UConn Game Thread

[Chance2017]

I think the issue is that his teams typically lose on the road because they don't defend well on the road.


Last year NKU lost 5 games away from to teams ranked 117 or worse in Kenpom.


In only one of those losses did NKU play good defense:
@ #235 EKU: 1.06 ppp Allowed (#266 offensive in the country)
@ #175 Oakland : 1.13 ppp Allowed (#107 offense in the country)
@ #191 IUPUI: 1.22 ppp Allowed (#186 offense in the country)
@ #117 Wright State: 1.19 PPP Allowed (#122 offense in the country)


His best team ever was the 2018 Norse, who were 90 in Kenpom.

That team lost in the first round of the Horizon Tourney by allowing 89 points which was good for a whopping 1.20 ppp against #300 ranked Cleveland State who had the 302nd worse offense in America.



That was Cleveland states best offensive showing ALL SEASON LONG.


Now factor in this:

In conference we have played 6 road games and I think we've played good defense in just 2 of them. The Memphis game and the UCF game.

The other 4 was not good:

-Tulane: 1.12 ppp allowed against #195 ranked offense, their best ppp all conference

-Temple: 1.17 ppp allowed against #205 offense, 2nd best offensive performance in conference

-WSU: 1.16 PPP allowed against #133 offense, best offensive performance all conference

-UCONN: 1.00 ppp allowed against #144 offense, OK defense but poor 3pt and transition defense and defensive rebounding



There is trend here guys.


We are letting really bad offenses have some of their best offensive outputs against. Its not just bad luck.

it's a pattern.

The best part is that Brannen-ball has been able to win 2 of these horrific defensive performances. And if Jarron plays reasonable close to his shooting averages (UCONN) we win 3 out of the 4. Makes me optimistic Justin. Clean up the glass and we may have something here......Thanks again!

 

[justinhub2003]

John Brannen has said over and over and over that this is a defensive first team.

On the road we don’t play a defensive first style

 

[sedziobs]

Remind me of my narrative Mr know it all.
I just posted out that UC and NKU has had multiple In conference defensive issues that lead to outlier offensive performances from otherwise poor offensive teams.

No, you didn't "just" post that. You said it's a "trend", a "pattern", and "not just bad luck". You're making a claim, not just pointing things out.

Ok. So your sorry I’m 100% wrong and our defense and rebounding on the road have been great in conference?

This is called a strawman argument. I didn't make any claim about our defense, rebounding, the road, or the conference. My only claim is that what you are calling a pattern is simply a statistical distribution of a small sample size. It can't even be "100% wrong" because it's essentially meaningless with so few games.

Lol sure. We are letting some of the leagues worst offenses drop their best performances all season and it’s not a problem.

Again, I didn't say it wasn't a problem. I said it wasn't a pattern. For the coach, everything should be considered a problem. We should be trying to improve all aspects of our game.

 

[justinhub2003]

No, you didn't "just" post that. You said it's a "trend", a "pattern", and "not just bad luck". You're making a claim, not just pointing things out.


This is called a strawman argument. I didn't make any claim about our defense, rebounding, the road, or the conference. My only claim is that what you are calling a pattern is simply a statistical distribution of a small sample size. It can't even be "100% wrong" because it's essentially meaningless with so few games.


Again, I didn't say it wasn't a problem. I said it wasn't a pattern. For the coach, everything should be considered a problem. We should be trying to improve all aspects of our game.

Got it.

So you have no point to prove. Just to want to make sure I’m wrong somehow.

So John Brannen’s teams allowing unusually great offensive outputs on the road against poor offenses 9x in 2 years Is not a problem or a cause for concern?

Jesus. I could say the sky is blue and y’all would tell me it’s not technically true.



So once and for all, does anyone here want to tell me our Road defense has been good?

Anyone want to debate that point? Let’s do it

 

[cincyguy13]

Y’all act like I’m asking for Cronin back.

What I’m asking for is UC defense were used to seeing coupled with John Brannen’s offense.

We defend great at home, but on the road we don’t.

I have no idea why. But the numbers show it

One simple answer to why we defend better at home as opposed to the road would be because home teams shoot better at home. Fairly common sense. Maybe it shouldn’t be that drastic but all teams are going to play worse on the road.

 

[waterhead]

To be fair, we have no idea what brannen said. If you listen to his postgame the game before, he had 3 options for the final play. I find it hard to believe he would have only had one option this time.

