Did We Change the Press Against Vandy?

[regurgigator]

On TV, I couldn't see the whole court, but on several occasions when we were pressing we didn't seem to be trying to pressure/intercept the passes from the double team in the back court like we normally do.

Several times the pass was made from the Vandy player getting dbl-teamed to a player around mid-court, and there wouldn't be a Gator player anywhere in the picture. And, as the camera moved, it appeared to show that the other 3 Gators had all gone back to within the 3-point line - maybe as soon as we had started the dbl-team.

Anyway, it didn't seem very effective. I thought it allowed Vandy to pretty easily break the press and get into 4 on 3 situations that they only occasionally tried to exploit.

Any ideas on what was going on there? Was I just seeing things?

Calling Coach Sayre!

[GatorPlanet]

Originally Posted by regurgigator

On TV, I couldn't see the whole court, but on several occasions when we were pressing we didn't seem to be trying to pressure/intercept the passes from the double team in the back court like we normally do.

Several times the pass was made from the Vandy player getting dbl-teamed to a player around mid-court, and there wouldn't be a Gator player anywhere in the picture. And, as the camera moved, it appeared to show that the other 3 Gators had all gone back to within the 3-point line - maybe as soon as we had started the dbl-team.

Anyway, it didn't seem very effective. I thought it allowed Vandy to pretty easily break the press and get into 4 on 3 situations that they only occasionally tried to exploit.

Any ideas on what was going on there? Was I just seeing things?

Calling Coach Sayre!

The press doesn't have to result in a turnover to be effective. You may have noticed that on possession after possession, Vandy wasn't able to get into a half-court offense set until half the shot clock had expired.

[themistocles]

Excellent point Planet.

The idea is to disrupt the opposing team's offense. When that results in a steal and basket, so much the better, but it can increase defensive efficacy as Planet noted, even without turnovers or 10 second violations.

[gatorfansrule]

I actually prefer that type of press because it allows less easy baskets when the press is broken, especially for a team as talented defensively in the half-court as we are. No need to give up easy baskets going for turnovers when we are so solid on defense.

[gatorbogey]

i heard some of BD's pre-game strategy talk. he was leery about pressing vandy and having them have open 3's. but he still thought we needed to be aggressive to try to get them to rush/speed them up and play a bit more chaotic.

he didn't really want to press the full court either. so i'm guessing we threw some traps at them near the half court line.

evidently we played a bit of a zone on the back end of the press. is that right?

[regurgigator]

Originally Posted by gatorbogey

i heard some of BD's pre-game strategy talk. he was leery about pressing vandy and having them have open 3's. but he still thought we needed to be aggressive to try to get them to rush/speed them up and play a bit more chaotic.

he didn't really want to press the full court either. so i'm guessing we threw some traps at them near the half court line.

evidently we played a bit of a zone on the back end of the press. is that right?

Thanks. That sounds like some explanation, although I still don't quite understand the strategy as it gave Vandy a 4 on 3 advantage (with little chance of a turnover as all Vandy had to do was lob a pass over the double team) that could have led to some open threes if Vandy had pressed the advantage. And, the double teams I'm thinking of weren't at half court; they were as deep in the back court as we always do them with the full-court press.

(I think Vandy did score off our press a few times, but I don't even remember if it was off that press strategy, and I've already erased the game from the DVR )

If that was Donovan's strategy (speed Vandy up but keep some players back), I think I would prefer a man-to-man press to that kind of a half-way zone press. Personally, I hope we don't see that particular press again.....but, I've got no say in the matter

[gator07]

Originally Posted by gatorfansrule

I actually prefer that type of press because it allows less easy baskets when the press is broken, especially for a team as talented defensively in the half-court as we are. No need to give up easy baskets going for turnovers when we are so solid on defense.

It's surprising that for a team that plays such good defense we haven't had a ton of points in transition as a result.

[jmoliver]

We dont get transition points off our defense because it is designed to get stops not break aways. We don'y try to get in passing lanes but play good man.

[themistocles]

Originally Posted by jmoliver

We dont get transition points off our defense because it is designed to get stops not break aways. We don'y try to get in passing lanes but play good man.

The passing lane approach to quality defense is very interesting, because it not infrequently leads to uncontested layups off steals. Some teams play this way.

Although the Gators do not emphasize this approach, at least this year, opponents almost always have more turnovers and fewer steals than the Gators.

Good defense is good defense, no matter how you spell it.

[ufgator4ever]

The donovan press has rarely been all out, cause a turnover or easy layup, arkansas style. Thought it originally was for wearing the opponent down as much as anything, but with 7-8 man rotations ourselves, not sure the value it really poses. Except against shotening shot clocks for already inept offenses like vandy.
There will be no vandy's in the tourney.

[GatorLaw]

I'm not much of a BB fan except when the Gators are on TV and during the NCAA tourney. But even to my uneducated eyes it looked like Vandy wasn't having the kinds of problems that opponents have had with our press in other games I've watched.