If we STOP Pressing

[cardsNhogs]

This could be a really good team. MA has got to change and just teach solid half court defense. This team is very talented. The press hurts us though and MA keeps doing it.

[Danny J]

Stopped pressing recently and it's working...getting good stops

[Nosboar Accubond]

Mike realized it too

[Hog Fan from Camden]

Agree with OP

[The_Bionic_Pig]

He need's to wait for that near back breaking moment to insert the press (tired, frustrated etc.. ) pick your spots

[Iwastherein1969]

to the OP....I understand where you are coming from, but you are wrong... take the game tonight, Houston is good, they have talent and whatever you think of Kelvin Sampson, the man can flat-0ut coach basketball...the reason I disagree is take a look at the last 5 minutes of the game, the 3 ball heaves from the Houston outside sharpshooters starting clanging off the front of the rim...their legs were gone, which allowed us to take a 2 or 3 point game and turn it into a double-digit win for the Hogs...just like boxing, you keep hitting the liver and the kidneys enough the elbows will drop and expose the head...exhaustion, makes cowards of even the best of players

[GuvHog]

to the OP....I understand where you are coming from, but you are wrong... take the game tonight, Houston is good, they have talent and whatever you think of Kelvin Sampson, the man can flat-0ut coach basketball...the reason I disagree is take a look at the last 5 minutes of the game, the 3 ball heaves from the Houston outside sharpshooters starting clanging off the front of the rim...their legs were gone, which allowed us to take a 2 or 3 point game and turn it into a double-digit win for the Hogs...just like boxing, you keep hitting the liver and the kidneys enough the elbows will drop and expose the head...exhaustion, makes cowards of even the best of players

The press didn't cause Houston's players to lose their legs. The Hogs half court defense was so tough that the Cougars had to work extra hard to find open shots and the Hogs made them work extra hard on defense when the Hogs had the ball. It's okay to keep pressing some but with the new rules, the emphasis needs to go on half court basketball, that's what won the game for the Hogs tonight.

[hobhog]

He need's to wait for that near back breaking moment to insert the press (tired, frustrated etc.. ) pick your spots

Winner.

[cardsNhogs]

to the OP....I understand where you are coming from, but you are wrong... take the game tonight, Houston is good, they have talent and whatever you think of Kelvin Sampson, the man can flat-0ut coach basketball...the reason I disagree is take a look at the last 5 minutes of the game, the 3 ball heaves from the Houston outside sharpshooters starting clanging off the front of the rim...their legs were gone, which allowed us to take a 2 or 3 point game and turn it into a double-digit win for the Hogs...just like boxing, you keep hitting the liver and the kidneys enough the elbows will drop and expose the head...exhaustion, makes cowards of even the best of players

You are wrong.. go watch the game again and tell me if Houston had to work harder against our half court D or full court D?!? Against the press they made it look easy... we can get into their legs simply with our Depth and getting after them in the half court. The Press was not effective in any way against Houston or anyone else on our schedule..

[hogginbama]

Teams are passing/dribbling their way through the press with ease. If they had to constantly scramble to get through it I could see where it would wear out their legs. Our press hasn't hurt too many teams lately, it has actually helped some since it gives them numbers in the offensive end of the court. Half-court, pressing D, trap at opportune times and you will wear them out just as much. Plus, our own defensive players will be in position and not scrambling to catch up to the ball.

[uncle bubs]

Well whatever we did, I saw their players throw their arms up in disbelief a few different times after a possession. At times we were so fast and tough tonight that they had no answer, and it was obvious in person. They were absolutely defeated and demoralized.

[sowmonella]

Our press hasn't had the same results since Nolan was still here. The rule change against hand checking and the touch fouls on the outside while mugging is allowed in the paint changed the nature of the game. In the championship years we could get away with battery.

[nwahogfan1]

This could be a really good team. MA has got to change and just teach solid half court defense. This team is very talented. The press hurts us though and MA keeps doing it.

