I couldn't agree with you more and maybe last night wasn't the night to do it but we've played 6 cupcakes before that. I just don't think our guards can hold up playing that many minutes in big 12 play. We're going to have find some way to keep them fresh. Like I said in my original post I think Freddie will implement some of these things when he thinks they are necessary. Sometimes I forget that he's learing as he goes and the game is sped up about 100 mph for the head coach. It will probably take him a year or so to really feel like he's seeing all of the game.
Not pressing is one of those ways. Look at it this way, probably the best chance for a team with 9-10 players and really on 6 that get crunch time minutes to succeed is to limit possessions, both to ease the wear and tear on those players legs but to also shorten the game. Relying on 6 players is only 30 fouls and at a breakneck pace, you are likely to have foul trouble. Thats really the McDermott strategy.
On the opposite end, we could run a fast tempo and press like hell and just burn people out. It would hurt our shooting and we'd lose legs near the end of the year.
Our staff is taking a middle road approach.
Our best bet to push the pace is to be solid on the defensive glass and to generate turnovers. Against a good team, both of those are going to be tough. Look at last night, we struggled on the defensive glass, we didn't generate turnovers (because of UNI's experience) and we missed open shots. A triple whammy. We still had a chance to win the game. UNI's not as good as last year, but they'll still be a decent team.