Pressure Defense a Way of Daring Nevill to Beat UNLV?
Should be interesting to see how the Utes might adapt to UNLV's pressure defense when the teams meet tonight at the Huntsman Center.
After all, Wyoming had success in guarding center Luke Nevill one-on-one to keep the rest of the Utes from hurting them, and the Rebels appear to be built precisely for that kind of strategy.
"What they do, is they put so much pressure on the ball that they figure you're not going to be able to feed the post because you're not going to be able to pass the ball," coach Jim Boylen said. "They impact ball-handling so well that sometimes it's hard to get the ball inside."
It's something of an insulting strategy, too.
Essentially, the Cowboys did not believe that Nevill was capable of beating them by himself, no matter how many shots he might have taken against their undersized single coverage. (He had 25 points and nine rebounds, but the Cowboys won 69-64.) And you can bet the Rebels probably think the same thing, especially if they can limit his touches by preventing entry passes into the post.
Besides, history suggests they're on to something.
Nevill has never beaten the Rebels, and usually plays solidly but unspectacularly against them. In four of the five Utah losses during his career, Nevill has averaged 13 points and 10.8 rebounds while shooting 44 percent. His one monster game came during the Mountain West Conference tournament last season, when he scored 26 points and grabbed 10 rebounds ... but the rest of his teammates were abysmal in an 80-54 season-ending loss.
After all, Wyoming had success in guarding center Luke Nevill one-on-one to keep the rest of the Utes from hurting them, and the Rebels appear to be built precisely for that kind of strategy.
"What they do, is they put so much pressure on the ball that they figure you're not going to be able to feed the post because you're not going to be able to pass the ball," coach Jim Boylen said. "They impact ball-handling so well that sometimes it's hard to get the ball inside."
It's something of an insulting strategy, too.
Essentially, the Cowboys did not believe that Nevill was capable of beating them by himself, no matter how many shots he might have taken against their undersized single coverage. (He had 25 points and nine rebounds, but the Cowboys won 69-64.) And you can bet the Rebels probably think the same thing, especially if they can limit his touches by preventing entry passes into the post.
Besides, history suggests they're on to something.
Nevill has never beaten the Rebels, and usually plays solidly but unspectacularly against them. In four of the five Utah losses during his career, Nevill has averaged 13 points and 10.8 rebounds while shooting 44 percent. His one monster game came during the Mountain West Conference tournament last season, when he scored 26 points and grabbed 10 rebounds ... but the rest of his teammates were abysmal in an 80-54 season-ending loss.
posted by www.sltrib.com @ 1:11 PM |
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