Should the Gophers use MORE Full Court Press?

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Moses87

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Whenever we use the full-court press against lesser competition, it seems to really cause havoc. When we fell behind by 23 at IU, we used it in the 2nd half and got 5 or 6 turnovers from it as we mounted a charge late. Against Michigan, we barely used it. (Too much respect for Burke?). Seeing some of that pressure last night got me to thinking, did Tubby use it enough in our losses to Wisconsin and NW? I think the answer is no.

I think Tubby must use more Full-Court press against the Wisconsin's and NW's of the world if for no other reason to entice them to take quicker shots. The more helter-skelter the actino is, the better for the Gophers. We need to take advantage of players like Austin and Rodney who have crazy, long arms and athleticism.

I'm not sure why Tubby didn't employ more of it at NW and Wisconsin...He doesn't think it'll be effective on the road? Bottom line for me, is that anything we can do to get the game moving and played at a faster pace the better.
 

It's hard to employ a full court press when you're shooting 30% from the field and turning it over like 14 times. The only easy way to set up the press is after made baskets or dead turnovers, of which were rare it seemed the last two games. Against Nebraska, the offense was humming, hitting like 55% of our shots and only 5 or 6 turnovers, half of which were on fouls I believe, meaning dead ball turnovers.

Plus, I think on the road, it's a little different to press than it is at home, with the home crowd energy, it's a little easier to do it.
 

Monty519 said:
It's hard to employ a full court press when you're shooting 30% from the field and turning it over like 14 times. The only easy way to set up the press is after made baskets or dead turnovers, of which were rare it seemed the last two games. Against Nebraska, the offense was humming, hitting like 55% of our shots and only 5 or 6 turnovers, half of which were on fouls I believe, meaning dead ball turnovers.

Plus, I think on the road, it's a little different to press than it is at home, with the home crowd energy, it's a little easier to do it.
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You're right about that but I still think we could use it a little more, especially when the backups are in. They should be fresh and should be flying around out there. With Wally's long arms and athleticism, I think he could be very good in the press down the road.
 

I'm with Monty on this.

I will add that against the better teams the press often leads to more easy baskets for the opposition than for us.
 

I think we need to make a bigger effort to press more in our future games. I think we can cause havoc for Iowa and MSU in our next two games with it. Gessell and Clemons are both decent ball-handlers but both Freshmen and prone to making dumb passes. Also, Appling can be careless and Trice is on the same level as Joe Coleman when it comes to handling the ball. We must attack them and get easier baskets.
 


station19 said:
I'm with Monty on this.

I will add that against the better teams the press often leads to more easy baskets for the opposition than for us.
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Yep. Most good teams can break a press and the amount of easy buckets they can get will be equal to or greater than the number we'll get off TO's. It's a nice change of pace/desperation type thing, though, and I'd like to see us mix it in with more frequency at random portions of the game... but not constantly.

However, against lower B1G teams, non-conference, maybe some in postseason, etc... it can really cause havoc, like we saw last night. It's definitely something most teams don't go against often and have to prepare separately for, I just don't know that doing it for 40 minutes against a good team is going to have a positive impact.
 

JDGopher said:
Yep. Most good teams can break a press and the amount of easy buckets they can get will be equal to or greater than the number we'll get off TO's. It's a nice change of pace/desperation type thing, though, and I'd like to see us mix it in with more frequency at random portions of the game... but not constantly.

However, against lower B1G teams, non-conference, maybe some in postseason, etc... it can really cause havoc, like we saw last night. It's definitely something most teams don't go against often and have to prepare separately for, I just don't know that doing it for 40 minutes against a good team is going to have a positive impact.
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Conventional Wisdom yes....But I really think we can get after our next two opponents. Appling can be sloppy...Iowa's backcourt guys are both Freshmen...Let's give them a stern test!
 


doesn't seem like we are 'all in' on the press.
we double team the first inbounds pass in back court.
but then we don't deny passes from there.. we let the guy who is doubled off the hook too easy..
if we deny the 2nd pass, the only option should be to either dribble or throw a home-run ball.. both are desire outcomes of that first double team.

better teams shed us because that 2nd pass becomes a 3rd and 4th pass very quickly and an easy 2-on-1
 



Don't get me wrong, I definitely think it could have still been utilized more in those games, it's just the opportunities were much less frequent to do so. Against Wisconsin, for example, we made 16 shots, while against Nebraska, it was 32. Obviously the quicker pace helped that a lot, but that's still double the number of made shots. Let alone the confidence itself that comes from simply making buckets.
 

I would rather go down dictating the pace then to lose another game like we lost at NW or Wisconsin.
 

