Defending the choice on defense
October 15, 2014
By Kevin Erpenbeck
A staple of defense for a team coached by UK head coach Matthew Mitchell has consisted of a high-pressured, man-to-man game plan. The exception to that was last year, when Mitchell relied on then-senior forward DeNesha Stallworth and senior center Samarie Walker to provide a shutdown zone defense in the paint every few games.
However, with his bigs now graduated, Mitchell may have to go back to instilling the fullcourt press this season, a scheme that previous UK teams have had in its defensive DNA. The question is, will it work with the roster he has?
The 2014-15 team is dominated by experienced guards, from seniors Jennifer O’Neill and Bria Goss to sophomores Makayla Epps and Linnae Harper. While they have logged many minutes in playing Mitchell’s man-to-man scheme, this year’s guards are predominately known for their offense more so than their defense.
Mitchell’s reason for switching up his defensive scheme during the 2013-14 season was that he didn’t think the team could effectively go with a single style of defense.
“We haven’t played hard enough for me to be comfortable with playing man-to-man for 40 minutes,” Mitchell said at the time.
UK was in the midst of a 3-3 start to its SEC schedule when Mitchell instructed the team to start a Jan. 26 game against Arkansas in the zone defense. The plan paid off, giving the Cats a 68-58 win while holding the Razorbacks to 41.8 percent from the field.
Though they lost to Georgia in the next game, the Cats still managed to hold their opponent to a 35.9 shooting percentage. They were finding a footing with the new defense, and went 8-3 against the rest of their SEC opponents and earned a spot in the SEC Championship game.
That was when Mitchell had the opportunity to switch the scheme up; the roster that relished in a frontcourt defensive style. Now with smaller guards being the focus of the team, that kind of opportunity has ceased to exist.
While Mitchell will have a few players controlling the defense in the paint (whether it be man-to-man or zone), like Goss or senior forward Jelleah Sidney who both have knack for physical play under the basket, it may not be enough to make the team only defend the frontcourt.
Deciding which defensive scheme to stick with during the 2014-15 season will be determined by which style Mitchell feels most comfortable with: a man-to-man defense that he’s been used to in the past but didn’t quite work last season, or a zone defense that thrived on imposing forwards as the focus of the team.
