Savannah St., Citadel all about shooting 3s, shooting fast

Savannah State coach Horace Broadnax pulled a fast one on his players before the season, and now the Tigers have the fastest offense in Division I basketball.

When official practices started in October, Broadnax, whose Georgetown roots made him a stickler for strong defense, surprised his players when he told them they would carry the frenetic pace of those pickup games into the season.

[...] the system Broadnax calls "organized rec ball with an IQ" has produced eye-popping statistics but not many wins.

Half of the Tigers' shots occur in transition, meaning within 10 seconds of a steal, rebound or made basket by the opponent, according to Hoop-Math.com.

With no proven scorer around the basket, he turned to basketball analytics, which say shooting 33 percent on 3s is the same as shooting 50 percent on 2-pointers.

Baucom said the system mixes the pace of Paul Westhead's Loyola Marymount teams of a quarter-century ago, the spacing principles of dribble-drive guru Vance Walberg and the over-the-top love of the 3-point shot by David Arseneault's teams at Division III Grinnell College in Iowa.

The point guard looks to beat his man on the dribble and, if he can, drive all the way to the basket.

Usually another defender helps, so the point guard passes to a teammate on the perimeter.

"Just knowing Coach from last year, he was all defense," senior guard Troyce Manassa said.