Press Virginia?

KU: 13 TOs, WVU: 16
KU: 9 Steals, WVU: 5

From the LJW 1/16/18

Watching the game, one of the frustrations was that a pretty fair percentage of the TO’s were unforced. They started with the 5 second call which was quintessential Press Virginia. But then we had errant passes and dribble faux pas. To be fair, that is partly caused by the way West Virginia forces pace. After the first 10 minutes I was so discouraged. We were on our heels and playing like we were overwhelmed. No mental toughness. Just to clarify, I do not equate mental toughness with effort or or even resolve. These young men are very competitive and rarely lack resolve or “want to”. I define mental toughness as that ability to play smarter and cooler and more focused and stick to the plan and not get rattled when the other team is having a crazy good run or is especially intense. As bad as the first half was the second was just the opposite. Beginning with Devonte’, the team settled in and played the plan and did not get rattled. They never did shoot lights out from three although they shot a little better. They were embarrassed at the rim seemingly every single time by Konate. But they kept attacking and eventually succeeded. But mostly, they never pressed on defense. They played the plan and played what I consider to be the best defense we have played this year. The second half was far from flawless but it was a thing of beauty because it was against an equally or possibly more talented team but we stuck with the plan. Mostly, we kept Azubuike on the floor for most of the 2nd half which was critical.

WVU has a one-dimensional style defensively: press and be as disruptive as possible on defense. Kind of like Syracuse who runs almost exclusively zone defense. The problem with that strategy is that when the other team figures our how to beat you, you're out of options.

Self almost exclusively runs man-to-man, BUT how he runs it varies on how guys are supposed to help, switch, etc. Additionally, you occasionally see Self run zone (although he seems to hate it more than a 5 year old hates a plate of brussles sprouts).

KU's ball handlers eventually figured out how to beat the press, and WVU added to the fun by fouling.

The stats you posted tell a great story (and as Konza points out) how much MORE telling they are when you consider the way we started.

I know everybody's feeling pretty good right now, but we still have a lot of work ahead, and while we looked good in the 2nd half last night, this team is still on shaky ground. It's not guarantee that WVU won't beat us in Lawrence, so I'm hoping that we take the intelligence we gathered last night and combine it to find ways to get Newman, Vick, Lightfoot, DeSousa, and Garrett more effective in the rematch.

Like him or not, Huggins can coach, and I have no doubt that he'll be making some adjustments.