I think there were options...but part of the job is to make sure that not only 1 option is being used. Whether it was Jarron or Brannen...something didn't change over the final minutes. Normally we aren't even talking about it because Jarron gets it done. When he is getting it done...you keep letting him do it till the cows come home.

Anyway...I am probably making more out of it than is necessary but more teams will play Jarron like Uconn did down the stretch. Force him to his left and collapse on him. We need to have an answer if it comes up again.

Just like when we played Memphis the entire team was going right into the shot blockers all night with the same results. We have to play a little differently in the upcoming game vs them. It wasn't working and we ended up with 49 points to show for it. Have to make some minor adjustments in these scenarios in real time.

 

[sedziobs]

Got it.
So you have no point to prove. Just to want to make sure I’m wrong somehow.
So John Brannen’s teams allowing unusually great offensive outputs on the road against poor offenses 9x in 2 years Is not a problem or a cause for concern?
Jesus. I could say the sky is blue and y’all would tell me it’s not technically true.

So once and for all, does anyone here want to tell me our Road defense has been good?
Anyone want to debate that point? Let’s do it

I'm interested in facts and reason. I have always rebutted poor logic on this site. It just happens that you have made a habit of displaying poor logic recently. The fact that you think I need a point to prove is part of that. Seeking out points to prove is not good analysis.

Here's your simple claim: Our road defense has not been good this season. Let's revise that to "our road defense has been significantly worse than our home defense this season". It's easy to test. Our defense is ranked #136 in 8 road games. Our home defense is ranked #5. So the appropriate evidence supports that claim. Good logic so far.

Then you go on to say it's not just random luck but rather a pattern that is representative of Brannen ball and therefore a cause for concern. This is a much more speculative claim that requires more than a few selective data points to support. And it's not supported by the full set of available data. Just go back to 2017 at NKU - #266 home defense, #144 away. That's a clear counterexample. Other years show about what you'd expect for a typical team, a somewhat worse defense on the road than at home (separations of 29, 45, and 74 spots in the other three years). The claim is not supported.

Now, that's not how Cronin's teams were. His teams were much better defensively on the road, and also much worse offensively. It seems clear to me and others here that your "points to prove" make thinly veiled but aggressive references to Cronin/Brannen comparisons, and this is no exception. No matter how much you try to cloak your analysis as dispassionate, that reference is clear. It's more of a pattern than bad Brannen road defense. And it's tiresome.

Good analysis is great. Post as much data as you want. Restrict your claims to what the data actually shows. You don't have to make up a point to prove. No one has to be right or wrong.

 

[Chance2017]

I'm interested in facts and reason. I have always rebutted poor logic on this site. It just happens that you have made a habit of displaying poor logic recently. The fact that you think I need a point to prove is part of that. Seeking out points to prove is not good analysis.

Here's your simple claim: Our road defense has not been good this season. Let's revise that to "our road defense has been significantly worse than our home defense this season". It's easy to test. Our defense is ranked #136 in 8 road games. Our home defense is ranked #5. So the appropriate evidence supports that claim. Good logic so far.

Then you go on to say it's not just random luck but rather a pattern that is representative of Brannen ball and therefore a cause for concern. This is a much more speculative claim that requires more than a few selective data points to support. And it's not supported by the full set of available data. Just go back to 2017 at NKU - #266 home defense, #144 away. That's a clear counterexample. Other years show about what you'd expect for a typical team, a somewhat worse defense on the road than at home (separations of 29, 45, and 74 spots in the other three years). The claim is not supported.

Now, that's not how Cronin's teams were. His teams were much better defensively on the road, and also much worse offensively. It seems clear to me and others here that your "points to prove" make thinly veiled but aggressive references to Cronin/Brannen comparisons, and this is no exception. No matter how much you try to cloak your analysis as dispassionate, that reference is clear. It's more of a pattern than bad Brannen road defense. And it's tiresome.

Good analysis is great. Post as much data as you want. Restrict your claims to what the data actually shows. You don't have to make up a point to prove. No one has to be right or wrong.

Really good post.

 

[ervins84]

I'm interested in facts and reason. I have always rebutted poor logic on this site. It just happens that you have made a habit of displaying poor logic recently. The fact that you think I need a point to prove is part of that. Seeking out points to prove is not good analysis.

