I had given up hope

[bullseye-35]

Until the TSU game that Barnes would ever employ a real trap defense. In between playing with kids, I saw this first in the TSU game as a half court trap that looked quite effective. In the UTPA game, we ran a real full court press. Not the "Barnes token press," mind you, which is essentially a full court man defense.

I had accepted that Barnes just hated giving up any easy basket so much that he would never implement a true trap defense. The players, especially Balbay and Bradley, seemed much more comfortable with the tempo. I'm interested to see if this was just experimentation against lesser teams or a fundamental shift for this squad. If so, get ready for a 90-90 type score on Saturday.

 

[mars]

I'm not sure UNC is a team you want to full court press. Maybe this year, since their backcourt has been turning the ball over, but pressing a Roy Williams team is usually not advised.

 

[bullseye-35]

agreed in principal, but your caveat about UNC turnovers and the improved rhythm/tempo in the transition offense makes me think it might actually work to our favor. Balbay is much better in transition than in the half court offense. We have the horses to out-quick even a Roy Williams team. It'll be interesting on Saturday.