Breaking the press

[Norm Peterson]

Is it just me or has anyone else noticed that, for a team not exactly flush with ball handlers, our press break is actually technically pretty sound?

 

I remember with past coaching staffs, this was not a strong suit of ours. Too much dribbling. Too much dribbling into trouble. Too much dribbling into traps. It was always an adventure when we'd face a pressing team. And maybe my memory is off, but it seems like Dana Altman's Creighton squads would sometimes make us look silly. And I can still remember Lance Jeter trying to break the press all by himself, one against the world.

 

This team seems to know how to find the spots in the zone and where the next pass needs to go. Rienk will hit the spot at center court, for example, and know that CJ will be streaking down the sidelines for that next pass before he even gets the ball.

 

We've gotten stuck sometimes when we've tried to dribble too much. But, by and large, I've been pretty impressed with this team's ability to break the press.

 

The best news is we're finally winning enough and in position to hold leads that other teams are having to press us. And we're responding pretty well.

[hhcmatt]

We don't run it quite the same way but we space out the court and give throw in options like Doc used to do.

Each post player is on opposite sides of the half court line.  The other two players who aren't throwing it in set up to try and get the inbounds.

Doc's go-to move with this was to have the center fake like he was going deep and then sprint up towards the inbounder to receive the pass.  At that point getting the ball back to the inbounder was the typical option.  In our inbound play the post players are typically a secondary option.

[HuskerBB]

I have definitely noticed and commented to my friend at the game Sunday about it.   This team is very good at breaking presses and they do it by really great spacing and passing.

[hskr4life]

Our guards also do a great job of flashing middle and not picking up our dribbles in the corners.  Even Keisei, when he feels a trap coming, will typically dribble into the lane area and then back out to set up the offense.

[royalfan]

Another spot where being old helps.

[basketballjones]

Bryce and CJ terrify me every time we see a press. 

[AuroranHusker]

1 hour ago, HuskerBB said:

I have definitely noticed and commented to my friend at the game Sunday about it.   This team is very good at breaking presses and they do it by really great spacing and passing.

 

Brice overtaking the PG spot has been a calming influence for this squad. He's a beast. Glad he has stepped it up in that regard.

 

[Huskerpapa]

It also helps having our bigs , mostly Mast, turn into a pointpost.

[AuroranHusker]

1 hour ago, basketballjones said:

Bryce and CJ terrify me every time we see a press. 

 

You can't be serious about Brice, when he's locked-in (and he has been!!) he is the best one to have the ball in his hands in crunch time, which is why he has the ball in his hands, as the coaches want him to have the ball in his hands. . . CJ, yeah, he's terrifying whenever he has the ball & he's about a toss a pass. Oh boy, T.O. here we come. lol

[Norm Peterson]

1 hour ago, basketballjones said:

Bryce and CJ terrify me every time we see a press. 

 

Our guys generally need to quit trying to dribble in traffic in the lane. That would help lots of issues.

 

But CJ is a pressure release guy on the break. He hits his spots and doesn't try to get too fancy. Generally, the ball is out of his hands pretty quickly on press breaks.

[AuroranHusker]

22 minutes ago, Norm Peterson said:

 

Our guys generally need to quit trying to dribble in traffic in the lane. That would help lots of issues.

 

But CJ is a pressure release guy on the break. He hits his spots and doesn't try to get too fancy. Generally, the ball is out of his hands pretty quickly on press breaks.

 

If CJ is under control, he's very good at pounding the rock & making a spin move to score; unfortunately, also true is that CJ is rarely under control on his drives.

 

[Navin R. Johnson]

1 hour ago, Huskerpapa said:

It also helps having our bigs , mostly Mast, turn into a pointpost.

 

This can be utilized as well.  If the opposing team likes to man press and has a big that is slow footed, have his man bring it up.   Mast, Gary or Allick are all good enough ball handlers to beat a slow 5 man.