For years I have heard that we can't press all game because we didn't have enough players. Now we have essentially two for each position. They are all athletic and 98% of the team can not make three point shots. I dare say if we pressed we would have won the Penn State game. Instead we played into their hands and played the type of game they wanted. It is time for Lavin to pull out the John Wooden press and use it.
Time to Press
- Thread starter dee
- Start date
Maybe the reason we don't press is that, with very few exceptions, we don't have the athletes or the defensive smarts to do it.
DLo and Phil are slow-footed, JaKarr seems lost on the defensive end as do Gift and Jamal at times. It's too early to get a read on Jordan or Orlando. Hoop and Marco are also too slow.
The only guys who would be outstanding in a pressing defense would be Dom at the point and Chris on the back line.
The problem with the press/trap is if it's broken it can lead to too many open baskets. OTOH we might want to try it for short spurts to change the mo of the game.
DLo and Phil are slow-footed, JaKarr seems lost on the defensive end as do Gift and Jamal at times. It's too early to get a read on Jordan or Orlando. Hoop and Marco are also too slow.
The only guys who would be outstanding in a pressing defense would be Dom at the point and Chris on the back line.
The problem with the press/trap is if it's broken it can lead to too many open baskets. OTOH we might want to try it for short spurts to change the mo of the game.
We can't stay in front of dribblers in the half-court, and we're slow to rotate and close out on shooters. You don't see both those issues becoming enormous problems if we play full court D?
I'd rather we drill the crap out of how to switch on a pick n roll then to start implementing new defensive ideas.
I'd rather we drill the crap out of how to switch on a pick n roll then to start implementing new defensive ideas.
We are giving up open baskets anyway. Bottom line our defense is not good and if this kid help speed up the game and mask our awful half court D, I am all for it
FWIW - If we are going to press, I don't think it can be when Max is in the game.
He's playing the 3 usually when he's out there - that would be Dom in most scenarios (or a 3rd guard). You can't press if your sf is a defensive liability.
Now if you told me Branch, Phil, Dom, Jakarr and Obekpa were in the game.... Thats a different situation. If we are going to press, Jamal and Dom need to be on the court.. and probably Phil too.
He's playing the 3 usually when he's out there - that would be Dom in most scenarios (or a 3rd guard). You can't press if your sf is a defensive liability.
Now if you told me Branch, Phil, Dom, Jakarr and Obekpa were in the game.... Thats a different situation. If we are going to press, Jamal and Dom need to be on the court.. and probably Phil too.
I get the feeling Lavin was going to break out the press but didn't think we were quite ready for it until now. Today he had no choice, and needed a spark. We certainly need to include in in our repertoire quite a bit more. Not just pressing, but 3/4 court trapping more as well. Different looks confuse teams, and we are really good at Aggressive defensive styles and hawking to turn the ball over. We are built for this type of stuff, especially with Obekpa playing free safety in the back of the defense. I wasn't sure how effective it would be with new defensive rules, but it's a must if we can play it like we did today.
I'd be careful about getting too exited about the effectiveness of our press in general. While it worked today and was exactly what we needed, I don't think it would have worked against a good team. Georgia Tech was a very sloppy team and was handling the ball like a grenade with the pin pulled in the first half before we started to pressure the ball. It was their sloppy play that kept us within reach while we couldn't throw the ball in the ocean. While I agree with everyone that this is an area that fits our roster...a lot of things have to improve (staying in front of dribble pentration, rotations, help defense) for me to believe that we will be effective with this against most teams. At this point it will work against sloppy teams and will help us dictate tempo against most teams. Hopefully we can work on this in Dec and be able to utilize it as needed in conference.
We've utilized pressing and trapping since Lavin became the head coach here. Trapping was a big hallmark for Lavin's first year here. pressure defense is always something I think Lavin has done rather well, even though we've never been a full-game full-court pressure team. I think that press/traps needs to be a big part of what we do, because we have the roster to go after the ball and turn teams over.
Lavin has used quite a bit of trapping in the past, even against good teams like Notre Dame, which is why we were so successful against them. We overawed passing lanes and forced their "burn" offense to waste minutes in the backcourt with the trap. No reason to expect we shouldn't see more looks like this from our team this season.
ZanMan
Well-known member
Bottom line is, this team needs to have pressure on the ball throughout the game. Maybe it is still a work in progress for them, after all it is only Dec. 1. But, they cannot turn their heads, run back to their spot on defensive and stand back on their heels.
This leads to too many easy baskets for their opponent, and, not a lot of chances to do what they do best on offense, which is scoring in transition.
The old saying, "the best offense is a good defense" sums it up for them.
When we don't press at all, the defense isn't that good, leading to a worse offense.
Yesterday's tale of two halves proves that.
This leads to too many easy baskets for their opponent, and, not a lot of chances to do what they do best on offense, which is scoring in transition.
The old saying, "the best offense is a good defense" sums it up for them.
When we don't press at all, the defense isn't that good, leading to a worse offense.
Yesterday's tale of two halves proves that.
@NYPost_Brazille: St. John’s Rewind: Pressing, playing up-tempo ball will benefit Red Storm http://t.co/3O4AW9DHkG #sjubb
You think there's a plan behind it? He's throwing sh*t against the wall and seeing what sticks.
Not that there's anything wrong with that, that's what coaches do when the plans they started the season with aren't working. But let's not act like Lavin is Bill Belichek in the preseason. We're fighting for our lives, we scored 4pts in almost 15mins yesterday. He's looking for anything that works.
Reasons for utilizing the press more often
1 the four guards and Pointer can all be used
2 we have Obepka to guard the rim
3 we have periods in most every game where we seem to be sleepwalking
4 pressing defenses wear down 3 point shooters
5 the half court offense has no one who penetrates except Jordan
1 the four guards and Pointer can all be used
2 we have Obepka to guard the rim
3 we have periods in most every game where we seem to be sleepwalking
4 pressing defenses wear down 3 point shooters
5 the half court offense has no one who penetrates except Jordan
Email this to Steve Lavin and we might make the tournament after all
good points fellas.