Why Don't They Press More?

[tbowman]

This NU team really struggles with interior defense and rebounding.  I'm curious why they don't press more?

 

Prior to the season I thought the press might be a halmark of this team.  They are long and athletic, but lack height and bulk. 

 

They pressed a decent amount after falling behind at Creighton and I thought it was fairly effective.  But haven't see a lot of it outsdie that game.   

 

They are also towards the top of the Big 10 in steals despite very little pressing so far this season. 

 

Does anyone think we will see more of this as the season develops?

 

My favorite Doc team was the one which was the shortest team in all of Division 1.  They struggled rebounding, but they were tenacious full-court defenders.  The ability to generate steals kept them in most games. 

 

 

[Concrete]

I have the same question.  It's not like we aren't deep enough to do it, either.

 

Maybe one of the reporters that browses this board can ask Miles about this at the next PC 

 

Wish I would've thought about this yesterday when Miles was doing his twitter Q&A, would've been a good one to ask.

[Handy Johnson]

40 minutes of Hell! Where is it? We should be coming at people in waves...

[TheKamdyMan]

I think with the new rules you have more opportunities for "dumb" fouls if you are aggressively pressing the offense.  No point giving a stupid foul 70 feet from the hoop when we already have struggled with "dumb" fouls in other games already.

[Norm Peterson]

I read a Ken-pom analysis of pressing teams not too long ago.  Pressing is riskier.  You only do it when you're the one who needs to force something to happen.  It can work out and it can fail catastrophically.  Miles is a big Ken-pom stats guy.  He probably read the same article.

[MichHusker]

Even giving a little token full court or 3/4 court pressure wouldn't be bad. Help speed the other team up a little bit. Maybe force an extra turnover or two

[Dean Smith]

It's possible to press to slow things down as well.

[royalfan]

I am a firm believer in using some sort of pressure in tough environments to help get us engaged in the game.  Like in Omaha for example.  I believe pressure out of the gates for a little while, even if not full fledged pressure can help get us engaged.  Take the fight to them instead of predictably playing on our heels against an experienced team. 

[Huskerpapa]

I am a fan of a timely press.  So not every time down the court, and not the same styles of press.  For me it is a tempo thing and also creates changes of scenery to the opposition.  We seem to have the depth, but you have to be disciplined, including staying away from the touch/idiotic fouls. 

 

I think we will see this out of our team...but again, the keys are discipline and a backside eraser.

[Chuck Taylor]

Couple of things to consider: First, is having the time to practice a press when you have a young team that has so many other things to work on. Second is that the press doesn't work well if you can't score consistently, because you can't get set up. Programs that press all the time and have done it for years develop the discipline to keep pressing even when they're not scoring or when the other team beats it down the floor to get an easy bucket. But young, inexperienced players' shoulders drop when things don't work and the press ends up in a layup drill for the opponent. I think TM used it in Omaha as a teaching experience since the game was out of hand and may try to use it more as the season goes on.

 

All that being said, yeah, I think we have the players who could make it work. For example, Pitchford is not a strong post defender in halfcourt but seems like a good guy to have at the back of the press.

[Dean Smith]

Couple of things to consider: First, is having the time to practice a press when you have a young team that has so many other things to work on. Second is that the press doesn't work well if you can't score consistently, because you can't get set up. Programs that press all the time and have done it for years develop the discipline to keep pressing even when they're not scoring or when the other team beats it down the floor to get an easy bucket. But young, inexperienced players' shoulders drop when things don't work and the press ends up in a layup drill for the opponent. I think TM used it in Omaha as a teaching experience since the game was out of hand and may try to use it more as the season goes on.

 

All that being said, yeah, I think we have the players who could make it work. For example, Pitchford is not a strong post defender in halfcourt but seems like a good guy to have at the back of the press.

You don't have to score to press. That Dean Smith guy had a series of 3/4 & 1/2 court traps that you could do without a made bucket being necessary. You can trap first pass, or trap first dribble from the front or the backside, you can trap out of first ball reversal. Point is, you don't have to score to press.

[HuskerFever]

I wish I had a link to the video, but on the Nebraska Basketball Show, that exact question was answered by Miles. He mentioned that his core competencies are not in full press and that he chooses to stick with what he knows and with what he's good at. He did mention that he believes in press here-and-there, but it's not his strong suit to do it more than what he's comfortable with.