Scouting the Opposition and Keys to the Game: Ole Miss Men’s Basketball hosts Vanderbilt

OXFORD, Miss. — Three days after a historic win at the SJB Pavilion, the Ole Miss Rebels (14-1, 1-1 SEC) will take on the Vanderbilt Commodores (5-10, 0-2 SEC) Saturday in their third SEC Conference game this season. The Rebels enter the game riding high off their performance from Wednesday night against Florida, a Gators team they dominated, 103-85. Ole Miss scored over 100 points in an SEC contest for the first time since 2001, back when they defeated Alabama, 105-71.

Head coach Chris Beard’s squad didn’t just dominate on offense, the Rebels’ defense, led by Jamarion Sharp, recorded 16 total blocks. Sharp, himself, added 9 blocks of his own to that category. 

Vanderbilt comes to Oxford looking to avoid an 0-3 start to SEC play. In their previous two games, the Commodores have lost to Alabama at home and LSU on the road in Baton Rouge. Vanderbilt is looking to turn around its slow start to the season with a big win in Oxford.

So without further adieu, welcome back to another edition of “Scouting the Opponent: Vanderbilt Edition.”

Who are the Vanderbilt Commodores?

Vanderbilt is led by head coach Jerry Stackhouse, the former NBA All-Star, who is in his fifth season at the helm of the Commodores. Vandy is off to a very slow start this year with a 5-10 record. The Commodores are currently ranked 244th in the NET Rankings. Their best win so far this year is a Quad 3 home win against UNC Greensboro. They also have some really bad losses to teams such as Presbyterian and Western Carolina. Here is a look at the rest of their quad wins/losses:

Q1: 0-3

Q2: 0-3

Q3: 1-3

Q4: 4-1

The Rebels and Commodores have played two similar opponents in Memphis and NC State. Vanderbilt lost both of those contests, 77-75 and 84-78, respectively. Their last three losses, except for LSU, have come by a total of six points. However, their loss in Baton Rouge on Wednesday night was a bit of a step backward for the Commodores, as they lost 77-69. 

Scouting the Commodores:

Similar to Florida, Vanderbilt is led by two star, senior guards, Ezra Manjon and Tyrin Lawrence. Manjon, the 5-foot-11 guard, is the heartbeat of the Vanderbilt offense, and he averages 17 points, 3 rebounds, and 4 assists per game. When he is on the floor, the majority of the offense runs through Manjon. He is currently top 10 in scoring in the SEC as well as top 15 in assists. His usage rate is a staggering 27.3%.

In addition to Manjon, Tyrin Lawrence is also having a sneaky good year. The Second-Team Preseason All-SEC choice is currently averaging 14 points, 5 rebounds, and 2 assists this year. The 6-foot-4 guard, who missed the first four games of the season with an injury, is averaging 17 ppg in his last four games.

Injuries have been the story thus far for the Vanderbilt Commodores. Unfortunately, Jerry Stackhouse’s squad has been hit with the injury bug all season, and he has been forced to start 10 different starting lineups in 15 games. Compare this to Ole Miss which has only started two different lineups. This occurred in the Florida game when Beard decided to start Moussa Cisse over Jamarion Sharp.

With all of the different rotations and lineups Stackhouse has to manage, there is a chance to see what some players are made of. This is the case of the 6-foot-7 guard, Jason Rivera-Torres. Rivera-Torres is a freshman from the Bronx, NY who has really come into his own during SEC play. Rivera-Torres scored a career high 20 points and shot 62% from the field in the first SEC game against Alabama. Rivera-Torres has been fun to watch so far this season; the kid is an absolute highlight in my opinion. He will take a step-back NBA-like three pointer on one possession, follow that up with an absurd pass, and then two possessions later he will dribble the ball off his foot.  He is just a very exciting and fun player to watch! 

The biggest glaring weakness of the Commodore team is their front court. Vanderbilt is not a tall team, as their tallest player in their rotation is only 6-foot-8. Tasos Kamateros and Ven-Allen Lubin lead the Commodores’ front court. Due to their size, Stackhouse’s squad is not a strong rebounding team, which bodes very well for Ole Miss.

In addition to their rebounding woes, the Commodores average just 2.9 blocks per game and only score 37.5% of their points inside of the paint. This is the worst percentage in the SEC. Because of this lack of ability to score inside the paint, Vandy does well on the offensive boards because of the long rebounds from all of their shots outside of the arc.

Another bright spot of the front court is Tasos Kamateros’ ability to shoot. The South Dakota transfer likes to spread the floor and shoot threes from the center position. He is currently shooting 40% from behind the arc this season, and he will be crucial to spreading the Ole Miss defense out. His ability to spread the floor will force Sharpe or Cisse to play outside on the perimeter, rather than sit in the paint and block shots. 

Style of Play:

The good news for Ole Miss is Vanderbilt ranks last in the SEC in offensive and defensive ratings. Offensively, the Commodores love to play out of the half court, and they play at a relatively slow pace. As stated earlier, the offensive runs through Ezra Manjon. He and Lawrence both love to play out of the pick and roll with each averaging 45.5% of time and 22.3% of time in pick and roll scenarios this year. Even though they like to play out of the P&R, this is not an assist-oriented team. They are last in the SEC in assists and second-to-last in assist to turnover ratio because most of their offense is really played through three guys. 

In addition to the pick and roll offense, Vanderbilt also loves to shoot threes. However, the Commodores are not a great 3-point shooting team. They are taking the fifth-most threes in the SEC but have the second-worst percentage at 29% from behind the arc. On the topic of three pointers, Vandy is also one of the worst defensive teams when it comes to defending the three. They are ranked last in the SEC in 3-point percentage defense.

Keys to the Game:

As the Rebels look to take on the Commodores Saturday, there are three keys that stand out to me in order for Ole Miss to be victorious. 

1. Take advantage of your size: Vanderbilt’s tallest player is 6-foot-8 and Stackhouse’s team does not rebound the ball well. Make sure to crash the boards as the Rebs will have a lot of opportunities for second-chance buckets. 
2. Continue to build on Chris Beard’s Culture: As stated in TJ’s Takeaways after the Florida Game, the energy seemed different with this team during the Florida Game. They did not get down or disappointed after the loss against Tennessee; rather, they came out hungry, free, and physical. You could see their physicality displayed on defense with all of the blocked shots, as well as the freedom and creatively shown on the offensive end with all of the alley-oop dunks, threes, and fadeaways. Try and continue that culture against Vanderbilt. 
3. Limit Ezra Manjon: Vanderbilt will look to get Manjon the ball every chance it gets. As a smaller guard, Manjon loves to shoot threes, so make sure to guard him on the perimeter. Ole Miss needs to try to force him into the paint, as it will be very difficult for him to create shots in the paint against Ole Miss’ trees. 

Game info

Make sure to catch the Rebels take on the Vanderbilt Commodores in the SJB Pavilion Saturday at 12 Noon. The game will be broadcast on the SEC Network!