I've been saying all year that the offense is frustrating but the defense is worse. I don't think you can understate how bad Bean and Stevie are at stopping penetration. It's the main reason our bigs are in constant foul trouble. You could literally set the same pick up against Bean for ten possessions in a row and he'd run into it ten straight times. And to make matters worse once the pick happens he does nothing. He doesn't try to recover. He doesn't try to pick up the man that is now open because someone else switches. He just stands there dumbfounded.

I think Stevie tries to defend but he bites on every single fake and his man just runs right by him. But at least he tries to do something after he gets beat.

I always really liked the hard hedges we saw frequently under Groce. It was the best defense we played since I started following the team.

When they got the foul calls on them it drove me nuts - but the trade off to the positive is so obvious now

He can either:

1. Get quicker and act before the help comes,
2. Pass to the open man,
3. Go the other way, like he did with the left hand.

If you punish a double team enough, it will stop.

I totally agree with this. The 2011-2012 team locked down perimeter players often, and had the depth and bodies to do it.


As for the current year, this is why I ask if it's time for coaching to change how we're playing defense? We have enough length & athleticism that a 2-3 zone that was done decently would at least limit some of the penetration into the lane. Part of being a coach is realizing that you can't smash the square peg into the round hole every time and succeed. "Our way", just because it has worked in previous years taking a different group of guys at a different school to the tournament, may not work with this bunch, THIS year.

I'm no basketball genius, but maybe what the players are being asked to do is what needs to change - if just for this season - because they simply aren't good enough to play straight up man to man.

Country .....most coaches will always concede that if you don't understand man to man principles you will rarely be able to run a zone efficiently.( i.e. if Beaner ducks under he going to get burnt on the top of the zone and the drive will still come with a runner or a kick out when the big rotates). You give up ANY rebounding you have in the zone. The other part of playing a zone relies on interconnectedness and communication. You will often hear talking heads mention how the Syracuse zone seems like there is a string working between the players. COmmunication and connectedness are 2 traits this team is severely lacking. Relying on these guys to react as a player runs baseline or is passed from the top of the 2 3 to the lower wing player and accept the responsibilty will leave guys out there saying "He's not MY man" in all probability. Watch Izzo teach communication in this drrill https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0MGHOAP1qVs

Understanding all the things that go into "just switching those round pegs" is far more than backing up and saying "its not working why don't we try?" Oddly enough, due to injuries and a depleted roster Groce, because he does so much team building and trust exercises in the off season has been able to use the 2 3 very effectiv3ely since Rice went down 3 or 4 games ago. TOTAL deviation from his basic coaching philosophy and mantra.

Right now we have nowhere to go but up - so I think we will be going "somewhere"

Thanks for the education on this, and good points on the communication/connectedness lacking, and being a key to making the 2-3 work. Great video work by Izzo there. I love the idea of teaching defense by playing a defender short.