Pearl on Defense

#51
#51
LawVol13 said:
That's exactly what he was doing. He had a couple variations in how he denied the inbounds versus directing the pass into a trap, but those that act as if that is some sort of revolutionary press have no clue (not sure if that's what you're saying or not).
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"Revolutionary"? Geez, who said that? There are only a handful of reasonable ways to press, and none of them are particularly "revolutionary."

Even in the first couple of years when we "pressed" a lot, mostly we just denied the inbounds, maybe tried one trap, and then dropped it and played half-court defense.

I've not heard anyone call it "revolutionary," though, so that's a straw-man.
 
#52
#52
LawVol13 said:
They switch every screen because they have been incapable of teaching how to hedge and recover.
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That's an odd statement, since hedge-and-recover is Bruce's main plan for defending screens. They've nearly always done that against a ball-screen offense.

For a varying way to defend ball-screens, though, go back and watch the Tennessee-Alabama tape from last year.
 
#53
#53
Dionte Christmas and Jodie Meeks were huge fans of UT's ball screen defense. So was Mike Gerrity.
 
#54
#54
That hedge and recover worked great against those players, especially Meeks. We were all over him the entire game. Unbelievable that he was able to hit those shots with our defense.
 
#55
#55
I can't explain Gerrity... That was unbelievable and I nearly broke out in an adolescent rage and put my fist through the wall... As for Christmas and Meeks, great scorers get off when they are hot no matter who is draped all over them... I'm not saying we were draping anything on either though, we did a LOT of standing and watching the ball go through the net against all 3. I just can't believe how we let Gerrity get to the rim the whole friggin game... ARGH
 
#57
#57
StepCross said:
That's an odd statement, since hedge-and-recover is Bruce's main plan for defending screens. They've nearly always done that against a ball-screen offense.

For a varying way to defend ball-screens, though, go back and watch the Tennessee-Alabama tape from last year.
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If that's the case, they've done an absolutely pathetic job teaching it. If you actually watch the games, you'll see they do and have most of the time always switched screens.
 
#59
#59
hatvol96 said:
Dionte Christmas and Jodie Meeks were huge fans of UT's ball screen defense. So was Mike Gerrity.
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Wow, talk about spin.

08-09 was Pearl's worst defensive team at Tennessee by far, particularly at guard. Hopson was a true freshman and didn't know how to play defense (or else wasn't inclined). Maze was awful that year, and Tyler took plays off IMO. Almost everyone we played lit us up that year, and it didn't much matter whether they preferred driving or shooting.

And it wasn't just Meeks and Christmas that lit us up that year...everyone did. Even Alex Freaking Renfroe of Belmont hung 30 on us.

Last year was a different story. We didn't play well at USC, obviously, but otherwise? We were 9th nationally and 1st in the SEC in defensive 3-point percentage.

In 07-08 we were 2nd in the SEC in that stat, so it's not like last year was an aberration.
 
#60
#60
LawVol13 said:
If that's the case, they've done an absolutely pathetic job teaching it. If you actually watch the games, you'll see they do and have most of the time always switched screens.
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If you're right, and our defensive plan is so bad, then how were we 1st in the SEC in defensive 3-pt percentage last year, and 3rd in the SEC in effective FG% defense last year? (behind MSU and KY, both of whom featured excellent shot-blockers)
 
#61
#61
StepCross said:
talk
Last year was a different story. We didn't play well at USC, obviously, but otherwise? We were 9th nationally and 1st in the SEC in defensive 3-point percentage.

In 07-08 we were 2nd in the SEC in that stat, so it's not like last year was an aberration.
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Right...because they abandoned the controlled chaos garbage. Did you miss the premise of the original argument?
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#62
#62
Hardwood_fanatic said:
Right...because they abandoned the controlled chaos garbage. Did you miss the premise of the original argument?
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No.

I was specifically responding to lawvol's criticism of Pearl's ball-screen defense.

Not that it matters, but they did still press some in 07-08, with JaJuan, Lofton, Ramar in the backcourt, and that year they still held opponents' 3-point percentage low enough to be 2nd in the SEC in that stat.

They also rose to a #1 ranking after beating eventual national runner-up Memphis at their place that year.

They definitely made every attempt to create chaos in the half-court and on inbounds plays. With great success.

Pearl likes his defenses to be disruptive, even in the halfcourt. He likes for the opponents to feel pressured and frustrated and out-of-synch.

Seems like a good plan, to me. I see no reason he should sit back and let the opposing offenses run whatever they feel like running. I don't like the term "controlled chaos," as a matter of personal taste. But the idea itself, of disrupting the opponent, is sound.

[Note that I, too, prefer that Tennessee not press much this year in the full-court. We don't have the personnel, and I think we're actually MORE disruptive when we limit to half-court defense.]
 
#63
#63
StepCross thanks for posting. I am enjoying reading what you are saying.

Pearl has by far his deepest team this year. He still does not have great depth at PG (will have next year) but his bigs should not get tired of running.

They also should have plenty of fouls to give (which is rare for us). Fields and Maymon in the halfcourt should hurt some feelings.
 
