Ending the Streak

So I am getting a little ancy because I haven't posted in a little while and my last post is more or less useless, thanks mother nature. In addition, I know I am going to be on posting overdrive in two days or so with Centex and all, but I am bored now.

After being a T-Wolves (Kevin Garnett) and Kentucky (Rajon Rondo) fan for a number of years (and moving to this god forsaken part of the country), I have become a Celtics fan and as such I watched them destroy the Rockets last night. Over the last few months I have come to realize that basketball and ultimate are very similar and in looking at one, you can make inferences on the other. When considering these things I thought I would share some thoughts.

Houston's/Ugmo's streak and it's end

First I thought I would talk about Houston's flare up and draw some parallels to ultimate. First off, they won 22 games in a row beginning back on January 29th and went from being 10th in the western conference to being 1st. They also have done this in large part without their center Yao Ming who broke his foot ending his season. In any event, Rafer Alston, Bobby Jackson, and Shane Battier have picked up the slack and their team as a whole has done well for the last month and a half. However, last night, they got torched by 20 points. Boston's defense was very effective in putting pressure on T-Mac to pass the ball instead of shoot and Alston was ice cold going 2-7 from 3pt landing, as opposed to 8-11 against the Lakers 2 days ago. In any event this streak had me thinking of 2 things 1) Cal's run back in 2004 and 2) Wisconsin's run this year.

Back in 2004, Cal was unstoppable. I could go into the whole Bart Watson acquisition, their run through Centex and the Series but you can just read my Cal write up if you want to know. The biggest event in that season however, was their finals performance where they got rocked 15-7 by Colorado. I took a look back at the Day 3 write up from nationals that year and it seems that the portion of the game where Colorado took advantage was the end of the first half and the beginning of the second half. Colorado was up 6-5 and took advantage of Cal's over anxious deep attempts to take half 8-5. They then came out using Richter, Parker, and Beau to open the game up to 10-5. That was more or less all they needed. They traded points to 12-7, but Cal collapsed in the face of seemingly insurmountable odds and lost 15-7.

Boston did more or less the same thing last night. At the end of the first quarter Rafer Alston stole the ball from Cassell to take a 1 point lead at the end of the first. However, at the end of the second half, Alston got caught putting up a lazy pass and Boston scored 5 in a row to tie it at 40-40 going into the break. With the momentum shift, Boston put pressure on T-Mac and allowed Rondo to find his rhythm in running the offense in the third quarter. It was here that they outscored Houston 32-16, taking control of the game, and in the 4th they didn't need much, just sit back on D, and they cruised to a 20 point victory.

Wisconsin's first loss?

So where am I going with this? I suppose with all my writing and research one goal of mine is to find a way to beat Wisconsin. Nothing against them, they are spectacular but I don't want to see them make another murderous rampage through the competition at Nationals. If I were on a great team (which I never really have been) such as UBC, Carleton, Arizona, Florida (teams that have gotten close or beaten the Hodags) or a team TBD, this is what I would be thinking going into a game against Wisconsin:

1) Play your offense. Teams with great synergy and offense have done the best against Wisconsin. Colorado likes to play to their superstars and thats why I think they got rocked in the finals last year. They were predictable and just went Jolian to Beau a lot. Stanford was a patient team but they tried to rely on their handling resets to setup isolations (Sherwood and Cahill) which caught up with them. In order to succeed against Wisconsin, you need to have a good offense top to bottom. Going in, no one can be a clear front runner to record scores. With defenders like Lokke, Hohenstein and Mahowald, trying to go for your 1st or 2nd option consistently is going to get you in trouble. However, if you run your offense, whether it be a spread or Ho-stack or whatever, and get the disc to whomever is next in line/open, you can move the disc effectively and score. Trying to get an isolation with your main deep threat isn't going to work, going for a consistent bail out isn't going to work. Wisconsin is going to see it coming and take advantage of predictability. However, without a clear offensive threat, the Hodag defense is going to have to rely on their top to bottom defense and that is where the offense has the advantage. Covering everyone for 10 seconds is impossible, and if good decisions are made to open cutters as opposed to familiar faces, a team can score.

