Murray State University Athletics
Cronin Has Racers Pressed For Success
11/11/2003 12:00:00 AM | Men's Basketball
Thinking outside the box is a valuable strategy in any endeavor. In games, it can prove decisive.
If you can find a way to distort a game, rendering a conventional approach either impossible or disadvantageous, then you cripple your opponent.
One way to do that in basketball is by employing a full court press at all times ala Rick Pitino. It is an approach favored by MSU head coach Mick Cronin.
The press turns conventional offensive strategy on its ear, because the only way to beat it is to attack the basket. Merely advancing the ball to mid-court and then setting up your offense every time down is a prescription for defeat.
Cronin sees the press as a way to generate points.
"We're looking to get easy baskets and that doesn't necessarily come from stealing the ball," he said. "It could come from hurried shots by the other team as well as from steals."
That's where the distortion comes into play. As other teams are compelled to play fast in order to attack the press properly they are forced out of their comfort zone. This results in missed shots and errors, which become more and more likely as fatigue sets in.
"If we can force our opponents to play our style that's to our advantage," Cronin said. "They aren't prepared to play that way and its difficult to
simulate in practice. It could be particularly difficult for teams in
conference play because of the Thursday - Saturday schedule. Teams that play us on Saturday will only have one day to prepare."
Racer fans may recall that Scott Edgar's teams also relied heavily on the press. But while Cronin's approach appears similar to Edgar's there is one significant difference. Edgar used a zone press, which allowed the in-bounds pass and then trapped the ball handler. Cronin relies on a man-to-man press that doesn't allow any passes.
"All of our presses use man-to-man pressure," he said. "We try to make the other team throw it to a non-ball-handler and force him to beat the pressure."
The Racers already have three different presses they can use and by the time Ohio Valley Conference play starts they will have five.
Another advantage to pressing and scoring in transition is that it renders scouting reports less valuable.
"Our opponents know that Rick Jones is a good shooter," Cronin said. "And in half court situations they'll make sure they find him and deny him open shots. But that's much harder to do when we're in transition."
Distortion again.
Look for MSU's success to be measured by how severely they can take the game and twist it out of shape.
