How do teams successfully defend MU?

[Marcus92]

Creighton wasn't a great defensive team before they lost Maurice Watson. They certainly weren't on Saturday. But it had to be frustrating for head coach Greg McDermott — who pulled seemingly every defensive trick out of the bag to no avail. Man to man. 1-3-1. Full court press. Marquette found a way to identify, dissect and break down every scheme.

Nova, on the other hand, is a Top 25 defense. So where is Marquette most vulnerable, beyond the randomness of "good shooting day" versus "bad shooting day"?

[GoldenZebra]

Probably the easiest way is to get Fischer in foul trouble, and then it is smooth sailing from there. To me without Luke the offense stagnates a lot, and forces a lot of quick jump shots/poor shot selection or out of control drives by JJJ or Markus. Heldt has yet to show he can take a pass quick inside and therefore I don't think teams will guard him as thoroughly as Luke.

[JamilJaeJamailJrJuan]

Probably the easiest way is to get Fischer in foul trouble, and then it is smooth sailing from there. To me without Luke the offense stagnates a lot, and forces a lot of quick jump shots/poor shot selection or out of control drives by JJJ or Markus. Heldt has yet to show he can take a pass quick inside and therefore I don't think teams will guard him as thoroughly as Luke.

Yep. Luke is a big piece to the puzzle.

But if he plays anything like he did on Saturday, half of which was against a 7 footer who will be a very good player in the NBA, we're going to be just fine for the rest of this season.

[tower912]

Michigan did it by having 6'10 guys on the perimeter challenging 3s and then recovering.  Villanova did it by pressuring the ball handlers.  Wiscy also did it with length.

[HoopsterBC]

Lots of ways to beat MU.  First, MU can beat themselves by not shooting at a high 3 point percentage, Secondly, when Luke plays like crap, really simple.  He is there
only inside presence.  With the amount of long range shooters this year, somebody during the game can go off.  Having a bench of Rowsey and Reinhardt, when on,
really hard to beat.

Finally, with the Packer like D at times, the other team is going to get lots of easy shots like Butler, just can out score MU.  To bad, they do not have a physical player
on the team.  Cheatham is suppose to be MU's best defender but Foster had 30 off him and was to physical a player for him to handle.  JJJ could not handle him either
and tomorrow who can guard Hart.

[MUBigDance]

What about the press....always gets me nervous.

How would we fare against those old Nolan Richardson Arkansas teams and "40 minutes of Hell". Sure we have some depth...but handling the ball.....egads.

and you know a Jay Wright team will do it right.

[Marcus92]

I thought Katin was awesome handling the ball against full-court and half-court pressure during the Creighton game. He sees the court well, even against taller defenders, and ended up with a team-high 7 assists. It'll be nice to have another really dependable guy to bring the ball up besides Markus.

[MUfan12]

Nova, on the other hand, is a Top 25 defense. So where is Marquette most vulnerable, beyond the randomness of "good shooting day" versus "bad shooting day"?

Nova controlled tempo by pressuring the ball. MU didn't get into their offense until :18 left on the shot clock. MU doesn't handle slow very well. They did okay on Saturday to try and draw Creighton out of the zone, but will struggle doing that for 40 minutes.

[brewcity77]

I thought Katin was awesome handling the ball against full-court and half-court pressure during the Creighton game. He sees the court well, even against taller defenders, and ended up with a team-high 7 assists. It'll be nice to have another really dependable guy to bring the ball up besides Markus.

Having Howard, Reinhardt, and Cheatham on the floor really neutralizes a team's ability to press. Three solid ball-handlers that can all pass it and shoot FTs well. Tough to get it away from them, and don't want to send them to the line.

[TAMU, Knower of Ball]

Its easy to forget but Katin was actually considered a PG coming out of high school. He has some of those ball handler skills. Great asset to the program. Good thing we didn't cut him after the first few games!

[TSmith34, Inc.]

Secondly, when Luke plays like crap, really simple.

When Luke plays like crap defensively, it is almost always because he has been pulled 15+ feet away from the basket and being asked to defend in space.  If the opposing offense schemes to make this happen, or our defensive scheme is predicated on him defending in space, Luke and MU are in trouble.

