Defending the three

[BillyC80]

Are we giving some good and even just decent shooters too much room to get a shot off at the arc, for fear that they’ll blow by us?

In 3 of our 5 losses (the exceptions being at Wisconsin and home to MSU) we’ve given up 10 or more threes.

Admittedly, SJU was unconscious making 16 of 32 from deep, but at Fordham and SHU, plus the first half of Columbia (which was looking like a bad loss for the majority of the game) it looked like we were hedging too much on D around the arc.

Should we be overplaying good shooters at the arc and forcing them inside toward our bigs more?

 

[zebnatto]

I agree with the concern identified. The solution, though, is dangerous vs a quality team. I’ve bee preaching that our lineup (lot of length, not a lot of quickness) ought to be mixing in zone on an “as needed” basis.

 

[RUChow]

Are we giving some good and even just decent shooters too much room to get a shot off at the arc, for fear that they’ll blow by us?

In 3 of our 5 losses (the exceptions being at Wisconsin and home to MSU) we’ve given up 10 or more threes.

Admittedly, SJU was unconscious making 16 of 32 from deep, but at Fordham and SHU, plus the first half of Columbia (which was looking like a bad loss for the majority of the game) it looked like we were hedging too much on D around the arc.

Should we be overplaying good shooters at the arc and forcing them inside toward our bigs more?

No, because that is exactly why we're giving up so many threes. We overplay, get beat forcing help, and the guy we leave in order to give help gets a kick out for an open three. With our length we can give a little ground in order to stop penetration and still defend the three. This is why we are the perfect 2-3 zone team. The zone will stop penetration. Most people think zones allow uncontested threes - not true. For some stupid reason we also fight over screens 25 feet from the basket allowing for more penetration. We do some dumb things defensively

 

[BillyC80]

Playing some zone makes sense or a box and one where we have a man on their best outside threat at all times.

I would much rather overplay the other team’s best 3-point shooter to either force him inside or force him to pass to the second or third best shooter.

And if it’s a forward who’s a legit outside threat, it makes even more sense imo to overplay him at the arc because he’s less likely than a guard to blow by his man and/or kick it out.

 

[RAA-1]

We also need to work on getting the ball in play vs pressure.. In the OT Gio got too close to the baseline twice and had 2 TOs. He made it so easy for the defender as he trapped himself in the corner on one of the plays. This should never happen.