The Reason For So Many Open 3’s

[Warf2012]

For several weeks I’ve gone back and watched parts of each game to see why we give up so many open 3’s.

The reason/s are our defenders on the wing (usually Edwards, saw Burks do it too) cheat by staying close to the lane and leave their guy wide open behind the 3pt line. They cheat so much that they never are able to recover. A team could get an open 3 in the corner every trip just by play 4 out because our defenders on the corner guys will basically have 1 foot on the block/paint while their man is beyond the 3pt line.

Then there’s also the issue that anytime the ball gets below the free throw line we go to double team. That leaves someone wide open for a 3. Most of the time teams can get the shot with one pass but if not they just have to pass it around until we can recover.

We’ve done it this game as well. It’s nice to have the lead at half but the way Cal has them playing defense drives me nuts. It’s like absolutely nobody trusts their teammates to be able to guard their man straight up.

 

[thedahc]

You undercut your whole post if you talk about bad three-point defense and mention Edwards and Burks and don't mention Sheppard.

I love Reed, but nobody on the team has given up more 3's than him. Nobody bites on more pump fakes than him or gets lost on 3 point defense than him.

Or since he is from Kentucky do we pretend not to see that?

 

[Fox2monk]

For several weeks I’ve gone back and watched parts of each game to see why we give up so many open 3’s.

The reason/s are our defenders on the wing (usually Edwards, saw Burks do it too) cheat by staying close to the lane and leave their guy wide open behind the 3pt line. They cheat so much that they never are able to recover. A team could get an open 3 in the corner every trip just by play 4 out because our defenders on the corner guys will basically have 1 foot on the block/paint while their man is beyond the 3pt line.

Then there’s also the issue that anytime the ball gets below the free throw line we go to double team. That leaves someone wide open for a 3. Most of the time teams can get the shot with one pass but if not they just have to pass it around until we can recover.

We’ve done it this game as well. It’s nice to have the lead at half but the way Cal has them playing defense drives me nuts. It’s like absolutely nobody trusts their teammates to be able to guard their man straight up.

Doubling the post is so bad, we do it every possession and it’s not needed, just solid foundational defense would accomplish more than that, all it does is give wide open shots and layups.

 

[HenryMuto]

It's what Cal teaches it is pretty clear now this is how Cal teaches them to play "team" D

 

[Fox2monk]

You undercut your whole post if you talk about bad three-point defense and mention Edwards and Burks and don't mention Sheppard.

I love Reed, but nobody on the team has given up more 3's than him. Nobody bites on more pump fakes than him or gets lost on 3 point defense than him.

Or since he is from Kentucky do we pretend not to see that?

Absolutely correct, Reed ball watches more than anyone I’ve ever seen. He needs to improve on that area of his game to be a good pro. He needs to return no matter what a mock draft says.

 

[TNCatfanforever]

Thankfully they were 5/22 or it would’ve been a long night

 

[KYFOSSIL]

Thankfully they were 5/22 or it would’ve been a long night

We missed shots we should of hit as well

 

[wildcatglenn]

You undercut your whole post if you talk about bad three-point defense and mention Edwards and Burks and don't mention Sheppard.

I love Reed, but nobody on the team has given up more 3's than him. Nobody bites on more pump fakes than him or gets lost on 3 point defense than him.

Or since he is from Kentucky do we pretend not to see that?

Reed is the worst of them all. My 3rd/4th graders play better off ball defense than he does. He is the #1 ball watcher offender.

 

[crawfords corner]

Been saying this all season. It happens so much.

 

[LineSkiCat14]

For several weeks I’ve gone back and watched parts of each game to see why we give up so many open 3’s.

The reason/s are our defenders on the wing (usually Edwards, saw Burks do it too) cheat by staying close to the lane and leave their guy wide open behind the 3pt line. They cheat so much that they never are able to recover. A team could get an open 3 in the corner every trip just by play 4 out because our defenders on the corner guys will basically have 1 foot on the block/paint while their man is beyond the 3pt line.

Then there’s also the issue that anytime the ball gets below the free throw line we go to double team. That leaves someone wide open for a 3. Most of the time teams can get the shot with one pass but if not they just have to pass it around until we can recover.

We’ve done it this game as well. It’s nice to have the lead at half but the way Cal has them playing defense drives me nuts. It’s like absolutely nobody trusts their teammates to be able to guard their man straight up.

Forgive me here.. but what reason is there, at all, for guards to "cheat" by positioning themselves to be more in the paint and not on their man? Are they worried if they play up too close they might get blown by?

Doesn't make sense to me why a player would do that, and what they would have to gain.

 

[crawfords corner]

Forgive me here.. but what reason is there, at all, for guards to "cheat" by positioning themselves to be more in the paint and not on their man? Are they worried if they play up too close they might get blown by?

Doesn't make sense to me why a player would do that, and what they would have to gain.

I think Cal thinks every big man is Shaq.

 

[Warf2012]

You undercut your whole post if you talk about bad three-point defense and mention Edwards and Burks and don't mention Sheppard.

I love Reed, but nobody on the team has given up more 3's than him. Nobody bites on more pump fakes than him or gets lost on 3 point defense than him.

Or since he is from Kentucky do we pretend not to see that?

Yea Reed gives up a lot of open shots as well but his are mostly from dropping down to double. Edwards and Burks were just the examples of the ones I saw cheating towards the paint the most.

 

[Warf2012]

Forgive me here.. but what reason is there, at all, for guards to "cheat" by positioning themselves to be more in the paint and not on their man? Are they worried if they play up too close they might get blown by?

