Let's talk Post Defense

[hooper56]

We heard a lot of talk last summer and fall about our lack of big bodies. We lamented that we were going to have a heck of a time guarding the likes of Purdue when Woody goes to the bench.

Well after having played Purdue and beaten them it appears post defense was not an issue. We actually did a pretty good job of limiting their touches and we came close to out rebounding Purdue as well. We hung right with them on the boards.

Uthoff seemed to play a big role in defending the post. He did a lot with his length and positioning, as well as shotblocking. Woody is as solid a post defender as there is but Uhl/Uthoff/Baer did pretty well when he was out.

Guards seemed to sag off their man to make post entry difficult. This killed us in the first half as the threes were raining down. We adjusted in the 2nd half and/or Purdue just cooled off. The press and trap sped Purdue up and made them quick shoot it instead of working it into the post.

Overall I thought our post defense was pretty good. What do you think?

 

[DanL53]

Woody played 25 minutes despite picking up just one foul. That says a lot about our ability to defend even when Woody is on the bench. Ball denial defense is by the way (imo) back. As long as the refs continue to call fouls the days of putting hands on a guy and physically moving him around the court are over. (Cheers!!!!)

 

[Titanhawk2]

Michigan State's inside guys always destroy Iowa. Didn't happen this time (I guess we'll see next week on the road). I thought Purdue's guys looked huge compared to us and figured they'd have their way, but again they didn't. I would guess the perimeter defense kept the ball from effectively going inside?

 

[CanadaHawk]

Good points TitanHawk. Post D is still an issue in college BB. Vs PD, the perimeter D kept it from going inside as much in the second half. But Woody and Uhl were still important in denial down low. Vs MSU, it seemed as though once they got it down there that they scored often. Perhaps there was some denial to the post going on there too? I do think it will be more difficult when Valentine gets back to make that post denial happen as he is MSU's leading assist man.

 

[DanL53]

I'm just thinking about that last scholarship we had last year. Looking at Iyke (Ikenna Okwarabizie) a big, big dude who ended up going to UCLA, and in the end picking Dale Jones who no one would mistake for a center.

(Poor Iyke, I liked the kid...will he develop at UCLA? I doubt it.)

What was it Fran said? Talent. And yes people were concerned about getting smaller and there were discussions and that's ok. And I won't call anyone wrong or right because I thought Fleming would be starting by now so what do I know. And all I mean by that is no one gets everything right.

So we can have our thoughts but in the words of Douglas Adams of "Hitchhikers Guide to the Galaxy" fame, "Don't Panic".

 

[BeepBeepInMyJeep]

1) Uthoffs post defense has improved tremendously, which I didn't think would happen at this point in his career.
2) Guards have been crashing down on the Big men more when the other team isn't hitting from outside. Woody isn't too often left on an island
3) lethal 3 point shooting and forcing turnovers hides every other possible deficiency

 

[LifelongHawk]

3/4 court press was difference, Pur-duh turned it over too much and more importantly did not get into sets to timely make post feeds.

 

[Ihawkhoops]

I would say the overall defensive effort in the last two games has been the best I have seen back to back since Fran has been here. Not much you can do about Purdue raining 3's in the first half, but the team weathered the storm and amped up the pressure in the second. Nothing too flashy, just guys being in the right place at the right team and maintaining position without fouling. I am ok if Hammons can go up over somebody and score with a hook, just don't get pinned and give up a dunk.

 

[goodbyebobby]

Woody busted his hump against those two behemoths. I watched him closely all night and he worked hard all night. Uhl and Wagner did the same.

They all worked hard defending the post. JU is flat out smart defensively.

 

[JerryDennard]

Ike Okwarabzie has played a grand total of 11 minutes for the Bruins, logged 4 rebounds, 4 personal fouls, 1 turnover and 0 points. It's not like UCLA has much depth at Center - only starter Thomas Welsh is ahead of him (Alford has gone to playing 3 guards and 2 forwards to spell Welsh instead of Ike).

 

[DanL53]

Ike Okwarabzie has played a grand total of 11 minutes for the Bruins, logged 4 rebounds, 4 personal fouls, 1 turnover and 0 points. It's not like UCLA has much depth at Center - only starter Thomas Welsh is ahead of him (Alford has gone to playing 3 guards and 2 forwards to spell Welsh instead of Ike).

What's your point? I already said I doubted Iyke would develop under Alford.

 

[JerryDennard]

What's your point? I already said I doubted Iyke would develop under Alford.

