What would you do with this team defensively?

[sooneronas]

Our man-to-man is horrific and our zone just rotations, when we're trying to be active on the perimeter in it, are just as bad.

How about packing in a 2-3 or 1-3-1 zone a little tighter than normal and making teams beat us from three all game? Wouldn't you rather give up wide open three's than wide open layups and pull-up jumpers in the lane all game?

Dumb idea? If so, flame away. :ez-laugh:

i don't think this is a dumb idea at all, in fact, i think we need more threads like this! constructive criticism....wow....what a novel concept!?

 

[campbest]

I really don't think what scheme we run right now matters, our problems are based on simple individual defensive principles. On ball, screen and roll, help side...stuff that is learned at the high school level, but difficult to master at the Division 1 level.

If I'm Capel, I might mix in a little zone (1-3-1, 2-3) depending on the opponent but primarily run man-to-man. That is the only way these guys are going to learn how to play defense, because if you can't stay in front of someone on ball or box out in a man-to-man, you sure won't be able to do it in a zone.

Might not be fun, but I think it's going to take some embarrassing displays and having the guys watch it over and over on film to change the course. The scheme to me at this point is irrelevant.

 

[highjumper]

Good friend of mine is a long time assistant to Roy Williams. What he tells me is just amazing. Says kids are too interested in working on their dunk and 3 pointer. Says it is amazing how kids get to the D1 level totally devoid of fundamentals because they have been relying on their talent. And at that level, you don't have time to teach fundamentals, so you have to go with what you have got. For example, Bob may not be able to move sideways to his left very well, so he has to shade his opponent a half man that way. Now, everyone on the team has to know about Bob's deficiency so they can help cover. So, when you have 8-10 various deficiencies on the floor at the same time, everyone has to know how to help out and can't wait until the move is made - got to anticipate. I suspect that Capel, with all these young kids is dealing with several such scenarios and working on getting the right combinations going. Quite often a kid can look like he is not giving effort when actually he is just out of position or going the wrong way. I just can't imagine a kid at this level not giving effort, esp the young ones that are EXACTLY where they want to be.

 

[cowboysooner]

Just my uninformed thoughts. And I readily admit I don't know anything.

First and foremost, quit helping in the post. If you are guarding a perimeter player, just stay on him and quit helping in the post unless the outside guy just can't shoot. If the opposing bigs are good enough to score, so be it. Priority needs to be on preventing second shots by the bigs.

Second, when playing a zone, quit helping and doubling on the perimeter. Just match up. Man up on the guy in your area of responsibility and don't help anyone else. If someone can't or won't work hard enough to defend their man and their man just keeps hitting layups after driving, then Capel needs to get someone else in there.

Third, they just have to keep working on and get better on switching on high screens with regard to certain shooters. We don't do a very good job of knowing who the shooters are. Capel talks about this all the time.

Know your exception

 

[Seymore Cox]

Personally, i would have this team in a full court 2-2-1 or something of the sort...when they get in that they are usually more effective...

then you can drop back into a zone...probably a 2-3

Problem is that i am not sure we are deep enough to press for a very long period of time...

positives...are that it usually milks a few more seconds off of the clock for the opposing team where it takes longer to get into a set...also it increases tempo for us on the offensive end, where i think we play much better...would hide our lack of size...

negatives...u actually have to play hard and cover your space, if one person fails then the press is no good...lots of layups and wide open 3's if not executed properly...


pretty much any defense that enables you to hide the fact that you are going to have less size would work, the problem has nothing to do with scheme IMO...all to do with heart, Capel can scream and try to mix it up all he wants, but eventually it comes down to them wanting to do it...

you might as well lay down and let them score if you try to press with the guys we have out there. We tried to press a few possessions and gave up points every time down. We would have gave up more if they didn't pull it back and use clock one possession. The main in a 2-2-1 press, the 1 has to be able to stop or slow down the offense if the 2-2 gets beat. Tht's not hapnin with our guys. No disrespect to Tiny or Ryan, but they can't do it. The best thing we can do in my opinion is keep teams like utep and houston from getting those explosive scorers and athletes in rhythm.

 

[DenverSooner]

Problem is that i am not sure we are deep enough to press for a very long period of time

Why? Tubbs pressed with a 6 or 7 man rotation? In 1988 the only guys that got major minutes off the bench on a consistent basis were Tony Martin and Terrance Mullins. Occassionally Jones, Wylie and Bell got minutes in a blow out but the starters all went 30 plus.

I recognize that people say this on a regular basis but I have never understood it given the way OU played under Tubbs. (UNLV didn't go very deep either).

 

[afaSooner]

Practice, practice, practice and game time. Our guards are VERY young. Our main big guy underneath is not only young but just now realizing his potential there. Our guys are just assignment challenged and really WHO ISN'T when you're 18 yrs old playing against NCAA veteran teams?

