Razorback Reels for UNCW
Film post breaks down all of Devo Davis and Keyon Menifield's assists
Let me start by paraphrasing a Kendrick lyric:
Everybody gon' respect the shooter
But the one who delivers the pass lives forever
Against UNCW, Devo Davis and Keyon Menifield combined for 11 of Arkansas's 16 assists. Let's watch them!
Devo's first assist came after an offensive rebound by Chandler Lawson. Devo reset the offense and some old-school playground traffic directing. He saw #3 from UNCW aggressively guarding the perimeter and directed Menifield to cut. Easy layup.
If I've said it once, I've said it a thousand times: Good things happen with Devo in transition, and that was exactly how he got his second assist. Menifield ran to open space, and Devo hit him with a cross-court pass for a wide-open three.
Look at all the movement on Devo's third assist. He's bouncing around like a pinball trying to attack the UNCW zone. He feeds Jalen Graham in the post and everyone else clears out for Graham to go to work.
Is all hell breaking loose? Call that Devo time! A scrum ensued after Jeremiah Davenport's missed dunk. Devo got the ball and immediately put pressure on the rim. He dished it off to Graham who got the bucket.
Devo got two more assists in the final 40 seconds with the game well in hand. Arkansas struggled with breaking a press early in the season, but not here. Devo easily breaks down the defense by flinging the ball downcourt to Trevon Brazile for an easy jam.
Why dunk it yourself when you can get your teammate another bucket was Devo's philosophy here.
Now let's look at Menifield's assists. Much like we saw from Devo, Menifield operated well in transition. You can see in the clip that he hits a second gear pushing the ball toward the rim and then sprays it back out to Devo for a good look from 3.
Menifield was operating in the open floor again for assist number 2. This time, the assist came on an alley-oop pass from damn near 30 feet away from the basket.
Menifield's third assist came from a 1-4 Low BLOB set with him as the inbounder. Lawson sets a cross screen for Tramon Mark, which UNCW switches on. Lawson then gets the inbounds pass and runs a DHO with Menifield, which leads to another switch from UNCW.
Menifield dribbles to the top of the key. Off-ball, Devo and Brazile set some flare screens for Mark. The big who switched onto Mark is out of sorts on his closeout, so Mark attacks the closeout and cuts to the rim. Brilliant design by Eric Musselman and his staff.
Menifield might be the only Hogs player who can do something like this. He splits the trap with his dribble and lobs it up for Graham for the flush. Great ball skills and great vision.
Different play, same result: Menifield uses his vision and ballhandling to break the UNCW press. This time, it's Brazile who gets the lob.
So, what are our takeaways? Musselman has found something interesting with Devo and Menifield on the floor together. Their open floor facilitation helps the Hogs get buckets in transition, which is where Muss's teams are at their best. On top of that, Menifield has shown flashes of being the half-court offensive fulcrum this team desperately needs.