How many college basketball games have you watched in the past couple of years where it is almost impossible to watch?
I have been screaming for more teams to press and trap in high major basketball. If you watched the Tennessee-Ole Miss games, you saw how effective the press can be. I will talk about the game itself later on. I watch so many games and teams will be down double digits and will come back as they put on the press.
When you use a trapping press,t creates chaos and speeds everyone up on the opposing team. Most man to man presses will have a defender on the ball and then will deny the ball in bounds.
If the opposing is able to get the ball in there will be an immediate trap. As the trap happens the opposite guard will rotate to the inbounder, most press breaks are built to throw back to the inbounder. Teams almost every time will steal the pass back. Even if you do not get a steal out of the press it speeds teams up and usually makes the offense take quick shots and shots that are not part of the offense.
From the fan perspective it creates a lot more action and pace within the game. I played for a very good D2 team in Fairmont State and the press was something we did all the time. The best two division II teams in the past few years press and trap the entire game. These games are usually played in the 90’s and even 100’s. I would love to see this type of basketball in high major college basketball.
Let's take a deep dive into the SEC action this week:
MIssissippi State Upends The Vols
The biggest takeaway from this week's games is that any win on the road this season will be hard to come by.
Tolu Smith completely dominated the game. A very impressive first half for the Bulldogs as they completely took the Vols out of rhythm on the offensive side of the basketball. The Bulldogs changing defenses was huge for them, as the Vols had 10 turnovers. Tolu Smith dominated the game as Tennessee let him play one on one for the most part.
Give credit to the Bulldogs as they just kept giving the ball to Smith. The Vols in the second half started to dig with the guards when Smith put the ball on the floor, but the fact that they never doubled Smith on the catch is head scratching. The Tennessee bigs could not guard Smith and you have to get the ball out of his hands in this situation.
You can not let one player just dominate the game and change something up. The Bulldogs only had one threat from the outside and the double should have come from whoever was guarding the non-shooter on the court.
I will give credit to Rick Barnes as he went with the trapping press in the second half and it changed the game. Mississippi State was up 15 and the press quickly tied the game up, but Tennessee just could never get over the hump. The Bulldogs completely collapsed and almost gave the game away.
One positive for the Vols is that Dalton Knecht regained form and showed why he is a National Player of the Year candidate. Why the ball was not in Knecht hands at the end of this game, I will never understand. The Vols are down three with 15 seconds and end up settling for a Steph Curry deep three. In this situation, you have to attack and get a quick two and extend the game or at least call a timeout and get a get look at a three.
The Vols have to get better performances from fifth year seniors Josiah Jordan-James and Santiago Vescovi as they combined for 5 points and 2-12 from the field.
Kentucky Is SCARY
The Kentucky Wildcats might just be playing the best basketball in the country. This team has so many weapons on offense and I can’t imagine what it is like to try and develop a game plan to stop them.
Rob Dillingham is a guy who just gets buckets. He can score at all three levels and is scary in the pick and roll. If Kentucky just defends a little bit better look out. This was a very workman-like win for the Wildcats at home.
Auburn Keeps Rolling
The Auburn Tigers won an absolute dog fight against the Texas A&M Aggies. This game was not for the weak, as it felt like it was a football game out there as the teams were trying to get a rebound.
Auburn is so good at guarding the basketball and they completely took Wade Taylor out of the game. The main worry I have for this Auburn team is they do not value the basketball and they take too many contested shots. When Auburn runs offense and they get multiple ball reversals, they usually get open looks and good shots.
The Tigers let the Aggies right back in the game by unforced turnovers and just awful shot selection. These two things will get you beat in March.
When Auburn ran offense it was very effective. The main action they ran was a dribble hand off with a flare-slip screen on the back side. This is very hard to guard as Auburn would do a dribble hand-off with the two guards and on the opposite side the big would fake a flare screen and slip right to the basket. The Tigers got two wide open dunks on this action.
For the Aggies this was a tough loss to swallow, as they can not afford Wade Taylor to have a bad game.
One adjustment I would have liked to see for the Aggies is to go to a smaller lineup. Auburn was pressuring Wade Taylor, which was forcing Taylor to play faster than he wanted. Auburn was able to do this because the Aggies played three players that are not threats from the perimeter.
Wade Taylor would get pressured and try to drive, but there weren't any lanes to drive because Auburn was packing the paint. A&M should have gone to a 4 out 1 lineup in order to open up back cuts and driving lanes. This is how you beat a pressure defense.
Bama Blasts South Carolina
Alabama is scary talented and when they are hitting threes, they can beat anyone. This is modern day basketball, live by the three and die by the three.
Mark Sears is a guy who just knows how to score, as he scored 31 points in a blowout of the Gamecocks. The Tide are a scary team as if they hit shots look out, but one encouraging thing for Tide fans is the effort on the defensive end. This team has not been good on that end but held the Gamecocks to only 47 points.
There’s not too many games where Two guys win a game for you, but this was the case for the Crimson Tide.
If I am a Gamecocks fan, I would not overreact to this loss. It’s one bad game and you have those games in a long season.
The one concern I have is the lack of movement on offense. Throughout a long season you can’t rely on one guy to hit contested shots. The Gamecocks need more body and player movement. Would love to see more DHO’s (dribble hand off) and off ball screening.
I would love to see Meetchie Johnson in a three man dribble hand off with Johnson coming off the handoff, a big rolling, and shooter popping to the wing. Simple motion will allow for easier buckets.
Best Of The Rest Of The SEC
Ole MIss had a very nice bounce back against Florida and looked more like the team we saw prior to the Tennessee game. Ole MIss made shots and when you do that it makes everything easier.
A big shoutout to LSU as they start 2-0 in SEC play which matches their win total from last year. I like the additions and the toughness this team plays with.
Lastly, it might be time to panic in Fayetteville! I would never give up on an Eric Mussleman lead squad, but this team is different as they do not have a guard who can go get a bucket for them. In this system you have to have tough shot makers and the Razorbacks do not have that.
Eric Mussleman will have to change some of their offensive identity to try and save this season.
Chaos Coming On A "Sleepy" Conference Weekend?
There will not be any ranked matchups this weekend, but with the way this week is going you can expect some upsets.
The game of the day will be Kentucky traveling to College Station. The Wildcats will be facing a desperate A&M team who do not want to fall to 0-3 in conference play.
Another intriguing game will be in Athens. Georgia is 2-0, but have not had that hard of a schedule. Well Tennessee rolls into town after falling to Mississippi State. I will be interested to see how the Vols respond and if they can find a way to get Santiago Vescovi and Josiah Jordan-James going in this game.
Lastly, Alabama travels to Starkville in a game where the winner could sneak into the fourth best team in the country.
As mentioned before, the SEC is a gauntlet this year and is the best conference in America. Every team is going to lose games, especially on the road. Most SEC fans treat basketball like football in terms of losing. As long as your team wins your home games and are aroud .500 on the road, your team will be in great shape come March.