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Message: [QUOTE="nelsonmuntz, post: 4116735, member: 833"] 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. [/QUOTE]

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