Tulsa Golden Hurricane Preview

Submitted by Bambi on

Overview

Who: Tulsa Golden Hurricane: 20-11 (12-6)

When: Wednesday at 9:10 PM on TruTV

Where: Dayton, OH

RPI Ranking: 61

KenPom Ranking: 58

SOS: 61

Neutral Record: 2-3

Road Record: 6-5

Coaching

Tulsa is coached by former Miami (YTM) and Missouri coach Frank Haith. Haith is in his second year at Tulsa and took the Golden Hurricane to the second round of the NIT. They last made the tournament 2 years ago as 13 seed, losing their first game to UCLA. Haith has made the tourney twice as a coach, which occured in his first two years as Missouri's head coach. Both years Missouri lost in the first round, including as a 2 seed in 2012.

Year in Review

This was Tulsa's second year in the American Athletic Conference (AAC), previously being in the Conference USA. They went 20-11 overall, finishing 5th in the AAC with a 12-6 conference record. Tulsa averages 74 PPG and allows 69.7, both very middling marks nationally.

Tulsa went 8-4 in the non-conference. They had a bad loss to Oral Roberts, who finished 14-17 this year and 7th in the Summit, and beyond that lost to tourney teams Oregon State and Arkansas-Little Rock as well as borderline tourney team South Carolina. Their key non-conference wins were over tourney teams Wichita State and Iona.

In conference, Tulsa split the season series with tourney teams UConn, Cincinnati and Temple, as well as SMU who was ineligible for post-season play. They also lost to Houston and twice to Memphis, including by 22 points in the first round of the AAC tourney.

Tulsa's RPI splits:

vs. RPI Top 25: 1-1 (Both vs SMU)

vs. RPI Top 50: 3-5 (Wins vs UConn, Cinci, @SMU)

vs. RPI Top 100: 8-8

vs. RPI Top 150: 8-11 (Loses to Oral Roberts and Memphis x2 between RPI 100 and 150)

vs. RPI Sub 150: 12-0

Against tournament teams:

Wins: 6 (Wichita State, Iona, UConn, Cinci, Temple, SMU)

Losses: 6 (Oregon State, Arkansas-Lttle Rock, UConn, Cinci, Temple, SMU)

The Roster

Tulsa has 9 players that average at least 10 MPG (Michigan has 8, with Wagner, Chatman and Wilson all missing this mark) and play generally 10 players a game.

Tulsa's starting 5:

James Woodard: 6'3" SR G, Tulsa's leading scorer at 15.6 PPG, second leading rebounder at 5.2 RPG and second leading assister at 2.4 APG. Woodard has a 42/36/78 FG/3P/FT shooting split.

Shaquille Harrison: 6'4" SR G, Tulsa's second leading scorer (14.8 PPG), leading rebounder (5.5 RPG), leading assist man (4.1 APG), second on team in steals (1.9 SPG), has 46/18/64 shooting split.

Pat Birt: 6'5" JR G, Tulsa's third leading scorer (12.4 PPG), 3.4 RPG and .8 APG, 38/37/74 shooting split.

Brandon Swannegan: 6'9" SR F, 6.5 PPG, 3.9 RPG, leading shot blocker at .9 BPG, 58/0/61 shooting split

*Rashad Smith: 6'7" SR F/G, 7.2 PPG, 4.2 RPG, 1.2 APG, .7 SPG, .6 BPG, 53/25/56 shooting split

*Smith started Tulsa's tourney game against Memphis but not the previous 4 games, and missed 3 of them. Info on Tulsa online is light, but it seems like Smith was hurt and just got back healthy for the conference tourney. Starting in his place:

Marquel Curtis: 6'3" SR G, 6.7 PPG, 4.2 RPG, 2.2 APG, .8 SPG, 43/29/67 shooting split (Curtis will probably come off the bench but averages the 4th most minutes on the team, ahead of Swannegan and Smith)

The remaining contributors:

D'Andre Wright: 6'9" SR F, 5.2 PPG, 3.4 RPG, 48/0/70 shooting split

Rashad Ray: 5'10" SR G, 4.7 PPG, 1.9 APG, leads team in steals at 1 SPG, 36/32/60 shooting split

Sterling Taplin: 6'1" FR G, 2.7 PPG, 41/27/79 shooting split

The Takeaway

Tulsa seems to be a very guard oriented team like Michigan, starting 4 guards and 8 of their 10 contributors are guards. They are actually smaller than Michigan, with two 6'9" F's as their tallest regulars and all their guards being 6'5" or smaller.

