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Rick Barnes Should Call Coach K

Posted by Trips Right on January 25th, 2010 under Basketball

They could start out by swapping stories about Roy Williams and Dean Smith. Perhaps they could arrange for Coach Barnes to fly out to Durham to help Coach K prepare for UNC.

Doubtful, since that would be gay.

But in any event, Texas could certainly take a page out of what Duke has done this year with respect to tailoring scheme and style to personnel. After last year, the Dukies had to come to the realization that their classic all out perimeter pressure scheme designed to smother the ball and deny the wings probably wasn’t the best situation to put a group of slow, oversized guards and an undersized frontcourt in. The Blue Devil Staff had to consider there was no Bobby Hurley tip of the spear ballhawk on this club. No plastic man-like Grant Hill getting into passing lanes for steals and dunks. No back-line erasers like Antonio Lang or Cherokee Parks to send back dribble penetrators that leaked through.

Instead, the Dukies featured two tall guards with average quickness in Scheyer and Smith, and the closest thing the Devils had to a mammoth post player that controlled the glass was the 6-9 Miles Plumlee. However, knowing that he could flank Plumlee with some pretty large wing players in 6-8 wing Kyle Singler and 6-8 Lance Thomas, Coach K decided to play to his team’s strengths.

The Hall of Fame coach decided to ratchet down the ball pressure and wing pressure while incorporating more switching in an effort to maintain his team’s defensive “shell”. It gave his slower guards a better shot to stay in front of ballhandlers allowing the undersized frontcourt to worry less about helping ball penetration, and more about maintaining block out assignments to control the glass. The results have been a stunning success as Duke is the odds on favorite to win the ACC.

So, how can Texas capitalize on what Duke has done? From a philosophical stand point and even a personnel standpoint Texas can learn a lot from Duke’s sea change. First, the biggest problem Texas defense is suffering from is just a total lack of understanding of simple helpside team defense. Evidently the AAU circuit has managed to corrupt some of our young players’ ability to execute the simple ball-you-man defensive principles that every player learns at their local YMCA as an 8 year old. But unlike the Dukies, we have two of college basketball’s elite on-ball defenders, so ball pressure should remain a focal point of our attack. In fact, it would be a disservice to Bradley, Balbay, and the team to ask this duo to back off ballhandlers or even play zone for significant minutes.

Instead, I propose that we just simplify our off the ball defense by incorporating softer wing pressure and denial while pinching the middle of the floor to give our young guys simple two way goes for help and recovery.

Job 1 is help to penetration.

Job 2 is recover to your man allowing your length and athletic ability to bother the shot.

Hell, you could even vary your wing pressure in spots and surprise the opposition for a few possessions per game by going from no wing pressure to all out wing denial.

As Duke has done, another way to simplify off the ball defense is to incorporate more switching. We already do a lot of guard to guard switching especially in our 3 guard looks but let’s take it a step further and include big to big screens as well, which will help keep Jordan Hamilton on the floor. Because of size differences, 3 man to 4 man or and especially 3 man to 5 man switching usually leads to big mismatches.

For that reason, Texas would need a personnel tweak, which ironically, is similar to the lineup Duke plays. In this group, our guards would be Balbay and Bradley with a smattering of Brown. But in the frontcourt we’ll go with Hamilton, James, and Johnson.

The scheme simplification will help keep Jordan Hamilton on the floor and still reward Gary Johnson’s recent effectiveness. Damion James is the bellcow and a must in the lineup because of his ability to rebound. But since Johnson, James, and Hamilton are about the same size, switching for simplification purposes won’t lead to gross mismatches.

As Coach K would say, we don’t have positions, we have basketball players and this lineup fits that bill.

Some added benefits are that you get your 3 best rebounders in the game and it gives you flexibility offensively from empty looks, to 4 out 1 in looks, and traditional 3-2 motion offenses to take advantage of quickness. Also, opponents would struggle to zone this group considering you’d have 3 deep shooters and 5 face up players and ballhandlers. And if you wanted to up tempo, find me a better pure pressing group than this one. One through five, this is the quickest most athletic group you can get on the floor.

All that said, Pittman should remain a vital component to this team and we need to continue to aspire to get him touches and production in every game for 20-25 minutes which makes foul trouble less of a worry. But sometimes a simple personnel tweak can make a world of difference for the entire club. It did for Duke who, by the way, only plays 8 players.

Thoughts?

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21 Responses

  1. Mike said:

    January 25th, 2010 at 3:11 pm

    Great points. I think the Texas D would be much more effective if they utilized the speed of their 2 (and you could argue 3 with Jai) guards to more effectively harass ball handlers.

    Duke has one good perimeter defender (Smith). I think he’s faster and more athletic than you give him credit for. He’s no NBA phenom athletically, but he’s above average. Texas has much more talent than Duke this year, and if Barnes was a bit more effective in his defensive schemes, there really is no reason to think that Texas shoudl be the best team in the nation.

