Why Vanderbilt (and other teams) can't stop Jontay Porter on pick-and-pop plays

Missouri’s game against Vanderbilt on Tuesday was anticipated to be the game in which freshman phenom Michael Porter Jr. returned to the court, after he practiced Friday and had a few days to work with the team.

Instead, it was his younger brother Jontay who stole the show in front of numerous NBA scouts and carried the Tigers to a much-needed win over the Commodores, keeping Mizzou on the positive side of the NCAA Tournament bubble.

Porter had a career-high 24 points along with seven rebounds and six assists in the 74-66 win over Vanderbilt and carried the offense throughout the second half as the Tigers pulled away.

The 6-foot-11 freshman shot 90 percent from the field and drained four threes, all but one of which came off pick-and-rolls.

“If you look at his percents he’s made some threes but he hasn’t shot the ball near at the level he shot tonight,” Vanderbilt coach Bryce Drew said. “He just had one of those nights.”

Porter’s first three came after he set back-to-back a high-ball screens for junior Jordan Geist and another for senior Jordan Barnett. Porter was left wide open by the defense after Barnett drove to the lane in the opening minutes.

Barnett kicked out to Porter, who sank his first three. Porter made another three a few minutes later after being abandoned by the defense.

His third came in the second half after setting another high screen for Geist. Porter looked off his defender with a pump-fake and gave Missouri a 37-36 lead with 16:25 left in the game.

“He got one early and we started switching (defenders),” Drew said. “If he got any it was miscommunication. The other thing is ... he can shoot over the top of guys, which is a nice advantage.”

Drew noticed something when scouting Porter that didn’t occur on Tuesday. Porter took the same shots off the same plays in Missouri’s win over Texas A&M on Feb. 13. Porter had 11 points and nine rebounds in the win, but only shot 1 for 5 from three.

Porter said after the game he knows he hasn’t been shooting the ball well lately after going 1 for 8 from the floor in Missouri’s loss at Kentucky on Saturday but has been told by his teammates to keep shooting.

Barnett is known on the team for having a short memory and said the mindset is something he’s had to adopt in order to be successful.

“You can’t focus on whether you’re hot or you’re not,” he said. “You keep shooting. Staying confident is a big thing.”

Missouri coach Cuonzo Martin said after the game he tries to see if teams are keeping their big man on Porter or fellow power forward Kevin Puryear to see if pick-and-rolls can be successful.

Porter's final three came with fewer than five minutes left in the game after he set another screen and worked the ball over to Geist, who drove and kicked it out. Porter had a defender in his face but drained the three, which caused him to flash a rare smile on the court.

He said the play works so well for him because forwards and centers guarding him aren’t really trained to defend the three on the perimeter.

“I think it's really tough for traditional big men, when I’m a (center), guarding me,” Porter said. “They aren’t used to guarding on the perimeter like that. And if they are, they’re helping the guard trying to prevent the basket at the rim. So the kickback is always open until they make the adjustment.”

Martin has said throughout the season that the power forward spot is a “game changer” for the team and when either Puryear or Porter is hot, it can open up the rest of the offense. Missouri is 14-1 in games in which Porter scores 10 or more points.

Tuesday, Martin said he’s told both Porter and Puryear to capitalize more on mismatches and added that it should bother them when a team can guard them with a shorter player.

“It’s an insult when we run a play and all the sudden they switch a smaller guy onto you and he’s able to defend you,” he said. “That can’t happen. That shouldn’t happen. That’s unacceptable.”

This story was originally published February 28, 2018 at 1:14 PM with the headline "Why Vanderbilt (and other teams) can't stop Jontay Porter on pick-and-pop plays."