re: The change in Will Wade is defense

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What we’re doing on defense is indefensible. We have depth and talent at this point yet we’re running some crutch defense that any high school team can get quality looks against. You don’t even wanna play zone if you’re small to begin with. You’re inherently gonna have problems giving up offensive rebounds in a zone so 99.9% of the teams who run em have a big man to offset that deficiency but not us, we play as small as possible. You’re also gonna have trouble guarding the 3 and nobody has more trouble with it than us so why stay in it? Ok so maybe the idea is to use some traps and maybe full to 3/4 court pressure causing turnovers. Except we don’t follow the 1st and biggest rule of pressure, don’t give the opponent a chance to survey the defense. Any trap or pressure has to be overly aggressive with immediate ball pressure to take the handlers eyes off of the defense. If you allow the ball handler to get a good look at your setup the trap is useless. So we don’t use the proper personnel, we don’t follow the cardinal rules of the defenses we’re trying to play and we’re running obscure, simple defenses that are extremely easy to beat and leave us completely defenseless in the worst spots possible. Again we were never a dominant defense before but giving up 42% overall 33% from 3 and 71ppg with our offense is more than enough to be an outstanding team. I dunno why he changed so drastically but if he doesn’t go back to what we had success with games like last night will keep happening.

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Even before the Vandy game they weren't a great defense. Better? Probably so. But not good.

But I AGREE whole-heartedly with the rest of your comments. Wade seems to think the "fix" is to run deferent defenses (like the 1-3-1) rather than simply just changing the approach as to how they defend. Like you, I HATE watching their press. It only works late in games when they really ratchet up the tempo. But most of the time it is a half-assed press that is incredibly easy to beat and one that leaves the defense grossly out of position. Like you said. Either squeeze the press/trap tight or don't press

Why he has put so much faith in Bill Armstrong (the "architect" of LSU's 1-3-1) is beyond me. Armstrong came from Andy Kennedy's Ole Miss staff. Ole Miss was traditionally, under Kennedy, one of the weaker defensive teams in the SEC.

I'm not a basketball coach by trade. And I FULLY admit Wade has forgotten more about basketball than I will ever know. But as someone who knows a little something about the game and follows it closely I just can't accept the rational often touted on here that LSU just doesn't have the personnel to be a good defensive team, or even that Wade can't coach defense. There MUST be a reason why the numbers have been so poor. And I think what you and I are seeing is that Wade's overemphasis on creating turnovers is misplaced. LSU has been REALLY good at getting steals this year (currently 17th in the nation in steals per defensive possession). Yet, they still are a bad defensive team. Why? Because on a majority of the 85% or so possessions where they don't create a turnover they are giving the opponent a really good look. At that point it is simply just a matter of luck as to whether or not the opponent makes it.

IMO, simply just working hard to force opponents into tougher shots...even at the expense of less steals/turnovers...would drastically change the defensive numbers. Rather than constantly ball-hawking (and losing the guy you are defending in the process) just stay in front of your man. You can't tell me that the tremendous athleticism and skill of these players can ONLY manifest itself on one end of the floor.