Breaking The Press (Also Why I Could Never Coach) | The Boneyard

Breaking The Press (Also Why I Could Never Coach)

Chin Diesel

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UConn has been dreadful against the press and any sort of 3/4 or 1/2 court pressure. Cole and Gaffney consistently run to the corner, the player inbounding the ball consistently throws weak passes, and players receiving passes consistently are running away from the ball instead of moving towards the ball to receive the pass. All are some of my biggest pet peeves and would have me playing Garry and Hurley five minutes in to a game because I would be pulling players left and right. Preference would be some faster guards with tighter handles who have good vision to exploit every over play by a pressing defense. Hurley doesn't have that, so it's mitigating those shortcomings.

The "Coffin Corner". Every coach and player knows this is the objective of every press. It's especially effective if the person receiving the pass is short and can't see or throw over the double team. I mentioned this against Auburn and it almost worked once yesterday against VCU but Martin had trouble turning and dribbling.
Here's what I want. And since the title of the thread includes why I can't coach, I am certain this explanation will suck. But the play will work. My preference is lightning quick guards with tight handles who decimate presses by themselves but UConn doesn't have that. They have to pass. It's a roster composition deficiency to not have at least one guard with jets.
Use running the baseline and passing the ball to the opposite side out of bounds to change angles of the defensive pressure. Use Jax, Martin or Polley near FT line to receive pass. They are taller players who can catch the ball high. they pivot and look to either pass ball to running guard or pass to the fourth Husky standing on the backcourt side of halfcourt. Fifth Husky is near UConn FT line.
Part of the problem for UConn is every player is running towards the baseline against the pressure and the defense keeps pushing UConn up against it. Spread it out to start. Two guards on the baseline, one player at FT line, one near half court and one at the UConn FT line.
Whichever side UConn inbounds the ball from is where the halfcourt player moves towards. Whomever receives the ball inbounds can either pass over the top to player near halfcourt or pass to the player near the FT. Here is the second key to breaking the press. Don't turn it over by running away from the pass. Pressing teams want to shoot every gap for steals, tips, disruptions, whatever. The defenders are overselling their defensive position and integrity. Players receiving the pass have to step towards the ball, shrinking the distance and forcing the defender to make contact. Make refs make calls be making the defender make contact with UConn player's body not just hand to hand contact. UConn has been very poor at first securing the ball against pressure.
Halfcourt player or sprinting guard now has room to dribble down sideline and start angling towards UConn's hoop. With one player already at FT line, they should be moving to block opposite of ball handler. Halfcourt player or the guard without the ball becomes the trail man and there is a 3 on 2 fast break ready to go. The guard who inbounds the ball is always trailing everything and acts as the safety valve for any issues.

TL:DR???
1. Use running the baseline or passing the ball to another player out of bounds to change angles for the defense or to keep them off balance.
2. Get ball to a Husky near the FT line for first pass. Husky near the FT line should be a taller player and that player must flash with a strong base to give the passer a good target. Move towards the pass to decrease chance of defense shootint the gaps.
3. Use a player at halfcourt to act as next pass. Same thing. Be a big target, stand on backcourt side of the halfcourt line and move towards the pass.
4. Keep every player moving forward towards UConn basket with exception of inbounder who is always trailing and acting as relief valve.


Cole is put in bad position by being asked to run to a corner where he will be double teamed without having any teammate consistently in a position for him to quickly pass to prior to the double. The sideline and end line give the defenders two extra defenders and it's consistently been a mess.
 
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What is our fg conversion rate per possession? Just think if we started running breakaways out of a made basket with long passes from quarterback Jackson like the one to Whaley. If we only converted 1 out of 3 the press would be less likely from other teams.
 
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Opposing coaches will watch Atlantis tape and know what they need to do to keep the ball out of Sanogo's hands- Press UConn. Our coaches will watch Atlantis tape and know what scouting reports will say about beating/rattling UConn. Make them beat your press .

I would expect our coaching staff to remedy this issue sooner rather than later as they continue to work on rotations,etc.
 
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UConn has been dreadful against the press and any sort of 3/4 or 1/2 court pressure. Cole and Gaffney consistently run to the corner, the player inbounding the ball consistently throws weak passes, and players receiving passes consistently are running away from the ball instead of moving towards the ball to receive the pass. All are some of my biggest pet peeves and would have me playing Garry and Hurley five minutes in to a game because I would be pulling players left and right. Preference would be some faster guards with tighter handles who have good vision to exploit every over play by a pressing defense. Hurley doesn't have that, so it's mitigating those shortcomings.

