SIU Basketball – Delegation and Confidence

Scott Nagy Taking a Fresh Approach

(St. Louis, MO) – Southern Illinois basketball coach Scott Nagy has won 342 games and six conference championships, but he is taking a fresh approach to delegation and confidence during his first season in Carbondale. SIU started the conference season with five losses, but delegation and confidence have sparked the Salukis to three-straight wins.

Four games ago, SIU was averaging 58 points per Valley game and the Saluki defense wasn’t very good either. Coach Nagy knew his team needed a fresh offensive approach and to be more determined defensively.

During the second half the team’s game at Belmont, the offense caught fire and scored 55, second half points. Nagy says that final twenty minutes sparked an offensive confidence in his then 0-5 Salukis.

The offensive adjustments were made weeks ago, but they finally clicked against Belmont. Since that game, the SIU offense has averaged 78 points per game and they’ve won three straight.

Delegation and Confidence

While assistant Tae Gibbs has taken over a large share of implementing the offensive part of the game, it is assistant Steve Hawkins that has become the ‘defensive coordinator’. Nagy has always seen himself as a ‘defensive coach’, but the Egyptian Dawgs were struggling. In the team’s first four Valley games, they were yielding over 80 points per game.

With Hawkins’ help and improved offensive success, SIU is allowing under 60 over the past three games. They’ve limited their last two opponents to a combined 100 points.

Nagy says, he needed to do something different. So, delegating the offense to Gibbs and the defense to Hawkins made sense. He feels less stress, and with the changes, delegation and confidence have come right along.

After two wins against Missouri State (7-12, 0-8), SIU’s win over Northern Iowa gave Saluki players and fans some real confidence. They are starting to truly believe the team is on the right track and can still finish with a solid, successful season.

Players Growing

Nagy has been implementing a smaller lineup and that has caused Ali Dibba and Kennard Davis to take on larger and different roles. Dibba has become more of a rebounder and Davis has taken a much larger, ‘ball-handling’ role.

Dibba was averaging four rebounds per game prior to the recent four-game surge. In those last four, he’s hauling in 5.7. While Davis’ assist totals don’t have that same kind of major upswing, Nagy has confidence in the sophomore wing.

Nagy says Dibba can also become an outstanding defender.

Davis is a very reliable defensive player, is scoring more often and has become a team leader. He is a lock for a spot on the Valley’s ‘most improved’ team.

As delegation and confidence are being spread throughout the team, veteran Damien Mayo is prospering. While Mayo has never been a ‘spot-lighted’ player, he has always been a reliable ‘do the little things right’ kind of player.

As a solid defender, Mayo has earned his way on the floor and has produced a recent offensive contribution. While a seven point-per-game average over the past four games, doesn’t get Sports Center’s attention, Mayo has made four of his career 23 three-pointers in the last four games. That career spans 79 games with Missouri State and the Salukis.

Nagy says Mayo has been working on every aspect of his game and it shows.

Southern Illinois entertains Murray State in this week’s Missouri Valley Conference Game of the Week on Gray Media television stations and Matrix Midwest in St. Louis. Game time is set for 6:00 p.m.

Head here to see our ‘Insider Insights’ conversations with coach Nagy and Murray State head coach Steve Prohm. Both conversations will be available soon.

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