Substituions

I posted this on Dodds board. I figured guys over here might want to read it too. It's long.


This is my final word on the topic. It has been over discussed. I'm not sure why I have to convince people of the effectiveness of our substitution pattern. Actually, I'm not. I don't care if you believe in it or not. It's not even how I sub with my own team. I am just telling you reasons why Buzz does it to give people a better understanding. It's what Brad Stevens, Junior Cadougan, and Vander Blue said in the post game press conference was a key to the victory.

When looking at the roster this year, you have to identify the strengths and weaknesses of it. This year's team in challenged offensively. I think we can and should all agree to that. We don't have consistent outside shooters. That is why we go through stretches, without scoring. That is not to say we can't score. Guys do get hot, and/or we get into the open court.

It is important to understand what outside shooting does for a team. A key word that every coach will preach is spacing. You need space to operate. You don't want teamates standing closer than 12-15 feet way from each other, so you have good spacing. If they are closer than that, then one defender can guard two people. The NBA does it the best, especially since they have rules that restrict a defense. They try to draw an extra defender, then they move the ball, and they have a two on one advantage elsewhere on the floor. A two on one advantage is only effective with good spacing.

Any coach will tell you that one of the toughest thing to do in basketball, is to close out. When the ball gets reversed, and you go from a position of help and "close out" on the shooter, you are in a vulnerable position. When running at the guy with the ball, he can either shoot it, or drive past you. Defenders are taught to get their hands up to deter the shot, but stay in a defensive stance position while chopping their feet, so that they can defensive slide, if the guy with the ball decides to penetrate.

Now, when you scout a team, there are different ways that you "close out" on a certain player. If he is a penetrator, you close out ready to slide and give him more space. If he is a shooter, you close out tight and force him to put the ball on the floor. If he is a consistent outside shooter, then that also changes where your help line is. In other words, it dictates how far off you can play the guy you are defending, when he has the ball. If he can really shoot, then you "hug" him. If he is not a consistent shooter, and especially if he is a penetrator, then your help line can be in the middle of the paint, since when your guy gets the ball, he is driving towards you anyway.

Since Marquette doesn't have consistent deadly outside shooters, then the defense can really clog the lane. All five defenders can be on the ball side of the floor. There is no space for people to operate. Many people have gotten mad, that we don't post feed enough. However, our players are taught, not only to identify the post defense, but also the help defender. If he feeds the ball and their is an immediate double team, then you put our post player in a bad position. Davidson was fronting the post, and doubling on the backside, even before the pass. It was tough to feed the post. In order for us to open up some space for our post players and our penetrators, we need to hit some outside shots so that the defense doesn't clog up the lane so much.

So, whatever we do on offense is tough, because we go through stretches where we can't shoot. No matter what we do on offense, it doesn't matter, because the defense packs it in. Our guys are still disciplined, in that we try to still get paint touches. We try to go inside, outside, strongside, weakside. By doing that, we are still trying to force a close out and create those two on one advantages. Still, when you can't shoot, you are not converting a high percentage of those advantages. You are scoring at a better rate though, because when the ball goes inside and you kick it out to a shooter, his feet and shoulders are already square to the basket when he catches the ball, instead of catching, turning, then shooting.

Since we struggle to score, quite frankly, it doesn't matter as much who is in the game. We don't have a consistent scorer, so we need to look to other areas to get an advantage. Still, we play the guys who can score at a higher rate.

Some people feel that we are losing out when we have guys on the floor who are not scorers. Especially in an equal opportunity motion offense, you really only need three guys who can score, on the floor. You have better ball movement, ball reversal, and less hesitation. The scorers know the team is looking for them to score, so there is no hesitation to shoot or penetrate. The non scorers know they have to quickly move the ball and set up the scorers. With five scorers on the floor, everyone is looking to score, and we don't have as good of ball movement.

Looking at our roster, we can see that our guys, 1-5, no matter who we put on the floor, are not better than other teams, because of the simple fact that we can't shoot. However, we do have an extremely deep team, that doesn't miss a beat, no matter who is on the floor. The best way to take advantage of that, is to pressure the ball in order to wear out the other team. It takes a lot out of you to have to play under constant pressure all the time. Not only that, put it forces you to start your offense higher. It puts you in positions that are unfamiliar, and it gets you out of rhythm because there is more hesitation and unfamiliarity. Also, with pressure, it takes time off the shot clock, and gives teams less time to run their offense. It's no secret that playing defense is more tiring than playing offense. Still, with our depth, that's where we have the advantage. So, the basic idea is to keep rotating your guys, so that their legs stay fresh. By the end of the game, you can wear down a team physically and mentally.

Murf is correct when he said that could be bad for team synergy. However, it should be clear to everyone that this team is close, and would do anything for each other. Buzz has created a family atmosphere, in which these guys go to war for each other. If you watched the post game locker room talk after the Davidson game, Buzz mentioned how a player, at the end of the game, pointed to Jake Thomas, and said, you should be in the game instead of me. That's hpw much trust these guys have in each other. Buzz has had a constant conversation with every guy on the team and explained their role to them, throughout the season. Now, some people may be upset at that role, but can anyone see that with this team? I don't think it's there.

Also, the strength and conditioning coaches train these guys to go hard in short bursts. So, with the constant subbing, they can go hard for a burst, go out of the game, get a rest, and go hard again. It keeps their legs fresh. If they stayed in the game longer, than their legs would not be fresh, and this whole strategy would not be effective.

Edit:

It is important to understand there is another reason for the subbing. Buzz has to constantly find out who is playing the best that day, and what matchups are working the best. Since we are so inconsistent from the perimeter, some guys might have it that day, and some guys don't. So, he is constantly adjusting to how the game is being played.

This is the makeup of the team this year. We can't shoot, but we are deep. We are a family. As long as guys know what the goal is, and how they are best going to get there, and they believe in the mission, then it will be effective. So far this season, it's obvious this is the case.

Thank you very much Crisco. Sometimes I don't think people understand how different this team is from his previous teams in many ways.

Yeah the Buzz is just impatient crowd is kind of ridiculous. He's been here five years and never subbed like this.

Buzz always plays the hand he is dealt. He plays it to the max. Five years alway playing to the strength of the individual roster.

Whoops. I forgot to add the end of what I wrote. I edited it in there.