Argos Press Flattens Triton
July 28, 2016 at 4:25 p.m.
You know the old saying that goes, Be careful what you wish for, because what you get may not be exactly what you expected?
Triton basketball coach Kevin O'Rourke knows it. He lived it in his team's 57-42 Thursday night loss to No. 7 (A) Argos.
O'Rourke wished before the game Argos would use its full-court press. So much so, you could picture him grinning evilly, rubbing his hands together in anticipation.
Sure enough, O'Rourke got his wish. Argos pressed in the third and fourth quarter.
What O'Rourke didn't expect was for it to work.
O'Rourke thought he had the right players - several around 5-foot-10 who typically protect the basketball - to thwart the press.
But the Argos press only thwarted Triton. The Trojans turned the ball over 12 times in the second half -Êmany because of traps by Argos in the full-court press - as they saw a 23-18 halftime lead disintegrate into a 15-point loss.
"We absolutely, 100 percent knew they were going to press us the second half," O'Rourke said. "We wanted them to press us. Just about every game they've used the press to get them back in the basketball game. Give Argos credit. They've done it and done it well."
The killer turnovers came between the 4:47 and 3:11 marks of the fourth quarter -Êa span of 96 seconds.
When Triton's Matt Savill scored with 4:47 left, Triton trailed 40-39.
When Argos guard Eric Stults drained two free throws with 3:11 left, the Dragons led 49-39.
Argos essentially converted a five-point play when forward Caleb Andrews hit a three-pointer to bump the lead to 43-39 with 4:20 left. Seconds later, Stults stole Triton's in-bounds pass and found teammate Scott Bailey open underneath for a lay-up.
Just like that, Argos led 45-39, thanks to back-to-back baskets.
Again the Dragons would do the same with just over three minutes left. Andrews scored two, and seconds later, Stults hit two free throws. The lead jumped to 49-39.
For Triton, that was that.
"I wanted them to press us because I thought it would create easy baskets for us," O'Rourke said. "It comes down to execution. We executed beautifully in practice. At some point, we got to take it to the games."
What happened?
"It was getting to our spots before we started and then making our reads," O'Rourke said. "There's a couple of reads our kids have to make. Maybe it's inexperience, but we're a little slow in making our reads. We're a little slow. That allows them to trap us."
The sloppy play in the second half tainted Triton's good start. The Trojans held Argos to 2-of-12 shooting and one offensive rebound the first quarter to take an 8-4 lead into the second. O'Rourke said earlier this week Triton could not let the Argos guards drive in and dish off, and they didn't the first quarter. O'Rourke would say afterward his team executed the defensive game plan to perfection.
Argos was more active on the offensive glass the second quarter, snagging five offensive rebounds. But thanks to the perimeter game and Savill, the Trojans led by five at halftime. Savill, who hit two three-pointers the first quarter, hit two more the second quarter. Add two free throws, and Savill scored 14 of Triton's 23 first-half points. Triton hit 5 of 9 three-pointers the first half.
"The second quarter, we started giving up baseline drives and offensive rebounds," O'Rourke said. "We didn't execute. We gave up 14 points and still had a five-point lead. I don't care about the threes or the twos or anything on offense. I care about executing our game plan. We didn't do it in the second quarter.
"That said, we went in with a five-point lead at halftime. We put ourselves in a position to win."
But that position collapsed because of the second half, a half that saw Argos make 13 of 20 shots, a half that saw Argos outscore Triton 39-19. It was also the half with those 12 turnovers.
"At this point, we have a bunch of young men with a lot of heart," O'Rourke said. "But as a team, we're playing at 50 percent of our capability. I told them 25, but I'll say 50 to be nice.
"We're not a talented group of individuals. We are a talented team. I'm going to take responsibility because we're not executing. It's always the coach's responsibility. He has to find a way to get the team to execute."
Argos, 4-1 overall, plays 3-1 Caston in the championship game, which follows the consolation game. Caston is ranked No. 9 in single A.
Triton, 1-4 overall, meets 0-6 Culver in the consolation game of the Culver Tournament at 6:30 this evening.
"We're going to come back (tonight) and start our Christmas break in the right fashion," O'Rourke declared.
