Defensive Mind Set

You have heard all the captains saying it, defense is the fastest way to make the A-team. Its true the offense is going to be filled up with the old guys with weak ankles and knees who can throw. Defense for all you young bucks out there is what you want. You don't want to just receive the pull and not even have to work hard to get the d first. That's just boring and lame. So tonight when you are doing some defensive drill get it in your mind that you wanted to be on defense, you want to run right past him and get the d. Basically you make him your bottom bitch. He wants to cut in nope you intimidated him so much from the last in cut he made where you just ran right past him for the d, that he went deep and you just skied him for the d. The rest of this is just some tips on how to do that.

Part I

For defending a cutter one of my old coaches used to call it the gate position. This is just how you are trying to step up on a cutter down field while they are in the stack or any other formation. This starting position is so important I can not stress that enough. Not just on the first cut, but every cut of that point. If you are not in a good position each time a cut happens you are screwed before that guy even got into the lane. It is tough to fight after every cut to get back into a good position, but this is what separates really good defenders and just mediocre ones.

Now each person will have a slightly different gate position, it all depends on your athleticism. Typically your going to be a yard or two away with your body angled is such a you are going to force them in or force them out. You will also be either slight deeper, even, or slight shorter then the cutter to also accomplish this. As the cutter starts his cut you want to stay step for step with him. If he takes a step towards you are taking a step back, if he takes a step in you take a step in etc.

(side note I have seen this a lot this fall. When defenders are trying to maintain that gap they are trying to step in the way they should be, but the cutter still beats him. I really see this happening when the defender is backpedaling. Try shuffling a little more. You will have to work hard but when the cut happens you will be better prepared to go with him instead of being on one foot and backpedaling.)

I wish it was just that easy, but it isn't. You have this space or gap between you and the cutter. Cutters are going to want to take all of that away and use it against you. You can not let this happen. You hustled back from the last cut to get that cushion, you don't want to give it to him easy. As the cutter finally makes his cut don't just blindly start sprinting that way. Cutters are going to try and fake you out. Two tips I have here are if you can shuffle/side sprint (whatever you want to call it) for those first few steps when they commit if you put yourself to start off with in a good position they aren't going to beat you with these few steps where you are shuffling. What this helps with is when a cutter makes another fake. You will be even better prepared then he will on this one and you will shut him down. This is a lot more true for when the in cut comes first. He your guy busts deep you really need to be next to him the whole time and you can't let him have a head start. The other tip I have is watch the hips. There hips never lie. Still be carefully of the double moves. If their hips are pointed a certain direction that is the way they are going for the immediate future.

Misery Loves Company

*Missouri - This ended up being a pretty appropriate name for the tournament for Illinois.

The short story is that in a relatively brief period of time, our roster for MLC dropped from 36 to about 16. This was the difference between one short-handed team and two comfortably sized teams. No need to go into that aspect here, because the heat will be directed toward the team rather than the interweb.

Anyway, the crew that did show up in Jefferson City ended up being a little less than successful. Illness played a significant part in this, with Jack Krieger being completely out and Mickey and I not feeling much better. Neal Phelps, Shabby, and Papa Bear stepped up to take over as our main longs. They, along with Smith and McKinley, shouldered the majority of the load. Mickey stands alone in this category - being sick and broken, yet still playing a high number of points both as long and cutter.

In individual games, there's nothing really to summarize. We lost to Southern Illinois, then Iowa State, then Colorado B (sigh..), then Oklahoma. The biggest problem in every single game was our poor marks. Every team we played, including Colorado B, was able to slice through our marks like we weren't even standing there. Luckily, it has already been decided that marking will be one of the main focuses for the team this year. After the initial loss to Southern, and especially after the loss to Colorado B, very few managed to keep their spirits up. I know I fell victim to this, though I attribute some of it to the hacking and wheezing I was doing on the sidelines.

Luckily for us, but not for the team wallet, the second day of the tournament was cancelled due to stormy weather.

Personal favorite moment from the weekend:
Jack Rabuck reaching waaaay over the top of one of the captains of ISUC for the sky in the endzone, prompting everyone to rush the field.

Austin