Time to Press
- Thread starter dee
- Start date
And still possibly the best article ever written about the press:
http://www.newyorker.com/reporting/2009/05/11/090511fa_fact_gladwell
http://www.newyorker.com/reporting/2009/05/11/090511fa_fact_gladwell
Not saying your point doesn't have merit. I think it does. But the reason it's easier to switch your offense around more opposed to your defense is because generally defense is reactive while offense is proactive.
I think defense forces the offense to react. If a team comes out of a huddle with a set play against a man, and the defense comes out, let's say box-and-one, the offense will have to react to that. Let's say a team comes out ready to hit a big man at the FT line against a 2-3, but the defense switches to a 1-3-1, that is no longer going to fly.
I love switching defenses up--especially out of timeouts and on inbounds plays. JB will always go back to his 2-3 on inbounds plays, even if they are in man-to-man. The problem is, you can't switch too much out of those plays or the opposing coaches will plan on that and you can really lose the element of surprise.
Excellent points but I was referring more so to a play by play situation. Ball screens, cuts, rolls, fades, etc.. All those things result in the defense having to react how to defend them. If you switch up your defensive gameplan from possession to possession it becomes easier to lose focus on how to defend specific actions.
beast of the east
Active member
Just to point out, the press is A weapon, and cannot be thought of as the panacea to cure all woes. It was effective against a lousy team, and the right call. It is correct to switch up defenses, but you don't program it - you can stay in a defense as long as it works, and until another team makes adjustments, and you subsequently adjust accordingly. If you can force another team to go smaller to get another ball handler in, then you make adjustments to utilize your height advantage. Coaching is all about making the changes you need to make to win.
If you recall a decade ago, Omar Cook was so adept at breaking any press all by himself, that when the ball was in his hands, teams just fell back into a zone and gave up the press immediately after a few possessions.
If you recall a decade ago, Omar Cook was so adept at breaking any press all by himself, that when the ball was in his hands, teams just fell back into a zone and gave up the press immediately after a few possessions.
I truly believe a press for this team would be very effective and it should be played for large parts of the game. If my recollection is correct the old Georgetown teams of the 80's with Ewing to serve as the protector at the basket if the press was broken did it for large portions of the game and we have Obekpa and Sanchez to play the part of Ewing. We have 2 players at every position and very athletic players. We do this against Fordham we will run them off the court. And then the Cuse will be next and it will be soooooooooo sweet
beast of the east
Active member
You are comparing a Georgetown team that was one of the best in the past 50 years, going to the finals in 3 out of Ewing's four years to St. John's? Georgetown played a stifling press that took the oxygen out of the building. Ewing wasn't even key; he was merely the lynchpin - somehow manage to get the ball past midcourt, and Ewing was there to snuff out any 3 on 2, or two on 1 advantage. Georgetown would often start the second half of games with the press, and not let up until their opponents were battered and bruised (literally and figuratively), blown out of the building, and emptying the bench with 5 minutes to play and hopelessly behind. It didn't matter if the opponent was Kentucky or Seton Hall, their press was fearsome, and merely going into it would strike fear into the very best teams in the country.
While Obekpa is an extremely good shot blocker, I've never seen a defensive presence on a college court like Ewing, and I don't know that I ever will.
It's almost like telling a pitcher to throw the fastball, and compare the success Nolan Ryan had with his. I love the idea of pressing when your team is well adapted for it, which is your point I suppose. But we are a long ways from being a great, or even a good pressing team. Even then, its a weapon to be used selectively.
beast of the east
Active member
Coaches do change defenses throughout the game based on game circumstances. It's not like running a play on offense, where a PG or coach can call it out with the ball at the top of the key. Often a substitution is involved, and frequently done during a time out. Coaches who don't react on either side of the ball lose games.
Again you're talking about the D being a reaction to the O.
I'm talking the other way around.
The O has a much harder time on the court and yet the D doesnt take advantage of that nearly as often as it could.
And what rule says a coach or a PG cannot call out a defensive play? Limiting D changes to timeouts and substitutions is pretty conventional. What I'm talking about is not.
beast of the east
Active member
It just doesn't work the way you suggest. The goal of basketball is offensive minded - the team with the ball attempts to score. The goal of the defense is to stop them. Therefore, without sacrificing their own offensive capabilities much, defense is reactive to what the other team puts on the floor, but can force the offensive team to make changes. So by pressing, you can force the opponent to go smaller with better ballhandlers, but then they sacrifice rebounding, and sometimes frontcourt defense of their own. But if the offensive team is huge up front, defense must be reactive to that if the team on the floor is too small, etc. It's very hard to call out defensive alignments because each player must know his role - if in man, who to cover, if in zone, which place on the zone, if pressing, who they are picking up or which part of a zone press they are covering. In the seconds it takes to set this, the offensive team could have scored already. Most of the time, when a coach calls for a press without a timeout, its because they discussed it in the huddle at the prior break.
Coaches call out defenses from the sidelines all the time. The call full court presses at times and they call out various zones or back to man. It isn't only done during timeouts. Some teams are more aggressive in using their defensive schemes to dictate what the offense does. Others are more reactive and adjust their defense to what the offense is running or what personnel they have on the floor. I prefer a coach that tries to impose its defensive schemes on the other team and force their offense to make adjustments. I also like when a team will periodically switch from man to zone or from one zone scheme to another in order to catch the other team by surprise. Causing an extra two or three turnovers a game can make a big difference.
beast of the east
Active member
As I stated, when they make a change, its generally spoken about in the huddle at the previous break in play. Sometimes it's subbed in during a break in action such as a free throw, as in a guard coming over, speaking with coach, and then instructing other players as the free throws are shot. Rarely if ever is it done in a fluid way, like "Zone" when the other team is bringing up the ball - at least at this level/