[PaintTouches]Synergy: Ball screen coverage crucial against Canes

[PaintTouchesSays]

Synergy: Ball screen coverage crucial against Canes
      

Written by: Mark Strotman
            

Like he is every offseason, Buzz Williams spent all four months as a student. He meticulously studied a different aspect of the game for one month, each month, to improve as a head coach. He said he wanted to focus ... Continue reading →


            

http://painttouches.com/2013/03/25/synergy-ball-screen-coverage-crucial-against-canes/
      

[MUMountin]

Good to know.  On the basis of ball screens, what team are they closest to that we played this year?  Did you compare how we defended and fared against similar teams?  I'd be interested to see what we did in those situations. 

[downtown85]

Wasn't Xavier running ball screens all the time with Tu Holloway a couple of years ago when we met them in the NCAAs?  Wasn't Tu reduced to tears in the pos tgame press conference by Jimmy F Butler's tenacious D?

[MUMountin]

Wasn't Xavier running ball screens all the time with Tu Holloway a couple of years ago when we met them in the NCAAs?  Wasn't Tu reduced to tears in the pos tgame press conference by Jimmy F Butler's tenacious D?

I did a little looking back, and you're right--X did run a ton of ball screens that year, and one the reasons for our victory was our ability (especially with Jimmy Butler on Holloway) to defend those ball screens.

So, hopefully Buzz can take a page out of that playbook--but who takes JFB's role as defensive stopper on Larkin?

[BubbaWilliams]

Trent? Vander? D Will?

[MarquetteMAN]

Wasn't Xavier running ball screens all the time with Tu Holloway a couple of years ago when we met them in the NCAAs?  Wasn't Tu reduced to tears in the pos tgame press conference by Jimmy F Butler's tenacious D?

That game showed just how one-dimensional that Xavier team was. Without Holloway, they were god-awful. Miami is a different animal that has much better guard play than X but the blueprint is still the same. I say keep Vander and Derrick on larkin and have Buzz do his "line changes" from time to time to confuse Miami with both offensive and defensive set ups.

[T.V. Diener 34]

We also need to switch to incorporate some zone in our defense as well.  We did this against Butler and it really took away those on and off ball screens that they were setting for Clarke.

[downtown85]

That game showed just how one-dimensional that Xavier team was. Without Holloway, they were god-awful. Miami is a different animal that has much better guard play than X but the blueprint is still the same. I say keep Vander and Derrick on larkin and have Buzz do his "line changes" from time to time to confuse Miami with both offensive and defensive set ups.

X had Lyons as well who is now a big part of Arizona's team after transfer. They had Lurch (I can't remember his real name) in the post who wasn't a horrible big. 

[Silkk the Shaka]

X had Lyons as well who is now a big part of Arizona's team after transfer. They had Lurch (I can't remember his real name) in the post who wasn't a horrible big. 

[rocky_warrior]

I say keep Vander and Derrick on larkin and have Buzz do his "line changes" from time to time to confuse Miami with both offensive and defensive set ups.

I'd worry about hurting Vander's productivity on offense if you asked him to spend too much effort on Larkin.