Wishing didn't work for Triton. Now O'Rourke hopes guarantees will. [[In-content Ad]]
You know the old saying that goes, Be careful what you wish for, because what you get may not be exactly what you expected?
Triton basketball coach Kevin O'Rourke knows it. He lived it in his team's 57-42 Thursday night loss to No. 7 (A) Argos.
O'Rourke wished before the game Argos would use its full-court press. So much so, you could picture him grinning evilly, rubbing his hands together in anticipation.
Sure enough, O'Rourke got his wish. Argos pressed in the third and fourth quarter.
What O'Rourke didn't expect was for it to work.
O'Rourke thought he had the right players - several around 5-foot-10 who typically protect the basketball - to thwart the press.
But the Argos press only thwarted Triton. The Trojans turned the ball over 12 times in the second half -Êmany because of traps by Argos in the full-court press - as they saw a 23-18 halftime lead disintegrate into a 15-point loss.
"We absolutely, 100 percent knew they were going to press us the second half," O'Rourke said. "We wanted them to press us. Just about every game they've used the press to get them back in the basketball game. Give Argos credit. They've done it and done it well."
The killer turnovers came between the 4:47 and 3:11 marks of the fourth quarter -Êa span of 96 seconds.
When Triton's Matt Savill scored with 4:47 left, Triton trailed 40-39.
When Argos guard Eric Stults drained two free throws with 3:11 left, the Dragons led 49-39.
Argos essentially converted a five-point play when forward Caleb Andrews hit a three-pointer to bump the lead to 43-39 with 4:20 left. Seconds later, Stults stole Triton's in-bounds pass and found teammate Scott Bailey open underneath for a lay-up.
Just like that, Argos led 45-39, thanks to back-to-back baskets.
Again the Dragons would do the same with just over three minutes left. Andrews scored two, and seconds later, Stults hit two free throws. The lead jumped to 49-39.
For Triton, that was that.
"I wanted them to press us because I thought it would create easy baskets for us," O'Rourke said. "It comes down to execution. We executed beautifully in practice. At some point, we got to take it to the games."
What happened?
"It was getting to our spots before we started and then making our reads," O'Rourke said. "There's a couple of reads our kids have to make. Maybe it's inexperience, but we're a little slow in making our reads. We're a little slow. That allows them to trap us."
The sloppy play in the second half tainted Triton's good start. The Trojans held Argos to 2-of-12 shooting and one offensive rebound the first quarter to take an 8-4 lead into the second. O'Rourke said earlier this week Triton could not let the Argos guards drive in and dish off, and they didn't the first quarter. O'Rourke would say afterward his team executed the defensive game plan to perfection.
Argos was more active on the offensive glass the second quarter, snagging five offensive rebounds. But thanks to the perimeter game and Savill, the Trojans led by five at halftime. Savill, who hit two three-pointers the first quarter, hit two more the second quarter. Add two free throws, and Savill scored 14 of Triton's 23 first-half points. Triton hit 5 of 9 three-pointers the first half.
"The second quarter, we started giving up baseline drives and offensive rebounds," O'Rourke said. "We didn't execute. We gave up 14 points and still had a five-point lead. I don't care about the threes or the twos or anything on offense. I care about executing our game plan. We didn't do it in the second quarter.
"That said, we went in with a five-point lead at halftime. We put ourselves in a position to win."
But that position collapsed because of the second half, a half that saw Argos make 13 of 20 shots, a half that saw Argos outscore Triton 39-19. It was also the half with those 12 turnovers.
"At this point, we have a bunch of young men with a lot of heart," O'Rourke said. "But as a team, we're playing at 50 percent of our capability. I told them 25, but I'll say 50 to be nice.
"We're not a talented group of individuals. We are a talented team. I'm going to take responsibility because we're not executing. It's always the coach's responsibility. He has to find a way to get the team to execute."
Argos, 4-1 overall, plays 3-1 Caston in the championship game, which follows the consolation game. Caston is ranked No. 9 in single A.
Triton, 1-4 overall, meets 0-6 Culver in the consolation game of the Culver Tournament at 6:30 this evening.
"We're going to come back (tonight) and start our Christmas break in the right fashion," O'Rourke declared.
Wishing didn't work for Triton. Now O'Rourke hopes guarantees will. [[In-content Ad]]