  2. Bob in Houston said:

    January 25th, 2010 at 3:12 pm

    Seems like this club would be a great prospect for a matchup zone, especially with guys such as Balbay and Bradley, who can pressure so well. Have the wings stay with the cutters into the soft spots, to prevent easy dishes and short jumpers. But they’d still funnel dribblers toward the big guys without having to commit fouls to keep them in front.

  3. Bartoncreek said:

    January 25th, 2010 at 4:11 pm

    I would be in huge favor of this. We have to change how we defend screens for sure. Our bigs don’t just show on smalls, they ride them out to 30 feet and leave their man uncontested down low on the roll. Our off ball defense sucks so bad that nobody helps on the uncovered man.

    Our bigs also help on any penetrator getting insid the FT line. This is why we have rebounded like dogshit the last 4 games. Teams have learned to just drive. throw it up and clean up on the backside glass. I would much rather help on penetration from the wings and give up an open 3 than a weakside dunk or put back. Especially when you can play some wings with length (Hamilton, James, Johnson) or recovery ability (Bradley). It seems like a no-brainer.

    Again, I just don’t know if Rick understands that we have problems. The wins over a depleted Pitt. team and an average UNC team were fool’s gold. We have one quality win this year and it was at home. We have struggled with AMCC, AM, ISU, KSU and UCONN. I don’t think we have played well for more than a half in a game the entire year. We have problems. This is as good a quick fix as I have seen.

  4. Bartoncreek said:

    January 25th, 2010 at 4:14 pm

    Really you could apply some of the same principle when Dex is in the game. Tell him that it is the 2-4s responsibility to help on penetration. Just block out your man and board. It would help keep him out of foul trouble.

  5. Sugarpants said:

    January 25th, 2010 at 4:35 pm

    It would be nice if we could hit some layups and freethrows. That is all.

  6. SkyMonkeyHorn said:

    January 25th, 2010 at 5:04 pm

    Excellent points that you make for tweaks, Trips.
    I have always imagined a lineup that is quick and can defend /pressure and run an up tempo scheme. I thought that even with Dex in the game instead of Jordan/Johnson we would be up tempo and have Dex always as the fifth man down the floor and flash to the basket if we held the ball up.
    As a side note with Johnson/Dex/James as a trio we could have a high /low game with either James and Johnson on the high side. Both can hit the 15-18 footer but their passing would have to be improved. but you have three options; pass to the wing from the foul line,pass to Dex down low, take the 18 footer. Spreads the floor for 2-3 man dribble drive options.

    Dex needs 20-25 minutes and could spell all three as you state, I would also use Chapman for 6-9 minutes a game to rest the the forwards,or when Dex is in foul trouble.
    Brown to first guard off the bench, Mason before Lucas unless we need a zone buster if JB, JH, DJ, are missing shots or playing in the dark by themself.
    Yeah we need to play to our strenghts a tenet in any sport.

  7. Blake Borron said:

    January 25th, 2010 at 9:39 pm

    I laughed when I saw “Lance Thomas” and “wing” in the same paragraph.

  8. kafka said:

    January 25th, 2010 at 9:45 pm

    “As .Coach K would say, we don’t have positions, we have basketball players.”

    “Because of size differences, 3 man to 4 man or and especially 3 man to 5 man switching usually leads to big mismatches. For that reason, Texas would need a personnel tweak”

    Coach K’s statement means that he constructs a strategy that optimizes things for the players that he has (rather than making players fit into predefined positions). You are doing the opposite by switching a player (Jordan for Dex) so that your new D strategy (switching on big-big screens) will work.

    Being able to switch screens is great, it is just not the basis of an entire D strategy. It is more something you do when the matchups permit.

    If Dex plays 20-25 minutes/game, what is the D strategy when Dex is in the game?

  9. kafka said:

    January 25th, 2010 at 10:25 pm

    If Bradley and Balbay both play 30 minutes and Brown subs 10 minutes each for them, then Bradley and Balbay are both on the court at the same time for only 20 minutes. Brown is not a bad defender but he is not an elite defender. This means that for half the game it will be straight forward to avoid the pressure of Balbay/Bradley on the ball handler (i.e. just put the ball in the hands of the guy that Brown is guarding).

    The larger point is that for a pressure D to be effective against a good O, all 5 of the defenders have to be able to apply pressure. Just one not excellent defender provides a relief valve for the O. UT can not put 5 excellent defenders on the floor most of the time.

    For example, lets look at the proposed front line of Damion, Jordan, and Gary. Can any of those guys stay with an excellent 3? Can any of them guard an excellent center?

    More matchup zone is the way to go. It compensates for some of the various D weaknesses the horns have, making it easier to play Dex and Jordan.

  10. Trips Right said:

    January 26th, 2010 at 7:20 am

    Blake, I get that he’s more of a power forward type, I guess I thought the average reader would understand what I was getting at by lumping Thomas and Singler in with the large wing comment and let the minor inaccuracy slide. But thanks for your contribution, bro.

