Scobel Wiggins Photography

Finishing 3-3, we were tied with Ring of Fire for the eighth and final spot to go to Quarters. Instead of the usual point-differential to determine the final spot, we played a sudden-death game to five. With no mirror half, there was extra emphasis placed on the opening flip. Ring won, and wisely chose to receive which meant they could potentially win out by scoring all their O points, conversely Furious had to get at least one break in order to win the game. Our strategy going in was to rely on what had worked for us so far, and hope that our D could come up with an early break. Ring however presented us with a much different look than we expected.

Instead of running a traditional horizontal or vertical stack, Ring came out with a spread offense. I didn't get a chance to watch them the rest of the weekend, so I am unsure if this is their normal offensive set, or just something they used in this game. They send 2 players extremely deep (similar depth as a deep would play in zone O). Then they have 3 handlers spread out wide and 2 lane cutters in positions similar to horizontal O. This essentially creates a 5 man game with a lot of field space to work within, and becomes very challenging for defenders as there is lots of wide open space and no possible poach help. The cutters make darting cuts across the field with the throwers making break mark or open side throws to open areas of the field that the cutter runs onto.

In the normal ebb and flow of a game you have the opportunity to study a new opponent for the first few points, figure out what they are doing to beat you and then devise a strategy to prevent their success. In a short game to 5, there was no such chance to make a defensive adjustment and Ring's use of a non traditional offense (strategic or not) was very effective in scoring a few easy points before we had a chance to adjust.

In order to defend this offensive set, the first adjustment I would make is on the mark. Since their cutters are stretched out long, the threat of a huck is much smaller. As a marker I would step off quite considerably, really protecting the break force side. This is crucial so that the defensive lane cutter (who now has to cover a lot more of the field) has trust that no throws are getting to the break force side and thus when his check makes a cut to that side you dont have to follow as hard and can leave a bit of a buffer for when he makes a return trip to the open side.

Ring ended up winning 5-2.

Morgan Hibbert is a captain on this year's Furious George.