Covering the 3

[OmahaCuse]

in a perfect world we trap when a player gets the ball in the corner. We used to do this all the time with tall athletic wings. Today the forwards rotate late and the center has to try to fly out to block the shot. After a few blocks the offensive player either drives by the center or passes inside. wonder if we are better served trying to play a junk defense 1-2-2, 2-2-1, etc…

 

[DoctorBombay]

As we’ve seen in other years, the defense is effective if it’s practiced by the right personnel. What we currently have are the wrong personnel, in too many crucial positions.
When only 1 out of 5 in the starting lineup qualifies as athletic, you’re gonna have problems.
The real question is where are the “adjustments” gonna come from? In the line-up, bench usage, flexibility, PT allotment, etc.
JB hasn’t shown any indication of a willingness to change the lineup he chose to put out there, and what’s more troubling is that he actually thought this mishmash was gonna be effective on defense, in the ACC.

 

[Nicknack]

in a perfect world we trap when a player gets the ball in the corner. We used to do this all the time with tall athletic wings.

I was thinking about this the other day. Our trap used to be the death for other teams. It was so imposing. Now, it rarely results in a turnover and if anything, we end up fouling as much as we get a turnover.

 

[FireballPhil]

It is pick your poison. Extending out the three point line makes it a harder shot from outside, but also extends out the defense. It becomes much harder to rotate back down to the corners, even with more athletic forwards we would be hard pressed to trap successfully anymore. The zone used to be a more effective defense because the spacing was tighter, and it forced offenses to be more pass focused.

Unfortunately, to play a good man to man defense you need athletes who can keep up with their opponents. You can maybe get by with having one teammate who is slow footed but a great shooter. Having two or three however means trouble all over the court.

Botttom line, unless you are trying to press, creating a trap in the corner is becoming harder and harder to do regardless of which defense you use.

 

[OmahaCuse]

It is pick your poison. Extending out the three point line makes it a harder shot from outside, but also extends out the defense. It becomes much harder to rotate back down to the corners, even with more athletic forwards we would be hard pressed to trap successfully anymore. The zone used to be a more effective defense because the spacing was tighter, and it forced offenses to be more pass focused.

Unfortunately, to play a good man to man defense you need athletes who can keep up with their opponents. You can maybe get by with having one teammate who is slow footed but a great shooter. Having two or three however means trouble all over the court.

Botttom line, unless you are trying to press, creating a trap in the corner is becoming harder and harder to do regardless of which defense you use.

I think if we had a more athletic team we could trap and press. Both are off the table now