Our Defense on the last play in reg vs Nova

[WindyCityGoldenEagle]

I love the guy and hope he's here for a long time but that doesnt mean he's perfect. Every coach has a bad game, bad year, etc. I don't think this has been one of Buzz's best seasons for a multitude of reasons but that's been discussed to no end here so I thought I'd ask about a specific play in the Nova game.

Can someone please explain to me why we were playing defense like we needed the ball on our last defensive possession in reg? If not for the bs charge call, this defensive call by Buzz should have cost us the game. To recap, we had just made an unreal comeback to hopefully sneak into ot, there were 4.8 secs left and we have a man guarding the ball and we are face guarding the rest of their players as if we are in need of a steal. I get the argument for having a guy on the ball to prevent an easy pass- fine, even though I don't agree with it as I prefer a center fielder in this situation. Regardless, my beef is given the situation, why are we not forcing their guys to catch the ball going towards their own defensive end? Why are we playing high pressure off the ball as if to deny the inbounds pass? My friend and I were saying it as Nova was lining up to inbound the ball - it was inexcusable to me and a huge mental lapse on the part of Buzz.

[Alan Bykowski, "brewcity77"]

I really think the plan on that play was to not foul. Hopefully delay them a bit getting upcourt, but don't send them to the line with the ability to win it with the clock stopped. It didn't work out. Derrick got blown by in iso and frankly that should have been the end of things. 4.8 seconds is not a lot of time and outside of Tyus Edney, not too many guys go coast-to-coast in that span of time. I think they were playing the odds and lost, but got saved by the ref's call.

[WindyCityGoldenEagle]

Brew - your explanation of what they were trying to do (not foul and delay their progress) presents a direct disconnect between their actual actions. If you are trying to not foul and delay (which I agree they shouldve been doing), why then are you forcing the tempo and taking chances by applying so much off the ball pressure which discourages delay and increases the odds of fouling?

[kneelb4zerg]

Brew - your explanation of what they were trying to do (not foul and delay their progress) presents a direct disconnect between their actual actions. If you are trying to not foul and delay (which I agree they shouldve been doing), why then are you forcing the tempo and taking chances by applying so much off the ball pressure which discourages delay and increases the odds of fouling?

I'm confused, why does off the ball pressure discourage delay? I just thought Buzz wanted to slow them down enough without fouling, a pretty tough task if the guy is that fast with the ball.

[Alan Bykowski, "brewcity77"]

I haven't watched the play again, but as I recall, Derrick pretty much whiffed on Chennault. They pressured in hopes that would slow whomever got the ball, but when Chennault got away from Derrick, it was off to the races.

[TheSultan]

I haven't watched the play again, but as I recall, Derrick pretty much whiffed on Chennault. They pressured in hopes that would slow whomever got the ball, but when Chennault got away from Derrick, it was off to the races.

That's exactly how I remember it. Perhaps it was the wrong call...perhaps it was Derrick...

[WindyCityGoldenEagle]

Just think about it Kneel - When you apply high off the ball pressure, it's a hell of a lot easier for an offensive guy to get by his defender after he's received the ball - you're forcing the tempo by taking this approach which is exactly the opposite of what we shouldve been doing. Brad Stephens is one of the best at this "make them catch it going the other way" in these situations - you apply token pressure around the 3pt line and make sure the offensive player is receiving the ball going back to the inbounder - no need to attempt to deny the inbounds play which can potentially lead to putting the defender ina vulnerable position which is what happened to Derrick.


Btw - I honestly never knew what your name stood for and I was flipping around the tube last night and got locked into Superman 2 which I hadnt seen in ages and low and behond "Kneel before Zerg" was right in front of me. Too funny!

[kneelb4zerg]

Just think about it Kneel - When you apply high off the ball pressure, it's a hell of a lot easier for an offensive guy to get by his defender after he's received the ball - you're forcing the tempo by taking this approach which is exactly the opposite of what we shouldve been doing. Brad Stephens is one of the best at this "make them catch it going the other way" in these situations - you apply token pressure around the 3pt line and make sure the offensive player is receiving the ball going back to the inbounder.


Btw - I honestly never knew what your name stood for and low and behold I was flipping around the tube last night and got locked into Superman 2 which I hadnt seen in ages and low and behond "Kneel before Zerg" was right in front of me. Too funny!

OK, I guess I just didn't get the terminology. I haven't re-watched it either, all I remember is he had a running start, so probably Derrick got caught flat-footed and couldn't catch-up, after which it was up to someone else to step in front and hopefully not foul.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=v8cHljx-Zkw

Kind of stupid, but still funny.

[WindyCityGoldenEagle]

OK, I guess I just didn't get the terminology. I haven't re-watched it either, all I remember is he had a running start, so probably Derrick got caught flat-footed and couldn't catch-up, after which it was up to someone else to step in front and hopefully not foul.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=v8cHljx-Zkw

Kind of stupid, but still funny.

And that's why if you are going to play that off the ball pressure defense prior to the inbound (which is a horrible decision on Buzz's part) than you absolutely must have a center fielder. A real brain cramp on Buzz's part.

I like the moniker - funny/unique.

[IrwinFletcher]

Since no one else went back to look, I did.

MU started out aligned like WindyCity wanted. Defenders had their players in front of them. Jamil briefly had his back to the inbounder in the lane. DWil's man was off to the side, 3 pt line extended. He broke toward the corner, and I think the problem was that DWil didn't follow him. Therefore, when the Nova player got the ball, DWil was a good 12-15 feet away from him. This allowed the ball handler to pick up a lot of speed which then allowed him to blow by DWil.

So to recap, the Nova player did in fact have to go to the ball to catch the pass, but because DWil was too far away to make the player zig zag up the court, he was allowed to dribble fast in a straight line to the bucket.