Pressure: Lady Pioneers smother opponents with their ‘Press Greene’
John F. Brothers | 缅北禁地
John F. Brothers Carmichaels鈥� Shelby McCann (11) tries to gain control of the basketball against West Greene.
Evan Sanders
Geibel Catholic鈥檚 Gillian Yourish (3) gets a pass through the defense of West Greene鈥檚 Madison Lampe (21) and McKenna Lampe (14) during Thursday鈥檚 Section 2-A game at Geibel Catholic.
Joel Brewton
Joel Brewton Joel Brewton West Greene鈥檚 Kaitlyn Rizor (10) is pursued by Winchester Thurston鈥檚 Ayanna Townsend (22) as she works the ball down the court during Tuesday鈥檚 WPIAL Class A semifinal playoff game at West Allegheny High School.
The West Greene girls鈥� basketball squad has been highly successful the last two winters, and one of the key elements to its success has been its relentless, full-court pressure defense.
The genesis of the Lady Pioneers鈥� press defense, or as they like to call it Press Greene, came from just down the road in Morgantown, West Virginia.
鈥淲e kind of got the Press Greene motto from WVU (men鈥檚 basketball team) and their Press Virginia,鈥� seventh-year coach Jordan Watson stated. 鈥淛ustin Allen (assistant coach) and I are both huge fans of Bob Huggins and love WVU basketball.鈥�
Watson, who graduated from WVU with a Physical Education and Health degree, knew he had the team to run a pressure defense a couple of years ago when a strong junior class (West Greene has no seniors on its roster) was in eighth grade.
鈥淲e knew when this group was in eighth grade that they were going to be able to press and play a more uptempo style of game,鈥� Watson said. 鈥淲e use a couple of different versions of the press from Huggins, but we鈥檝e also got one version of the press from Rick Pitino (former men鈥檚 coach at Louisville).
鈥淎nother version we got and tweaked is from our varsity boys鈥� coach (Jim Romanus) back when he coached the girls. A lot of our pressing concepts we have had for a long time, but our personnel dictates what we use. In 2012-14 we ran a lot more half-court traps and dropped back into a zone. We only jumped up into a full-court press off of foul shots. Now we get into the full-court press a lot more.鈥�
There are several key characteristics that a team and a player must have in order to run a stingy press.
鈥淭here are so many presses out there,鈥� Watson said. 鈥淪ometimes we go with a man-to-man or a run-and-jump press and other times we do a zone press. To be successful in a run-and-jump press, you must have great athletes with a high basketball IQ that understands when and why to jump off their man and trap the ball. Great instincts and an attacking mentality are a must.
鈥淲hen we score, a player鈥檚 first instinct must be to go up and not back. We always want to make the opponent work for every inch of the court and never give them a mental break with just walking the ball up court. Our press helps dictate the tempo of the game and gets us into an up-and-down type game.鈥�
West Greene has six of its top seven players back this season. Juniors McKenna Lampe (6.1), Madison Lampe (5.3) and Kaitlyn Rizor (3.2) led the Lady Pioneers in steals per game last year, while juniors Ashley Cumberledge, Bri Goodwin and Savannah Pettit have been strong inside players.
The press should be even better this year for West Greene, as the Lady Pioneers will have a lot more depth with 13 players on a roster that includes six talented freshmen.
鈥淓very player on the court has an important role within our presses,鈥� Watson said. 鈥淲e are also adding some depth this year with a good incoming freshmen group that will improve the press. We hope to wear down the opponent with our depth and to put constant pressure on them for 32 minutes. We want to make the other team uncomfortable and never let them get into a rhythm on offense.鈥�
One key aspect to any press at any level of basketball is communication on the floor.
鈥淐ommunication is one aspect of the game that our juniors have dramatically improved upon since they were freshmen,鈥� Watson said. 鈥淲hen face-guarding an opponent in a full-court press, communication is essential because everyone must know what side of the court the ball is on when inbounded, so we know who should jump and who should rotate.鈥�
Despite the highly successful nature of the press, Watson knows that West Greene鈥檚 half-court defense is what is going to carry them to greater success in the playoffs against talented, guard-oriented squads.
鈥淲e need to be more disciplined in our half-court defense,鈥� he said. 鈥淪ometimes we gamble for steals too often and get beat. In the press we can usually gamble for steals and have time to recover due to our girls鈥� athletic abilities. In the half-court setting, we still take too many low-percentage gambles and overplay too much. We must rely on our communication and trust our rotations.
鈥淲e must also get better at jumping ball side and jamming the cutters while playing half-court man. Our girls realize that in the playoffs we must be able to win possession-type games that come down to getting the key stop and key rebound. I like our offense and we can score with anybody. But if we want to make a deep playoff run and get to the finals, it will come down to defense and rebounding.鈥�
Before kicking off its Section 2-A schedule against Jefferson-Morgan on Dec. 21, West Greene was 5-0 after playing against the likes of Waynesburg Central, McGuffey, Carmichaels, Washington and Clairton in non-section action.