To coach Bob Boldon, Central Michigan is the best team in the Mid-American Conference West Division.
The Chippewas are also the only team that has beaten the Bobcats in the last month. Wednesday at 7 p.m. in The Convo, the Bobcats will get their chance to avenge that loss.
Central Michigan scores the second-most points per game in the conference, largely because of its offensive versatility.
Guard Presley Hudson is the third-leading MAC scorer and ranks second in 3-point field goals made. But it was Central Michigan’s inside presence, Tinara Moore, who gave the Bobcats problems in the teams' first meeting.
The 6-foot-3 forward scored 18 second-half points on Feb. 1, taking advantage of Jasmine Weatherspoon’s absence.
“We just lost (Moore) a little bit in a couple rotations,” Boldon said. “With any good player, once they get going, they’re a lot more difficult to stop.”
To reduce Moore’s impact, guard Taylor Agler said the Bobcat defense will put the same focus on defending the rim as it did on perimeter shooting in the first matchup. Guard Amani Burke said Ohio will double-team post players often.
In theory, Boldon’s scheme makes sense. But to make it work, the Bobcats will need to scramble from rotation to rotation.
“You gotta try to guard more without overcommitting,” Boldon said. “They’ve got a couple of kids that can really knock down shots.”
The strategy becomes more complicated considering the Bobcats’ switching philosophy on screens. Boldon praised his big players for being able to defend smaller players when a Bobcat guard gets screened out of the play, but that leaves the guards defending, and sometimes boxing out, post players.
To combat this, forward Kelly Karlis said the Bobcats worked on double switching in practice Monday. When the guards are stuck defending post players, a bigger Bobcat will leave their player away from the ball and switch assignments with the guard.
Boldon believes his players are capable of executing the scheme, but he knows the toll it takes on their stamina.
In the first game against CMU, Boldon played all of his starters at least 34 minutes, and only played two bench players for eight minutes each. As the game went on, Boldon could see his players wavering.
“We played too few kids too many minutes at Central,” Boldon said. “We had some breakdowns that maybe if we had been a little more rested we wouldn’t have made,”
With that in mind, Boldon said his bench will get more playing time in order to keep everyone’s mind and legs fresh. In recent weeks, Boldon has praised the young bench contributors’ evolved grasp of his defensive concepts.
While the improvement of the young players is promising, the brunt of the work will still fall on the veterans. Karlis said having Weatherspoon back will help relieve the burden Karlis faced defending the rim and rebounding, but Weatherspoon’s impact is more than that. Weatherspoon, along with fellow seniors Yamonie Jenkins, Quiera Lampkins and Hannah Boesinger, have been in Boldon’s system for four years.
When the newer players aren’t sure where to go, the seniors will be vocal in guiding them.
“Their ability to communicate with each other and the incoming players,” Boldon said. “That’s part of the reason we’re as successful as we are.”
