Defense on Landesberg

[coolhandgopher]

I was watching last night's game through the yahoo game tracker, so my viewpoints are limited, but one thing that jumped out at me was the struggles that Virginia's freshman phenom and leading scorer Slyven Landesberg had against the Gophers. Consider that while Landesberg scored 10 points, his points were scored at the free throw line as he shot only 1-11 from the field, and that field goal was scored in the last couple minutes of the game.

Landesberg came into the game shooting 54% and averaging 20 points per game. This wasn't his first road game, as Virginia played at Syracuse over the weekend where Landesberg tallied 16 points on 5 of 11 shooting.

So, I think it's safe to say that the Gophers did an excellent job of identifying Landesberg last night and thoroughly frustrating him throughout the game. If similar defensive efforts can be repeated against the top scorer throughout the season, it will be a wonderful year.

Who defended Landesberg primarily last night? Westbrook? Hoffarber? Others? It was really an excellent effort of the Gophers part.

 

[jmag21]

I saw Westbrook tracking him a lot. It looked like DJ was primarily guarding 12, and Nolen obviously took the pg (who was pretty impressive, by the by).

 

[Gopher4Life]

>>Landesberg came into the game shooting 54% and averaging 20 points per game.<<

Must be all lay-ups, put backs, and free throws.

 

[coolhandgopher]

Before last night, he was 33% from 3 point range, although he hasn't attempted more than 2 three pointers in a game this season. He may be getting points on putbacks and layups, but he hadn't had less than 5 field goals in a game before last night, which makes me assume he hasn't just been operating on garbage baskets alone.
http://www.sportsline.com/collegebasketball/players/playerpage/1647530

 

[leftyslefty]

I also really........

liked the young Virginia point guard.....whose name Dickie J. managed to pronounce about 17 different ways.

He made a coule of turnovers at key times against the press....but he could be very good.

 

[sanowai]

I dont recall many outside shots from Landesberg. His biggest problem looked to be with the help defense when he drove past his defender. I believe what makes the defense so good is that the guards can pressure the ball or go for steals with the confidence that if they get beat or caught out of position someone will be behind them to help out. The shot blockers on the back end also erase alot of mistakes with blocked or altered shots,which Landesberg found out last night.

 

[parkinglotgopher]

"The shot blockers on the back end also erase alot of mistakes with blocked or altered shots,which Landesberg found out last night."

Great point. Several Virginia shots in the second half had to go a mile in the air, and just happened to fall for them. Those are low percentage shots that are sort of "best case scenario" after someone on the perimeter has been broken down and a path near the basket has been created. Virginia hit a reasonable percentage of these shots, but they're not shots that are going to consistently fall for a lot of players.

Iverson and Sampson have immediate impacts on shot trajectory when they're in the game. As soon as Johnson gets his first swat of the game (usually early on), he joins this list in the opponents' eyes. I'm hoping that a healthy Carter is capable of this as well.

 

[Lincoln gopher]

I was watching last night's game through the yahoo game tracker, so my viewpoints are limited, but one thing that jumped out at me was the struggles that Virginia's freshman phenom and leading scorer Slyven Landesberg had against the Gophers. Consider that while Landesberg scored 10 points, his points were scored at the free throw line as he shot only 1-11 from the field, and that field goal was scored in the last couple minutes of the game.

Landesberg came into the game shooting 54% and averaging 20 points per game. This wasn't his first road game, as Virginia played at Syracuse over the weekend where Landesberg tallied 16 points on 5 of 11 shooting.

So, I think it's safe to say that the Gophers did an excellent job of identifying Landesberg last night and thoroughly frustrating him throughout the game. If similar defensive efforts can be repeated against the top scorer throughout the season, it will be a wonderful year.

Who defended Landesberg primarily last night? Westbrook? Hoffarber? Others? It was really an excellent effort of the Gophers part.

Mostly Westbrook and Hoffarber. I thought that was the best defense I had seen Blake play.

 

[ShowinGoldyLove]

Mostly Westbrook and Hoffarber. I thought that was the best defense I had seen Blake play.

Agreed, Hoff's defense has really picked up this year. He was guarding him the majority of the time, and consistently got a hand in his face on nearly every shot.