Virginia, Wake Forest to meet for pack-line defense supremacy

The idea of the pack-line defense, which will be on full display on Saturday in Winston-Salem, N.C., was hatched more than two decades ago in a town famous for football.

With college basketball teams using an increasingly up-tempo style, Dick Bennett needed a defensive scheme to keep overmatched Wisconsin-Green Bay afloat. Bennett modified the commonly used man-to-man defense by instilling in his players the idea of an imaginary line inside the three-point arc.

By staying within this line, the players packed the paint area and prevented penetration. With a tight, constricted space to cover, they moved together, effectively helped with double-teams and limited easy possessions in the post.

With typical Midwestern modesty, Bennett insisted the defense was not considerably different from variations of the man-to-man installed elsewhere. But as the defense proved successful, a company approached Bennett to create an instructional video. All they needed was a name, and the "pack-line defense" was born.

"I know there were guys who used that for years, and it just didn't have a name," said Bennett, citing defenses run by Lou Henson and Tubby Smith. "Then one of the video guys said, 'Let's make a video of that,' and that's how I got all the credit. If one of those guys had made a video, they'd have gotten all the credit."

Using Bennett's system, Wisconsin-Green Bay made the NCAA tournament three times in the 1990s, including one year when his star player was his son Tony. From Green Bay, Bennett went to the University of Wisconsin. The defense also worked in the Big Ten, as the Badgers advanced to the 2000 Final Four with Tony as a volunteer assistant after an NBA career.

"I was teasing my dad: 'Why did you make that tape? You should have kept that thing quiet!' " said Tony Bennett, who is in his first year as Virginia's head coach after three successful seasons using the pack-line at Washington State.

Prominent teams that teach the pack-line defense include Wake Forest, Arizona and Xavier. On Saturday, Virginia (12-4, 3-0) plays the Demon Deacons (13-4, 3-2) to see which ACC team best plays the defense.

When Wake Forest Coach Dino Gaudio took over for the late Skip Prosser in 2007, he knew the Demon Deacons had to improve their defense. Gaudio spoke to Dick Bennett, watched the videos and installed the pack-line.

"Throughout the year when things popped up, I called Tony," Gaudio said of his first year with the defense. "He was a great source. And stuff would happen during the year: 'Tony, what about this?' And he was great about it."

With Tony Bennett now coaching an ACC foe, Gaudio joked that the calls must now go to the elder Bennett.

"And you know what? My dad would tell him everything!" Tony Bennett said. "He'd say, 'Sure, this is the problem you're having.' That's how my dad is."

Gaudio runs a faster-paced offense that increases possessions, but the defense itself can keep opponents from taking too many shots. The pack-line does not deny passing around the perimeter, so opponents occasionally exhaust the shot clock searching for an open shot.

Washington State featured the best scoring defense in the nation last season with Tony Bennett on the sideline, limiting opponents to 55.4 points per game. The Cougars were third in 2007-08 and 17th in 2006-07, Bennett's first season as head coach.

"It's a percentage defense," Tony said. "It lowers possessions because if it's played well, it takes teams longer to break it down, so it lowers possessions, which can lower scores. You're not creating turnovers, but hopefully, shooting percentages are a little lower."

Dick Bennett derived the name from the line he taped onto the court arcing a few feet inside the three-point line. The same line exists on Virginia's practice court. With one player on the ball, the other four players pack inside this line. Wherever the ball moves, the pack moves. It prevents dribble penetration and helps with "gang rebounding" -- all five players, including guards, rushing to the backboard. A guard has led or tied for the lead in rebounds in seven of Virginia's 16 games.

Tony Bennett said one of the best measures of the defense's success is how it defends three-pointers -- a surprising criterion, considering the players seldom venture beyond the arc. Gaudio boasts that Wake Forest leads the ACC in three-point percentage defense. As a sign of how far Virginia is from producing the results Tony Bennett desires, he admitted that the Cavaliers are last in the league and must improve.

"We have a saying: 'The defense never rests,' " Tony said. "And it doesn't. You can work at it, you can work at it and it gets better over time, but you never really arrive."