A Gaels' lesson

[colhenrylives]

The St. Mary's Tuesday game plan for Gonzaga, the No.1 team in the nation, was educational. It went something like this:

Forget about challenging the Zags full-court; won't work; too much individual talent; too much team speed and depth.

Force the tempo to a stroll; make it a half-court affair; don't fast-break even when it might be available; run only off steals.

Rebound with five _ no leak-outs; take away the inside defensively.

Don't rely on treys; patience, patience _ milk the shot clock; try to pound the ball inside; reduce possessions.

So now the obvious question is: Why not employ this strategy vs. every opponent on the schedule? If it works against the No.1 team in the nation, why wouldn't it work vs. everyone else?

Even if St. Mary's had lost that game close, wouldn't this approach make painfully obvious good sense on a regular basis?

Go figure.

 

[ankleassassin]

because Gonzaga is not really all that great.. .they play in a terrible conference.... St marys doesnt have the locs to battle night in and out no matter how slow they play.... the ACC and Big 10 arent the WCC

 

[TurtleLoveCA]

ankle, you are a, and I use this word cautiously...a moron.

 

[colhenrylives]

ankle, you are a, and I use this word cautiously...a moron.

Hey, nobody's perfect.

 

[ayalar09]

because Gonzaga is not really all that great.. .they play in a terrible conference.... St marys doesnt have the locs to battle night in and out no matter how slow they play.... the ACC and Big 10 arent the WCC

Another Pissant with another Pissant-like comment. Gonzaga isn't that good of a team. Gonzaga probably played their worse game in over 3 years last night against the Gaels. Do I respect the Gaels? Yes. Do I think they are good or even in Gonzaga's league? HELL NO!

Gonzaga's entire starting lineup plus some bench guys have NBA written all over them. Brandon Clarke, Rui, Tillie, Petrusev, and i''m not even naming the two top-10 caliber recruiting they have coming next year in African Shaq and Anton Watson.

Anyone who thinks Gonzaga isn't as good as Duke, or Virginia, or Michigan St. doesn't know a lick about the game of NCAA Basketball.

 

[Streak One]

The St. Mary's Tuesday game plan for Gonzaga, the No.1 team in the nation, was educational. It went something like this:

Forget about challenging the Zags full-court; won't work; too much individual talent; too much team speed and depth.

Force the tempo to a stroll; make it a half-court affair; don't fast-break even when it might be available; run only off steals.

Rebound with five _ no leak-outs; take away the inside defensively.

Don't rely on treys; patience, patience _ milk the shot clock; try to pound the ball inside; reduce possessions.

So now the obvious question is: Why not employ this strategy vs. every opponent on the schedule? If it works against the No.1 team in the nation, why wouldn't it work vs. everyone else?

Even if St. Mary's had lost that game close, wouldn't this approach make painfully obvious good sense on a regular basis?

Go figure.

Very interesting and well thought out post. It is timely too considering the talk of how NorCal teams can compete with the top SoCal teams. I think this strategy could play well at the state level.

Playing this style shrinks the gap between teams so it isn't something that is as beneficial when you have the talent advantage.

This tape would be beneficial for NorCal teams going forward

 

[Marcskit]

Very interesting and well thought out post. It is timely too considering the talk of how NorCal teams can compete with the top SoCal teams. I think this strategy could play well at the state level.

Playing this style shrinks the gap between teams so it isn't something that is as beneficial when you have the talent advantage.

This tape would be beneficial for NorCal teams going forward

I have seen DLS do this a couple of times.

Here's wishing you great hoops

 

[Streak One]

I have seen DLS do this a couple of times.

Here's wishing you great hoops

That was the example I thought of. Mack also played like this. Did Oak Ridge employ similar style against Mater Dei?

 

[Marcskit]

That was the example I thought of. Mack also played like this. Did Oak Ridge employ similar style against Mater Dei?

Oak Ridge played great at the states. They lost to Deer Valley at Gridley that year, then went on a tear. I think Ryan Moya was still playing football that week.

You know, my biggest thought about that game was Taylor King going off on his own, shooting 30 footers. He lost that game as much as Oak Ridge won it. What a hot dog.

Here's wishing you great hoops

 

[Coach JZJ]

That was the example I thought of. Mack also played like this. Did Oak Ridge employ similar style against Mater Dei?

