Let's talk full court press - Page 2

91AggieLawyer

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In reply to DTP02 • 9:04p, 10/29/25

AG

DTP02 said:
I know a couple of our assistants, one better than the other, from previous stints here.

They've basically prepared me for a couple of things: our pressure won't look as good early (except against physically overwhelmed teams) as it will when our guys really start to get used to it, and it won't look as good this season as it will in the future. In filling out the roster they had to take the best talent they could get, and that happened to result in a roster that's more offensive at the expense of defense.

Because of the latter, I don't know that we're necessarily going to be able to draw any conclusions from this season on whether we can be a contender in the SEC running this defensive system.

Everything you said may be true, but keep in mind that BCG was able to instill a defensive mindset and ability almost from day 1. Did he have more talent when he came on board?

It all boils down to practice and attitude: if they WANT to play defense and buy into the plan, things should work themselves out, albeit with some miscues. But what team doesn't give those up?

bobinator

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In reply to 91AggieLawyer • 9:50a, 10/30/25

AG

The difference is that BCG was an ELITE old-school man-to-man defensive principles coach in an era where you could get a way with a lot more contact on ballhandlers than you can now and an era where the game hadn't evolved to be as three pointer based as it is now. You didn't have nearly the same number of teams trying to space the floor and find open threes, almost everyone was still trying to get to the basket, play through the post, etc.

It was also a different era for how players could move between schools. You couldn't turn over a roster as fast back then so you couldn't just load up portal talent and you could grind players harder on defensive fundamentals like he did because it was harder for them to leave.

We're not trying to play the same kind of defense, we're not going to play the same kind of defense, and it's not maximizing the talent we brought in to try and make them play that kind of defense.

We are going to be risk-takers, we're going to force the pace up, we're going to make teams go deep into their bench and we're going to give up easy baskets at times to do it. Doesn't mean the effort isn't there defensively, the goal just isn't the same.

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NicosMachine

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2:09p, 10/30/25

AG

Bucky mentioned the team's lack of overall athleticism and lack of individual defensive ability. We are going to give up points regardless and the press gives us our best chance to end a possession early and to force the offense to speed up possessions in the half court. We will pay a price in terms of easy buckets but Bucky feels it is worth the cost. It's will be exciting to watch either way. I picture the old Loyola Marymount teams under Paul Westhead.

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buckyball34

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In reply to bobinator • 6:27p, 10/30/25

bobinator said:
We're also just using the word "press" as a blanket for any kind of full court defense. I don't know that we're actually going to trap all over the court which is what people tend to think of in a "press." We'll do some of that, but we're not just going to be trapping out of a zone press come hell-or-high-water every possession.

Bucky has a ton of different press calls. They don't all involve traps or even intense pressure. They vary based on situation and personnel (either team). Different calls could mean traps in different situations and coming from different spots. Can be dictated by the call or based on reads. It's fun stuff.

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RoyVal

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In reply to NicosMachine • 7:47a, 10/31/25

AG

NicosMachine said:
Bucky mentioned the team's lack of overall athleticism and lack of individual defensive ability. We are going to give up points regardless and the press gives us our best chance to end a possession early and to force the offense to speed up possessions in the half court. We will pay a price in terms of easy buckets but Bucky feels it is worth the cost. It's will be exciting to watch either way. I picture the old Loyola Marymount teams under Paul Westhead.

this is spot on! I went to the exhibition and two things stood out to me: 1) we aren't super athletic (was VERY evident watching UH play right after us) and 2)our guys aren't quite there yet when it comes to playing as a unit.

Arizona state was able to beat our press pretty easily at times as the back court and front court weren't quite on the same page. It's early and they will definitely gel more as the season goes on, but it's going to be rough around the edges early.

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In reply to RoyVal • 8:40a, 10/31/25

AG

Yeah, we could put a lineup out there that's really athletic, we'll probably have to at times in certain situations, but that's not maximizing where our skills are.

On paper at least, this team's strength is its perimeter shooting. Up and down the lineup this team can theoretically just bomb threes so I imagine we're going to be perfectly happy playing helter skelter games as long as we're getting open looks. We probably won't mind the opponent getting open looks as long as we are too because we think we'll hit ours at a higher rate.

That obviously could change as our roster changes and Bucky really gets to plan out his recruiting strategy in future season but that's just my read on our current situation.

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