By BRAD KEITH
TheFlashToday.com
STEPHENVILLE (December 27, 2016) — No. 11 Tarleton State (11-1) has reeled off eight straight wins – six of them by double digits – and the Texans have done it with more versatility than its past teams showed, even while winning each of the last two South Central Region championships.
Tarleton is going back and forth between man and zone defenses, the biggest adjustment for a veteran head coach who has stuck almost entirely to man-to-man throughout his prior 28 seasons in Stephenville.
In year 29 at Tarleton, Lonn Reisman said it was time to make some adjustments.
“The rules have changed in the NCAA so that you can’t be as physical defensively as you used to be,” said Reisman, the winningest active college coach in Texas with 624 victories at Tarleton. “We don’t want to get into foul trouble, and a zone helps allow us to avoid that. But it only works if you maintain that same intensity as you had playing man, and if you rebound just as well.”
Then-No. 15 Tarleton was in a 2-3 zone defense for the majority of its 84-83 win over then-No. 12 Western Washington (WWU slipped to No. 19 in the newest Division II coaches poll, released Tuesday) in the finale of the South Point Holiday Hoops Classic in Las Vegas just before Christmas, but perhaps the best example of the Texans’ success in a zone came in their Lone Star Conference opener against their biggest rival.
Trailing Midwestern State by seven points early in the second half, Tarleton shifted into a zone and held the Mustangs to just 17 percent shooting over the final 15 minutes to come from behind and win, 64-56, at Wisdom Gym.
“We had to do something different,” said Reisman. “We have played Midwestern more in recent years than anyone else, and it was time to show them something they didn’t expect from us.”
It seems no one has expected or been fully prepared for Tarleton’s newfound multiplicity on the offensive end, either. Associate head coach Chris Reisman usually calls the offense, and he’s been sending in plays like “A&M Flash” and “Carolina.” In short, the Texans are about a lot more than pick and rolls followed by isolation if necessary late in the shot clock.
“We are doing more things offensively, and they are things that fit our personnel very well,” said Lonn Reisman. “I’m open to trying new things as long as I can look at them and see that they are fundamentally sound.”
The Texans are fifth in the nation in both field-goal percentage defense (37.4) and scoring defense (62.6) and 14th in the nation in score margin (17.3). Out of more than 300 Division II teams, they are also 24th in rebound margin (7.3) and 32nd in offensive rebounds (13.67), largely because senior center Romond Jenkins is sixth in the nation with 11.7 rebounds per game.
Tarleton has scored 80 ore more points in four straight games, three shy of the school mark of seven straight 80-point performances from November 14 through December 5 of 2015.
But Reisman says his team still has plenty of room for improvement as they make their way back to campus from Christmas break. Tarleton hosts Ouachita Baptist (Ark.) at 4 p.m. Saturday. The New Year’s Eve contest is important, Reisman says, because it gives the Texans a chance to get their feet back under them before visiting No. 7 Angelo State for a key LSC contest at 7:30 p.m. on January 5.
“We haven’t perfected anything yet. We’re giving teams a lot more to prepare for in a short time when they play us, and that’s good, because we know we have a bullseye on us and will always get everyone’s best shot,” Reisman said. “But we have also put more pressure on our own kids to learn to execute different looks on both ends of the floor.
“As the year goes on, the hope is we become more consistent with our execution of everything that we do, and that we can click at the right time,” Reisman said. “I think you saw that the last two years, where we played our best basketball at the end of the season.”
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