AMHERST — Matt McCall blew his whistle during practice and asked his team a simple question: “Who’s guarding Roland?”
In unison, the Minutemen responded, “we are” and put their hands in the air in a defensive stance. For the two days UMass had to prepare for Northeastern, Jordan Roland – the nation’s leading scorer entering Tuesday’s game at 40.5 points per game – was the focal point of the Minutemen’s game plan. So at random points during practice Sunday and Monday, McCall would blow his whistle and ask his players the same question. McCall knew it was going to be a team effort to slow down Roland, and that’s exactly what he got in the 80-71 win.
“It wasn’t one guy’s job, we constantly put two guys on him,” McCall said. “Pick-and-roll coverage, I never wanted him to come off a pick and roll and have a clean look at the rim. But you can see how gifted of a player he is when he does have space, he just doesn’t miss.”
Roland had made his mark this season by getting off to fast starts and riding that momentum for the remainder of the game. Yet against UMass, the Northeastern guard didn’t take his first shot until more than five minutes had elapsed in the game. His first points came with 10:58 on the first-half clock and he finished just 5 of 11 from the floor for 14 points.
The Minutemen were perfectly content letting Bolden Brace and Tomas Murphy beat them – the two combined for 24 of the Huskies’ 34 first-half points – but they weren’t going to let Roland see the rim unobjected. It was a strategy that prevented Roland from ever finding his rhythm in the game.
“They played him physical and the way it was, we couldn’t free him up,” Northeastern coach Bill Coen said. “They just kind of denied him the ball all over the court and had the athletes to do it. That’s something we’re going to have to deal with.”
It was never the same player, but UMass did trail Roland around the court anytime Northeastern had the ball and made life difficult for the shooter. When Roland was able to possess the ball, it was in positions where it was difficult for him to shoot and there wasn’t the space for him to drive to the hoop. Instead, Roland was bottled up and the Huskies were forced to find other options to carry their offense.
“We saw in his first two games, teams weren’t going after him and they were comfortable out there,” junior Carl Pierre said. “We just tried to get away from that. Be aggressive, press, give them pressure, try to wear them down, and it showed a little bit. He seemed to be a little flustered out there and he clearly wasn’t in the rhythm that he was before.”
UMASS RISING IN THE EAST — Freshman point guard Sean East had seven more assists for the Minutemen, bringing his season total to 20 through three games.
What is more impressive is that he only has two turnovers thus far, making him a reliable option to run the UMass offense. East is the clear ball handler whenever he’s on the floor, and he’s playing more minutes with Kolten Mitchell sidelined with a broken hand. He’s clearly comfortable as a distributor because it’s a role he’s been playing his entire basketball career, and the adjustment wasn’t as dramatic as many expected.
“I’ve been running the offense my whole life,” East said. “I didn’t know it was going to be this role, but I’m comfortable (running an offense).”
THE NEW SIGN MAN — At various points during the game, a white sign with maroon lettering popped up over McCall’s head. It’s a new communication device the third-year coach is using to make sure his team is on the same page in their defensive frenzy after made baskets. He said it’s important for the more chaotic and noisy atmospheres UMass will play in this season, so that when the players turn for the play call from the coach, they can understand what the coaches are looking for every time.
“When we get some people in here and we get 8,000, 9,000 people in here screaming like crazy and the press is working and turnovers and we’re flying up and down and they turn to us, they’re not going to hear us,” McCall said. “When we go to Dayton, they’re going to hear you, you’re playing at VCU, they’re not going to hear you. You’ve got to be able give them what we’re doing so they can get to their spots in the right way.”