  11. Trips Right said:

    January 26th, 2010 at 7:22 am

    Kafka, again, I’m not saying we relegate Dex to the bench, I’m just suggesting a solution for the 20 or more minutes he’s unable to be on the floor. We have to do something. Also, a matchup zone would incorporate a lot of the same principles of the sagging m2m I’ve suggested here.

  12. Trips Right said:

    January 26th, 2010 at 7:39 am

    Skymonkey, if you watched Kansas last night they played exactly the way you described in your Dexter scenario. They essentially controlled the defensive glass paint area with Aldrich, and ran with 4. Of course Mizzou was a willing participant and a good matchup for this.

  13. jc25 said:

    January 26th, 2010 at 8:02 am

    Trips, your thoughts on Kansas? Caught the first half and some of the second before getting too depressed at how in sync Kansas was. Seriously, on FIAH.

    I’m extremely worried about the Pittman-Aldrich match-up. I didn’t think Aldrich was “tough enough” coming into the season, but I may be changing my tune. I think he makes Pittman eat his shorts. His outlet passing is phenomenal, and our transition D has been less than stellar of late. That’s a problem. Add him to the Morris twins, and that’s a frontcourt Texas can’t match up against. GJ and Damion are nice players, put true 4’s they are not.

    I expect Balbay to do a decent job shutting down Collins. I’d rather see him fire from 3 than drive in. Kansas’ shooters were lights out yesterday, but that can’t happen every game. Collins’ size also guarantees us some Lucas run at some point in the game. If by any chance we can render Collins ineffective, I like our guard depth of Mason/Lucas/Brown over Taylor/Reed.

    They look like they can be exploited on the wings with Henry and Morningstar on D, but I don’t see the horses to do it. Bradley will stick to his 3’s and midrange jumper. Hamilton will need to have a big game, because an offensive firepower show favors the X-man there.

    Of course, I’m forgetting about our X-factor Matt Hill. If he can grow his Sideshow Bob afro out by gametime, Aldrich is toast.

  14. Blake Borron said:

    January 26th, 2010 at 9:37 am

    “Blake, I get that he’s more of a power forward type, I guess I thought the average reader would understand what I was getting at by lumping Thomas and Singler in with the large wing comment and let the minor inaccuracy slide. But thanks for your contribution, bro.”

    Touchy touchy…wasn’t supposed to be an insult. I basically laugh anyway at the thought of Lance Thomas starting at a school like Duke (much less, you know, having a scholarship at all). Shows how they’ve fallen of late…

  15. Trips Right said:

    January 26th, 2010 at 9:47 am

    jc, I’ll post some thoughts on the Mizzou game in an hour or so. Like you, I came away impressed and depressed for the same reasons. Aldrich dominated and only had 6 points at halftime. He conrolled the paint by himself and allowed the other four players on the floor to get into transition quicker than Mizzou could get back. That’s such a huge advantage.

    Blake, no worries man.

  16. Barking Carnival — Blog — Around the Horns said:

    January 26th, 2010 at 10:23 am

    [...] Interesting, wouldn’t have guessed. Anyways you can get some perspective on current Tech basketball from RRR’s thoughts on the OU game here as well as some Trips thoughts on potential Coach K inspired lineups here. [...]

  17. kafka said:

    January 26th, 2010 at 11:38 am

    I like the lineup of Damion, Gary, and Jordan when matchups permit. Reducing the pressure on the man D sometimes would be a step forward but playing a matchup zone sometimes (depending on matchups) seems like a bigger step forward.

    It is nearly Feb, it is time to make the adjustments in PT and O and D strategy so that these changes can be practised/perfected before March.

  18. RRR said:

    January 26th, 2010 at 2:17 pm

    Open up with Dex and tweak some of his defensive responsibilities to keep him in the lane. Make him the focal point of the half-court offense when he is in the game, like the Rockets do/did with Yao.

    After about six minutes, bring in the lineup you suggested and crank up the tempo. Pressure on made basket/FT. Ride that for 8-10 and then bring back Dex versus exhausted post players and run ball rotation to the weak side for drop-step dunks.

  19. Blake Borron said:

    January 26th, 2010 at 2:45 pm

    Agree kafka, I love the three athletic ~ 6′6″ guys who can all shoot, drive, and board.

    I’m interested to see if Rick eventually decides to to some kind of zone. I don’t expect it to happen, but clearly it would be ideal if we can’t grasp help defense. It would look very Syracuse-ish with three backline guys at 6-7, 6-7, and 6-10 (Damion, Jordan, and Dex) who can rebound and two annoying-as-hell athletic guards up top (AB and Doge).

  20. RRR said:

    January 26th, 2010 at 3:33 pm

    I agree with Blake. That keeps Dex in the middle, and though you take away Doge’s on-ball defense, he’ll make up for it with anticipation steals on bail-out penetration passes.

  21. Barking Carnival — Blog — Royal Ivey is Killing Rick Barnes said:

    February 9th, 2010 at 5:04 pm

    [...] get our man a copy of They Call Me Coach. Then have him, as Trips Right suggested, call Mike Krzyzewski—a Knight disciple who figured it out. Coach K lives by two rules on his [...]

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