LOL.   I have been saying the same thing for 4 years.   Mike coaching style is like a one trick pony.  He is not going to change.  It should be decided by the personality and the physical traits of your players.  Our press is not stealing the ball or causing TOs.  So why the heck are we pressing?   I think the players understand it is not working also because they are not pressing with the fever that is needed to make it work.  OH WELL.  We fans will just bury our heads in our  hands every time the opposing team gets a fast break bucket after beating the press.  I think the faster playing teams are saying thanks for pressing and leaving us open for wide open shots.  LOL>

[lefty08]

It would be cool if you guys bitching about MA not changing would actually watch the games. Might wanna wear a helmet though when you realize how stupid you sound

[Iwastherein1969]

You are wrong.. go watch the game again and tell me if Houston had to work harder against our half court D or full court D?!? Against the press they made it look easy... we can get into their legs simply with our Depth and getting after them in the half court. The Press was not effective in any way against Houston or anyone else on our schedule..

I can tell when someone doesn't understand the game and has never played outside Church league basketball...In the first half, yes, we made them work to get the ball across the court...(2) just because you don't turn someone over with the press doesn't mean it's not being effective, example, many times the press combined with our ability to make them work for a 3 point shot they had to rush it because the shot clock was 5 or under, (3)good pressure off of a score, as we did tonight has the opposition starting their offensive sets 3 or 4 seconds later into the time clock than is their usual, also, Houston had to start their sets further from the basket than we did and therein lies the key, (4) the team that has to set up its half-court offense further from the basket usually loses the game, its just a matter of physics....but good try !

[cardsNhogs]

I can tell when someone doesn't understand the game and has never played outside Church league basketball...In the first half, yes, we made them work to get the ball across the court...(2) just because you don't turn someone over with the press doesn't mean it's not being effective, example, many times the press combined with our ability to make them work for a 3 point shot they had to rush it because the shot clock was 5 or under, (3)good pressure off of a score, as we did tonight has the opposition starting their offensive sets 3 or 4 seconds later into the time clock than is their usual, also, Houston had to start their sets further from the basket than we did and therein lies the key, (4) the team that has to set up its half-court offense further from the basket usually loses the game, its just a matter of physics....but good try !

They scored easy transition points when we pressed! They did NOT have to work for it either. Its a simple pass back to the In-bounder and 4 on 3 from there usually resulting in wide open threes or simple DUNK! 

[pigture perfect]

I may be just one of those church league basketballers, 😎 But a press without a trap rarely works in today's game.

[hogsanity]

It's okay to keep pressing some but with the new rules,

So tired of hearing about the "new rules" because there are no new rules. This is a non-rule change year.

[zebradynasty]

Folks its December! Now is the time to work on the press. See who can run it, when to run it...No different than in football you don't expect every play in the playbook will be executed perfectly the first weekend in September!

[Jim Harris]

to the OP....I understand where you are coming from, but you are wrong... take the game tonight, Houston is good, they have talent and whatever you think of Kelvin Sampson, the man can flat-0ut coach basketball...the reason I disagree is take a look at the last 5 minutes of the game, the 3 ball heaves from the Houston outside sharpshooters starting clanging off the front of the rim...their legs were gone, which allowed us to take a 2 or 3 point game and turn it into a double-digit win for the Hogs...just like boxing, you keep hitting the liver and the kidneys enough the elbows will drop and expose the head...exhaustion, makes cowards of even the best of players

you can do that with aggressive half-court defense, especially now that the shot clock is 30 seconds and they have to get the ball up court anyway. UA's full court pressure tends to be pretty passive compared with what you might have seen in the late 1980s/early 1990s.

[Jim Harris]

They scored easy transition points when we pressed! They did NOT have to work for it either. Its a simple pass back to the In-bounder and 4 on 3 from there usually resulting in wide open threes or simple DUNK! 

I always thought that mentality/style was effective when you had an offense (re: great offensive players like Nolan signed during his 1989-1996 heyday) because teams took the bait of those 4 on 3 and even 5 on 3 situations and Arkansas typically answered most of the time with its offense, and eventually the opponent either got out of control and/or was out of gas the last 7-10 minutes. MA has never assembled that good of an offensive team since he's been at Fayetteville to bait the opponents with the cheese of a few easy full-court runs and layups, get them hurrying too much to keep up, and eventually wipe them out. Not on much of a consistent basis. He's probably closer to having enough players to run some effective presses now than he has, but when UA is making more turnovers than it's forcing, the style seems self-defeating at times. Somehow they didn't let that poor last few minutes of the first half ruin last night's result.

[dhizzle]

Can we all agree the press works sometimes? It's like one poster said you cant be as aggressive as the hogs back in the Nolan days because touching someone with the pinky is a foul. This causes the opposing team to beat the press or you have a nice play like Houston did coming out of half time and one dude goes coast to coast.