#64
#64
StepCross said:
No.

I was specifically responding to lawvol's criticism of Pearl's ball-screen defense.

Not that it matters, but they did still press some in 07-08, with JaJuan, Lofton, Ramar in the backcourt, and that year they still held opponents' 3-point percentage low enough to be 2nd in the SEC in that stat.

They also rose to a #1 ranking after beating eventual national runner-up Memphis at their place that year.

They definitely made every attempt to create chaos in the half-court and on inbounds plays. With great success.

Pearl likes his defenses to be disruptive, even in the halfcourt. He likes for the opponents to feel pressured and frustrated and out-of-synch.

Seems like a good plan, to me. I see no reason he should sit back and let the opposing offenses run whatever they feel like running. I don't like the term "controlled chaos," as a matter of personal taste. But the idea itself, of disrupting the opponent, is sound.

[Note that I, too, prefer that Tennessee not press much this year in the full-court. We don't have the personnel, and I think we're actually MORE disruptive when we limit to half-court defense.]
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Most coaches don't put emphasis on this type of defense---only Pearl.
 
#65
#65
StepCross said:
If you're right, and our defensive plan is so bad, then how were we 1st in the SEC in defensive 3-pt percentage last year, and 3rd in the SEC in effective FG% defense last year? (behind MSU and KY, both of whom featured excellent shot-blockers)
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The point is that Pearl teaches switching on the screen. Why do you think Chism ended up on many occasions guarding a guard? We basically never hedge and recover.
 
#66
#66
Unimane said:
How many times do I have to address this BS of the "controlled chaos" not working? One point from the Elite 8 with this system in 2007 against a loaded Ohio State team was essentially the same as the one possession win this year. As I have said, it's a matter of personnel and what fits. It hasn't fit lately, but it certainly did a few years ago with that lineup.
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+1:good!:
 
#67
#67
Go back, and look at the last 10 national champions. Out of those ten, how many ran a controlled chaos type game?

I agree that is a very fun and exciting way to watch, but it doesn't win you titles.
 
#68
#68
nickknx865 said:
Go back, and look at the last 10 national champions. Out of those ten, how many ran a controlled chaos type game?

I agree that is a very fun and exciting way to watch, but it doesn't win you titles.
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You watched from 5th grade on? Not many teams are deep enough to press well.
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#69
#69
MikeHamiltonFan said:
You watched from 5th grade on? Not many teams are deep enough to press well.
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It has nothing to do with depth. It has everything to do with how good the other team's guards are. You can't press elite guards consistently.
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#70
#70
Pearl recently expressed moving away from C.C. to a more controlled game reminiscent of our Elite Eight run. But please don't let facts and results get in the way of your nonsense.
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#71
#71
JZVOL said:
It has nothing to do with depth. It has everything to do with how good the other team's guards are. You can't press elite guards consistently.
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Completely disagree with your first statement.

Completely agree with your last statement and have said so on this very site lots of times including in the last few days.

When you play a team without elite guard play, it can help you rest your starters to get up 25 points. In tournament play, it can really be a benefit to be able to blow out teams with weaker guard play by scoring loads off turnovers and then resting your horses.

TN has its deepest team of Pearl's tenure.
 
#72
#72
Unimane said:
How many times do I have to address this BS of the "controlled chaos" not working? One point from the Elite 8 with this system in 2007 against a loaded Ohio State team was essentially the same as the one possession win this year. As I have said, it's a matter of personnel and what fits. It hasn't fit lately, but it certainly did a few years ago with that lineup.
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I would give you that point if Tennessee hadn't blown a 19 point lead to lose that game. It doesn't work very well when everyone is gassed and the shots stop falling 5 minutes into the second half.
 
#73
#73
emainvol said:
I would give you that point if Tennessee hadn't blown a 19 point lead to lose that game. It doesn't work very well when everyone is gassed and the shots stop falling 5 minutes into the second half.
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Hmmm...so a deeper team should be able to press more effectively? Ding ding ding! Thanks emain.
 
#74
#74
MikeHamiltonFan said:
Completely disagree with your first statement.

Completely agree with your last statement and have said so on this very site lots of times including in the last few days.

When you play a team without elite guard play, it can help you rest your starters to get up 25 points. In tournament play, it can really be a benefit to be able to blow out teams with weaker guard play by scoring loads off turnovers and then resting your horses.

TN has its deepest team of Pearl's tenure.
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So in summation, you're saying that UT should press the hell out of Knoxville school for the blind, but not Duke?

If so, I can agree with that. Press when you need it, slack off when you know it will kill you.
 
#75
#75
emainvol said:
I would give you that point if Tennessee hadn't blown a 19 point lead to lose that game. It doesn't work very well when everyone is gassed and the shots stop falling 5 minutes into the second half.
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What? UT was not gassed; they played OSU toe to toe for the last 8 minutes of that game. The gaining and losing of the 19 points is part of the high risk/reward system, plus the fact that OSU was simply more talented and was going to make a solid run at some point.
 
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