had open looks, and we had many, many chances to make shots that we did make in the first half. So, we’re going to capitalize off some things that they’re going to do.
“But, at the end of the day, this is a game that’s either make or miss. So, we have to make shots, because they’re going to give you shots. We just have to shoot them with confidence and make them and limit their offensive rebounding and contain James (Wiseman) the best we can.”
Whitehaven has shown it has the ability to knock down outside shots. In the Tigers’ 64-57 road win at White Station last Friday night, Ragi Phillips, Jesse Payne Jr., and Murrell all made the necessary shots from the perimeter. Ragi had one of his best shooting performances of the season against the Spartans. He scored nine of his 17 points in the third quarter – all from deep – to help Whitehaven push its lead to 51-42.
But, Ragi was in a shooting slump in Tuesday night’s 82-64 home league win over Memphis Central. He finished with just six points and missed some wide open shots from deep. Murrell led the Tigers with 24 points, with a bulk of those coming in transition and by attacking the basket. Wilmore scored all 17 of his points in the second half, despite playing with four fouls that he picked up in the third quarter.
Murrell will not have the lane to drive in on Thursday night, so those outside shots will have to fall, even if they fall on a bad shooting night, percentage wise, for the team.
“We kind of make in game adjustments, but if you’re asking, “Are we not going to shoot them if we’re open?” No, if we’re open, we’re going to shoot them,” Phillips said. “We just have to be able to make them and shoot them with confidence. We’re not going to turn down shots.
“We’re an up-and-down team. We play with pace, we play fast. And that kind of gives us an advantage when it comes to them, because they have two guys that can’t get down the floor as fast as we can, so we’re going to have the opportunity to get early looks at the basket.”