1-3-1 Defense

I posted this on Redmen earlier.  How do you guys think we'd do in a 1-3-1 next year with Polee at the top?  I think his length and his vertical would drive teams mad.  I think the biggest benefit could be how we'd do in transition if we played a lineup with him at the four.  If they were in a man or even a zone defense, it would be a great way to punish opposing power forwards for playing close to the offensive basket, as Polee would be a good 15 feet ahead of the power forward after every St. John's defensive rebound. 

It would be extremely difficult to keep tabs of an athlete like that in transition and it would be alley oop city...especially if we had Hardy on the floor to spot up and drill the three.  You also have to factor in how fast our undersized bigs get down the floor.  Evans rountinely got to the other basket with a step or two on his man.  We'd be looking at a hell of a lot of 5-3 or 4-2 transition. 

As PMG pointed out on my last post about the 1-3-1, Boothe might be too small to get out and defend the wings.  I think Paris would be exceptional at getting a hand in the face of a shooter spotting up and is fast enough to get to both corners and has the vertical to get up and alter a shot.    I just love the trapping possibilities as well out of a 1-3-1.  You can trap both at the baseline and when they pass halfcourt.

Perhaps leave Boothe on one of the wing spots to be ready for the outlet.

I think you'd have to have DJ Kennedy as the de facto PG - unless you have Boothe down low, like Norm did a couple of times (against Georgetown in 08-09, for example).  If you have a center that you're not defendinfg anyway, it's not a bad idea.  Even if it sounds and looks crazy.

I think you'd have to have DJ Kennedy as the de facto PG - unless you have Boothe down low, like Norm did a couple of times (against Georgetown in 08-09, for example).  If you have a center that you're not defendinfg anyway, it's not a bad idea.  Even if it sounds and looks crazy.

Good point.  I wanted Boothe down there because he has such a strong base and quick, strong hands that he is absolutely exceptional at stripping the ball and muscling down low--he is the best non-shotblocker that I have ever seen (no exaggeration either) defending 2-1 or 3-1 breaks.  The downside, though, is that, while he is fast enough and hustles enough to get from wing to wing, he doesn't have the length to alter a shot from either corner. 

I'm not worried about the post out of the 1-3-1 with Polee up top.  Entry passes over him and a center and through two wings would be insanely difficult.  Plus, if they wanted to establish the post, we would bury them with durnk after dunk when Polee breaks out after the defensive rebound and we outlet to one of the wings. 

I think we'd run best wtih Polee up top, Kennedy at one wing and Boothe at the other to give us two legit handlers--one at each wing to take a quick outlet and run.  Evans/Coker/Burrell could play center and Paris down low because of his hustle, athletic ability, and awesome defense to take away any baseline try and trap the corner.

just the thought of running different defenses, under a proven defensive guru, has got me all excited for next season.

It's been so long since I've seen us play any type of zone effectively (ever?) that I'm naturally skeptical.

It's an interesting and creative thought but it sounds like you're sort of centering it around Polee playing up top. I agree his length and athleticism would be great up there, however I think it would severely hamper his two greatest strengths that he can bring to this team right away that we've been lacking severely. Rebounding and shot blocking.

One of our glaring weaknesses last season was teams grabbing offensive boards, Kennedy is obviously a strong rebounder especially for his size and Burrell flipped the switch toward the end of last year and started crashing the boards instead of JUST boxing out, Coker can block shots but he can't stay on the floor long enough to do much damage but overall we're lacking here.

I think Polee is going to be a really good player down the road but we can't expect too much too fast. But his athleticism down low should help us tremendously in the rebounding and shot blocking (some of his weakside blocks in those clips were incredible) department right away and I think we need him as close to the basket as possible to help here. Interesting thought, but I'd probably be against it for those reasons.

It's an interesting and creative thought but it sounds like you're sort of centering it around Polee playing up top. I agree his length and athleticism would be great up there, however I think it would severely hamper his two greatest strengths that he can bring to this team right away that we've been lacking severely. Rebounding and shot blocking.

One of our glaring weaknesses last season was teams grabbing offensive boards, Kennedy is obviously a strong rebounder especially for his size and Burrell flipped the switch toward the end of last year and started crashing the boards instead of JUST boxing out, Coker can block shots but he can't stay on the floor long enough to do much damage but overall we're lacking here.

I think Polee is going to be a really good player down the road but we can't expect too much too fast. But his athleticism down low should help us tremendously in the rebounding and shot blocking (some of his weakside blocks in those clips were incredible) department right away and I think we need him as close to the basket as possible to help here. Interesting thought, but I'd probably be against it for those reasons.

I agree that Polee's biggest strengths will be his athletic rebounding and shotblocking.  Playing a 1-3-1 allows him to react more and think less--always a huge plus for freshman.  I also think it will allow him to blokc some shots from completely unsuspecting bigs near the free throw line after a rebound or pass from the wings. 

If we run mostly a man defense, his lack of bulk and experience will be exposed more.  He will be forced to constantly think and evaluate instead of just react and let his superior athleticism take over.

Robinson of Oregon St. switches between a 2-3 when then team misses a shot and a 1-3-1 after a made basket.  I'd love to see this style employed at St. John's.