This defense is DAMN good (my theory)

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Thegreatone

Thegreatone

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Feb 2, 2010
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This is by far the best defensive team in the Mick Cronin era and the potential to be one of the best in the country.

Right now our opponents are averaging less than 50 PPG. Regardless of who we are playing our defense has been in the opponents shorts. Even when these guys are scoring they are making some difficult shots.

Why is our defense so improved? 2 reasons. Lance Stephenson and Deonta Vaughn.

People were so concerned when they left that we would be losing too much scoring but adding Dion and Rashad's defense has been much more valuable to our team. I am not even talking about the much better balance on offense.

Deonta had trouble staying with the SG of the other teams. Dion is far more athletic and can stick with a 2.

Lance had potential on defense but was a freshman. He was caught out of position a couple of time where Rashad is almost never our of position.

Add that Yancy/Ibrihima/Biggie/Justing Jackson are all deflecting/altering/blocking shots. Yancy has really improved in this area.

Our guards are able to over play because they know they will be getting help from the big men.

If we get to 65 points we will win the majority of our games verse any opponent.
 
Sorry but Lance was one of the best defenders on the team last year. Most people don't like to admit it but when he was focused (and he did have a good amount of lapses as all freshman do) he became a shut down defender. Bishop's defense is overrated. Dixon's can be good but he doesn't fight well enough through screens.
 
I could score on Lance. Not kidding. Back cut him or show him a pump fake and he was done. Our defense is vastly upgraded by losing those two.
 
TheLongHaul said:
Sorry but Lance was one of the best defenders on the team last year. Most people don't like to admit it but when he was focused (and he did have a good amount of lapses as all freshman do) he became a shut down defender. Bishop's defense is overrated. Dixon's can be good but he doesn't fight well enough through screens.
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The real test will come in the BEast, but nobody has scored over 60 points on this team yet and the last three 51, 41, and 34 respectively. Not too shabby.
 
TheLongHaul said:
Sorry but Lance was one of the best defenders on the team last year. Most people don't like to admit it but when he was focused (and he did have a good amount of lapses as all freshman do) he became a shut down defender. Bishop's defense is overrated. Dixon's can be good but he doesn't fight well enough through screens.
Click to expand...

Bishop's defense is overrated? By who? Our head coach has repeatedly called him our best defensive player.

And in case you missed it, its not like he is afraid to call out Rashad either....
 
Thegreatone said:
I could score on Lance. Not kidding. Back cut him or show him a pump fake and he was done. Our defense is vastly upgraded by losing those two.
Click to expand...

Bingo... Lance was pretty good on the ball in a one on one situation, but off the ball he got caught looking away from his man very often and gave up a lot of easy buckets... as you said, he certainly had potential to be a very good defender, but he was a freshmen and a scorer first.
 
bearcat jeff said:
I'm with you on this LL.
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I'm not sure I agree. For the last 2 or 3 years, we have tried pressing early in the year. When the schedule was soft, the results were mixed, but it was clear Mick was not comfortable pressing against better competition for multiple reasons. Now with Vaughn (lack of length and quickness) gone and Wilks and Jackson (two guys suited for the top of the press) seeing a decent amount of minutes at the 4, we will actually see the press more when it makes sense.

However, that isn't always going to be the case. I don't think we ever pressed against Dayton, which was obviously the smart thing to do. Their weakness is their half court offense and we made them run it over and over again. I cannot emphasize how good our transition defense was Saturday. I only remember once getting beaten down the floor once all night, and that came pretty late in the game.

If there is anything I trust with this staff, it is their ability to put together a strong defensive game plan that plays to the strength of their players. And now with the defensive talent we have, I think we could see one of the best defensive teams in the country.

Obviously its too early to know that for sure though...
 
Maybe athleticism in general wasn't the right term... but I maintain there is no doubt he didn't have the right TYPE of athletes to run an effective press...
 
psax889906 said:
Maybe athleticism in general wasn't the right term... but I maintain there is no doubt he didn't have the right TYPE of athletes to run an effective press...
Click to expand...

Yeah, I don't think there is any debate that you are right about this. Even now depending on our lineup, we cannot run the press. Thomas is not laterally quick enough to play at the top of the press. You have to have either Wilks or Jackson there.
 
Our defense has been great thus far. We have the ability to lock up team in the halfcourt but have shown the ability to overwhelm the slower less athletic teams with a press. We are not a one trick pony on D.
 
We didn't have the number of athletes needed to run the press. We had some good athletes but you have to have a lot of depth at the guard and wing especially to be able to press. We haven't had that until now.
 
I should clarify my earlier statement. I don't think we had guys with good basketball iq's. That is how I should have responded. I think this team plays much better from a fundamental standpoint.
 

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