Tre Mann’s Offensive Talent Should Not Go Unnoticed

If there is one thing that has differentiated this year’s Florida Gators from any other group in the last several seasons, it’s the ability of their backcourt to create offense.

 

Florida has had some decent offensive teams over the last decade but they have largely been successful due to chemistry, groups of players who played off each other to get more offensively than the sum of their parts. In the 2014 Final Four run, the Gators played methodical basketball that saw them move the ball side to side repeatedly to open up a three for Scottie Wilbekin or Michael Frazier or open up a duck in for Patric Young. That 2017 Elite Eight team also got it done offensively and did it by pass-first point guards in Kasey Hill and Chris Chiozza finding slashing wings in Devin Robinson and Justin Leon slipping behind defenses. Last year’s team was a top 15 offense for the last half of the season, utilizing Princeton offensive sets that saw lots of off ball action and reading screens.

 

All those teams were good offensively but reached a bit of a scoring ceiling. Why? Because they never had great individual scorers.

 

The teams referenced earlier played excellent team basketball but when they ran into an incredibly disrupting defense or played into the final minutes of a game where defenses tighten up and the referees swallow their whistles, they lacked players who could go one on one and make a play.

 

Defenses are getting more advanced every single season and nearly all great defenses have the same end goal in mind–taking away what an offense wants to run and instead making them go one on one. 

 

These types of defenses have done well against Florida in recent seasons, particularly last year where the Gators never seemed to get the most out of their talent because they were missing the types of players that could improvise at the end of a shot clock and get a semi-reasonable shot.

 

While this year’s Gators haven’t always been outstanding offensively they have been quite good on the whole and a large reason why is their guards who have been able to create one on one and pressure defenses.

 

All that starts with Tre Mann.

 

A McDonald’s All-American out of high school, his freshman season playing for his hometown Gators didn’t go quite as planned. Early in the season his starting role diminished to bench player, and soon after his bench player role diminished to rotation afterthought. Luckily, his defense improved drastically in the second half of the season and he was able to carve out a regular shift as someone who provided length in the backcourt and was willing to draw charges.

 

While his improvements on the defensive end were encouraging to see, the fact he never got into rhythm offensively was a concern.

 

You see, in high school Mann was known as one of the best scorers in the country. Unfortunately, we never got to see that in his freshman season. Going from ball dominant initiator in high school to floor spacer in college was a role he didn’t adapt to particularly well. He was used to having the ball in his hands and seeing the game through that lens, but when he went to Florida it was Andrew Nembhard and Kerry Blackshear starting things off while Mann had to play off-ball.

 

This season, we saw very quickly that Mann was more comfortable as a primary initiator. He had 19 points and 4 assists in the opener against Army and then had 17 points and 6 assists in the second game against Boston College. That wasn’t a flash in the pan, as he has averaged 14 points and 4 assists on the season leading the way for the Gators in both categories. He’s even contributing on the rebounding front where at 5.7 per game he’s only trailing Colin Castleton by 0.2 for the team lead.

 

With the ball in his hands, Mann is back to the player that was a McDonald’s All-American in high school. For him, everything starts with the threat of his jumpshot. 

 

Mann is one of the best shooters off the dribble in the country hitting 41% of his threes off the bounce this season. That is one of the most impressive marks in recent history, higher than Trae Young, Buddy Hield, and Markus Howard who all were college superstars known for that exact shot. The threat of Mann pulling up off the dribble from three makes defenses instantly shutter as they have to crowd him at all times, hoping he doesn’t rise up.

 

His ability to score off the bounce has completely changed Florida’s pick and roll attack, and for the better. Last season Florida’s most used pick and roll was Andrew Nembhard and Kerry Blackshear. Those two were fantastic together but when Blackshear set a screen for Nembhard, the defense didn’t have to respect the shooting ability of Nembhard whatsoever. They knew he was looking to pass, and they played it accordingly. 

 

With Mann, that isn’t the case at all. Mann’s threat to score has made defenses play against the Gators much more aggressively in pick and roll defense and the Gators are seeing a lot more hard hedges and trapping than they saw a year ago. Despite the aggressive defenses, Mann has still been excellent attacking out of the pick and roll. Florida is at 1.03 points per possession on Mann-run pick and rolls, making it one of the most efficient plays they could run. 

 

Interestingly enough, Florida’s pick and rolls are even more effective when Mann passes than when he takes the shot. When he calls his own number, he’s shooting 43%. At 0.85 points per possession, he’s in the 72nd percentile nationally.

 

When he passes, teammates are shooting 58% and are at 1.06 points per possession.

 

Going through the film, it’s clear Mann is a really good passer. He’s tall for his position, and the length allows him to create passing angles to thread balls into Colin Castleton or Omar Payne. He’s also got pretty good vision, recognizing when windows to pass open or close. While he’s certainly a good passer, you probably wouldn’t classify him as an elite passer. However, his ability to draw so much defensive attention opens up the opportunities to get his teammates wide open looks, and he is happy to oblige. 63% of his assists are on two-point baskets, a number that’s a lot higher than most point guards. It’s an impressive number, because most assisted two-point attempts are right at the rim, meaning they’re very high percentage. Usually you see point guards and combo guards getting more assist opportunities on three point shots, but Mann has been able to get his teammates layups which speaks to the defensive attention he is drawing. 

 

In a lot of ways, Mann is putting up his really good offensive season a bit quietly. He’s the best pick and roll scorer the Gators have had in the last decade (the cutoff for the analytics tool I use) and the best shooter off the dribble by a country mile. He does exactly what modern guards need to do in 2021, and brings the Gators an electricity off the dribble the team has sorely lacked the last couple of seasons.

 

Think back to NCAA Tournaments of the last couple of years. Think about every late game scenario, and every big shot that has been hit.

 

A high majority of those were off the bounce pull-ups. When the game gets tight and things get down to the final possession, those are the shots you are going to get.

If Florida is lucky enough to go on a run and they find themselves in a situation where they need a big shot, they have their guy. Mann is the type of isolation scorer that thrives in these scenarios and his ridiculous 41% on off the dribble threes is exactly the skill that shines in March.

 

When postseason play rolls around, don’t be surprised if Mann’s scoring touch makes him a hero. 

 

Eric Fawcett
Eric is a basketball coach and writer from Edmonton, Alberta, Canada. His work has been found at NBA international properties, ESPN, Bleacher Report, CBS Sports, Lindy's and others. He loves zone defenses, the extra pass, and a 30 second shot clock. Growing up in Canada, an American channel showing SEC basketball games was his first exposure to Gator hoops, and he has been hooked ever since. You can follow him on Twitter at @ericfawcett_.