Switching Defense Question
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Anyone else wondering if our switching defense is supposed to include Dok or if that’s a mistake by the guards who switch leaving Dok on a guard at the top of the key? Dok is getting stuck out there several times every game and his reaction seems to indicate its by mistake. He looks over his shoulder and never really commits to fully guarding against the 3. If he switches and is on a perimeter shooter, Dok needs to commit to stopping the 3 ball and let whomever is under the rim do the best they can. Dok finds himself in no man’s land and sometimes leaves the ball handler unguarded. I can’t remember a single other year where our big is left at the top of the key guarding the ball handling guard on the perimeter. What’s up?
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@stoptheflop It seemed to me last night that Garrett and Dot were going through the screens, and that Braun and Ochai were switching, leaving Dok in no man’s land that led to at least 4 threes. A few teaching moments will no doubt be coming up for our less experienced guards in the next few days.
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Doke has blocked a few 3’s!
which has lead to some full court highlights!
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@stoptheflop I think that is some of the trouble. Last night as stated Garrett and Dot stayed with their assignments most the time while the other 2 guards switched most the time. That lead to some confusion. I think if you wanna switch, you should do it with everyone to eliminate mistakes. We saw Doke on Bane twice and he left him wide open, which lead to 2 easy 3 pointers. As I’ve said before I’d take a contested 2 even with a smaller defender over leaving a shooter open by 10 foot. I’d say no switch with Doke but all guards switch at this point. If someone gets hot, I put Garrett on him and tell them not to switch at all.
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TCU was basically running 5 out with enough ball screens to force switches trying to get those mismatches on the perimeter. It was their game plan to get Dok defending outside. Hopefully adjustments will be made now before the tournament to fix this issue.
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@dylans The same switching happened against Baylor and the Baylor guard was smart enough to take the ball back toward half court so Dok was 25 feet from the rim. The problem I’ve seen is Dok doesn’t commit to defending the guard with his height to prevent a 3 and use his reach to make passing difficult; Dok tends to back off giving the ball handler easy options.
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There are 3 big offensive moves coming out of the high ball screens. Open trey shots, drives to the rim, and pick and roll (or pick and pop) from the big. When you get a combination of both a capable guard and big (on offense) it becomes almost impossible to guard. It’s a game of inches and sometimes it just takes a few ball screens to get that inch or two advantage to attack.
On offense… it helps us, big time, when Devon is hot from trey and Doke is playing aggressive and smart (like he did against Baylor). When Devon hits shots and also has his drive threat, we become very dangerous off ball screens. When Doke is energetic and seeing the game well, we have an excellent screener, capable of knowing how to screen and then roll to the rim for another threat.
As far as defending it well… our defenders need to be very energetic and willing to fight through contact. Their job is to be disrupters. Their job is to move their feet and angle constantly, making it hard for a screener to set a good screen. Stepping out when we can hold a position is important. Going under rarely has a good result. When they can’t get out there they need to try to tangle up with the big, preventing his easy roll to the basket.
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@drgnslayr Speaking of setting good screens, do you see that Dok is still sticking his hip out when the defender goes by to enhance his screen? I love Dok and his competitiveness, but I think he’s going to pick up a foul on his illegal screens at a critical time.
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He’s been doing a better job of that lately!
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Yes he does. As long as he gets away with it then he should do it. Refs will allow slight movement. They claim they are looking for body parts that extend wider than the feet. Sometimes the movements just look wrong and get the whistle.
All and all, Doke is learning to be effective. He’s developed so much over the last year. Losing weight really helped him so his body could keep up with his mind.
I’m thrilled at where he is development wise. He is slightly improving at the FT line, but has a long ways to go there. The rest of his game is solid and his discipline to stay within his range is excellent. No wonder he will go in the record books for FG%!
What I’d like to see is the aggression he has shown in some recent games happening in every game moving forward! He’s going to face better bigs and he needs to keep his mind right and attack with such great aggression. No fouls!
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I think Dokes reputation is now one of his biggest assets. Refs know that is a potential player of the year not some inexperienced big guy. He has been getting the benefit of the doubt more this year all over the court on screens, blocks, and even post moves. Refs can’t help but have bias and at this point it’s finally working in his favor.
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@drgnslayr Regarding Dok’s FT shooting, I see now that he is really exagerating the back spin he’s putting on the ball with his right hand. So much back spin that he’s missing long on his FTs. I never felt like back spin helped. My best success came from shot putting a dead ball with no spin, and just making sure it drops softly down on the rim. I can still hit 7/10 without any practice.
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@drgnslayr Dok! Best shooter in NCAA history! Percentages don’t lie!!!