Here's your simple claim: Our road defense has not been good this season. Let's revise that to "our road defense has been significantly worse than our home defense this season". It's easy to test. Our defense is ranked #136 in 8 road games. Our home defense is ranked #5. So the appropriate evidence supports that claim. Good logic so far.

Then you go on to say it's not just random luck but rather a pattern that is representative of Brannen ball and therefore a cause for concern. This is a much more speculative claim that requires more than a few selective data points to support. And it's not supported by the full set of available data. Just go back to 2017 at NKU - #266 home defense, #144 away. That's a clear counterexample. Other years show about what you'd expect for a typical team, a somewhat worse defense on the road than at home (separations of 29, 45, and 74 spots in the other three years). The claim is not supported.

Now, that's not how Cronin's teams were. His teams were much better defensively on the road, and also much worse offensively. It seems clear to me and others here that your "points to prove" make thinly veiled but aggressive references to Cronin/Brannen comparisons, and this is no exception. No matter how much you try to cloak your analysis as dispassionate, that reference is clear. It's more of a pattern than bad Brannen road defense. And it's tiresome.

Good analysis is great. Post as much data as you want. Restrict your claims to what the data actually shows. You don't have to make up a point to prove. No one has to be right or wrong.

Mic drop

 

[JoeRunner89]

I'm interested in facts and reason. I have always rebutted poor logic on this site. It just happens that you have made a habit of displaying poor logic recently. The fact that you think I need a point to prove is part of that. Seeking out points to prove is not good analysis.

Here's your simple claim: Our road defense has not been good this season. Let's revise that to "our road defense has been significantly worse than our home defense this season". It's easy to test. Our defense is ranked #136 in 8 road games. Our home defense is ranked #5. So the appropriate evidence supports that claim. Good logic so far.

Then you go on to say it's not just random luck but rather a pattern that is representative of Brannen ball and therefore a cause for concern. This is a much more speculative claim that requires more than a few selective data points to support. And it's not supported by the full set of available data. Just go back to 2017 at NKU - #266 home defense, #144 away. That's a clear counterexample. Other years show about what you'd expect for a typical team, a somewhat worse defense on the road than at home (separations of 29, 45, and 74 spots in the other three years). The claim is not supported.

Now, that's not how Cronin's teams were. His teams were much better defensively on the road, and also much worse offensively. It seems clear to me and others here that your "points to prove" make thinly veiled but aggressive references to Cronin/Brannen comparisons, and this is no exception. No matter how much you try to cloak your analysis as dispassionate, that reference is clear. It's more of a pattern than bad Brannen road defense. And it's tiresome.

Good analysis is great. Post as much data as you want. Restrict your claims to what the data actually shows. You don't have to make up a point to prove. No one has to be right or wrong.

I mean

 

[JoeRunner89]

I'm interested in facts and reason. I have always rebutted poor logic on this site. It just happens that you have made a habit of displaying poor logic recently. The fact that you think I need a point to prove is part of that. Seeking out points to prove is not good analysis.

Here's your simple claim: Our road defense has not been good this season. Let's revise that to "our road defense has been significantly worse than our home defense this season". It's easy to test. Our defense is ranked #136 in 8 road games. Our home defense is ranked #5. So the appropriate evidence supports that claim. Good logic so far.

Then you go on to say it's not just random luck but rather a pattern that is representative of Brannen ball and therefore a cause for concern. This is a much more speculative claim that requires more than a few selective data points to support. And it's not supported by the full set of available data. Just go back to 2017 at NKU - #266 home defense, #144 away. That's a clear counterexample. Other years show about what you'd expect for a typical team, a somewhat worse defense on the road than at home (separations of 29, 45, and 74 spots in the other three years). The claim is not supported.

Now, that's not how Cronin's teams were. His teams were much better defensively on the road, and also much worse offensively. It seems clear to me and others here that your "points to prove" make thinly veiled but aggressive references to Cronin/Brannen comparisons, and this is no exception. No matter how much you try to cloak your analysis as dispassionate, that reference is clear. It's more of a pattern than bad Brannen road defense. And it's tiresome.

Good analysis is great. Post as much data as you want. Restrict your claims to what the data actually shows. You don't have to make up a point to prove. No one has to be right or wrong.