The "Coffin Corner". Every coach and player knows this is the objective of every press. It's especially effective if the person receiving the pass is short and can't see or throw over the double team. I mentioned this against Auburn and it almost worked once yesterday against VCU but Martin had trouble turning and dribbling.
Here's what I want. And since the title of the thread includes why I can't coach, I am certain this explanation will suck. But the play will work. My preference is lightning quick guards with tight handles who decimate presses by themselves but UConn doesn't have that. They have to pass. It's a roster composition deficiency to not have at least one guard with jets.
Use running the baseline and passing the ball to the opposite side out of bounds to change angles of the defensive pressure. Use Jax, Martin or Polley near FT line to receive pass. They are taller players who can catch the ball high. they pivot and look to either pass ball to running guard or pass to the fourth Husky standing on the backcourt side of halfcourt. Fifth Husky is near UConn FT line.
Part of the problem for UConn is every player is running towards the baseline against the pressure and the defense keeps pushing UConn up against it. Spread it out to start. Two guards on the baseline, one player at FT line, one near half court and one at the UConn FT line.
Whichever side UConn inbounds the ball from is where the halfcourt player moves towards. Whomever receives the ball inbounds can either pass over the top to player near halfcourt or pass to the player near the FT. Here is the second key to breaking the press. Don't turn it over by running away from the pass. Pressing teams want to shoot every gap for steals, tips, disruptions, whatever. The defenders are overselling their defensive position and integrity. Players receiving the pass have to step towards the ball, shrinking the distance and forcing the defender to make contact. Make refs make calls be making the defender make contact with UConn player's body not just hand to hand contact. UConn has been very poor at first securing the ball against pressure.
Halfcourt player or sprinting guard now has room to dribble down sideline and start angling towards UConn's hoop. With one player already at FT line, they should be moving to block opposite of ball handler. Halfcourt player or the guard without the ball becomes the trail man and there is a 3 on 2 fast break ready to go. The guard who inbounds the ball is always trailing everything and acts as the safety valve for any issues.

TL:DR???
1. Use running the baseline or passing the ball to another player out of bounds to change angles for the defense or to keep them off balance.
2. Get ball to a Husky near the FT line for first pass. Husky near the FT line should be a taller player and that player must flash with a strong base to give the passer a good target. Move towards the pass to decrease chance of defense shootint the gaps.
3. Use a player at halfcourt to act as next pass. Same thing. Be a big target, stand on backcourt side of the halfcourt line and move towards the pass.
4. Keep every player moving forward towards UConn basket with exception of inbounder who is always trailing and acting as relief valve.


Cole is put in bad position by being asked to run to a corner where he will be double teamed without having any teammate consistently in a position for him to quickly pass to prior to the double. The sideline and end line give the defenders two extra defenders and it's consistently been a mess.
Just get the ball to the middle
It’s simple
 
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Any decent high school coach who watched how Hurley and staff failed to make any adjustments to the full court, 3/4 quarter or half court trap was laughing. It was a joke watching the same sets lead to the same bad outcomes (guys in the corner being doubled with no one coming back to help or create outlets). It's either poor coaching or players with low basketball IQ.

And people being to Diggins...he is tiny and not particularly athletic. He would have been swallowed up by any of those teams.
 
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I'm somewhat surprised Diggins didn't get any chance at all. I get that he's an inexperienced and Hurley would know him better than anyone, but they obviously could have used his quickness and ball handling. . IDK, just seems like it would have been worth a shot.
 

dennismenace

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Opposing coaches will watch Atlantis tape and know what they need to do to keep the ball out of Sanogo's hands- Press UConn. Our coaches will watch Atlantis tape and know what scouting reports will say about beating/rattling UConn. Make them beat your press .

I would expect our coaching staff to remedy this issue sooner rather than later as they continue to work on rotations,etc.
Like the years when we could not shoot from outside and had no offensive sets. They threw zone after zone against us until we demonstrated we could handle it. It took another year at least to overcome that.
 

nelsonmuntz

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There are two big aspects to breaking a press:

1) Chin's breakdown covers getting the ball past the initial trap. Every coach has their own press break, and there are several ways to avoid that initial trap. The objective should be to get the ball to the middle of the court, over the press if possible, but the 2nd or 3rd pass.
A good press break dribbles the ball as little as possible to break the press. Get the ball up court as quickly as possible with the pass. My biggest complaint about this aspect of UConn's press break is that it relies on Cole to beat the press singlehandedly with the dribble. This will wear out Cole over the course of a game and the course of a season.

2) Turn the press break into transition offense. If the press break can get the ball over the first line of the press, into the middle of the court, it should have a 3 on 2 advantage, and it should attack the basket.

A press is still successful even when it doesn't cause a turnover if it can burn shot clock and take the opposing team out of its offense. The offense has to make the defense pay for pressing it, and the best way to do that is through transition baskets. There was a little bit of this yesterday, but it clearly isn't a focus of UConn's press break. If there are no consequences for pressing, teams will keep pressing.

Calhoun was one of the GOATs of turning a press into transition offense. Calhoun would frequently talk about how much time his teams spent on transition offense in practice, and it showed. They would fastbreak off rebounds, steals, made baskets, and against the press. Transition offense involves precision timing and spacing, and there are 4 banners hanging in Gampel that show how important it is.
 

nelsonmuntz

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Opposing coaches will watch Atlantis tape and know what they need to do to keep the ball out of Sanogo's hands- Press UConn. Our coaches will watch Atlantis tape and know what scouting reports will say about beating/rattling UConn. Make them beat your press .

