Clemson revisited, defensive matchup

[Thepigdoctor]

Anyone else really question why Harris was guarding Clemson's PG for much of the second half?

He may be big and hard to get around, but it was hard to watch him trying to get low and stay in front of him. I remember numerous times when he easily got past Harris and created.

Found that matchup to be very odd, considering Harris is far from quick enough to matchup with any PG.

Sorry if this topic has already been addressed. I wondered if this was addressed post game.

[ballz2thewall]

i had the same question re why portis was guarding hall.

[Biggus Piggus]

It was a failure of Arkansas to adapt its switching man defense to Clemson's tactics. They did a fine job of identifying the patterns of Arkansas's defensive system and manipulating them. The game was close only because Clemson had so little basketball skill.

[ballz2thewall]

It was a failure of Arkansas to adapt its switching man defense to Clemson's tactics. They did a fine job of identifying the patterns of Arkansas's defensive system and manipulating them. The game was close only because Clemson had so little basketball skill.

yep. we've debated that this last week. so much so that i put it on the hogville consensus coach JumpBall thread.  admittedly a silly approach, but it was an attempt to reconcile the dominant opinions here on the board.  the switching issue was soundly driven through the heart with a spike.

[Thepigdoctor]

This wasn't just on switches though. At at least three straight possessions in the final 8 minutes, it was Harris picking up Hall at half court.

I wondered if it was Hall's stature, thick build, that caused CMA to put Harris on him to be more physical, but that really doesn't work when in one step he was by the much slower Harris.

It looked painful to see Harris "getting low" to prepare and stop him. Poor hip flexion, but again, he's out of position anyway.

[Dominicanhog]

This wasn't just on switches though. At at least three straight possessions in the final 8 minutes, it was Harris picking up Hall at half court.

I wondered if it was Hall's stature, thick build, that caused CMA to put Harris on him to be more physical, but that really doesn't work when in one step he was by the much slower Harris.

It looked painful to see Harris "getting low" to prepare and stop him. Poor hip flexion, but again, he's out of position anyway.

what is Harris' position, stand out by the 3 point line and take wild fall aways?  or drive into traffic and turn it over?

[Thepigdoctor]

Offensively, yeah I think you nailed it.

I haven't seen anything from Harris in the last year and a half to suggest he should be anything but our 8th or 9th guy off the bench. He's good for a couple makes a game, but outside of that, he isn't really a team player and his defense has never impressed me. With his build, he should average 8-10 rebounds per 40 minutes played.

He lacks the mindset to take advantage of his build. He's nothing more than a soft two guard, minus the two guard skill set.

[ballz2thewall]

what is Harris' position, stand out by the 3 point line and take wild fall aways?  or drive into traffic and turn it over?

i can readily latch onto and join your implied tone here.  it seems that this is what they're coached to do, more or less.  none of the guys with size spend any appreciable time near the rim.

[ballz2thewall]

to continue the thread and asking rhetorically:  isn't this basic stuff?  mismatches of this sort?

i know the answer.  i'm sitting in my chair watching the game and wondering, "what the heck is going on with this."  "why are we matching like this."

the kicker for me was watching portis out on hall at the top of the key in the closing minutes.  despite what the coach might say, shouldn't portis know better?

how does a defense allow itself to be portioned like that?

[cableguy]

The switching defense concept really made MA look bad. I think it was Bell that twice ended up on a big man down low in the paint.  I could understand the switching if Clemson had hit a lot of 3's, but they hadn't.

[Letsroll1200]

I just hate when our big guys start our press covering the guards. We have to make some changes because they are blowing right pass our low post players.