this one 'theme' of this year team could pay huge dividends for several reasons. Coach B has said several times, and its been noted on the radio, that this is our deepest team in the last decade. I think top to bottom, this is also our most balanced team. We dont have the 'stars' that some of the other teams have had but we have 9-10 really solid players that can give us 15-20 minutes each night.
Here are the reasons I see depth being a huge factor... 1. With corona continuing to rear its ugly head, and the fact that injuries have hamstringed (pun intended) us so much in the last several years, i think our depth could help us big time down the stretch, especially in ACC play this season
2. The press was huge factor, especially against Purdue, this past week at the tournament. It is obvious that when we have pressed teams in the past, it has been effective but we've never had enough players to be able to press very much without getting worn out. With a 11-12 man rotation, we can afford to press more, namely on made baskets, which disrupts the other teams flow, leading to TO's and easy baskets for us.
3. Experience is a huge factor as well. Being able to play 12 me deep, its easier to play different lineup combos and get young guys experience while not getting too many young guys on the court at a time. This is big not only for this year, but for the future as well.
This is definitely a tourney team if we can stay the course!
Agree with everything you said, but i particularly like the ability to press more. I love that brand of basketball, just have to be careful not to wear our guys down by tourney time. So don't need press as much as we did under OP, but maybe half the time mixing mostly full court with some half court presses.
The type of pressure that Brownell will employ for 40 minutes is FAR different and much more exhausting than Purnell's pressure as well. Playing full-court man-to-man is FAR more draining than going to a diamond zone press, like we did under Purnell. So we have to be even more cautious of how it is used, in particular the use of Honor and Dawes. Against Purdue, they each played 25-30 minutes which, general math tells you, means there were 10-20 minutes where they were on the floor together at the same time. Using those 10-20 minutes carefully will be vitally important for the long-term success of our defensive strategy this year.