Pressing and trapping

[CL82]

Ash was getting ping-ponged by G’town yesterday which is very fatiguing for the person being defended. She just calmly rose up for a jump shot, and her trademark fist pump, sort of a wordless “take that”

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Her athleticism and talent are impressive, but I think it's her enthusiasm that makes her so endearing.

 

[Zarathustra]

Ashlyn is a layup machine! Almost automatic.
KK missed a bunch of layups, though it may have mainly been because she was trying to hard to get to the rim and maybe moving too fast. I think she's figuring this out.
Q has a smooth layup move, but she hasn't gotten a lot of chances yet.

KK, perhaps, is hoping for a foul to be called and to put her on the free throw line. It's a bonus, sometimes,
when it goes in, but it is always nice to stick a foul or two on some of the opponent's BIGs, or at least
make them cautious and hesitant. About Ash... she is still AUTOMATIC from .T. line, but
with so few attempts that she is not on the NCAA stat sheet (at least not the last time I looked).

 

[Bone Dog]

I'm hoping Ines does well with the extra time on the court. In last year's injury debacle she got thrown into the fire and did reasonably well as she adapted to the speed of the college game. It was obvious that she worked hard over the season to build strength to be able to stand the physicality of the high major game. It's tough not to root for a kid like that.

I like Inês as an option and I hope she gets more minutes. Her skill level is not at the level of KK and Ash. But she has a ton of heart. She also is a capable shooter and can finish at the rim. There's lots of room for her to improve if she can get the time.

I still remember one play last year when she chased down an opponent the length of the floor on a fast break to block the layup. The kid's got heart.

 

[DataNerd]

I think it takes not only a deeper team with the quickness to do so, but also the collective team IQ on defense of knowing who needs to be where, what to do, and how to react to the other team's actions as they play out. With a 4 guard lineup, perhaps Geno wants to speed the opposition up and force them into an uncomfortable pace, then if we turn them over, we speed up the scoring and then it may force them to rush the next possession, and so on?

TY @HuskyNan for this thread. I love their return to pressing. If you can execute, it epitomizes Geno's philosophy of turning defense into offense. Turnovers become layups and speed up the game, while contested backcourts eat clock, hence limit opponents' offensive options. Execution requires both conditioning and high team IQ, as @Next 12 and @BRS24 noted.

While they didn't invent it, UCLA was among the first teams to press as part of how they played, rather than as desperation to surmount a deficit. UCLA didn't go deep into their lineup to do this, but it took much time to develop the knowledge and discipline to learn how to press properly. (BTW UCLA went this way because they were also altitudinally challenged at the time.)

What I especially love about living the press is that you necessarily learn how to break them, and so you won't panic when you get pressed. Several of our worst upsets came from such panic, and I don't recall those teams as pressing often.

When we can press naturally and attack creatively, that's basketball at its best and purest.

 

[JRRRJ]

KK, perhaps, is hoping for a foul to be called and to put her on the free throw line. It's a bonus, sometimes,
when it goes in, but it is always nice to stick a foul or two on some of the opponent's BIGs, or at least
make them cautious and hesitant. About Ash... she is still AUTOMATIC from .T. line, but
with so few attempts that she is not on the NCAA stat sheet (at least not the last time I looked).

It's not a great tactic, since her FT% is 8th on the team, and that's only because she's done better the last few games.

 

[Cuango]

Even better, it was Ash at 38, KK and Nika at 30, Paige at 28, and Aaliyah only 26. Keeping Aaliyah rested is vital and Ice and Q, and even Ines, have been able to give minutes without hurting the team.

Ash’s minutes speak to what a find she has turned out to be for this team. She and KK have to be among the most impactful “normal” freshmen ever for us. (By normal I mean excluding Maya, Dee, Breanna) What a luxury it must be for Geno to be able to rely on a relatively unheralded freshman to lead the team in minutes without dire consequences! I realize there are a few others who are successfully playing big minutes for their teams but I believe most of them are sort of expected superstars like JuJu, Williams, and Hidalgo. Shade is an unexpected (but greatly appreciated) surprise. I think this freshman class, including Ice, will leave a big mark at UConn!

