A coach’s guide to beating the press when the press is beating you
LAS VEGAS (The Utah Statesman) — There was hardly a person in the crowd that thought Utah State would win this game when they had already committed 15 turnovers, and were tied with New Mexico at the half. But somehow, a minor miracle occurred and the Aggies found a way to overcome 24 total turnovers and eventually pulled out an eight point win, 91-83.
The only other time this season Utah State had committed 20 plus turnovers was in its 72-49 loss to Nevada in the conference opener. But the way that game played out was completely different from what transpired in the second half of tonight’s thriller. Nevada pulled ahead and Utah State was slow to make adjustments, this time, adjustments are what saved the Aggies.
“I thought Utah State, obviously they kept maneuvering around their press offenses,” New Mexico head coach Paul Weir said. “Like, they kept adapting things. They started moving around in-bounders, getting guys on the run. Like they kept probing different areas to get something, and they found a few here and there.”
Although Utah State did well to evolve throughout the game, New Mexico might not have handled the moment well once the pressure was put on them by the Aggies to hold onto its lead. The press that was so effective in the first half started to get broken down by Utah State as the game went on.
“I think they almost started to feel the gravity of the game,” Weir said “I think we just got a little bit more like, lenient in it. And as the game went on- I wanted to do it even more. A lot of those possessions in the last three, four minutes they were starting to feed the ball inside to Queta. They were starting to run some offense. And that was never what we wanted to do.”
Photo by Megan Beth Media
Freshman center Neemias Queta was one of the players that was able to find some space through the press, posting 12 of his 16 points in the second half. On top of the much-needed offense he brought to the team, Queta sparked the Aggie defense to get some important stops late- along with setting a career-high six blocks.
“You know at the end of the game, we got six of eight stops to finish the game,” Utah State head coach Craig Smith said. “Fortunately as a coaching staff, our guys have really bought into the defensive side of it. You know last year our program was at the bottom, or near the bottom in basically every defensive stat.”
However a lot of people familiar with the program are aware this year’s team doesn’t resemble last year’s in almost any way. With the help of coach Smith and his staff, this Aggie team has able to turn the program around and become the number one defensive rebounding team in the country. That stat along with being fourth in the nation in defensive two-point field goal percentage makes Utah State top five in both, a feat that has only been done four times since 2002.
On the night Utah State had 46 rebounds, 18 more than the Lobos. Getting defensive rebounds helped the Aggies get out on transition and start moving the ball, which led to a lot of its opportunities late in the game. But more important than the way the team moved the ball, was how it limited its turnovers to just five in the final 15 minutes of game-time.
But as good as this coaching staff has done at molding this team’s identity, the team has done an incredible job buying in. And a couple of familiar faces once again made the impact that turned this game around.
Photo by Savy Knapp
“We couldn’t be scared. That’s what he told us,” redshirt freshman Justin Bean said. “Don’t hide from the ball. Make sure you flash. Help our guys out, especially Abel Porter, who had most of the weight on his shoulders bringing the ball up.”
When you put aside all the external things, breaking a press and putting the team back in a place to win takes a certain level of poise. A mentality that junior guard Sam Merrill is all too familiar with.
“Aside from the x and o’s adjustments he made, more so it was a mentality,” Merrill said. “Coming to the ball, being aggressive, being on attack mode, and that’s what helped us out the most.”
Twitter: @dren_sports