Do you like a good press defense?

[scru]

I was really impressed with WVU's full court press D last night. It was the first game I've watched them play this season. I was amazed by how disruptive it can be and got me thinking about applicability for the Cats. Could the Cats run 4 - 6 minutes per half of ferocious full court press with the "second team"? I'm not advocating playing this with the starters. I think the energy exertion requirement really hurts you in offensive efficiency. But, for the subs who have the energy to spare due to shorter minutes, why not expend it on such a press to disrupt the opponents flow and maybe even get to the legs of a few of their starters? Do you think we have the athletes on the second team to pull this off? I'm thinking Brown, Ash, Gaines, Rap, Skelly in a 2 1 2 press or match-up press. Is there enough quickness there to make it work?

As another benefit, the starters can gain valuable experience practicing against the press. As this team gets out ahead of opponents next season, as they should, I'd expect them to face a lot of press defense as opponents try to scrap their way back into games.

Beyond next season, can you imagine what this type of D could do to whip up the WR crowd into a frenzy, further rattling an opponent and compounding the home court advantage? Maybe a little something like this...

 

[chicagocatfan24]

Jevon Carter is our backyard and had offers from Ivies... Talk about a whiff out of us and Illinois, he only had ISU and a few smaller schools on top of WVU

 

[hdhntr1]

I was really impressed with WVU's full court press D last night. It was the first game I've watched them play this season. I was amazed by how disruptive it can be and got me thinking about applicability for the Cats. Could the Cats run 4 - 6 minutes per half of ferocious full court press with the "second team"? I'm not advocating playing this with the starters. I think the energy exertion requirement really hurts you in offensive efficiency. But, for the subs who have the energy to spare due to shorter minutes, why not expend it on such a press to disrupt the opponents flow and maybe even get to the legs of a few of their starters? Do you think we have the athletes on the second team to pull this off? I'm thinking Brown, Ash, Gaines, Rap, Skelly in a 2 1 2 press or match-up press. Is there enough quickness there to make it work?

As another benefit, the starters can gain valuable experience practicing against the press. As this team gets out ahead of opponents next season, as they should, I'd expect them to face a lot of press defense as opponents try to scrap their way back into games.

Beyond next season, can you imagine what this type of D could do to whip up the WR crowd into a frenzy, further rattling an opponent and compounding the home court advantage? Maybe a little something like this...

Need quality depth and the athletes to put it in.. And then it doesn't do as much good if you cannot put it the basket after getting the steal so they have to be first team level. While we are improving athleticism, we are not there yet for most.

 

[docrugby1]

John Thompson's Georgetown teams played end to end defense for 40 minutes in the 80's.. The result was frustrated tired opponents that often resulted in fights, usually blamed on GU but in reality, most were initiated by opponents not used to facing fresh defenders applying intense pressure for 40 minutes. It was also nice to have Ewing, Dalton, Motumbo or Mourning to prevent layups if the press was broken. You actually have to use the entire roster to make this work

 

[willycat]

John Thompson's Georgetown teams played end to end defense for 40 minutes in the 80's.. The result was frustrated tired opponents that often resulted in fights, usually blamed on GU but in reality, most were initiated by opponents not used to facing fresh defenders applying intense pressure for 40 minutes. It was also nice to have Ewing, Dalton, Motumbo or Mourning to prevent layups if the press was broken. You actually have to use the entire roster to make this work

I was that NU would press Gonzaga in the 1st half, to try and take out of their comfort zone. Think they will have enough depth to do so next season and they do already have their own set of twin towers to protect the rim.