Xs and Oats: Alabama begins its march to the Final Four with the cerebral Robert Morris Colonials

I must confess, I’m a bit excited to cover the Horizon League champion Robert Morris Colonials. Not necessarily because I think it will be a great contest, rather because RMU gives us something entirely new to look at.

Most of the SEC runs either a 4-out or 5-out offense (Auburn, Kentucky, Florida); one team runs high-low iso (Arkansas); and a few run some version of Bobby Knight’s motion offense (Ole Miss etc). But today we get to take a look at a scheme we haven’t seen all year — it’s pretty rare in basketball, actually: A variant of the old triangle offense, the 1-4 line set!

Oh, you’ve seen it before — or at least some version of it: The Phil Jackson-era Bulls and Lakers, the Wichita State Shockers, and most notably the Gonzaga Bulldogs. Andy O’Toole runs precisely that too. So, let’s talk about RMU and the interesting looks that they will present to ‘Bama’s defense.

Tale of the Tape:
No. 2 Alabama (25-8, SEC 3rd) v No. 15 Robert Morris (26-8, Horizon 1st)

Spread: Alabama -22.5

Opponent KenPom: 138 (172 offense, 131 defense, 141 tempo)
Opponent Evan Miya: 136 (177 offense, 125 defense, 120 tempo)
Opponent Bart Torvik: 149 (185 offense, 144 defense, 136 tempo)
Opponent NET: 139 (0-1 Q1, 2-1 Q1/Q2); Q1 opponent for the Tide
Opponent RPI: 93
Opponent Best Win: @ Milwaukee / vs. Milwaukee (143)
Opponent Worst Loss: @ Delaware (304)

UA Ken Pom: 6th (4 Off, 31 Defense, 1 Tempo)
UA Evan Miya: 5th (3 Off, 25 Defense, 1 Tempo)
UA Bart Torvik: 5th (4 Off, 28 Defense, 1 Tempo)
UA NET Ranking: 6 (12-8 Q1, 20-8 Q1/2)
UA RPI: 2
UA Best Win: No. 2 @ Houston
UA Worst Loss: No. 28 (N) Oregon

So, what do we can we expect to see out of Robert Morris?

Let’s begin with the side of the ball they are the best at: defense. It’s not a dominating crew, no, but the things they are good at are a function of the system. Coach O’Toole (who I was informed was not the coach for the NCAA appearance, rather was the head assistant that year and took over the next season), runs a straight-up 1-on-1 defense. That means there’s very little switching off of defenders, as you see with someone like Ole Miss or a hybrid zone system like Mississippi State. Instead, one player has a man assignment, picks him up at half-court, and is responsible for guarding him the entirety of the possession.

The Colonials do it pretty well too, as they are well-above average at guarding the perimeter, forcing turnovers, and hauling in defensive boards. Of course, that comes with a downside: they foul a ton sending opponents to the line, and their 1-on-1 closeout means that RMU can be taken off the dribble and are vulnerable to drive-and-shoot baseline motion. Alabama won’t be able to just swing the ball around to find their perimeter look, but their downhill motion to the basket and then pass out to the arc is going to find the best deep look.

Offensively, however, is where Robert Morris gets very interesting. The 1-4 Line Set offense they run is, to put it mildly, very deliberative. You’re not going to see much improvisation out of it. There are set plays on every possession, and it originates with one high point guard above the key, and four offensive players lined up across the court at the free throw line. From that same base look, the Colonials begin a Chinese fire drill of motion screens, backdoor cuts, inside-out motion to the perimeter for a three, the pick and roll…and the favorite play of all 1-4 teams: screen and go quick passes off the wings, with the forwards flashing to the basket.

It’s so associated with Mark Few, it even has a name: the Bulldog screen.

Here are some general looks from the set:

We’ve seen this concept before, at least in theory if not formation: Purdue runs a similar scheme, with the same general tenor of “find the best shot, not the first good shot.” That’s even baked into the Colonials playbook:

“If it is quick, it’s quick — if it is a good shot. But we are always trying to find a great shot. A lot of times we pass up the first good shot to get a better shot. That’s kind of the game plan.”

In all, it’s a very cool system to watch in action, and it requires defenders to be active the entire possession — no matter how long that may be. Because there is so much motion, and there is a lot of traffic congestion from fifteen feet away, it also means that RMU is usually in pretty good shape to chase their own misses and force their opponents to foul rather than surrender free layups. And, indeed, those are the two things this offense does best: offensive rebound, manufacture trips to the line (though they are a decent three-ball team as well).

It helps that the Colonials have some shooters too, with three very good guards on this undersized squad (including NC State transfer Kam Woods). For the ‘Bama backcourt, that will be the key assignment. If the Tide can minimize those guys, and avoid sending RMU to the line or gimme second-changes, they should romp.

If not, then…well. We saw what happened on this very floor as the UW-Milwaukee Panthers shot the lights out that day, played inspired man-defense, and sent a dejected ‘Bama home with a first round loss. Their coach? Bruce Pearl.

You never know if the next great one is on the other bench, so take them all seriously.

How To Watch

12:40 Eastern, Friday 21 March 25, TruTV

Prediction

For Alabama I think this is going to be a very good early test. Not that RMU is expected to be competitive, rather the things the Colonials excel at are things that ‘Bama needs to focus on: boxing out on defensive rebounds, preventing put-backs, playing pick-and-roll defense, working for their perimeter shot with extra passes and spacing, getting to the rim rather than settling for contested jumpers, and hitting their free throws.

Robert Morris is not a slow team. It’s not a fast team. It is a heady team, a cerebral team that is going to make Alabama in turn think on both ends of the floor. As far as warmup games go, that’s exactly what you want to see too: remediation, not just recitation. Making Alabama use their skull sponges is never a bad idea…though they sometimes do not rise to the occasion. There’s just too much height, firepower and athleticism here though at the end of the day.

Alabama 99
Robert Morris 71

Hope for the best, and congrats to the Horizon champs on their great season
Roll Tide

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