@Streak One,

We didn’t try to slow it to a crawl, but we definitely wanted to control tempo. We played zone about 95% of the game. We didn’t milk the shot clock on offense, however, we stressed patience till we had a good look. We made Taylor King shoot 25 footers instead of 20 footers, we decided to leave the 7 footer open and let him shoot. He made his first shot and then missed the next 3 and didn’t shoot anymore. We shut down Garrity’s penetration just played smarter basketball than they did. We couldn’t match their horsepower, so we didn’t try to. It was a great experience and definitely one of the biggest upsets in state championship history. Mater Dei was avg almost 90 points a game. We held them to 44. Final score 60-44. Definitely very fond memories!

Coach J

 

[larry legend33]

@Streak One,

We didn’t try to slow it to a crawl, but we definitely wanted to control tempo. We played zone about 95% of the game. We didn’t milk the shot clock on offense, however, we stressed patience till we had a good look. We made Taylor King shoot 25 footers instead of 20 footers, we decided to leave the 7 footer open and let him shoot. He made his first shot and then missed the next 3 and didn’t shoot anymore. We shut down Garrity’s penetration just played smarter basketball than they did. We couldn’t match their horsepower, so we didn’t try to. It was a great experience and definitely one of the biggest upsets in state championship history. Mater Dei was avg almost 90 points a game. We held them to 44. Final score 60-44. Definitely very fond memories!

Coach J

That game along with the Palo Alto boys team that beat MD were 2 of my favorite in state history. Heavily favored and highly arrogant MD left the old Arco palace with head in between legs. I thought Moya wa a guy who really made that OR team go. He probably could have played college basketball if you desired. Those athletic TE tights are rare finds. But it was a coming out party for Ryan Anderson that game. He became more of a household name. One of the great ones.

 

[colhenrylives]

Very interesting and well thought out post. It is timely too considering the talk of how NorCal teams can compete with the top SoCal teams. I think this strategy could play well at the state level.

Playing this style shrinks the gap between teams so it isn't something that is as beneficial when you have the talent advantage.

This tape would be beneficial for NorCal teams going forward

By the way, the Stanford women pulled off their Pac-12 tourney win over favored Oregon using much the same batch of tactics employed by the St. Mary's men.

 

[colhenrylives]

To be blunt, most coaches won't go deep into this much slower and deliberate style of half-court play because they know many of their better players (and their parents) don't like to play that way. It's not sexy. It's not fun _ although if it's successful it's certainly satisfying. The grind-it-out style won't get you lots of video clips on Twitter or YouTube. And ESPN won't show up at your practices. But it can definitely work, especially if a coach commits to it and the kids buy in.

 

[colhenrylives]

On the flip side, most opponents facing a half-court emphasis hate playing this style. It drives them nuts. They don't see it that often and, hence, it becomes even more effective.

 

[BayHawkeye]

Coach Jonas Honick at Branson does this as well as anyone in the State. He consistently beats teams with more talent by controlling tempo and limiting possessions. Great coach!

 

[Streak One]

I agree with it being successful, but I don't see as much value in it when you have superior talent. Limiting possessions draws teams closer together. So if you do that and have an off shooting night, you are more likely to lose.

For me, it works in spots depending on personnel and opponent.

The best teams will have the ability to play multiple styles.

 

[colhenrylives]

I agree with it being successful, but I don't see as much value in it when you have superior talent. Limiting possessions draws teams closer together. So if you do that and have an off shooting night, you are more likely to lose.

For me, it works in spots depending on personnel and opponent.

The best teams will have the ability to play multiple styles.

The vast majority of teams are not the best (most talented) teams. That's the point. They need a mechanism to compete with the best.

 

[ankleassassin]

ankle, you are a, and I use this word cautiously...a moron.

i have no idea what was being said here. do better.

 

[ankleassassin]

Another Pissant with another Pissant-like comment. Gonzaga isn't that good of a team. Gonzaga probably played their worse game in over 3 years last night against the Gaels. Do I respect the Gaels? Yes. Do I think they are good or even in Gonzaga's league? HELL NO!

Gonzaga's entire starting lineup plus some bench guys have NBA written all over them. Brandon Clarke, Rui, Tillie, Petrusev, and i''m not even naming the two top-10 caliber recruiting they have coming next year in African Shaq and Anton Watson.

