Question about Izzo

[LuciousGameWinner]

Why has he never utilized the full court press, especially this year? This team struggles a bit in the half court and I think they are one of the best in the open court, why not throw a press at teams and speed the game up a bit?

 

[Sbee]

I think the press is a bit of a gimmick, if you don't have a ton of talent you just try to expend more energy on defense and sub frequently, this works pretty well at the high school level. in general, good teams can break the press easily and get transition baskets.

also, from a defensive standpoint, i think you'd need to play zone or a less aggressive man to man. the fuel tank of any players is limited. you can't run on offense, play full court pressure, and then play solid, aggressive man to man d unless you go 10-12 deep and hockey sub every 2 minutes

it just doesn't work like that

 

[MSUMatt28]

Teams that press generally have to commit to it and be willing to live with giving up easy buckets every now and then as the necessary tradeoff to forcing lots of turnovers and getting the other team to play faster than they want to. That style rarely wins against elite level competition anyway.

That kind of press is usually a zone, trapping press. Izzo has had teams in the past that play full court man-to-man. But that actually serves to slow a game down as teams have to work harder and take longer to get the ball up court. I recall the 2005 team with it's deep supply of athletic wing players (Torbert, Anderson, Brown, Ager) playing a lot of full court man-to-man.