02-14-2012, 09:25 PM
I just read an interesting article by Nate Parham at Swish Appeal "Five Reasons Why Teams Have Struggled To Press The Stanford Cardinal." Teams that press Stanford have long been a source of enormous fear for me--dating at least back to Tennessee's win in the finals in 2008 and last year's loss to A&M in the semis. So I found this article interesting, and wonder if the rest of you agree with his analysis.
http://www.swishappeal.com/2012/2/14/279...basketball
Some of what he says seems clear or even obvious. He discusses our athleticism that others may underestimate and decision making. He lauds Toni especially but Amber also. He praises Tara's ability to adjust in the second half (and points out C.AL's success was due in part to saving the full court zone press until late in the game when there was less time to adjust. ) All that was nice to read but not especially insightful to me.
The most interesting point he makes, though, is how important Stanford's defense is to stopping the press. Holding opponents to a low % of field goals gives opponents only a low% of opportunities to set up the press after a made basket. He points out that if Clarendon didn't make all those baskets at the end of regulation in the C.AL game, then C.AL would have been unable to press. So it was not the press, but the combination of press and conversion efficiency that proved troublesome for us. That may be obvious to more experienced basketball fans but I had never quite thought of it that way.
Are we getting to the point where we no longer fear quick pressing teams any more than any other good team?
http://www.swishappeal.com/2012/2/14/279...basketball
Some of what he says seems clear or even obvious. He discusses our athleticism that others may underestimate and decision making. He lauds Toni especially but Amber also. He praises Tara's ability to adjust in the second half (and points out C.AL's success was due in part to saving the full court zone press until late in the game when there was less time to adjust. ) All that was nice to read but not especially insightful to me.
The most interesting point he makes, though, is how important Stanford's defense is to stopping the press. Holding opponents to a low % of field goals gives opponents only a low% of opportunities to set up the press after a made basket. He points out that if Clarendon didn't make all those baskets at the end of regulation in the C.AL game, then C.AL would have been unable to press. So it was not the press, but the combination of press and conversion efficiency that proved troublesome for us. That may be obvious to more experienced basketball fans but I had never quite thought of it that way.
Are we getting to the point where we no longer fear quick pressing teams any more than any other good team?