In order to press you have to have a deep bench. Answer this question...Do the Gophers have a deep bench?
 




tinyarch said:
In order to press you have to have a deep bench. Answer this question...Do the Gophers have a deep bench?
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I'm not talking about using it for 40 minutes. Certainly in 3 to 4 minute spurts though. With TV Timeouts and creative substitutions players get plenty of chances to catch their breath. I personally feel like Tubby leaves the starters on the bench far too much when the 2nd unit comes in. I think a 2 minute break is plenty, when you combine the TV timeouts.

If I were the HC, I'd start subbing guys out at the 14 min mark and stagger it. The first ones on the bench would be the first ones back after the under 12 timeout. Then the whole starting unit would be back on the court together by the 10 minute mark. Another break could be given around the 6 minute mark for 2 minutes depending on foul situations.
 

tinyarch said:
In order to press you have to have a deep bench. Answer this question...Do the Gophers have a deep bench?
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If you do it in short spurts and manage the subs correctly, I think you can do it effectively.
 

There is a time, place, the strength and weaknesses of each opponent, all to take into consideration when utilizing a press. This is big time level of basketball, with good ballplayers everywhere, and sometimes it is not the right time or place. There is no cut and dried, black and white set of situations to use it.
 

I agree that the press should be used more against the slower teams. My biggest frustration watching the WI and NW games was the pace. This MN team is quick and athletic and play horribly when they slow down on offense. It was the issue with the offense the last few years - as Flip Saunders pointed out about Ralph Sampson and the offense last year. I loved Ralph but he would catch the ball and just stand for several seconds before making a move. MN's strengths this year are its athleticism and speed. When they slow down, the offensive struggles multiply and those struggling probably over-think every shot they take. They are a much better team keeping the tempo up. They probably can't do much pressing against teams like MI and IN but they could use it in spurts to keep them out of sync. The MN bench is good enough if subbed one or two at a time and can maintain momentum - they have the legs to run hard the entire game. I always wonder if WI is in good enough shape to really run hard for a full game. They probably are conditioned but they definitely aren't used to a fast pace. Wonder if that helps or hurts in March?
 

Dr.Don said:
There is a time, place, the strength and weaknesses of each opponent, all to take into consideration when utilizing a press. This is big time level of basketball, with good ballplayers everywhere, and sometimes it is not the right time or place. There is no cut and dried, black and white set of situations to use it.
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Malcolm Gladwell wrote a pretty interesting article on the full court press, basically arguing that it should be used all the time but that basketball coaches don't because it is not sportsmanlike. It was in the New Yorker. Search malcolm gladwell basketball and it comes up (I can't cut and paste a link on my BlackBerry)
 

I havent read the article but im pretty sure the reason has little to do with sportsmanship and more to do with strategy and common sense. Thats basically the same as saying all teams should run and gun all the time. It depends on the athletic composition of your team
 

Well read the article RyeGuy. Gladwell is outside the box.
 

Read the article and I stand by my statement. In theory he makes some good points but he neglects to take into account that full court defense is alot more pyhsically demanding than half court d. Breaking a full court press is done primarily with the pass which requires much less physically. Somethings gotta give. Eventually the pressing team would be left dead on the floor. Thats why its not done on a widespread basis..
 

Yes as long as it isn't detrimental. It gets our athletic players moving and active. I've read enough about how we just stand there. Athletes are athletic when they make athletic plays, yeah I know, redundant, however an athlete is superior when they move, i.e. Wisconsin
 

RyeGuy said:
Read the article and I stand by my statement. In theory he makes some good points but he neglects to take into account that full court defense is alot more pyhsically demanding than half court d. Breaking a full court press is done primarily with the pass which requires much less physically. Somethings gotta give. Eventually the pressing team would be left dead on the floor. Thats why its not done on a widespread basis..
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Appreciate the input and support for my theory.

I remember when I was a kid and my park team in South Minneapolis played a team of inner city kids from Powderhorn Park who routinely destroyed us. For one game in a tournament they showed up with just 5 players. Our coach saw that they only had 5 players and had us pressing the whole game. We had 12 players and pressed from the word go. We wore them down and with 10 minutes left to play, they were down to 3 players. The frantic nature of the press led to a ton of fouls being called both ways. We'd get a steal and drive to the basket and they'd foul. We won 69-45 or something. Highest scoring game I was ever involved in because most were played in the 20's and 30's. I think the Gophers could open up a can of whup ass on the Badgers or NW if we simply got the game moving. We haven't been getting most out of our athleticism advantage and the Big Ten style forces us to play a style we're not suited for.

By the way RyeGuy, You still have a blackberry? Dude! Seriously! Time to move on!
 

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