I watched the first quarter of Marshall vs Wake Forest and as 2012 had already said, Marshall barely ran or pressed at all. Walked the ball up at times, actually had a good looking movement based half court offense but it would always get blown up by a badly forced shot that seemed to be thrown up just for the heck of it. Even Wake, a really bad team, controlled the tempo. As 2012 also said, the overall quality of play was so bad I couldn't stand to watch more. These were Missouri or Georgia level SEC teams.
Hate to tell you but the one thing Marshall did do as advertised was the mass subbing. Which was hard to understand bc they weren't really pressing. Changed out all five at about 3 min mark, continued to mass sub throughout the quarter. I'm assuming everyone who comes and everyone who stayed is ok with this, and as you said, with not depending on rythmn. That's really scary to me, but it all is so we'll just see what happens.
It is counterintuitive that no, they didn't run and press that much, but yes, they subbed that much but there you go. Also as you mentioned, ironic bc oversubbing was one of the things Kellie got most roasted for.
Marshall fan here. Congrats on Coach Kim's hire. I think the LadyVols will play an exciting style where they will have a chance to win at the end of every game once the system is installed and a few games are under their belt.
I wouldn't put much credence in the early season Wake Forest game. The SunBelt conference season was a better barometer of the CKC style of play. It took time for the team to gel. The season started 2-4 with losses to Morehead, Northern Kentucky, Wright State, and before the Florida win. The leading scorer (21 pts on the season) left the team after these first 6 games. Most of the OOC games were also played on the road. Not sure if it was mentioned but Marshall was picked 9th in the SB preseason poll.
Best examples of good and bad play in the system would be all three JMU games, ULM, and App State in first round of the SunBelt tournament. All of which can be found on ESPN+. JMU probably had the best athletes in the Belt, they were the reining champs, and were definitely much bigger. The first JMU game was a come behind win on the road based upon pressure. The second was the only conference loss where JMU played zone to take away the 3 and pressured Marshall into 10 to 12 footers that they couldn't make. The press wasn't as effective that night. Marshall was without their tallest player at 6'1 1/2" for both matchups. In the 3rd matchup SB Tournament title which some have seen, Marshall put up 46 more shots, had 33 offensive rebounds and created 39 turnovers but it took overtime to win on just 30% shooting.
ULM also had a successful first year coach from a lower level and generated a 17 point lead in the second period before Marshall took their own 17 point lead themselves and winning 99-90 on the road.
Coach Kim stated she felt more comfortable when the team was behind than ahead. They could almost always recover but had a hard time maintaining a comfortable lead.
The Sunbelt tournament matchup vs App State (116-74) was probably their best outing of the season highlighted by 62% shooting from the field.
Later in the season both 5'4" point guards (Beeman and Campbell) who were former Division II players and the top scorers on the team for the season, started. Campbell would sub out 45 seconds into the game and the first 5 player rotation including Campbell started approximately 2 minutes into the game and continued at 2-3 minute intervals into late 3rd qtr. SB POY Beeman also lead the team in Rebounds and assists. You don't have to be tall in this system to capture a lot of rebounds. Four players were sent to rebound on every offensive miss. It was the main reason the team was #7 in offensive rebounds.
Coach Burdette managed the substitution patterns and when they were at full strength the bench went 12 deep. Coach Burdette also managed much of what was discussed during timeouts. Coach Kim has ultimate trust in Coach Burdette. I was surprised Marshall didn't try to hire her as the new coach.
I wouldn't get caught up in position basketball with this system. Everybody played the 2-5 positions including the point guards on defense and offense was in constant motion. Everyone had the green light to shoot the three. The height disadvantage was overcome most times with relentless pressure. Teams would have mental fatigue in the second half. The system does work best when there are 2 good point guards who can both drive and distribute.
As noted in many posts, opponents field goal percentage was high due to many uncontested layups but was overcome by the extra possessions and number of threes attempted (#1).
I look forward to watching the LadyVols grow as the season progresses and would not be surprised if they exceeded your first year's expectations.
Leg pulling going on here…
