Strategy- 1998 Press Adjustments

 

In 1998, we had beaten Dixon in OT 66-60 at Galesburg. While we didn't feel we had played well, in the Sectional we played them in the Championship game. We were #1 seed and they were #2 seed. The first time our press had not been very successful against them. So we looked to see if we could make any adjustments to our normal 1-2-1-1 press. 

Our primary defense was to press 1-2-1-1 then fall back into half-court man to man defense. This shows our alignment. 

#1= Jaque Howard or Sarah Pacheco

#2= Michelle Flaar or Rachel Bicego

#3= Megan Pacheco

#4= Jenny Zolper or Whitney Snyder

#5= Sarah Larson

Most teams inbound the ball to the offense's right side. And we purposely tried to have them go that way. In this case it is inbounded to #1. 

We would immediately trap with our X4 and X3 (Zolper or Snyder with M.Pacheco). The opposite wing (#2- Flaar or Bicego) would rotate to interceptor the pass back to the inbounder. Our #1 and #5 were left to play the three other offensive players.  

So normally on the trap, we were taking away the pass back to the inbounder. 

It is not shown, but our X1 needed to read to rotate up to intercept if the weakside wing filled the middle. 

X5 was the safety and would be left to guard two players. 

In the Sectional Championship game at Rock Island vs. Dixon, our scouting felt that we wanted their 5 to become a ball handler. #5 as inbounder showed they wanted to be aggressive with ball but we did not feel they were going to always handle the ball well. 

After inbounding the ball, 5 would immediately step in. If they got the ball back, they wanted to take off with a dribble. Our scouting indicated that we wanted #5 to have to handle the ball dribbling up the court. 

Our press adjustment was to trap with X4 and X3 (Zolper or Snyder with M. Pacheco), but not rotate to #5. We wanted #5 to be open. So X2 (Flaar or Bicego) would stay with the person on the weakside. 

X1 (Howard) and X5 (Larson) did not rotate up into the backcourt. In effect, they were matched and playing 2 on 2 in the backcourt. 

When #5 got the ball, if she took off, we wanted our X4 (Zolper or Snyder) to chase her to make her go fast. 

We got turnovers in the following ways:

A- X4 (Snyder) came from behind and tapped her dribble out for a turnover.

B- Once when dribbling full speed, she stopped but could not maintain balance and travelled. 

C- Several times when our X4 chased her, she turned it over with a wild pass in what looked like a 3 on 2 at the other end. 

The other adjustment was made during deadballs. In deadballs, we would deny the ball inbounds to #1 and #2 with our X3 and X2, while our X4 pressed #5 as a passer. 

It was obvious that she was a comfortable ball handler. 

The press adjustment was only part of why we were able to win. Any time you come up with a strategy, the key is players ability to execute and play with intensity. 

Too often in "big games", I have experienced trying to make adjustments from what you normally do- and having it backfire. In this case it did not backfire. This simple adjustment helped us create turnovers and come away with a 62-52 win. 

This Sunday- “Streaks Scrapbook”- 1998 Streaks Girls- Elite 8