Doesn't make sense to me why a player would do that, and what they would have to gain.

Ok picture the other team has a big in the paint, a guy in each corner, one out on the wing and the pg with the ball is on the other wing. The UK defenders that are supposed to be covering the corners but cheating are doing so because the middle is basically wide ass open. So they play down close to the paint because they seem to just assume the PG will get by our defender leading to an open layout or drive and dump to the big man once our center rotates to the pg.

Instead what happens is the pg starts driving from way out and when he gets to around the 3pt line our corner defenders already have a foot in the paint to try and stop the drive so the PG just throws it to one of the corner guys.

If you want examples, that won’t make you mad since we won, watch the Vandy game. You can see all you need in the first half. It didn’t hurt us that game because they didn’t hit their guys in the corner much nor did they shoot well. But other teams this year have absolutely killed us doing this.

Here’s some examples from Vandy in the first half. I had more but cut it to 4. There’s zero possible way to recover when you’re this far out of position. I understand having to cheat a little to stop possible drives but good teams eat this alive and it’s happened to us multiple times this year.

 

[BlueSince92]

Doubling the post is so bad, we do it every possession and it’s not needed, just solid foundational defense would accomplish more than that, all it does is give wide open shots and layups.

For several weeks I’ve gone back and watched parts of each game to see why we give up so many open 3’s.

The reason/s are our defenders on the wing (usually Edwards, saw Burks do it too) cheat by staying close to the lane and leave their guy wide open behind the 3pt line. They cheat so much that they never are able to recover. A team could get an open 3 in the corner every trip just by play 4 out because our defenders on the corner guys will basically have 1 foot on the block/paint while their man is beyond the 3pt line.

Then there’s also the issue that anytime the ball gets below the free throw line we go to double team. That leaves someone wide open for a 3. Most of the time teams can get the shot with one pass but if not they just have to pass it around until we can recover.

We’ve done it this game as well. It’s nice to have the lead at half but the way Cal has them playing defense drives me nuts. It’s like absolutely nobody trusts their teammates to be able to guard their man straight up.

It's a carefully designed defense. It's just not designed to win.

 

[NociHTTP]

Doubling the post is so bad, we do it every possession and it’s not needed, just solid foundational defense would accomplish more than that, all it does is give wide open shots and layups.

IF this game was any indication (yeah, it's Mississippi), then Ugo has arrived as a defender and so the rest of the guys should be better spaced out. Maybe help out more when Bradshaw or Z are in there, depending on who's on the court for the opponent. Probably too much for Cow to worry about.

 

[NociHTTP]

Yea Reed gives up a lot of open shots as well but his are mostly from dropping down to double. Edwards and Burks were just the examples of the ones I saw cheating towards the paint the most.

One of the things I'm seeing with Reed is he sags off the guy he's guarding behind the line, and puts his hands up AFTER the shooter is about to release the shot. He's not tall enough to get away with that. And if he is up in the guy's face he seems to fall for the pump fake EVERY time. Put your hands and don't leave the floor!

 

[BlueRunner11]

Yea Reed gives up a lot of open shots as well but his are mostly from dropping down to double.

Also worth noting…Reed is the SEC leader in steals and tied for 12th in the country. Many of those steals occur from him coming off his man to double which it turn leads to fast break opportunities. Hes also the best rebounding guard on the team most likely in part for the same reason.

I assume the staff sees it’s statistically a plus (for him anyway) to have him continue to play this way.

 

[KyLegacy]

You undercut your whole post if you talk about bad three-point defense and mention Edwards and Burks and don't mention Sheppard.

I love Reed, but nobody on the team has given up more 3's than him. Nobody bites on more pump fakes than him or gets lost on 3 point defense than him.

Or since he is from Kentucky do we pretend not to see that?

Or Dilly and Wagner…and Reeves…actually every player in the team.

 

[ck-2]

Cal has to teach and want it because they all do it. I think Cal also wants them (the guards) in the paint to rebound. I think Reed is the worst because he’s pretty good at executing what the coach wants.

 

[saxonburgcat]

Thankfully they were 5/22 or it would’ve been a long night

The biggest problem tonight was the points off of turnovers. We had a LOT of bad turnovers which gave them layups on the break aways.

 

[Creed Bratton]

For several weeks I’ve gone back and watched parts of each game to see why we give up so many open 3’s.

The reason/s are our defenders on the wing (usually Edwards, saw Burks do it too) cheat by staying close to the lane and leave their guy wide open behind the 3pt line. They cheat so much that they never are able to recover. A team could get an open 3 in the corner every trip just by play 4 out because our defenders on the corner guys will basically have 1 foot on the block/paint while their man is beyond the 3pt line.

Then there’s also the issue that anytime the ball gets below the free throw line we go to double team. That leaves someone wide open for a 3. Most of the time teams can get the shot with one pass but if not they just have to pass it around until we can recover.

We’ve done it this game as well. It’s nice to have the lead at half but the way Cal has them playing defense drives me nuts. It’s like absolutely nobody trusts their teammates to be able to guard their man straight up.

It's not just Edwards and Burks, who doesn't even play much, it's Rob and Reed as well. They lose their man way too many times trying to double down and get backside steals.

 

[JonathanW]

I been saying this for a few weeks, that our guys help way to much creating wide open 3’s

 

[bigblueinsanity]

It all goes back to awful putrid ball screen defense because cal can't defend it without an alien big who just switches.

That said we finally looked a little better. let's see if it holds