Miami's Press Break Against FSU

Back to my regular routine. I caught an ACC regular season game between the Miami Hurricanes and the Florida State Seminoles. It was a hard fought back and forth game that had some outstanding shooting I must say by both teams.

As the game wound down, the Hurricanes managed to build a 5-10 point cushion. The Seminoles had to start pressing to force some turnovers. They used a basic M2M full court press sometimes using a double face-guard on the PG. To be sure, the Hurricanes did turn the ball over a few times, but they also scored a few times as well. In general, I though the Hurricanes did some unique things so I thought I would so them here,



Sorry for the mixup, somehow the first video didn't take, now it should be working...

Using 2 Inbounders:

I know this isn't some brand new innovation but I still think that it's something that all coaches should have in their back pocket as a wrinkle to use for your press break. It is especially great to use when the press isn't defending the inbounder, like so,

The Seminoles choose to double face-guard the PG, the primary ball-handler. O2 comes down to the endline. O3 crosses to the opposite side of the lane still behind the endline, then passes it to O2 all behind the endline. O3 pops out a few feet, and O2 returns the pass. O3 is off and running,


Pressure Release:

Against a hard M2M full court press. You want to have a pressure release. Basically 1 or 2 players that on the signal sprint down the floor. You can do a straight sprint, but sometimes that's too easy to spot and scout. Here, the Hurricanes fake the screen, and O4 is basically just streaking down the middle O3 baseball passes,


I included the one sequence when Miami called a timeout as well because I think it's important that players realize that they always have the option to call one rather than make a bad play (especially late in games). This assuming you are playing regular US basketball rules and not FIBA.

Summary:

It's mid to late January so its getting down to the nitty gritty. The preparation since the off-season and those little things are what will make the difference now. I like watching and breaking down press breaks partly because some of my prior teams have had such a hard time with. But it is a vital part of the game, as witness over the weekend when Pitt had such a hard time with Louisville's press.

For more great press breakers, check out John Brady's DVD on his press break. Head over to the X's and O's Basketball forum to discuss this and many more of your favorite basketball topics.