Point is: Ike wouldn't be sniffing the floor this year even if we had given him the scholly instead of Dale.

 

[DanL53]

Point is: Ike wouldn't be sniffing the floor this year even if we had given him the scholly instead of Dale.

"What was it Fran said? Talent.", I'm still not sure what you are getting at because it sounds like you are trying to agree with me but it's just hard or something.

 

[RocknRollface]

You could go back and look at posts from the last two summers.

First Aaron White wasn't big enough to play the four, the next year it was Uthoff was not big enough to play the four.

My response both times was, they'll be fine.

How could you have missed all the teams that had successfully been playing even smaller guys at the 4, in this conference alone? Wisconsin , MSU, UM, Indiana.

But, Purdues big. Lol

 

[mazda1]

Woody especially did a nice job when the ball went into the high post in the 2nd half and prevented any high low action by playing very tight. When Purdue got the ball into the middle of the zone around the free throw line they weren't able to make anything happen. Normally that's a desired location and a key to beating a zone

 

[johnnashhawk]

We heard a lot of talk last summer and fall about our lack of big bodies. We lamented that we were going to have a heck of a time guarding the likes of Purdue when Woody goes to the bench.


Well after having played Purdue and beaten them it appears post defense was not an issue. We actually did a pretty good job of limiting their touches and we came close to out rebounding Purdue as well. We hung right with them on the boards.

Uthoff seemed to play a big role in defending the post. He did a lot with his length and positioning, as well as shotblocking. Woody is as solid a post defender as there is but Uhl/Uthoff/Baer did pretty well when he was out.

Guards seemed to sag off their man to make post entry difficult. This killed us in the first half as the threes were raining down. We adjusted in the 2nd half and/or Purdue just cooled off. The press and trap sped Purdue up and made them quick shoot it instead of working it into the post.

Overall I thought our post defense was pretty good. What do you think?

You'd be hard pressed to name a team in the conf with as good a front court as MSU & PU. Costello and Haas are the real deal. The others Smith,MSU Swanigan and Hammons are young and will improve as the season moves along. For us to play these teams and win speaks volumes to the quality of our frontline...just awesome. I feel really fotunate to have these 4 games on the schedule this early.

 

[CanadaHawk]

You'd be hard pressed to name a team in the conf with as good a front court as MSU & PU. Costello and Haas are the real deal. The others Smith,MSU Swanigan and Hammons are young and will improve as the season moves along. For us to play these teams and win speaks volumes to the quality of our frontline...just awesome. I feel really fotunate to have these 4 games on the schedule this early.

That's a good point Johnashhawk. Davis for MSU and Swanigan for PD are only going to get more experienced and difficult to play as the season goes on, especially withCostello and Haas/Hammons around them. Best to cash in on veteran experience now.

 

[MNHawk]

I thought our post defense was poor last night, which they are entitled to after all the great effort against PU and MSU within the last week. NE got a lot of easy shots down low - some of it was just bad footwork (on tired legs?). I saw both Uhl and Baer get beat pretty easily a few times each for high percentage shots.

 

[CanadaHawk]

I thought our post defense was poor last night, which they are entitled to after all the great effort against PU and MSU within the last week. NE got a lot of easy shots down low - some of it was just bad footwork (on tired legs?). I saw both Uhl and Baer get beat pretty easily a few times each for high percentage shots.

True. But NE has got some quickness that exacerbated our tired legs. Still think though that with all of NE's slapping at the ball in the lane, they should get more fouls down there.

 

[2432Hawk]

Maryland has a solid front line and when N'Western gets Olah back, he's one that's given Woody problems at times.

 

[unoHawkeye]

1) Uthoffs post defense has improved tremendously, which I didn't think would happen at this point in his career.
2) Guards have been crashing down on the Big men more when the other team isn't hitting from outside. Woody isn't too often left on an island
3) lethal 3 point shooting and forcing turnovers hides every other possible deficiency

#2 #2 #2!!!

We saw it on a larger scale early in the season against Marquette. Henry Ellenson and their other big got NOTHING going in the lane because Gesell/Clemmons/Jok crashed down making it impossible to dribble into the lane and forcing a pass out. Against Purdue we saw the same thing (Jok's strip of Haas comes to mind).

This is one major benefit of having experienced guys on the court. The guards' awareness has helped cover up what was presumed to be a deficiency on the team coming into the year. (And no, I'm not slighting Woodbury, who has been a fantastic defensive post presence, but there's no way that Uhl/Baer/Wagner could have defended Hammonds and Haas by themselves)