Here are some things to key in on as you take in tonight’s game in Tampa-

1. Transition – USF has the guards to get out and run on Virginia, and the Packline needs to get back and settle to be effective (much like many zone looks). It’ll be an interesting choice for USF Coach Stan Heath, he may decide to push tempo, or he may opt to break tendency and slow the ball down because of…

2. Post Defense – The biggest weakness in the Longwood game came from both the Bigs and the Guards in defending the post. The Bigs struggled with angles, footwork and concept – while the guards seemed lost in their help assignments. USF has the size to really make Virginia pay down low if they are out of sync. Watch to see if Heath has his guards throw their post entries in time with the backside post, guarded by Mike Scott,  cutting high (probably Gus Gilchrist). This will force the Virginia guard that is matched up with Jarrid Famous to be temporarily isolated on the block with a 6′10 Center. Making it more difficult is that helping off of Gilchrist in the high post is dangerous as he is versatile enough to really make you pay even away from the basket – much like Alabi at FSU, Gilchrist will even pull the trigger from behind the arc if his defender sags too far. The Pack-line defense requires a good amount of guard help and when that pass heads to the block we should see the backside guard come to cut off the middle of the court while the post defender stops the baseline- forcing USF to swing it back out…

3. Perimeter Defense – USF runs a motion offense, and with four players on the court able to step outside (due to Gilchrist’s versatility) it requires a lot of discipline from the defense. In the Pack-line there is an emphasis on chasing your man and not switching. UVa’s first priority is going to be to prevent the entry pass to the blocks and to collapse quickly when USF gets the ball in the high post. To prevent the ball from getting to the post, watch the rotation of UVa’s post defenders- they will come out with an initial front and move to a 3/4 when the ball gets close to free throw line depth- if UVa is physical enough then they can make the post catch the ball stepping out, and then guard them regularly knowing they have help to the middle.

If USF is winning those physical battles Bennett may adjust the position of those rotations- such as keeping the guys fronting the post the entire way. USF will adjust and try to have a guard throw the entry pass to a deep post from the corner (Longwood did this very successfully in the 1st half) – Bennett then adjusted by doubling that corner and forcing Longwood to get the ball to the block from the wing again or to penetrate and dish.

Finally UVa can’t allow super physical shooting-guard Dominique Jones to break them down – he is only a Junior and could end the season as one of the best guards in the Big East. Jones is a streaky outside shooter, but his combination of size and speed is a very difficult mark for many defenders. He is also very unselfish with good court vision, a good assist number for Jones is a bad sign for the Cavs. Jones’ biggest weakness, in my opinion, is that he doesn’t attack as well using his left hand nearly as well as his right. Knowing this, look for UVa to set up his moves with that hand while still funneling him to the middle- when he is on the right side of the basket his defender needs to be ready for him to use his right to left crossover, while on the left side of the basket knowing that Jones will bull rush off of his right hand. He particularly doesn’t shoot well on the move off of a left handed dribble and will steady himself while shooting off of that hand while he can shoot a true pull-up off of his right – he’s also a threat to catch and shoot from behind the arc.

4. Offense- Due to the difference between Longwood and South Florida I can only make a few guesses as to what Bennett has in mind, though allowing us to know he will start a lineup with four guards tonight gives us some valuable insight into what may be run. I expect UVa to come up in some similar 41 sets that we saw against Longwood- because of the threat of an athletic Gilchrist dropping to block shots I expect the plays run out of those sets to be different, even relating to the Blocker/Mover in some ways.

Stan Heath runs a pressure man defense and there’s no reason to expect we’ll see anything different tonight. In order to combat that UVa will try to spread them out and open up some clear passing lanes as the speed and athleticism difference that existed against Longwood simply isn’t there. I think we’ll see a basic Blocker/Mover, with Mike Scott as your blocker on one side and the guard with the tall Forward guarding him being the blocker on the other side. The point will come to the middle of the court, and the blockers will come high post on each side of the lane while the two off-guards run off of those blockers over and over and over. This will open up the floor, allow the point to drive and make a USF team with a short bench defend for a good amount of the clock. Don’t expect one player to get the spot at the point consistently (Mu, SZ and SL will all get their shot) so that USF can’t shift their defense towards the guard that is giving them the most trouble. If the clock is winding down I expect some sort of pick and roll look with Sylven at the top along with the guard that isn’t being guarded by Gilchrist.

If this works early Heath will have to match Bennett early and will go small, then Bennett will probably return to the offense he ran against Longwood and with a small lineup the guards should be in a position to excel to drop it off to Scott around the rim.

5. Substitutions- I expect Bennett to sub similarly to the way he did against Longwood (with Spurlock getting a few more minutes and Evans getting a few less), USF has a very limited number of players they can run at UVa and if TB can run his strategy and force USF to sub – either to give his guys a rest due to playing at UVa’s pace, or to adapt to UVa’s small line-up that will be a big victory for the Cavs in the coaching war that should pay off in the second half.

This entry was posted on Monday, November 16th, 2009 at 7:10 pm and is filed under Cvillehoops13, Men's Basketball, Sabre Bloggers, Tony Bennett, UVa Sports. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. Responses are currently closed, but you can trackback from your own site.