Unlike Michigan they can't shoot at all. They have only three players shooting above 30% from 3 and no one higher than 37%, compared to 7 for Michigan with 4 above 37%.

Tulsa also seems to be a very senior heavy team, so they will definitely have a lot of experience on the court. Overall I think this matchup bodes well for Michigan, and we should definitely be the favorite to win this game, especially once you consider how bad of a coach Frank Haith really is.

Comments

RobM_24

March 14th, 2016 at 12:49 AM ^

This is a game where Donnal has to show up. If not him, than Wagner. It definitely doesn't look like a matchup where Doyle should play much -- I might even favor Wilson over Doyle against this shorter, quicker team. Turnovers will be key, so I'd rather not have Hot Hands Doyle in there. MAAR should have opportunities to drive to the paint. Hopefully we're not settling for 3's all game.

Michigan4Life

March 14th, 2016 at 6:18 AM ^

I have seen them play a ton and they're not going to be a pushover.

Yes, they are small across the board, but they really make it up with athleticism and defense.  This is a senior heavy team (9 seniors with 7 having significant PT) and have seen everything thrown in their way including 3 different coaches. They're not a great shooting team, but an extremely streaky shooting team.  If they're hot from 3 pt line, they're hard to beat because defense has to deal with them shooting and defend against dribble penetration.  They have beaten quality teams playing that way.

Here's a breakdown of a report of each players:

Starters

PG: Shaquille Harrison: 6'3" - Shaquille is a 2nd team all-conference. He does a good job of running the offense and is arguably their most athletic player on the team.  He isn't a great shooter but is a solid FT shooter.  Shaquille really looks to drive and kick or score and can get to the hoops at will. In addition to his athleticism, he is their best defensive player and regularly guards the best offensive player.  I'm assuming that he'll try to lock down Derrick Walton.

SG: James Woodard: 6'3" - James is a 1st team all-conference.  He's their best shooter on the team and can penetrate a bit.  They look to him to give them offensive spacing and has range beyond the NBA 3 pt line.  He is a lefty who loves to go to his left, but will stop on a dime to shoot. He's the focus of the defense because if he gets hot, it opens up the rest of the offense.

SF: Pat Birt 6'5" - He's a JC transfer and has emerged as the legitimate 3rd option on offense. He's a mixture of Shaq and James in terms of playing style. He can penetrate but can step to make three pointers. He is their X-Factor. If he is engaged and can score, Tulsa offense is a much tougher out with Shaq, James and him all contributing on offense. The last 10 games, he has been on fire. He scored 20+ points 7 of the last 10 games.

PF: Rashad Smith 6'7" - Rashad Smith is a 5th year senior. He has been nursing a shoulder injury for the last month, but has come back to play in the last two games.  Without him, Tulsa's lack of depth at the frontcourt has been glaring.  Smith gives them that athleticism and defense at the PF position.  He's really a SF who is playing down a position and even at C because of the roster makeup.

C: Brandon Swannegan 6'8" - Brandon is a lanky 6'8" C whose job is to rebound and defend.  He has 7'2" wingspan and he use it well to bother players on defense especially in shotblocking. He isn't asked to score and has scored from putback or PnR or good quality passes from the players when he's wide open. On a rare occasion, he'll post up and score with baby hooks. He is prone to foul trouble because he has a tendency to reach in or lacks the size/strength to battle against bigger players.

Bench

De'Andre Wright 6'9" - De'Andre Wright is their only true big guy with size on the team.  He prefers to camp out at 3 pt line to make jump shots, but he can post up.  He is prone to foul a lot. 

Marquel Curtis 6'3" - Marquel is the glue guy who does the dirty work for the team.  He plays anywhere from PG to SF.  He isn't a great shooter, but is a crafty player who can drive to the hoop.  He can rebound and lead the break. 

Rashad Ray 5'10" - Rashad Ray is small, but he is athletic.  Will play at both PG and SG, and is a streaky shooter.  His job is to play defense and run the offense if needed. 

