Amoebas, 1-3-1s, 3-2s, zone presses — all the different defenses the Emporia High boys have used this year have kept the Spartans on their toes as they shuffle their feet. For any connoisseurs of defensive basketball in the crowd at EHS games this year, coach Rick Bloomquist and the Spartans have offered something of just about everything.
When asked what his new flavor-of-the-week defense is as the Spartans prepare for Topeka West tonight and Topeka High on Friday, Bloomquist has a laugh — and swears that from here on out, he’s done throwing any new defensive looks into his big bag of constant adjustments.
“Basically, with some of the teams we’ve been playing, it’s important that we change, that we try to create illusions where people aren’t comfortable playing against us,” he said. “I want them to wonder what we’re doing, more than just coming down and executing. And that’s basically why we’ve tried to play a little bit of a combo defense: to make us better defensively, trying to get into everybody else’s heads.”
All things considered, the defensive sampler platter has worked astoundingly well. Emporia (8-8, 5-4 Centennial League) has allowed just 48 points per game and has been in almost every game it’s played. Only two opponents — Seaman and Hayden — have scored more than 60 points against the Spartans.
The defensive switch-ups and zones aren’t what Bloomquist would do if he had the choice. But he believes, with Emporia’s deficiencies in size against many of the teams it plays, that the adjustments have given the Spartans their best chance to win.
“It’d be a lot more fun to be more vanilla, and just be able to hang my hat on a certain defense,” Bloomquist said. “But the type of players I have, it’s been hard to do that. And I’m not being critical; it’s just the makeup of (this team). If I could go out and recruit my players, I’d throw the ball out on the floor and play man to man, and have fun, and call myself Memphis. But I can’t do that.”
So what defense the opponent will see from the Spartans has depended on which opponent it is. Earlier in the season, the Spartans’ primary defense was the amoeba, a type of zone that features lots of movement, rotation and double-teams on the wings. It’s a staple of the Emporia basketball program — and according to senior guard Taylor Euler, is probably the hardest non-man defense to master in practice.
“Because it’s got so much more movement than any of those other ones,” Euler said. “And if you’re not in the right spot in the right time, then it’s gonna be exploited.
“Even though we’ve been playing the amoeba for the longest time out of any of the defenses since we’ve been playing as little kids, in that kind of defense, you have to have chemistry with everyone. You have to be talking, because if you have two guys in one place, then a spot’s gonna be wide open.”
The amoeba, though, leaves a team vulnerable to offensive rebounds on the weak side, and Bloomquist doesn’t have any of what he calls “stud rebounders” to alleviate that problem. In recent games, the Spartans have used more of the 1-3-1 zone — which places an emphasis on clogging the inside — and the 3-2, which works best against teams with scorers on the wings.
There’s also the sporadic zone press, an amoeba-and-one that features one defender playing man to man — and, yes, good old man-to-man itself. EHS has worked on some other defenses, too, like a triangle-and-two for the trip to Hayden that was never used.
“I think defensively, (other teams) are wondering what the hell I’m gonna do,” Bloomquist said. “I think everybody’s always working on our press, (and then) we don’t press. Junction City didn’t have any idea we were gonna throw a 1-3-1 at ’em.”
How hard is it for the Spartans to learn and keep up with all these schemes?
“When he uses a lot of the main parts from other defenses — like amoeba-and-one, it’s pretty much an amoeba defense, but you just have one less guard at the top of the key,” freshman forward Ryan Huth said. “So he’ll let us keep some of the main parts of other defenses that we know. So once you get used to some of the defenses, it’s pretty easy.”
“And it keeps you interested and in the game,” Euler said. “You’re not just having to run back on defense (doing) the same thing. You’ve always gotta be looking, talking. You never know what defense you’re gonna be in.”
But although Bloomquist never says never, in his quest to be “as vanilla as possible” the Spartans have, according to him, seen their last addition to their defensive repertoire this year. So don’t expect Topeka West (4-12, 0-9) to see the triangle-and-two, a thoroughly illegal pentagon-and-three, or any other new defensive wrinkles in tonight’s game.
Ask Bloomquist what defense he’d use if basketball had a rule that he had to pick one defensive scheme and stick with it, and his answer might be a surprise. Even with this particular Spartan team, he’d pick man to man.
“It’s easier to rebound out of,” he said. “It makes kids more accountable to themselves. It’s more about athlete vs. athlete, competing.”
EHS girls (12-4, 6-3) vs. Topeka West (1-15, 0-9)
The score may not be as over-the-top this time, but the recent results suggest the Lady Spartans are a better team than when they flogged Topeka West 85-26 on Jan. 6.
Back then, the Spartans had just finished a holiday break during which they’d worked on becoming a full-court defensive team, and the Chargers were overmatched against the Spartan press. But it’s been outstanding halfcourt defense that’s keyed Emporia’s run of seven victories in a row against better competition. Now that the emphasis is on that style of play, a less disparate win is likely.
Although the Centennial League title is basically out of reach at this point with four games remaining — Washburn Rural is still perfect in league at 9-0 — the Spartans are tied for third with Manhattan and just a game behind 7-2 Seaman. Games against both teams remain on their schedule: EHS hosts Seaman on Feb. 24 and travels to Manhattan on Feb. 27 to conclude the regular season.
UsayULoveGod (anonymous) says...
Highland Park Lost to Washburn Rural
February 17, 2009 at 9:46 p.m. ( permalink | suggest removal )
UsayULoveGod (anonymous) says...
How did we lose to the worse team in 5a ?????
February 18, 2009 at 7:12 a.m. ( permalink | suggest removal )