Buffalo coach Reggie Witherspoon took his playing experience under Michigan coach John Beilein and former Indiana Pacers coach Jim O'Brien and turned it into one of the most successful offenses in college basketball. Coaches frequently fly in from around the nation to watch his practices and learn the nuances of the Bulls' offense.
It's a level of offensive success Ball State coach Billy Taylor aspires for his team to attain.
Taylor said spacing and ball movement makes Buffalo the top-scoring team in the Mid-American Conference at 73.6 points per game.
While Ball State sits seven spots below at 65.7 points per game, Taylor has two days to correct the team's issues on offense before Ball State travels to Buffalo on Wednesday.
Throughout the season, Taylor said Ball State's offense runs through senior center Jarrod Jones, and the rest of the MAC knows it. Taylor said he wants to take some the characteristics of Witherspoon's offense and install them in his own.
"Offense is all about spacing, and we have not had great floor spacing," Taylor said. "When the flow is a little bit broken [in transition], you have to create and take advantage of a mismatch or quick scoring opportunity. Our spacing is poor, so we're not able to drive into gaps, kick the ball to shooters or get a quick post feed because we have two guys on top of one spot."
Every conference opponent this season has run double teams at Jones in the post. At Ohio on Saturday, the Bobcats smothered Jones with a hard double team in the corner and Ball State struggled to adapt.
Taylor said as a trap takes place on the Jones, his teammates aren't recognizing it quickly enough. When teams pressure the ball, Ball State has a tendency to move toward it.
That makes spacing difficult. Taylor said one way to cope with the pressure is for Jones to post up closer to the basket.
"Part of it is where Jarrod is catching the ball," Taylor said. "If he is catching it 17, 18 feet from the basket, we want to get him a little bit deeper in terms of post position. He needs to understand that trap is coming right away. If we can keep his post ups within that range [12 feet] he'll have a better opportunity of picking the defense apart."
While Jones is doing his part to be unselfish and pass out of double teams, his teammates aren't making it easy. Too many times Saturday, the Cardinals on the weak-side stood and waited for a pass instead of cutting toward the ball.
Even when Jones isn't involved in the offense, the Cardinals' lack of spacing makes them passive.
"When you don't have spacing, you have to hand off to your partner," sophomore point guard Tyrae Robinson said. "You end up just going east-and-west instead of north-and-south. You have no option to drive because the wing man's man isn't going to be on him. There's no option to go to the hole or create."
A tell-tale sign the team is struggling to create is when the Cardinals resort to doing a dribble-weave at the top of the key. The three wing players take turns running around the arch without much interior penetration.
"We don't want to dribble weave," Taylor said. "It's not even in our offense — it's not something we want to do. We definitely want the ball moving side-to-side, but just dribbling and handing it off to the next person doesn't make the defense move enough. We want to use some of those middle pick-and-pop, pick-and-roll opportunities. We played on our heels and were content to go east-west instead of looking for our opportunities."
Taylor said he wants the man setting ball screens to slip or move into open areas make it easier on his guards. Taylor said he was disappointed his team isn't doing that because it's an area he feels the team can exploit against hard-trapping teams.
Another reason for the offensive struggles is the lack of bench scoring. With junior guard Jauwan Scaife relegated to bench duty over the last couple games, sophomore guard Jesse Berry is the only consistent scoring threat off the bench.
"Scoring isn't really pressure," Berry said. "But I feel like when I'm in the game with those guys [the bench], the defense is more sucking in — just guard Jesse. It breaks us down because I don't have the spacing I want."
Berry has been a streaky player this season. At times, like against SIU-Edwardsville, Berry can erupt for 25 points in 27 minutes. But in similar minutes against Akron and Ohio the last two games, Berry produced four and five points, respectively.
"With him being our second leading scorer, we need much better balance," Taylor said. "We need to know we can count on him for 10 to 12 points a night. We talked about that, Jesse and myself — about him looking for other ways to score. When Jesse is dangerous it's diverse enough he can get offense in a lot of different ways. He's a complete player who can do that. He just can't in that mindset to settle for a three or a long jump shot that knocks him out of his rhythm."
Taylor said Berry needs to mix his cuts up in their offensive sets and not be predictable. Reading the baseline screen is something Berry said is the focus in practice for him leading up to Wednesday's game.
"He told me I always go off the double side," Berry said. "If they're switching the double side, I should go off the single side and see what I got on offense. I also need to use my pump fake more. If I show them the ball, I think they'll jump for it. I'll get them off balance so I can make a play and drive."
Despite the offensive struggles, Taylor said he's reluctant to change the lineup. He doesn't want senior point guard Randy Davis to wear down late in the season, so he prefers Robinson starting to share the load.
Robinson said he thinks the offense will return to form when his teammates relax and don't get rattled by the situation.
"We've been rushing and playing under their time instead of our time," Robinson said. "We're not being smart. We're thinking it out instead of playing our game. When a team makes a run, we need to just wait for our run to come."
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