I would expect our coaching staff to remedy this issue sooner rather than later as they continue to work on rotations,etc.

The scouting report on Hurley is to throw any kind of weird/junk defense at him and make him adjust. It takes a lot longer than it should
 
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Honestly, the bigs need to be involved a lot more in the press break.

A 6'10 defender isn't going to aggressively go after Sanogo receiving the pass between the FT line and midcourt, and it usually gets the defense to call off the dogs.

Same thing when breaking the trap off of screening action. Sanogo/Whaley needs to be an immediate release valve after setting the screen.
 
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Beat both pressing teams, lost to the most physical team after 90 seconds of horrific officiating

Imagine how good we would be if we could only play better

:)
And let it be noted that we did win both overtime games, in each case pulling away decisively from our opponent in the deciding overtime. These were not photo finishes, won by a nose bob. We had both games totally won going into the final minute. It appears that we might have the stamina and determination to outlast an opponent. As for winning ugly, we aren't going to beat Duke, Gonzaga or Baylor by winning pretty. It's win ugly or wait until next year.
 
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The good thing is, I think this is something that's correctable. I think it's totally reasonable to expect our press breaking ability to improve. Relatively quickly. Within a few games.
 

nelsonmuntz

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And let it be noted that we did win both overtime games, in each case pulling away decisively from our opponent in the deciding overtime. These were not photo finishes, won by a nose bob. We had both games totally won going into the final minute. It appears that we might have the stamina and determination to outlast an opponent. As for winning ugly, we aren't going to beat Duke, Gonzaga or Baylor by winning pretty. It's win ugly or wait until next year.

Are you arguing that the two overtime wins were not close?
 
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There are two big aspects to breaking a press:

1) Chin's breakdown covers getting the ball past the initial trap. Every coach has their own press break, and there are several ways to avoid that initial trap. The objective should be to get the ball to the middle of the court, over the press if possible, but the 2nd or 3rd pass.
A good press break dribbles the ball as little as possible to break the press. Get the ball up court as quickly as possible with the pass. My biggest complaint about this aspect of UConn's press break is that it relies on Cole to beat the press singlehandedly with the dribble. This will wear out Cole over the course of a game and the course of a season.

2) Turn the press break into transition offense. If the press break can get the ball over the first line of the press, into the middle of the court, it should have a 3 on 2 advantage, and it should attack the basket.

A press is still successful even when it doesn't cause a turnover if it can burn shot clock and take the opposing team out of its offense. The offense has to make the defense pay for pressing it, and the best way to do that is through transition baskets. There was a little bit of this yesterday, but it clearly isn't a focus of UConn's press break. If there are no consequences for pressing, teams will keep pressing.

Calhoun was one of the GOATs of turning a press into transition offense. Calhoun would frequently talk about how much time his teams spent on transition offense in practice, and it showed. They would fastbreak off rebounds, steals, made baskets, and against the press. Transition offense involves precision timing and spacing, and there are 4 banners hanging in Gampel that show how important it is.
Now that Jim is free…
 
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The best play we had breaking the press was when Gaff dribbled it up, passed to Hawk who was wide open at the top of the 3 point line, and then he just blew past his defender for an easy dunk. It's all about getting guys in the right position. Hurley and the coaching staff will figure it out. If there's one thing we don't lack, it's speed. We have to make the defense pay for not getting back
 

August_West

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Polley throwing a bounce pass that made its first bounce out of bounds is next level special. The Polley train was stuck at a siding the last two days.
 
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To start, VCU is an elite level defense: currently 4th best defense in the nation.

That being said, in my experience coaching middle school kids, my note: it's always easier to pass out of a press than to dribble out of it. I've done a few drills where an offense of five practices against a full court press of three, four or five, depending on the age or quality of the team.
 
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2) Turn the press break into transition offense. If the press break can get the ball over the first line of the press, into the middle of the court, it should have a 3 on 2 advantage, and it should attack the basket.
This.
 

dennismenace

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And let it be noted that we did win both overtime games, in each case pulling away decisively from our opponent in the deciding overtime. These were not photo finishes, won by a nose bob. We had both games totally won going into the final minute. It appears that we might have the stamina and determination to outlast an opponent. As for winning ugly, we aren't going to beat Duke, Gonzaga or Baylor by winning pretty. It's win ugly or wait until next year.
You don't see players bending over to breath when there is a free throw or timeout. In years past we saw that from certain individuals after the first 3-5 mins. Definite improvement with conditioning. They need that as a team to play a full 40 min game and wear down an opponent in the last 5-10 mins. The free throw shooting is really looking good as well.
 
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This works. I noticed, #4 on VCU hands the ball to Jackson and #4 on VCU is the guy trying to chase down and fouls Whaley. That sucks.

5:30 mark of the video.

 

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