Press from the beginning...

[jec1521]

We need to press at the beginning of every game. It makes the other team play at our tempo, we have enough players to do it, and we're quite good at it. What's the drawback?

 

[DNABB5]

We need to press at the beginning of every game. It makes the other team play at our tempo, we have enough players to do it, and we're quite good at it. What's the drawback?

The layups and fouls you give with it?

 

[jpac]

We need to press at the beginning of every game. It makes the other team play at our tempo, we have enough players to do it, and we're quite good at it. What's the drawback?

At the very least in this game, JB should have pressed in the first half. My buddy and I were at the game, a sea of Orange in the stands, and it was relatively quiet in the first half as we saw the unbelievable hot 3pt shooting from Cincy! My friend kept yelling "we need to press and force the tempo, we're a deep team, let's us it!!!!!" Thrilling game in the 2nd half, but none of the key moments when our way especially the BT missed Fts, KJ missed FTs, and the key turner over by Scoop when had a clear run out.

 

[rocklloyd]

I would have like to seen a brief change up with mcw attempting to drive and dish to the big and back to wing. . Think we got complacent and sloppy in our offensive sets and relied on dion to bail us out

 

[tbonezone]

bearcats only play 6 dudes. had this been their 3rd or 4th game i would say yes make them work rather than sit back in zone but unfortunately they were a 4 seed with legs just as fresh as us.so i guess i say bad idea. sadly it's not what we do well.

 

[Orangeman]

We need to press at the beginning of every game. It makes the other team play at our tempo, we have enough players to do it, and we're quite good at it. What's the drawback?

Honestly, the drawback is we don't have a very good press. It's extremely undisciplined, is all-or-nothing type of defense, and it's only suitable for high-risk appropriate situations (like, if you're down 16, does it matter if you're down 20 or 14?)...

Watch the number of times you'll see a Syracuse defender flying up court 10 steps within the defense, that's just not normal and extremely dangerous...our press often leaves our center defending the goal on 3-1s which would be terrible for Fab's foul situation.

Now, there are other variations of press besides our diamond-and-one high-pressure style, but I've never actually seen us run a 3/4 court 2-2-1, or a half-court trap out of anything but the 2-3...I would agree with your statement if it were a different style of press, but I don't see that as a possibility.

I would prefer to see us alternate between man/man and 2/3 for each of the first 10 possessions. Keeps the opponent guessing and doesn't let our guys fall back into the bad habits that a zone can create comfort with...no blocking out, forgetting shooters, basket-hanging a bit.