2) Remain composed. Ultimate is a game that relies on runs. It seems like teams are the most vulnerable to Wisconsin at the end of the first half. This is when a game is at 4s or 5s. It is when your offense has successfully relied on their primary or secondary option and the Hodags are trying to adjust. It is also when they are going to play their smartest. If they can shut you down and get a break or two going into half, lights out. If they take half 8-6 or 8-5, their second half intensity will do the rest. Teams have to remain patient but vigilant. Get the disc to open receivers but take opportunities when they come. Cutters cannot be timid or passive. Run your cuts the way you would against anyone else and let the handlers make the choices. If you run good cuts over and over, you will get open. Wisconsin may have legs for days, but the offense still has the advantage of knowing where the disc is going. Making good decision can make up for a drop off in athletic ability, and if decisions are good, and handlers are composed, scores will happen. Going into half close is vital as is keeping Wisconsin from being fired up.

3) Take advantage of Muffin's impatience, in fact take advantage of impatience in general. Wisconsin is an intense team and it shows on their defense, and offense. Muffin has a clear propensity to jack it, especially on the D-line. It's a relatively low risk situation. Wisconsin generates a turn, and Muffin picks it up as D-line handler and goes for the throat. However, a lot of these hucks do not connect. This is a teams' chance to NOT get broken. Take the CUT/Observer situation. On that point where the CUT guy threw it right into an observer for a turnover, Muffin threw a break throw away to Mahowald after the CUT turnover giving the disc back to Carleton. He also had a rushed goal line turnover previously on the same point. In these situations however, CUT made the same mistake and gave it back.

On the offensive side, it seems like Wisconsin's only weakness is themselves. Two huge turnovers that helped Arizona go from 8-5 to 11-10 in the Vegas finals were a poor backhand huck from Lokke to Gaynor and a rushed pass to Shane off a dead disc. Arizona was patient, played their offense, took opportunities that presented themselves and worked it in for the break. In addition Wisconsin put up a lazy pass that resulted in out of bounds turnover and they also had a poor dump throw turnover. In these cases however, Arizona went for hammers to un-open receivers which kept them from getting that last crucial break.

Long story short, when Wisconsin coughs it up, take a deep breath and play YOUR offense, not theirs. Easy in-cuts, breaks, scoobers, whatever your team does best. Retaliatory hucks just play into their hands as do rushed hammers. This game is about role players. Handlers handle and cutters cut. Catch the disc and don't do anything stupid.

4) Take away a single option. It seems easy to think that defense in ultimate is like defense in football. Try and get the layout D, much like an interception, and get a break and win. However, the trouble comes with transferring that D to a win. Defense in ultimate is not about a single play like an interception. A lot of layout D's result in turnovers by the D-line and for every layout D your team gets, your opponent is probably going to get one. The trick is pressure. Defense in ultimate is like defense in basketball. You are never going to shut out a team, but if you can get them to score 80 points instead of 95, you can win. All you need to do is put pressure on them to fail 1 in 3 or something like that. In ultimate you can do this by taking away 1 option. Trying to shut down Wisconsin or any teams entire offense is going to be pretty hard. However, look for 1 thing that they like (and you should spend the first half looking for it) and use their propensity to go for that option as a weakness. Maybe it's Foster's break side flick huck, maybe it's their cavalier dump throws, maybe it's breakside to openside cuts. Whatever it is, be mindful of what their offense is doing and attack 1 option.

Closing Thoughts
Nothing exciting, just some thoughts. I have nothing against Wisconsin, I am just trying to figure them out. Then again, having never played them, I could be full of shit and probably am.

As far as this week/end goes, I will put up a Centex preview post either tomorrow or Friday depending on when I find out what pools look like. Hopefully I can get another post up Saturday night after watching pool/power play competition and then I'll have a recap next week, maybe Monday. Stay tuned.


just my thoughts

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