By John Shinn
Former Arkansas coach Nolan Richardson coined the phrase during the Razorbacks’ dominant run through the early 1990s. He was asked what he wanted opponents to experience going against a full-court press from opening tip to final buzzer.
Richardson’s answer: “40 minutes of hell.”
Richardson is no longer a college basketball coach, but his philosophy is alive and well at Missouri. First-year coach Mike Anderson, who spent several seasons as an assistant to Richardson, employed the philosophy during a successful run at Alabama-Birmingham and does the same now in Columbia.
Everywhere on the floor, there’s a potential trap that leads to a steal or a bad pass. Anything to keep opponents out of rhythm.
At times, it works.
Saturday, Missouri forced Oklahoma State into 21 turnovers and upset the Cowboys at Gallagher-Iba Arena.
Other times, it hasn’t.
That’s why the Tigers (16-9, 5-7 Big 12) are currently in the conference’s second division.
The question is how well will Oklahoma (15-10, 6-6) handle the pressure when it meets Missouri at 6 tonight at Mizzou Arena.
The jury is still out because the Sooners haven’t played against anything like the Tigers’ system before.
Teams that employ a full-court press for an entire game are as common as teams that only start seniors. They’re just not around much any more.
OU coach Jeff Capel believes that’s what makes it so tough to get ready to play a team like Missouri.
“You don’t see it much and you don’t have a lot of time to prepare for it,” he said.
But there’s no mystery in what it takes to be successful. Make smart decisions and playing against a press can turn into a layup drill.
“The key is to have no fear. You can’t be afraid,” point guard Bobby Maze said.
Capel said when his Virginia-Commonwealth teams faced Anderson’s UAB squads the previous three seasons, he practiced seven-on-five to prepare for it. OU only has 11 players this season, but the extra man is doing his part to simulate the press.
Missouri will have five on the court tonight.
“You bring two,” OU guard David Godbold said of the constant traps he’ll face tonight, “and there’s always one person no one’s guarding. If you can find him, that’s all there is to it.
“It speeds up the game and there’s the opportunity for a lot of easy baskets. Just don’t turn the ball over.”
Missouri bets that won’t be the case. It leads the Big 12 in turnovers forced at 19.6 a game and a turnover margin of plus 4.48.
The split-second decisions the Tigers force teams to make can lead to breakdowns.
“We have to be really sharp mentally and physically in the way execute and the way we defend,” Capel said. “Our transition defense is going to have to be good. We’re going to have going to have to do a lot of really good things to win this game.”
If the Sooners can do them, they’ll be back above .500 in the conference and reignite hopes of an at-large bid to the NCAA Tournament.
Struggle and it could be a very long night.
John Shinn366-3536jshinn@normantranscript.com