The defense hasn't been consistently good all season through stretches during a full game there's a difference from what we are used to. Generally if you cant play defense on the road your soft, and you more than likely will be out rebounded. College ball has so many players who don't go pro so it's really unalarming with the shoot better at home stat. We all know the ballers shoot well everywhere, the junkyard doggs hound everywhere and coaches that really coach will more times than not wring it up out of you as a player. Brannen doesn't have a full deck with the bench that hurts that of which is partially his fault but thats a whole nother story.. I see hes been playin zone lately sucks to say it but maybe he should practice n play that card a little more every now and then

 

[Bearcats92]

I remember reading an article last year before the tournament that it was actually Cronin's defense in the tournament that would let us down. With the way the game has evolved I don’t think cronins defense is as good as people on here make it out to be.

 

[JoeRunner89]

I remember reading an article last year before the tournament that it was actually Cronin's defense in the tournament that would let us down. With the way the game has evolved I don’t think cronins defense is as good as people on here make it out to be.

Haha man I wanna know, who started talkin about cronin

 

[cincyguy13]

I remember reading an article last year before the tournament that it was actually Cronin's defense in the tournament that would let us down. With the way the game has evolved I don’t think cronins defense is as good as people on here make it out to be.

Cronins defense was great till he started playing that zone. Good teams would torch that thing and he seemed to love it.

 

[sedziobs]

I see hes been playin zone lately sucks to say it but maybe he should practice n play that card a little more every now and then

Yes, and zone is actually something that Justin has been advocating for. I give him credit for that. I do think mixing in some more zone might be a good idea, and maybe more of a zone press than a trap press to limit threes when the trap is beat.

 

[cincrulz11]

Yes, and zone is actually something that Justin has been advocating for. I give him credit for that. I do think mixing in some more zone might be a good idea, and maybe more of a zone press than a trap press to limit threes when the trap is beat.

the 1-3-1 with diarra is crazy. we use it so infrequently i dont know what to think about it, but something tells me its not good.

 

[sedziobs]

the 1-3-1 with diarra is crazy. we use it so infrequently i dont know what to think about it, but something tells me its not good.

It is pretty crazy. I'm not sure why we don't have more standard 2-3 look to go to just for a change of pace or for games where slashers are getting to the lane too easily.

 

[justinhub2003]

the 1-3-1 with diarra is crazy. we use it so infrequently i dont know what to think about it, but something tells me its not good.

1-3-1 is a gimick. It works for a possession or two then gets figured out quickly.

But you can win a lot of games in this league but just throwing in multiple possessions of 2-3 zone because generally the shooting is poor.

Houston and temple are both awful against the zone.

WSU probably is as well.

But we insist on a press that doesn’t generate a lot turnovers. And literally has us fouling 50ft from the basket.

Why the hell did we press against UCon, I have no idea. We hadn’t been home to recover, we had just played a tough game on thurs but we insisted on doing the same things . We didn’t have the legs for it or the depth. And yet, we did it. And we looked gassed.


Defensively I think Brannen is as hard headed as the other guy we used to have.

 

[justinhub2003]

One simple answer to why we defend better at home as opposed to the road would be because home teams shoot better at home. Fairly common sense. Maybe it shouldn’t be that drastic but all teams are going to play worse on the road.

Why are teams having their best performance of all conference play against us though?

It’s not just 1 team getting hot. It’s 3 out of the 6 teams having their best offensive performance in conference play.

But I’m reassured that isn’t an issue, that this isn’t a trend and this is just a coincidence.

So yea. We should just keep doing what we are doing and eventually someone will just shoot bad. Or we will short incredibly well.


I’ll never bring it up again.


All roses and sunshine from me from here on out.


Best defense in America
Best offense in America
#1 seed in the NIT
#1 seed in my heart.

Won’t bring it up again. You guys convinced me. John Brannen is a great defensive coach. And I am ashamed I’ve ever questioned him.

 

[Bearcats92]

Why are teams having their best performance of all conference play against us though?

It’s not just 1 team getting hot. It’s 3 out of the 6 teams having their best offensive performance in conference play.

But I’m reassured that isn’t an issue, that this isn’t a trend and this is just a coincidence.

So yea. We should just keep doing what we are doing and eventually someone will just shoot bad. Or we will short incredibly well.


I’ll never bring it up again.


All roses and sunshine from me from here on out.


Best defense in America
Best offense in America
#1 seed in the NIT
#1 seed in my heart.

Won’t bring it up again. You guys convinced me. John Brannen is a great defensive coach. And I am ashamed I’ve ever questioned him.

This is the Justin we want minus the NIT BS haha