At times we have up to 3 true freshmen on the floor. It's not like we have 4 guys who know what they're doing on defense while one guy sort of gets to make his mistakes without causing much damage. No we have 3 of them making mistakes at once. Our opponents are exposing this as they should sort of looking for the holes so to speak.

I'd have to go back and look at tape but I'm pretty positive our upperclassmen like Cade and Crocker do a pretty good job playing their assignments. Willie seems to drift around too much but I don't want to call him out without reviewing some tape however if he is then there's sometimes 4 guys making mistakes and causing much damage defensively. We can't afford any of our upperclassmen to do this.

Again though Capel just has to get these guys on the same page assignment wise but sometimes that just takes time and practice.

 

[NickZepp]

Kentucky has a bunch of freshmen and young guys in a new system playing. They aren't having trouble playing D. I'm pretty sure all those Kentucky guys played AAU ball too.

 

[SKSooner]

I think they should play 40 minutes of man-to-man until they learn how to defend in man-to-man. They are only going to get better by experience. Just bite the bullet and play man. They'll learn in time.

 

[Edmond_Sooner]

Why? Tubbs pressed with a 6 or 7 man rotation? In 1988 the only guys that got major minutes off the bench on a consistent basis were Tony Martin and Terrance Mullins. Occassionally Jones, Wylie and Bell got minutes in a blow out but the starters all went 30 plus.

I recognize that people say this on a regular basis but I have never understood it given the way OU played under Tubbs. (UNLV didn't go very deep either).

I think we could on the front end (guards), it is the lack of depth inside that makes me question that philosophy...I can just see Tiny picking up 3 quick fouls when teams succesfully break the press, and even though Ryan is athletic enough i dont trust him or any of the other players to hold down that part of the press...

Reguardless of what our personal opinions are on how we should play, i just honestly dont know what the right answer is...i just watched Texas and Mich St play and those teams get after it on the defensive end...something is just missing

 

[sdcloud9]

From having been an assistant coach on a high school team, it is my experience that most teams that mix up their defenses are typically not very proficient at any, that's why they change them up so much.

I know that JC teaches all the man defensive drills (shell, defensive series, etc.) so it's not that he is not trying to teach it.

But frankly, team defense is kind of like o-line play in football. If one guy misses his block then the back gets tackled for a loss and everyone looks bad.

If one guy allows dribble penetration, or doesn't hedge the screen, doesn't block out, etc. then teams are able to run their sets easily and get good shots or get easy put backs. The key to team defense is everybody plays with discipline and trusts the other players to do the same. This team does not trust each other defensively, you can see it in their lack of communication and that kills a team on the defensive end.

On offense, plays break down but guys make individual plays and you can still score the ball, defense is not that way, unless you have a guy like Blake in the paint that makes up for a lot of defensive issues.

It's tough because man is the way to play but at the same time, you are trying to win and zone may be the best defense right now for this team. It's an awful spot to be in for sure.

 

[afaSooner]

Kentucky has a bunch of freshmen and young guys in a new system playing. They aren't having trouble playing D. I'm pretty sure all those Kentucky guys played AAU ball too.

Calipari had even said himself at one point this season his team shouldn't be undefeated sort of downplaying their own success. When you have fire power like Wall, Patterson, Cousins, etc., it's easier to overcome defensive lapses.

 

[Seymore Cox]

From having been an assistant coach on a high school team, it is my experience that most teams that mix up their defenses are typically not very proficient at any, that's why they change them up so much.

I know that JC teaches all the man defensive drills (shell, defensive series, etc.) so it's not that he is not trying to teach it.

But frankly, team defense is kind of like o-line play in football. If one guy misses his block then the back gets tackled for a loss and everyone looks bad.

If one guy allows dribble penetration, or doesn't hedge the screen, doesn't block out, etc. then teams are able to run their sets easily and get good shots or get easy put backs. The key to team defense is everybody plays with discipline and trusts the other players to do the same. This team does not trust each other defensively, you can see it in their lack of communication and that kills a team on the defensive end.

On offense, plays break down but guys make individual plays and you can still score the ball, defense is not that way, unless you have a guy like Blake in the paint that makes up for a lot of defensive issues.

It's tough because man is the way to play but at the same time, you are trying to win and zone may be the best defense right now for this team. It's an awful spot to be in for sure.

That's a good analogy, but help defense is something an offensive line doesnt have. Every man on the court generally has collapse responsibility, unless their is a bigtime three point threat. Davis is the only guard rotating down consistently. Also, if you look at alot of good teams, they eitehr have a guy that rotates down and gets a block or charge. Hansborough wasn't a huge shot block threat, but he would rotate down and draw a couple of charges a game. That has a better effect than blocking a shot.