Overall:

Tulsa will be one of the more athletic team, Michigan will face all year long.  They relied on defense and offensive pentration with ball movement to succeed. Their main scoring options are James Woodard, Shaquille Harrison and Pat Birt with an occasional Rashad Smith & De'Andre Wright.  They get into the passing lane as well as anyone that I've seen and they are active.  They play hard and won't back down from anybody.  The real trouble they have encountered is team with size and can rebound.  SMU, Memphis, Cincinnati and UConn has given them ton of problems for this reason yet they beat them this season.

What Michigan needs to do to beat Tulsa:

- Defend against dribble pentration: This is the most important part because if Tulsa guards can get to the hoops at will, Michigan is in trouble.  Tulsa is a very unselfish team who relies on ball movement to get easy points.

- Don't let James Woodard and Pat Birt get hot from 3 pt: They are the best shooter on the team and if they get hot, it's going to be a long night for Michigan.

- Take care of the ball: JB has been drilling them on taking care of the ball from day 1 and he'll preach it even more especially when they get into their sets.

- Win rebounding battle: Tulsa may be small but will use everybody to crash down and rebound because of the size disadvantage. Michigan cannot let them get second chance points.

- Stop transition offense: Tulsa thrives in transition and has turned their defense into offense in an instant.

- Get the bigs into a foul trouble: Tulsa is very thin at  the front court with 3 players having a significant playing time at PF and C position. If any of them are in a foul trouble, they have to play 4 guards to combat it.

 

I have Michigan winning this game, but won't be as easy as many think it will be considering Michigan's defensive struggle all year long.

ak47

March 14th, 2016 at 12:52 PM ^

This is actually pretty terrifying because there is about a zero percent chance michigans gaurds are suddenly going to be able to stop dribble penetration or get any themselves against athletic guards.

This game seems to be screaming for zone since Tulsa doesn't seem like the sort of team that will punish you for playing zone on the boards or from outside.

Michigan4Life

March 14th, 2016 at 1:15 PM ^

They're battle tested and two of the seniors went through 3 different coaches while the rest went two different coaches. They have NCAA tournament experience and NIT experience as well. They won't back down from Michigan but this is a game where Michigan offense should shine. Michigan should keep the ball moving and let it rip from 3 pt land. Corner there is there for the taking IMO




Sent from MGoBlog HD for iPhone & iPad

Michigan4Life

March 14th, 2016 at 1:18 PM ^

Also, the three players Michigan should concentrate on stopping dribble penetration are Shaquille Harrison, Marquel Curtis and Rashad Ray. Shaq is the most important because he runs the offense and they play off from it. Marquel isn't explosive but is crafty with subtle moves to get him to the hoops. Rashad Ray has the athleticism to do it but doesn't do it often due to his size.




Sent from MGoBlog HD for iPhone & iPad

aiglick

March 14th, 2016 at 2:03 AM ^

Very good previews, Bambi and Michigan4Life. I appreciate all this great info and it definitely serves as a good primer on our first, hopefully not last, opponent. We're not good enough to take anybody lightly. Frankly, no team is good enough this year with all the parity.

I think we have a good chance this game but can't take them lightly. I don't expect this coaching staff to underestimate them.

Yo_Blue

March 14th, 2016 at 10:26 AM ^

A Senior-led team.  Any time you play a team with Senior guards, watch out.  Limit the turnovers, make your open 3s, and pack it inside the arc.

Erik_in_Dayton

March 14th, 2016 at 4:53 PM ^

...against this team and miss them even more if they make it to WVU.  I know having them didn't fix all of Michigan's problems, but they are at the very least two additional competent ballhandlers. 

victors2000

March 14th, 2016 at 10:02 PM ^

Big Ten Tournament. They played with more confidence and energy. If they continue to play all out they will beat Tulsa and set themselves up for a winnable game against Notre Dame.

Go Blue.

NittanyFan

March 15th, 2016 at 12:03 PM ^

the "Golden Tornadoes" ---- which makes more sense, tornadoes hit Oklahoma much more than hurricanes do, after all.  

But that was Georgia Tech's alternate nickname at that time.  The 1917 Georgia Tech Golden Tornado --- coached by one John Heisman --- is actually among college football's best all-time teams.

Anyway, Tulsa had to go to Plan B.  Some other type of weather event.