How would you recommend playing against a full-court press? I'm assuming slowdown is the worst option since it just allows the other team's press to always be energized... So I'm just not sure whether or not normal or fast-paced would be the better option. With my D3 team in Allen, I run a 12 man rotation so I definitely have depth, I am just not sure how should attack the press.

Real-life basketball logic is not always perfectly applied in this game. In general, for tempo I avoid fast-paced unless I have a very distinct advantage in terms of talent as well as a sufficiently deep rotation. This is doubly true vs. a press. I think a fair rule of thumb is as a new owner, I would just avoid the fast paced tempo. As far as slow-down vs. normal, I would compare your 10 man rotations (just do a quick glance focusing on ATH/DEF/Speed/PER). If you think your team is better, I would go normal. If unclear or you don't, I would go slow-down.

Sometimes it is worth adjusting your depth chart. Better passers are especially helpful against a press and rebounding is a little less important. I don't generally make wholesale changes to my depth chart for the different defenses but its worth considering.

there's no 1-size-fits-all answer. all tempos are on the table, it depends on the circumstances. sometimes, you'll be facing a superior, deep press team - and will feel you have very little chance of tiring them out - and your best bet will be to run slowdown, trying to give your 5 on-par starters a shot at pulling out the win. often, running uptempo into the press to try to tire them out is your best option, but the circumstances have to be right - if you are the shorter team, you can do more harm than good.

if you had what i consider a full 12 man deep m2m team, uptempo would often be a good option for you, at least when facing press teams with anything less than full 12 man depth. two quick notes about that depth though. if you keep that redshirt, you are 11 deep, not 12. also, full 12 depth generally requires an even rotation - even enough for you to be able to play all your guys basically. if you only have 4 players listed at the 1+2 or 4+5, you are not a full 12 deep team, even if you have 12 scholarship players on the depth chart (especially if the 4 players are guards). you don't *have* to have near-perfect depth (stamina is also a factor) to run uptempo into a press - but i do want to clarify that there is a relatively huge difference between something like a full 12 man deep team and an 11 man deep team playing 4 guards - at least when you are considering high tempo situations (like running uptempo vs a press).

Posted by gillispie1 on 1/19/2021 11:48:00 AM (view original):
there's no 1-size-fits-all answer. all tempos are on the table, it depends on the circumstances. sometimes, you'll be facing a superior, deep press team - and will feel you have very little chance of tiring them out - and your best bet will be to run slowdown, trying to give your 5 on-par starters a shot at pulling out the win. often, running uptempo into the press to try to tire them out is your best option, but the circumstances have to be right - if you are the shorter team, you can do more harm than good.

if you had what i consider a full 12 man deep m2m team, uptempo would often be a good option for you, at least when facing press teams with anything less than full 12 man depth. two quick notes about that depth though. if you keep that redshirt, you are 11 deep, not 12. also, full 12 depth generally requires an even rotation - even enough for you to be able to play all your guys basically. if you only have 4 players listed at the 1+2 or 4+5, you are not a full 12 deep team, even if you have 12 scholarship players on the depth chart (especially if the 4 players are guards). you don't *have* to have near-perfect depth (stamina is also a factor) to run uptempo into a press - but i do want to clarify that there is a relatively huge difference between something like a full 12 man deep team and an 11 man deep team playing 4 guards - at least when you are considering high tempo situations (like running uptempo vs a press).

Totally forgot I was redshirt my freshman guard, so I only have 11 deep... I am going try uptempo in my exhibition game to see how it works against a very talented team... In the past I have had more talented teams where I could dictate the pace of the game and ultimately just use my talent to will out wins, this year is going to be more of an outcoaching year for me. Hopefully, I will gain some insight from this exhibition since I will have to play some more talented FCP teams later on.

Always be thinking about possessions. Against the press, this is extremely important. They’re trying to beat you with turnovers, so your job is to protect the ball and maximize the efficiency of your possessions.

If you’re up against a weak press, ie one that is relatively low in athleticism and defense, and/or has stamina deficiency (overall, but especially if they have positions that are weak and can be exploited) then running uptempo might be an ok option to protect against a bad sim with more possessions, but otherwise normal or slowdown is almost always better. The tempo you run affects your fatigue more than your opponents, so you can’t think just in terms of what you’ll be doing to their stamina; and remember, their press is also wearing you down. So unless you are stronger in stamina, and know you can protect possessions with BH and speed advantages, uptempo is generally a bad option against decent press teams in HD.

Also think about adjusting distribution a little against press teams. They can’t double anyone, which is significant. Maximize your most efficient scorers. Don’t go overboard, everyone will reach a point of overuse, but against a press, don’t be afraid to bump up your top guys a little, especially if they happen to be good ball handlers.

I've tried fast pace vs press, slow pace vs press and won with both and gotten destroyed with both. I don't think there's a set science for it. Honestly I think it's more about skill matchup than the pace of the game. I think fast pace gives you the benefit of bringing fatigue to the other team, and when they get tired they foul more. Putting them in foul trouble makes fatigue an even bigger issue and also puts you at the FT line where you can get easy points if you have a good FT shooting team. I think slow pace brings fatigue down for your team and helps keep your starters in the game longer which helps you win because your best players are playing more minutes. But in doing so, you don't allow the other team to get as fatigued either and their starters also stay in the game longer.

So to do well on the fast pace against the press, you need to have a strong bench. To do well on the slow pace against the press, your starters have to be better than theirs.

I always thought that going fast pace against the press is a bad idea. Going fast pace, you are going to turn the ball over more, which plays into the hands of the strength of running the press.

Why would you want to give them more chances to do what they do best?

But in the end, if you have better players more than likely you will win no matter what pace you go with.

Here is what HOOPS 101 says about the Press
Summary
The press is designed to force your opponent into turning the ball over and to create easy scoring opportunities by putting pressure on the ballhandler and attempting to cut off passing lanes. If the offense breaks the initial press, the defense continues to trap even in a half-court set.

Pros
With the right players, can be very disruptive to an offense creating steals. Wears down the opposing team and can lead to fatigue issues by the end of the game.

Cons
Requires a deep bench of good athletes with good speed. A poor press will give up lots of easy baskets. On average, pressing teams will be called for more fouls than any other defense.

So I went fast-paced in my exhibition game against a more talented FCP team, and I hung in the game during the first half... But in the second half my players were fouling much more often and I ended up committing 8 more fouls than the opposing team.