As I’m sure you’ve heard by now, Kansas State hired Belmont coach Casey Alexander to replace the Baylor kid who didn’t work out. After asking the rest of the BOTC staff for suggestions, the first thing I want to try to address is Coach Alexander’s playing style, mainly because the latter didn’t have one.
There’s a lot of time before next season starts, so I can break this down into manageable chunks, starting with the offense.
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Belmont Average Possession Duration – Offense
Fast too slow
| Season |
2020 |
2021 |
2022 |
2023 |
2024 |
2025 |
2026 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
|
National |
15.7 (22) |
15.7 (22) |
16 (30) |
16.7 (66) |
16.2 (41) |
16.2 (32) |
15.8 (21) |
|
Conference only |
15.4 (1) |
15.1 (1) |
15.8 (1) |
16.6 (1) |
16.6 (2) |
16.4 (1) |
16.1 (1) |
No matter how you look at it, like his North Carolina teammate Ricky Bobby, Casey Alexander wants to go fast. His Belmont teams played fast on offense and I’m going to assume his Kansas State teams will play fast as well.
Belmont Average Shot Attempts Per Game – Offense
3 out of 2
|
Season |
2020 |
2021 |
2022 |
2023 |
2024 |
2025 |
2026 |
|
Triple attack |
27.5 (19) |
26.2 (27) |
25.8 (41) |
24.7 (51) |
24.6 (70) |
27.4 (42) |
27 (53) |
|
2 point att |
40.3 (200) |
34.7 (233) |
33.6 (261) |
34.7 (227) |
34.2 (281) |
34.2 (234) |
31.6 (308) |
Again, this is self-explanatory. Casey Alexander’s offense is fast and he shoots threes. If you’re looking to sum up his style of play on offense, it’s “play fast and shoot threes.”
Belmont Attendance Percentage – Offense
Go over the dribble
|
Season |
2020 |
2021 |
2022 |
2023 |
2024 |
2025 |
2026 |
|
National |
60.4 (13) |
60.9 (14) |
61.8 (10) |
54.2 (85) |
55.3 (70) |
60.1 (29) |
61.9 (18) |
|
Conference only |
64 (1) |
63.8 (1) |
64.1 (1) |
53.9 (5) |
55.5 (3) |
59.7 (1) |
61.4 (2) |
Coach Alexander’s players make quick decisions with the ball. They catch it, look for an opening, and then move it if they don’t have anything. The ball rarely stays in a player’s hand for long, and most shots come from the catch, not the dribble. The system creates the shots and the players take them, rather than putting the responsibility on them to create their own, something we’ve seen quite a bit in recent seasons.
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Belmont Turnover Percentage – Offense
Tight on loose
|
Season |
2020 |
2021 |
2022 |
2023 |
2024 |
2025 |
2026 |
|
National |
16 (27) |
16.6 (57) |
16.8 (67) |
16.8 (77) |
16.8 (164) |
15.9 (91) |
18.1 (273) |
|
Conference only |
15.3 (1) |
15.9 (1) |
16.1 (2) |
16.4 (3) |
16.8 (8) |
15.8 (2) |
17.4 (8) |
Outside of 2026, when the Bruins lost their starting point guard 15 games into the season, Belmont struggles with basketball. Coach Alexander wants to make as many shots as possible and you can’t do that when you’re throwing the ball to the other team. One downside to playing at the pace Coach Alexander directs his offense is the potential for turnovers. In general, the faster you play, the more turnovers you can expect. A big part of Belmont’s success is turning that metric on its head.
They play fast but are not reckless with the ball in attack.
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In conclusion
If you follow the development at home, Coach Alexander’s offense looks like this, stylistically:
-
Shot selection – 3 out of 2
-
Type of shots – Catch and shoot off the dribble.
-
Turnovers? – Solid with the ball
I thought I’d start with the numbers before getting into the offensive scheme and player selection/recruitment, but there are a couple of spoilers here.
Casey Alexander selects players for skill above all else because everyone in his 5 out system has a job. This is not a system where you can hide players on offense, because everyone is going to touch the ball and be expected to do something with it. Belmont’s leading scorer averaged 15.6 points per game; their seventh leading scorer averaged 7.1 points per game. Again, for perspective, Kansas State’s leading scorer averaged 23.4 points per game; their seventh leading scorer averaged 3.6 points per game.
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I’ll be back soon to take a look at how Belmont and Coach Alexander attack defenses with their fast 5-out scheme.