Focus on us or the opponent?

[dressedcheeseside]

I can't help but feel conflicted when I hear our players say "we just focus on us in practice and do what we do and be the best at what we do, etc, etc.." And then we hear how much time Jamaal Golden spends in film study and knowing opponent tendencies. Also, I'm sure CPJ puts a lot of value in knowing, and therefore exploiting, defensive tendencies. So which is it?

 

[DC Bee]

I can't seem to care, Cheese. Sorry. Perhaps others can help.

 

[jeffgt14]

Offense vs defense really. If you're being on the offensive you want to be focusing on you and imposing your will. If you're being on the defense you want to be focusing on the other team and preventing what they do. That's essentially my dumbed down version. Obviously you have to study film of the defense on offense too so don't take it as 100%.

 

[AE 87]

I can't help but feel conflicted when I hear our players say "we just focus on us in practice and do what we do and be the best at what we do, etc, etc.." And then we hear how much time Jamaal Golden spends in film study and knowing opponent tendencies. Also, I'm sure CPJ puts a lot of value in knowing, and therefore exploiting, defensive tendencies. So which is it?

Obviously you do both. However, when you are playing inferior opponents, you get into trouble more often from not executing your plan than from them beating you.

So, last year against Tulane, we had some costly turnovers from lack of ball security and poor execution as well as bad reads and missed blocks on offense--which came from poor execution on our side. We also had defenders giving up contain or losing their receivers from trying to make plays rather than do their jobs.

So, I think that's what CPJ was talking about.

But, I think after that it goes to what @jeffgt14 is saying, at least for GT.

CPJ is confident that with his offensive scheme he's seen all of the limited ways people can try and defend it and we practice against the major ones. Game week, we emphasize playing against what we think they'll do, but CPJ isn't too worried that he can make the adjustments if they do something different on D.

On Defense, it's much more important to prepare for the particular opponent, and to learn their tendencies. However, as I said before, it's still a lot about each guy playing his assignment and trusting the other guys to play theirs--which is the more about us stuff.

 

[B Lifsey]

Simple answer... Yes

 

[Legal Jacket]

Both

 

[Bruce Wayne]

I just think Tech has players who buy into the program and one evidence of this is the extent to which they sound like the head coach.

I suspect that CPJ largely speaks this way because he has found it the best strategy for making sure that the players strive for where he sets the bar and where his expectations are to be found and not start judging there practice performance on what they happen to think of that week's opponent. I have always hated the sense of watching the team I root for simply "play down" or "play up" to the opponent.

Secondly, this is likely the way CPJ wants to talk so as to avoid unnecessarily providing fodder for the opposing team to get them fired up at all. Since most Tech players do follow his lead then it also means that they are less likely to answer a question from the media about their opponent in a way that is dismissive or treats them with disrespect and again provides the bulletin board type material. We still remember Kam Chacellor for what he had to say about knowing every play Tech was going to run from the snap.

 

[Bruce Wayne]

Also, typically it is in post game interviews that you hear Golden or someone else talk about any focused work on an opponent. That is important to keep in mind. It is one thing to talk about your focus on an opponent before playing them, when you could end up providing antagonizing quotes, and another thing to acknowledge your prep after you succeeded in beating an opponent.

 

[dressedcheeseside]

Also, typically it is in post game interviews that you hear Golden or someone else talk about any focused work on an opponent. That is important to keep in mind. It is one thing to talk about your focus on an opponent before playing them, when you could end up providing antagonizing quotes, and another thing to acknowledge your prep after you succeeded in beating an opponent.

Admitting to additional prep time is actually complimentary, but I get your point.

 

[forensicbuzz]

I think they practice doing what they do, regardless of the opponent, focusing on honing their skills and refining their techniques. I think they prepare for their opponents by studying film, learning tendancies, understanding their strengths and weaknesses. So, I'm with @AE 87 on this one. They do both.

 

[Ash]

Both

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Schrödinger's_cat
Coach Schrodinger's method of game prep.