Admittedly, I do not understand it that well. I've been going over a lot of game tape but some things do not click. Example, why must PJ be the only ball handler? Why must he drive up the left side? When he passes to Cline why does Cline have to stand there until he gets pressured and then throw it back to PJ? Why can't we throw it to the guy (typically Edwards) running up the middle? Not trolling - asking.
Question for those who understand the full court press
- Thread starter Mcluck
- Start date
And while you are asking, why doesn't Cline (or anyone) advance the ball when he gets it and try to get a quick easy basket to punish the press. Several times Cline could easily have dribbled toward the basket. Except for the one bad turnover he usually makes good decisions.
The way mine worked is that the better ball handler should move the ball up one side or the other until it has drawn two defenders as long as it does not cross the center line. The goal was to create a 4on3 situation on the rest of the court. We always had a man in the center of the court trailing the ball. The plan was to move the ball from the trap back to the center and that man would make a decision whether to hit the man in the middle of the floor at the top of the key or to reverse the ball to the other side of the court across the center line. At that point, we should have a 3on2 and attack the basket.
The tricky parts were whether the middle defender would move toward the ball before the center line and how fast the defense was able to cover across the court as the ball moved across the court. If the middle defender wouldn't move very far, then the ball needed to move back to the middle of the court before the center line to force the defense to move to defend the center of the court as well as both sides, giving the ballhander the ability to quickly cross the center line before either sideline defender could get to him near the center line to set a trap.
You are correct. If the ball is held onto for more than second by anyone after the first ballhandler, then bad things usually happen. The ball must move faster than the defenders move.
It seems to me that our first ballhander attacks up the side and too often thinks he can cross the center line without getting trapped - he should not make that assumption even if the other team makes it look like he can ... that's a trick LOL. We also don't always have a trailer behind the ball so the ballhandler keeps trying to see the man at the top of the key as his ony resort to get the ball to the middle, but the defenders are blocking his view and have hands mirroring the ball. This forces those high arching lob passes that make everyone yell at the TV. A pass back to a trailer generally does not need to go up and over a defenders hand.
If the press is a surprise, players will not be set-up properly and they don't quickly get back to the positions they need to be in to break the press.
As in all aspects of the game, quick choices need to be made based on what the defense is giving. By making things hectic, the defense can cause poor decisions.
The tricky parts were whether the middle defender would move toward the ball before the center line and how fast the defense was able to cover across the court as the ball moved across the court. If the middle defender wouldn't move very far, then the ball needed to move back to the middle of the court before the center line to force the defense to move to defend the center of the court as well as both sides, giving the ballhander the ability to quickly cross the center line before either sideline defender could get to him near the center line to set a trap.
You are correct. If the ball is held onto for more than second by anyone after the first ballhandler, then bad things usually happen. The ball must move faster than the defenders move.
It seems to me that our first ballhander attacks up the side and too often thinks he can cross the center line without getting trapped - he should not make that assumption even if the other team makes it look like he can ... that's a trick LOL. We also don't always have a trailer behind the ball so the ballhandler keeps trying to see the man at the top of the key as his ony resort to get the ball to the middle, but the defenders are blocking his view and have hands mirroring the ball. This forces those high arching lob passes that make everyone yell at the TV. A pass back to a trailer generally does not need to go up and over a defenders hand.
If the press is a surprise, players will not be set-up properly and they don't quickly get back to the positions they need to be in to break the press.
As in all aspects of the game, quick choices need to be made based on what the defense is giving. By making things hectic, the defense can cause poor decisions.
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How do you keep a team from pressing? Make them pay dearly. A press break is designed to create a fast easy basket. Most of what I have seen teams are soft pressing us, meaning they apply some trapping pressure but not over selling. My sons AAU coach runs a press break that works very well. The key is to be able to execute it very quickly. Not sure if it would work when a team is soft pressing. MP seems to think that a patient slow attack is better for this group. Its worked lately with few TO. What ever gets the job done I guess.