Anyone who thinks Gonzaga isn't as good as Duke, or Virginia, or Michigan St. doesn't know a lick about the game of NCAA Basketball.

yes... i know nothing.... k... you watched kyrie irving i forgot... but you still do not know what legal guarding position is

 

[ankleassassin]

I agree with it being successful, but I don't see as much value in it when you have superior talent. Limiting possessions draws teams closer together. So if you do that and have an off shooting night, you are more likely to lose.

For me, it works in spots depending on personnel and opponent.

The best teams will have the ability to play multiple styles.

clearly what i said... the elite will not be forced out of what they want 9 out of the ten times. The elite can play multiple ways. on the high division 1 level everyone is elite... comparing to high school where maybe 2 per team are is laughable... recency effect here with yall thinking

 

[TurtleLoveCA]

ankleassassin, this is for you.

Moron is a term once used in psychology and psychiatry to denote mild intellectual disability. The term was closely tied with the American eugenics movement. Once the term became popularized, it fell out of use by the psychological community, as it was used more commonly as an insult than as a psychological term.

The current definition is that of a stupid person.

Hope you appreciate the clarification.

 

[ankleassassin]

ankleassassin, this is for you.

Moron is a term once used in psychology and psychiatry to denote mild intellectual disability. The term was closely tied with the American eugenics movement. Once the term became popularized, it fell out of use by the psychological community, as it was used more commonly as an insult than as a psychological term.

The current definition is that of a stupid person.

Hope you appreciate the clarification.

good lookin out cuz.

 

[Norcal_Fan]

Coach Jonas Honick at Branson does this as well as anyone in the State. He consistently beats teams with more talent by controlling tempo and limiting possessions. Great coach!

He does this by teaching AMAZING defensive principles. Aside from Allocco was at DLS, There isn't a person that I've ever seen that teaches the way these two teach man to man. They're always in good position, the spacing is incredible, and rotations are usually spot on. They're always beating more athletic teams because of this. I'd say the limiting tempo/possessions coupled with amazing defense-AND they don't even press much...go figure.

 

[Marcskit]

He does this by teaching AMAZING defensive principles. Aside from Allocco was at DLS, There isn't a person that I've ever seen that teaches the way these two teach man to man. They're always in good position, the spacing is incredible, and rotations are usually spot on. They're always beating more athletic teams because of this. I'd say the limiting tempo/possessions coupled with amazing defense-AND they don't even press much...go figure.

That boxing out on rebounding is a lost art.

Here's wishing you great hoops

 

[ankleassassin]

He does this by teaching AMAZING defensive principles. Aside from Allocco was at DLS, There isn't a person that I've ever seen that teaches the way these two teach man to man. They're always in good position, the spacing is incredible, and rotations are usually spot on. They're always beating more athletic teams because of this. I'd say the limiting tempo/possessions coupled with amazing defense-AND they don't even press much...go figure.

always? not my team

 

[colhenrylives]

He does this by teaching AMAZING defensive principles. Aside from Allocco was at DLS, There isn't a person that I've ever seen that teaches the way these two teach man to man. They're always in good position, the spacing is incredible, and rotations are usually spot on. They're always beating more athletic teams because of this. I'd say the limiting tempo/possessions coupled with amazing defense-AND they don't even press much...go figure.

And that's the point here. Such a careful, prepared, disciplined style of play gives you a chance against stronger individual talent. So why not make it your calling card every time out? The more it's used, the better and more efficient it should become.

 

[larry legend33]

And that's the point here. Such a careful, prepared, disciplined style of play gives you a chance against stronger individual talent. So why not make it your calling card every time out? The more it's used, the better and more efficient it should become.

It requires tireless effort, preparation, and kids that will buy in. Very few teams can pull this off and quite frankly few coaches are even prepared to do it. Most of the successful programs that deploy it have consistency within the coaching ranks. The others would rather run up and down and take bad shots and not value possessions.

 

[Positive Influence]

ankle, you are a, and I use this word cautiously...a moron.

The scary/creepy/disappointing thing about this Ankle ASSassin guy is that he’s an actual high school basketball official.

 

[ankleassassin]

The scary/creepy/disappointing thing about this Ankle ASSassin guy is that he’s an actual high school basketball official.

ummmm no i am not