Fast Takes with Fast Break: Indianapolis vs Detroit

Authors: Sam Nielsen, Vincenzo Cicco, & Tessa Mullins

PC: Major League Quidditch

This week Detroit is looking at another tough matchup against an opponent they lost to 3-0 last season. However, having one 2022 series already under their belt may end up being a sizable advantage against a team with a remarkably similar amount of roster turnover this year. 

Indianapolis enters this series as one of the last teams to begin play for the season. They have historically performed very well against Detroit in the regular season (8-1 since 2018), but significant roster turnover and going up against a team with one series already completed may make things closer this time around.

In their season opener, Detroit opted for a 2-2 zone defense, generally utilizing their keeper as the point defender. Within this condensed zone, Detroit’s beaters looked for aggressive plays like taking battles with offensive beaters above their keeper zone and strongly committing to passes behind their hoops. Although these decisions allowed for many convincing turnovers and a fairly low amount of scoring, overextended beaters, especially when the ball was moved around behind their own hoops, often led to an open drive from behind finished by a dunk over a lone defender standing at a hoop. And while Minneapolis was able to pick apart the Innovators’ defense, Detroit struggled to do the same on offense in games one and two of the series.

If Detroit continues using the 2-2 zone defense with aggressive beaters that they did against Minneapolis, it will give Indy a solid test of how well their new chasers have meshed together. Last year, the Intensity used a patient box offense with lots of ball movement to move around these kinds of defenses. This series will show whether they can recreate that style effectively with their new roster or are looking to shake things up. Regardless of the approach, the ball will likely move a lot through the hands of key returning chasers Nathan Digmann and Kennedy Murphy, but they will need to get other players involved in the offense to score consistently. A lack of effective ball movement could also become easy prey for Detroit's aggressive beater play, which will likely be looking to push for transition goals if they are able to force quick turnovers.

Detroit genuinely looked good when they were sufficiently set up in their offense, however most of their offenses in their first two games were ended before they really took form. Minneapolis ran a sticky mark defense especially on off-ball chasers, so once a pass was made to a wing, a Monarch would make an aggressive play to intercept or immediately make contact with the receiver resulting in many early turnovers. The Innovators were, however, able to readjust in game three and their success is clear solely by comparing the final scores. Detroit made the adaptation to involve their beaters more in supporting their chasers on offense, preventing early turnovers by tapping out defenders, and allowing their ball carriers to find open cutters created by the shifting mark defense. Game three saw Detroit and Minneapolis trading goals with Detroit often leading. Unfortunately, Minneapolis came out with an early snitch catch and Detroit was unable to close the gap.

On defense, Indianapolis employed a moderately high-pressing mark defense last year with a solid beater core holding down the space around hoops. This worked well in half-court situations last year, but it still wouldn’t be surprising to see Indy join the growing number of teams preferring to run 2-2 zones. Indy’s strong beater core should give them success with either a mark or zone defense, as long as they are able to set up and don’t give up too many fast-break goals.

This weekend will be our first look at the new Intensity, and as another team with fairly high turnover, Detroit likely won’t know what to expect of them. However, with Detroit’s nearly successful game three adaptation two weeks ago as proof, if the Innovators manage to make a similar read on either Indianapolis’s offense or defense and properly respond, this series could be very close. With a high potential for close games, the seekers could play an important part in determining the outcome of this series. Detroit didn’t catch any snitches in their series against Minneapolis, while Indy entered the season with no dedicated seekers. While this suggests a high potential for games without a catch, if either of these teams are able to find success in the seeker game it could be the step up they need to take the series.

Prediction: Indianapolis 2-1