PJ to date turns it over less and I imagine that weighs in Matt's mind. Bringing the ball off center initially allows the right handed player more court AND depending on press or trap...THAT defender is the better "pass interceptor" of the two where the other side is typically the better trapper since most teams are mostly right handed players. I wish Cline would have pushed it across the court quickly since he was not in a position to be trapped and probed the D and then gave it up. I think Purdue would like to get it in the middle.
This is certainly not going to provide an answer you will like, but there are reasons for it. First, there are differences between zone presses and man presses AND how those generalities are attacked. Second, many people are matching up more out of their zones to give a hybrid man/zone similar to a match-up zone typically seen in the half court. Neb played some 1-3-1 trap where they pulled up the middle man higher than a typical 1-3-1 and actually released the middle and right hand side on different possessions to attempt a trap somewhat like a run and jump tweak to the typical 1-3-1.
Some presses are more aggressive than others and more often than not those have a player guarding the triggerman like you might see in a 1-2-1-1 press. Others allow you to get the ball in and try to trap you by bringing two D players into a V at the same time after dribbling. If one comes earlier than the other, the offensive player can get around it. Most people teach to steal passes off the trap rather than be so aggressive with the guy that is trapped trying to steal the ball then and there. if you consider the 1-2-1-1 in comparison to the 1-2-2 or the 2-2-1 you can see that two of those alignment covers the sideline better than others and one covers the middle better than the others requiring maybe a different alignment initially. Remember the sideline is a defensive player.
In the old days with two refs, the rotations allowed were primarily set to see the half court under the basket more on the right side since almost 90% of the initial passes to start an offense take place on the right wing and so the other side of the court covered outside and was the first down the court in transition. This allowed more aggression on the side of the court favored by right handed players. I don't know the rotations as well with three refs, but obviously they can see more areas.
Typically, the man press is more physical and may create more fatigue issues. A pure man is the easiest to break if a team has ONE really good ball player as the others can get far enough away to not allow their man to release and trap and yet still be close enough to receive a pass if their man does release. Generally, less turnovers happen with a man press and of course the end of game situations it allows great pressure and someone close enough to get a quick foul. In a general sense I see the zone press and hybrids more cerebral to attack than the man press and the better press for most situations.
Most presses or traps try to force sideline to use the sideline as a defender. Whether a "pure zone press" or man will "typically" dictate any screening. Depending on the press or trap, teams will try to adjust their personnel to be in the most effective spots and so different teams can do different things to attack or just break a press. Many times you will notice the offensive player in the middle of the court against some zones at least a step back or towards the other team's basket to allow "easier" ball reversal since a "zone press" or even the hybrid "shifts" MORE to ball position than player. Requiring ball reversal eats clock and Purdue does this a lot.
In a "general sense" I'm a believer in placing people in gaps and so I typically prefer an odd front zone to be met with an even front offensive alignment and an even front zone to be met with an odd front offense alignment. That said sooner or later you want to get the ball in the middle of the court whether the first pass across the initial pressure or the second pass...or even the third. Once inside and this is true for just half court sets, looking opposite and being aware of 45 degree angles in passing may provide some good looks.
True. If you can't move the defense to overplay the ball, then you don't gain as much advantage.
Another aspect is how much a team like Purdue practices against a press and how good is that press that they practice against. As you said, the offense needs to move very quickly. That advantage disappeasr quickly as the defense recovers.
An old coaches' adage is to never press a team that presses. The reason being is that team has practiced against a press a lot and knows how to break it. A press is very vulnerable if the other team knows how to break it.
I suspect having the players to practice a press effectively is the biggest issue..even if loading up more than 5 players on D. Course those other teams have a hard time simulating Purdue's size..
Yep. and we did practice 5 on 6 at times.
Just like Haas makes AJ better as only someone taller can do.