[hogsanity]

I always thought that mentality/style was effective when you had an offense (re: great offensive players like Nolan signed during his 1989-1996 heyday) because teams took the bait of those 4 on 3 and even 5 on 3 situations and Arkansas typically answered most of the time with its offense, and eventually the opponent either got out of control and/or was out of gas the last 7-10 minutes. MA has never assembled that good of an offensive team since he's been at Fayetteville to bait the opponents with the cheese of a few easy full-court runs and layups, get them hurrying too much to keep up, and eventually wipe them out. Not on much of a consistent basis. He's probably closer to having enough players to run some effective presses now than he has, but when UA is making more turnovers than it's forcing, the style seems self-defeating at times. Somehow they didn't let that poor last few minutes of the first half ruin last night's result.

YEp. IT was the norm to see the Hogs give up a layup, but then see Day or Mayberry or Thurman or someone get a dunk or a three of the make. Then the opponents would rush a shot and miss, and the Hogs would stick another 3 off the break. Before they knew what happened the Hogs were on a 10-2 or a 14-4 run.

[The_Iceman]

YEp. IT was the norm to see the Hogs give up a layup, but then see Day or Mayberry or Thurman or someone get a dunk or a three of the make. Then the opponents would rush a shot and miss, and the Hogs would stick another 3 off the break. Before they knew what happened the Hogs were on a 10-2 or a 14-4 run.

A guy like CJ Jones is key for us to do that in the future. With his shooting and skills, he can come off the bench and all of a sudden the we've scored 6 points in 30 seconds. Pair that with Macon and Hannahs, and we have the shooting to sustain long scoring runs if we get hot.

In regards to the defense, I don't mind the full court press all the time, but Mike needs to mix it up. Make the opponent constantly be thinking (which wears them down). Mix in some zone presses to go with the jump switch. Also, just apply some safe, token pressure that doesn't try to force a turnover, but just makes the offense work to bring it up, and focusing on the half court stop.

[zebradynasty]

I think MA knows that running the full court trapping 40 minutes of L style in the 90's is not as effective as before. More ball handlers on the floor at one time now vs then. Even the Bigs are more comfortable handling the ball in space now days. However, you catch a team without 3 solid ball handlers or they have the traditional Big Men...slapping that press on full court could be very effective! Therefore we should continue to use it if for only in spurts.

The reason our half-court defense has improved is simple...We finally got athletes that are long AND can move their feet.

[Corkscrew Johnson]

Well, we aren't really pressing.  This isn't a full court press like we ran under Nolan.  The initial trap on the inbounds isn't a real trap designed to steal the ball in the backcourt, as we aren't pushing a 3rd and 4th defender into the backcourt to intercept the next pass.  He's just trying to get them into a system where they either (a) over-accelerate down the court and rush a shot, or (b) pull it out and we have worked 10 seconds off the shot clock, giving them less time to run a play.

Not saying it's a good or bad tactic, I'm just saying we aren't running a traditional full-court press.  Most of our defensive lapses have occurred in our half-court set.

[zebradynasty]

Well, we aren't really pressing.  This isn't a full court press like we ran under Nolan.  The initial trap on the inbounds isn't a real trap designed to steal the ball in the backcourt, as we aren't pushing a 3rd and 4th defender into the backcourt to intercept the next pass.  He's just trying to get them into a system where they either (a) over-accelerate down the court and rush a shot, or (b) pull it out and we have worked 10 seconds off the shot clock, giving them less time to run a play.

Not saying it's a good or bad tactic, I'm just saying we aren't running a traditional full-court press.  Most of our defensive lapses have occurred in our half-court set.

Exactly! I was so encouraged last night by our half-court defense. Usually a team of shooters...have career nights on us because we leave shooters uncovered, overplay to one side, slow switching on screens...you name it we did it to give open looks to shooters. We did better last night and can only get better once they play together more.

[hog golf]

does dribbling fast past our press count as "getting into their legs"? I saw many instances where they ran really fast past us in order to make a lay-up. I think that is why they seemed tired at the end.

[hogsanity]

does dribbling fast past our press count as "getting into their legs"? I saw many instances where they ran really fast past us in order to make a lay-up. I think that is why they seemed tired at the end.

I dont buy the getting into their legs thing. These kids grow up playing AAU ball where they play multiple games in a day and in a weekend. Most of them play in a running style of offense in HS as well, and most of the college teams now look to run when they can.