 

[Skeets]

Pressing and trapping is exhausting when it doesn't work. Much less so, maybe even invigorating, when it does work.

 

[Pharos]

Interesting first few minutes, when Georgetown did a great job of getting the ball inside for layups by their bigs. With 3-4" height advantage, they were taking it to UConn inside. When the Husky guards turned up the heat, the Hoya guards couldn't get their passes off. Don't remember this tactic working at all after Q2.

Georgetown's tallest is 6'4". Bennett is 6'3". In the early going the advantage they found might have been more physicality than height. Every game is officated a little differently, and players need to "sense" how physical they can be. Georgetown came out to test that. UConn responded.

 

[uconnfan68]

We ran out of gas at the end of the season because there's only so long these kids can play extra minutes before they become physically exhausted. As you point out building up early leads allows us to play kids deeper on the bench giving two benefits: 1) resting the starters and 2) developing the end of the bench.

Even the starters were playing hurt (Lou), and that one dimensional look hurt them.

 

[CL82]

Even the starters were playing hurt (Lou), and that one dimensional look hurt them.

Agreed. In many ways, last year shouldn't be considered our flaming out before the end of the season, instead, it should be considered a fairly epic run by the players who were able to take the court and a very good job by the coaching staff to put them in a position to compete in the postseason.

 

[Twelve]

Even better, it was Ash at 38, KK and Nika at 30, Paige at 28, and Aaliyah only 26. Keeping Aaliyah rested is vital and Ice and Q, and even Ines, have been able to give minutes without hurting the team.

Geno getting Ash ready for 2 games in 3 days during March Madness when she will play 30+ minutes.

Geno protecting Paige's twice surgically repaired knee.

 

[hoopsnloops32]

Another interesting option when it comes to press is when Ice comes in, move Aaliyah to the middle or the top of the press. Not as fast as Aubrey but longer. Definitely don't want her picking up fouls in the backcourt but could be interesting to try out at times.

 

[JellyBean]

If you have a lot less height than the opposition, it helps to press; it shakes them up, and they don't have the time to set up their big players.

Straight from the Hubie Brown coaching book! I remember he presented at a coaching clinic back in the early part of 2000 and he mentioned that very part about having less height & talent. By pressing and trapping, you create advantages for your smaller team. Advantages like speeding up the game, turnovers, and helping your team play aggressive. Not many Bigs can handle or pass the ball well, so that indecision helps the smaller team. I am glad that we are pressing and trapping more. It just makes us more aggressive on offense and defense.

 

[CL82]

Another interesting option when it comes to press is when Ice comes in, move Aaliyah to the middle or the top of the press. Not as fast as Aubrey but longer. Definitely don't want her picking up fouls in the backcourt but could be interesting to try out at times.

This is an interesting idea, but I suspect the idea is to give Aaliyah some rest when Brady comes in.

 

[hoopsnloops32]

This is an interesting idea, but I suspect the idea is to give Aaliyah some rest when Brady comes in.

Sometimes sure, but you can't avoid playing Aaliyah and Ice together anymore with Aubrey out. I'd imagine they'll be playing a solid 10-15 minutes a game together moving forward with both playing ~10-15 minutes alone

 

[CL82]

Sometimes sure, but you can't avoid playing Aaliyah and Ice together anymore with Aubrey out. I'd imagine they'll be playing a solid 10-15 minutes a game together moving forward with both playing ~10-15 minutes alone

Yeah, I am not convinced of that. I'll be surprised if there's even five minutes a game of overlap. I think you are projecting more minutes from ice than she currently capable of, and perhaps forgetting that Qadence is also going to be taking up some of Aubrey's minutes.

 

[hoopsnloops32]

Yeah, I am not convinced of that. I'll be surprised if there's even five minutes a game of overlap. I think you are projecting more minutes from ice than she currently capable of, and perhaps forgetting that Qadence is also going to be taking up some of Aubrey's minutes.

There are two people to relieve 5 players. They will most certainly be playing together unless Geno wants the backcourt running on fumes in March.