Vic Schaefer is concerned.
The veteran coach has watched the Mississippi State women’s basketball team struggle shooting the basketball in its last two Southeastern Conference road games, so he is contemplating a change.
As an assistant and associate head coach with Gary Blair at Arkansas and Texas A&M and now has head coach at MSU, Schaefer relishes the opportunity to work on fundamentals and strategy with his players in practice. For years, Schaefer has said players have to get in the gym and work on their shooting because there isn’t enough time to go over everything every week in the hours the team is given.
But after shooting a season-low 27.6 percent in a loss at Missouri and 34 percent Thursday in a loss at Georgia, Schafer is considering using more of his practice time so his players can work on their shooting.
“We’re not going to beat anyone if we don’t make shots, whether it is home or away,” Schaefer said. “The kids have to get in the gym more and shoot on their own or I have to start doing less fundamental work and strategy in my hours a week and spend more time just shooting, which is where I am kind of leaning.”
Schaefer made the comments Friday following a 47-43 loss at Georgia. MSU’s season-low point total dropped its production in SEC games to 65.3 points per game. MSU is scoring 76.8 ppg. overall, which is second in the Southeastern Conference.
No. 10 MSU (17-3, 4-2 SEC) will try to get back to its higher-scoring ways at 4 p.m. today (ESPN2) when it plays host to No. 2 South Carolina (18-0, 6-0) at Humphrey Coliseum. MSU is trying to make history today and eclipse the 10,000 mark in attendance for the first time in program history.
A return home could help the Bulldogs’ shooting. MSU, which is 11-0 at home this season, earned its latest victory at Humphrey Coliseum on Monday in a 79-51 decision against Ole Miss. MSU shot 49.1 percent in that game, but it followed it up by scoring 14 points in the first half against Georgia. MSU shot 26.1 percent in the first 20 minutes and 34 percent for the game in an effort Schaefer called “disappointing” because all of his players weren’t aggressive on offense against a 2-3 zone.
Schaefer admitted teams usually are going to see a difference in their shooting percentages on the road and at home, but he said his players have to overcome those things because they are part of the home-court advantage.
“We have to get the excuses out and make shots and get it done,” Schaefer said.
Schaefer said he was pleased with his team’s defense against Georgia, but he said his team continues to make mistakes that make it difficult to win. He said MSU’s floater on the press gave up long passes multiple times that he said led to 10-11 points. He also said key turnovers and calls that went against his team proved costly on a night sophomore Victoria Vivians (9-of-24 shooting, 2 of 11 from 3-point range, 20 points) was the only player to score in double figures.
“I thought Victoria’s shot selection was a lot better. I am not disappointed in that at all,” Schaefer said.
But Schaefer also agreed that he doesn’t want MSU to continue to have games in which Vivians takes 24 shots and 6-foot-5 center Chinwe Okorie and 6-7 center Teaira McCowan combine to take five. MSU is the only team in the SEC that has one player — Vivians — with double the number of shots attempts than every other player on the roster.
“Victoria was at least aggressive and she went to the hole,” said Schaefer, who added he thought she was fouled on a few of those drives. “Victoria went to the hole and she didn’t settle. She shot 11 3-pointers but they all were not rushed or bad.”
Schaefer said he finally had to go to a man-to-man offense against Georgia’s zone in an attempt to get his players to be more aggressive. The switch helped MSU score 29 points in the second half, but it wasn’t enough to overcome that fact that MSU attempted only 12 free throws and Morgan William (seven points) was its only other player with more than four points.
Schaefer said MSU’s lack of offensive rebounding is adding to its struggles. “If we’re going to shoot that poorly we need to rebound it,” Schaefer said. “That is an issue that is concerning. We have to be better at it.”
Schaefer acknowledged a change in his approach to practice would be new because he has never done it. That being said, Schaefer also knows things could change again with such a young team, but he knows he can’t afford to wait much longer because things likely will get even tougher as opponents have even more film to watch and things to try to shut the Bulldogs down.
“The other ain’t working, so I may have to be an active participant in my own remedy,” Schaefer said. “I am not saying we are going to do it, but that is the road we’re headed down if we don’t change.”
Follow Dispatch sports editor Adam Minichino on Twitter @ctsportseditor
Adam Minichino is the former Sports Editor for The Commercial Dispatch.
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