I thought last year that Kim's approach -- which doesn't really fit one of the very few true big centers in college basketball -- would have trouble dealing with them. Thought the only hope was to up the pace and make them run up and down the court without rest until they were drained past the chance to recover in that game. Or, do that and slash inside and put fouls on them. But, so far this year, I haven't really seen us getting dominated inside like we did last year. Instead, our half-court defense has looked MUCH better to me, especially as the season has gone on, and even in games like UCLA and Louisville and that ugliness that was the Miss St game, the half-court defense hasn't been the problem. We haven't even given up as many of the break-away layups as we did last year, at least that's the way my brain is remembering things.
But, then again, I want Kim's system, or some variation of it to work, so that may be affecting my memory. Right now, though, I wouldn't worry about a lineup like the one we've got today, one you might say lacks a "true" big, if we could just shoot. A college coach I once knew (football, not basketball, but still) had two sayings (which he was making about youth baseball, at the time! -- "If they don't score, we can't lose." and "Never lost a game where we scored more points than the other team." Rick Barnes teams have always leaned a little too much toward the former, but II hadn't expected to be wondering if a Kim Caldwell-coached team might not be going in the same direction.
