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Air Force men's basketball playing at a faster pace this season
7 p.m. Saturday, Clune Arena
Maryland-Eastern Shore (3-8), last game: 95-69 win vs. Mercy
About the Hawks: In November, Maryland-Eastern Shore played another Mountain West team, Wyoming, and lost by 30 points. The Hawks struggle to score. They don’t shoot 3-pointers well, turn the ball over way too much and don’t get extra possessions with offensive rebounds. Air Force shouldn’t give up too many points.
Air Force (5-2), last game: 63-51 win vs. Arkansas-Pine Bluff
About the Falcons: Air Force hasn’t played in a week, and its next game is at Gonzaga, so there’s a chance for a flat performance against an overmatched Maryland-Eastern Shore team. Air Force has done pretty well against teams it should beat, with all five wins coming by double digits.
Air Force men’s basketball hasn’t become a run-and-gun outfit, but the Falcons are picking up the pace a little bit this season.
In Jeff Reynolds’ first four seasons, the Falcons finished among the slowest-paced teams in college basketball every year. According to the statistics site kenpom.com, the Falcons ranked 338th, 339th, 346th (of 347 teams) and 328th in adjusted pace – which measures possessions per game - among Division I teams in Reynolds’ first four years. Air Force would set up shop in the half court and search for the best shot.
Air Force ranks 298th in Division I in adjusted pace on kenpom.com heading into Friday’s games, with 64.3 possessions per game. The Falcons, who play Maryland-Eastern Shore tonight at Clune Arena, still play at a deliberate pace, but it’s a lot faster than previous years.
“It’s not a huge change from years past, but we’ve learned that when we get an opportunity in transition to push the ball and get those easy buckets,” Air Force forward Mike Fitzgerald said.
The faster pace is a reflection of the roster. With Reynolds’ most athletic class of freshmen on the roster providing depth, the Falcons decided to look for moments in games when they could get some fast-break points.
“We have more athletes, and we know we have more athletes than we have in the past, so we want to exploit our strengths,” guard Michael Lyons said.
Along with the freshmen, starters like Lyons and Todd Fletcher can run the floor, and center Taylor Broekhuis can beat most of his counterparts down the court. Knowing his personnel was equipped to run more, Reynolds encouraged a quicker pace.
“We would like to get easy baskets and not be a grinding team,” Reynolds said.
Getting a few extra baskets per game should help the Falcons. Although Air Force can frustrate opponents by making them defend many possessions until less than 10 seconds are left on the shot clock, the deliberate pace can also be a grind for the Falcons, especially over the course of a long season.
“It helps a lot, just to get those easy buckets, then you can take a little breather and be strong on defense,” Fitzgerald said.
The Falcons are learning how to pick and choose spots to get out and run. Air Force values possessions, so it doesn’t want to play too fast and turn the ball over.
“We don’t want to take a bad shot or take an unforced error, like throwing the ball away,” Lyons said. “We want to be in control when we’re running.”