[HoopsterBC]

When Luke plays like crap defensively, it is almost always because he has been pulled 15+ feet away from the basket and being asked to defend in space.  If the opposing offense schemes to make this happen, or our defensive scheme is predicated on him defending in space, Luke and MU are in trouble.

Agree, but scoring 2 points does not work either much less no boards.  Last game is the Luke this team needs.  Villy has Reynolds, he is more of an inside player.

[MU82]

I thought Katin was awesome handling the ball against full-court and half-court pressure during the Creighton game. He sees the court well, even against taller defenders, and ended up with a team-high 7 assists. It'll be nice to have another really dependable guy to bring the ball up besides Markus.

Katin has done this in many games now. Quite impressive. He is calm and knows what he is doing. Plus, he makes his FTs.

As to the OP ... you stay home against our best shooters. I mean, why would you ever leave Rowsey, Howard or Hauser wide open? Wisconsin simply took Hauser out of the game by staying with him. But Katin had a great stretch in that game, and that was before Howard really burst onto the scene. It is tough to defend so many good 3-point shooters. Creighton for a bit decided to live with JJJ shooting them ... and he nailed two big ones.

[Lighthouse 84]

As if I'm going to tell you on an internet message board...we play Nova tonight!

[tower912]

Looks like Jay plans to have his players stay home and up on shooters. 

[MU82]

Looks like Jay plans to have his players stay home and up on shooters.

I think this is the best plan. You don't double-team Luke - you live with the possibility of him having what for him would be a great offensive game: 20 points on 8-10 from floor, 4-7 from the line and no 3s. When he is dribbling the ball for 6 seconds trying to establish position for his hook shot, it slows down our offensive flow.

While Luke had a fine game Saturday, he also has had many games recently where the hook wasn't going in. He is just as likely to go 4-10 as 8-10, and the difference in those is only 8 points. Why would you leave a 50% shooter from 3 to DT that?

I say all this as a Luke fan, as opposed to some folks here. But his best offensive role this season generally has been as a passer when the defense foolishly leaves Markus, Katin, Hauser or Rowsey to DT him.

[wadesworld]

I think this is the best plan. You don't double-team Luke - you live with the possibility of him having what for him would be a great offensive game: 20 points on 8-10 from floor, 4-7 from the line and no 3s. When he is dribbling the ball for 6 seconds trying to establish position for his hook shot, it slows down our offensive flow.

While Luke had a fine game Saturday, he also has had many games recently where the hook wasn't going in. He is just as likely to go 4-10 as 8-10, and the difference in those is only 8 points. Why would you leave a 50% shooter from 3 to DT that?

I say all this as a Luke fan, as opposed to some folks here. But his best offensive role this season generally has been as a passer when the defense foolishly leaves Markus, Katin, Hauser or Rowsey to DT him.

I absolutely double Luke from the same side of the floor.  Luke is good at finding the cutter down the middle of the lane and kicking opposite to the open shooter, but he is not good when the double comes from his side of the floor at all.  Very turnover prone there.

[Jay Bee]

Pray.

[WarriorFan]

Full court pressure, double Luke, work the fouls against Luke.

I do think we're much better against the press than last time vs. Villanova but it can still be effective as a way of shortening the offensive sequence and eliminating the chance to get good shots. 

That would be for "any" team outside the top 10.  Villanova can play straight up man and beat us because they're basically better 1-5.  Just bein' real.

[Stretchdeltsig]

This sounds like a question only a troll would ask.

[TinyTimsLittleBrother]

Full court pressure, double Luke, work the fouls against Luke.

I do think we're much better against the press than last time vs. Villanova but it can still be effective as a way of shortening the offensive sequence and eliminating the chance to get good shots. 

That would be for "any" team outside the top 10.  Villanova can play straight up man and beat us because they're basically better 1-5.  Just bein' real.

I would neither press nor double Luke. Creates too many open shots when MU moves the ball well.

I would chase them off the three point line and force them to drive.