Here's something some of you might enjoy. Grinnell College is a D-III school located in eastern Iowa. They have a very unusual style of basketball. Most coaches just laugh at this b/c it is so extreme. It's not for everybody. Before their coach, Dave Arsenault, changed to this way of play in 1993, he had coached basketball the traditional way for years. Played only about 7-8 players. They were losing. No fun. No excitment. No school pride in their team. Participation was a big key. Basically he uses a 5 point sysytem. 1. 94 shots a game 2. 50% of shots are 3s 3. force 32 with a constant 1-2-1-1 full-ct press 4. get 33% of offensive rebounds 5. subs 5 new players every dead ball (platoon) I guess you would have to see them play to. I have a few tapes of them at home. They have broken NCAA scoring records. Just last year they averaged 128 pts a game. ESPN2 will televise a home game on Feb. 3 @ 8:00. I see that this year's record is something like 4-11. I don't keep up with their team that much, but I think this is the first time since they have been playing this up-tempo style they have a losing record like this. I guess they have lost a lot of good shooters. Here's a few articles if anyone wanted to look at them. They are mainly from last year. Just talks about the coach's reasoning to play this way. It would be interesting to see if this could work in some major conferences. There's several teams out there, that play similar styles, but not to this extreme. Paul Westhead's Loyola-Marymount was probably the closest thing to this. When LSU played them here at home, that was one of the most exciting games I've ever seen the Tigers play, much less any college team. Those who watched it can still remember b/c it was so wild. Just thinking what it would be like for LSU to go to this system. It's not for everybody, but they do get the crowds, both home and on the road. So many people want to come to come see them play. http://www.d3hoops.com/nation/04/dec23.htm http://www.usatoday.com/sports/basketba/skm/2001-02-11-grinnell.htm This article is from the Univ of Redlands (Calif). They have changed to this style and are on record pace to beat Grinnell's NCAA scoring records. They are avg. 139 pts so far. http://www.latimes.com/sports/college/ucla/la-sp-plaschke23jan23,1,5929599.column?coll=la-headlines-sports-coll-ucla&ctrack=1&cset=true
Just a reminder for those who wanted to see Grinnell play. On tonight @ 8:00 ESPN2. Most of you have probably never seen anything like this before. It's wild!
I went to a LMU game last weekend and Bo Kimble was there. I remember the game you are talking about. I watched it w/my brother. Good times. I think LSU won that one.
Well, with seeing them this year for the first time, this team like I thought does not compare to a lot of the other teams they have had in the past. Only 17 pts with 10 min left in the 1st half is so out of the norm, but just to see the unorthodox style is something different.
Grinnel plays their butts off, but a good press break will kill them any day. Also if they don't shoot well they're done. Still a lot of fun to watch and I can imagine a lot of fun to play.
I love the full court press every time and the hockey like substitutions of the whole lineup every minute if nothing else.
The press break doesn't really hurt them, rather that's what they want. They would rather a team score within 10 seconds rather to defend for 30 seconds and get a steal or a def. rebound. They (try to) trade a 3 for a 2. The bottom line with them is the PACE of the game. They don't have the shooters like the use to. Players never gripe for PT. Those kids looked like they were a little tight tonight.
If the other team dosen't miss easy lay ups then the game won't be close at all. The teams they play miss lay ups.
