Scott Schroeder Of The Reno Bighorns Discusses “The System”

Mandatory Credit: Kevin Jairaj-USA TODAY Sports

The Reno Bighorns have been the talk around the NBA D-League this season, and for good reason. With David Arseneault Jr.’s system in place, they’re scoring the ball at an unprecedented rate. The bulk of their offense is made up from perimeter shooting, and they look to turn teams over after made baskets with a full-court press.

While it’s taken some getting used to for the players involved — the Bighorns started the season 1-and-3 — they’re beginning to find their groove. Not only have they won four out of their last five games, the Bighorns now find themselves creeping up on the division leading Santa Cruz Warriors, trailing by just half a game.

However, The System, as it has come to be known, is unlike anything we’ve seen at the professional level. Starting at the Division III level at Grinnell College, it now finds itself in the D-League to see whether or not it has a home at the next level. To get a better understanding of how it functions, I was lucky enough to talk to Scott Schroeder, the Head of Basketball Operations and Assistant Coach of the Bighorns. Schroeder shed light on what the main principles are and how it prepares players for the tough transition from the D-League to the NBA.

The System is quite different to anything we’ve ever seen in professional basketball. What are the main principles, both on offense and defense?

Scott Schroeder: The goals of the system are, to be honest, quite in tune with the way professional basketball is beginning to be played now that statistics have become a bigger part – the things Dean Oliver (now with the Sacramento Kings) stressed when he created the Four Factors are pretty important part of what we’re trying to accomplish in Reno.

Offensively, we’re trying to take a ton of shots either at the rim or beyond the 3-point line (ideally, around 50% from 3). We’re attempting to get all four players that didn’t shoot the ball to crash the boards in an attempt to get the long offensive rebound (and ideally kick it back out for another 3) while bringing the ball up quick and not allowing the defense to get comfortable. There’s a lot of things that still need to get better to really have it resemble “The System” – and are continuing to do so — but the early results are encouraging.

Defensively, the goal is to keep teams from getting comfortable as well. When every other team plays something traditional, being picked up full-court and getting trapped the rest of the possession will take it’s toll on players and more turnovers are going to be forced. (We’re currently leading the league in turnovers forced and have an opponent turnover rate of 21.2%).

Coach Arseneault is still adjusting the system to make it work better at the professional level where teams are more athletic, but the main goal is to force teams out of their comfort zone, create steals and more offensive possessions.

How could NBA teams benefit from adopting some of those principles in their offense and/or defense?

SS: It takes a lot of buying in from the entire organization to make it work, but I think – coming from working under a head coach that runs a pretty traditional system – that things are heading to a point where certain pieces could easily be implemented. The defensive aggressiveness for an entire game, the focus on taking either high percentage looks or 3-point shots, the importance of offensive rebounding are all things that NBA teams use right now.

We’re just seeing how extreme a team might be able to take it and still have it yield positive results.

Jordan Hamilton and Quincy Miller, both of whom have spent time in the NBA over the years, were recently acquired by the Bighorns. How have they adjusted to The System?

SS: Luckily Jordan and Quincy are both very good fits for the system, wanted to be here and therefore have come in with the right attitude. There are always going to be growing pains early with the system with guys coming from the NBA – the substitution pattern takes some getting used to, the inability to shoot mid-range shots is different and of course going from playing in the NBA to playing in the D-League can be a humbling effect – but both have brought great energy and attitudes, and they’ve looked great early.

Getting a call-up to the NBA is one thing, securing a guaranteed contract is another. How does The System prepare players for the transition from the D-League to the NBA? How big is the gap between production from The System and each player’s overall development/skill set?

SS: This is a question I was worried about early, actually, when first learning about the system. But after trying to project how players will transition from the D-League to the NBA for awhile now, it’s not as hard as some make it seem to project because we’re just showcasing a players individual talents in a specialist manner – exactly how they’ll be used early on in the NBA.

The majority of D-League players aren’t going to be called up to get starter minutes, at least initially. They’re going to be called up to do one thing very well, whether that be make open shots, create open shots, lock up defensively, rebound the ball at a great rate or just bring energy and a positive attitude on the court and bench while their game develops with the team’s player development coaches.

In our system, players are given around a minute and 30 seconds of court time to go out, work their butts off and leave everything on the floor before the second group replaces them. That means if you’re a shooter, you’re coming in cold and without a rhythm and expected to produce – the same as what that player would do to begin their NBA career until they’re given more minutes in the rotation.

The system is all about energy, effort, attitude and work ethic.

Brady Heslip has stolen the headlines so far this season. Not only is he leading the league in scoring, he is on pace to shatter the record for three-pointers made over the course of a season. What are his specific goals? What does he have to do to get a call-up to the NBA?

SS: I can’t speak to Brady’s specific goals, but I know our goal as a coaching staff for Brady is to allow him an opportunity to get a chance at the next level to prove that he belongs.

As far as what he has to do to get called up, it’s honestly astounding to me that he hasn’t been called up yet. I’ve had a number of NBA teams call and ask about him, though, so I’d assume his time is coming sooner rather than later. He can open up the floor for other guys on the team even when he’s not getting shot opportunities because teams key in on him, he has great confidence, never misses an optional workout, is a fierce competitor, good person off the court and can handle the ball much better than he’s given credit for.

For Brady, it’s about continuing to do what he’s doing while keeping a good attitude, being a good teammate and having a positive impact on the team as opponents start to face guard him, double team him and do whatever they can to make sure he doesn’t get open looks.

How do you see The System evolving in the future?

SS: “The System” has actually already evolved a lot this year from training camp to present day as we figure out what does and doesn’t work at this level and with the talent we’ve assembled. But Coach Arseneault continues to preach that it isn’t the system that he brought from Grinnell.

Some things we’re still trying to do is to get guys to absolutely run the opponents out of the gym considering we’re playing all 10 guys for 20+ minutes in two minute intervals while the majority of teams we play typically have seven or eight-man rotations that stay on the court for three or four of our shifts at a time. We’d also like to force more turnovers – while still protecting the rim to some extent – get our offensive rebound percentage up a few points and continue to figure out ways to implement the talent and athleticism we have on our roster considering it was originally built to be played in the Division III setting.

You said that The System has already evolved a lot since training camp. How so?

SS: The big thing is actually adding Sim Bhullar and the different dimension he brings to the team. The System is built so that the “Safety” in the press can step up and get steals on the long passes because the typical player in the system prior to this year was undersized and scrappy and not going to be a great rim protector if he hung back. With Sim coming in, we’ve changed it so that the safety isn’t stepping up and getting as many steals but instead looking to anchor the defense and make sure there aren’t any easy buckets at the rim while the four players in front of him continue to look to get steals and speed up the other team’s offense.

You can follow Scott Schroeder on Twitter, @ScottSchroeder.