VCU

[cincrulz11]

We have to run him off the 3-point line.

36-79 .456 from 3

25-65 .385 inside the arc.


As a team they shoot 43.3% on 2 pointers, 302nd best (or worst) percentage in the country.

 

[HoosierCat]

Wow, Gelawn Guyn's 4-4 ETSU team beat Georgia Tech and GT took down VCU by 13. We really can't afford to lose this game at all. It will be tough, but we have to do it some way, some how.

I didn't know GG got into coaching already

 

[jacobkdoyle]

Clark took 11 shots and had 19 and 7...so does he feel good about himself now and go back to not being aggressive offensively until he hits tock bottom? Or does he do it again? That's the hurdle he needs to clear imo. Great game Tuesday, now do it again.

 

[WAITE HOYT 2]

Clark took 11 shots and had 19 and 7...so does he feel good about himself now and go back to not being aggressive offensively until he hits tock bottom? Or does he do it again? That's the hurdle he needs to clear imo. Great game Tuesday, now do it again.

Jacob the whole team needs to demonstrate a lot more consistency. Most notably on the defensive end. You have nights when your shot doesn't fall or the opposition takes your touches away but guarding is a mind set. Something we have not shown a lot of this season.

 

[waterhead]

Jacob the whole team needs to demonstrate a lot more consistency. Most notably on the defensive end. You have nights when your shot doesn't fall or the opposition takes your touches away but guarding is a mind set. Something we have not shown a lot of this season.

Help me with this because I want to understand why so many people are talking about D. Other than the obvious corner 3 which is generally a tough spot for any team to guard. I think our Kenpom adjusted D is 12th right now and was top 5 for a while (adjusted).

We've had a few halves that didn't go well which I think was a sore spot for Mick. There must be something that people see which the stats aren't necessarily supporting. I'm not a coach and I certainly don't know xs and os like a lot of knowledgeable fans in here.

However it seems like if we played just a little better we would rank #1 in the country in adjusted D. I am genuinely curious about this...not suggesting anyone is wrong with D concerns

 

[waterhead]

Help me with this because I want to understand why so many people are talking about D. Other than the obvious corner 3 which is generally a tough spot for any team to guard. I think our Kenpom adjusted D is 12th right now and was top 5 for a while (adjusted).

We've had a few halves that didn't go well which I think was a sore spot for Mick. There must be something that people see which the stats aren't necessarily supporting. I'm not a coach and I certainly don't know xs and os like a lot of knowledgeable fans in here.

However it seems like if we played just a little better we would rank #1 in the country in adjusted D. I am genuinely curious about this...not suggesting anyone is wrong with D concerns

We held X on their home court to their second lowest total on the season and we're only 2 pts from being 1st. The next closest after that was 13 points more.

Are we expecting too much or am I missing something?

 

[waterhead]

We held X on their home court to their second lowest total on the season and we're only 2 pts from being 1st. The next closest after that was 13 points more.

Are we expecting too much or am I missing something?

GW we held to 16 points fewer than their next season low. Butler 3rd lowest by just a few and we allowed 50 points in the second half which was obviously a horrible half.

 

[waterhead]

GW we held to 16 points fewer than their next season low. Butler 3rd lowest by just a few and we allowed 50 points in the second half which was obviously a horrible half.

We've even mailed it in a couple times when we were clearly the better team with a low crowd turnout.

 

[WAITE HOYT 2]

Help me with this because I want to understand why so many people are talking about D. Other than the obvious corner 3 which is generally a tough spot for any team to guard. I think our Kenpom adjusted D is 12th right now and was top 5 for a while (adjusted).

We've had a few halves that didn't go well which I think was a sore spot for Mick. There must be something that people see which the stats aren't necessarily supporting. I'm not a coach and I certainly don't know xs and os like a lot of knowledgeable fans in here.

However it seems like if we played just a little better we would rank #1 in the country in adjusted D. I am genuinely curious about this...not suggesting anyone is wrong with D concerns

WH my issue is the same as Mick's it seems we play as if we can turn it on and off. I would like to see a more consistent effort on defense. We are giving up a bunch of uncontested 3's. Most coming off dribble drive penetration. WH don't focus on the shots the opposition makes. That is a product of opposition talent. Focus on the amount of good looks we are giving up. Better teams will knock more of those down. Butler got us for 78 on our floor. That is unheard of in the Mick era.

 

[UCalum08]

What do you think the O/U for turnovers will be?! 13?? I say if we have more than 13 turnovers you can go ahead and chalk up a loss.

 

[waterhead]

WH my issue is the same as Mick's it seems we play as if we can turn it on and off. I would like to see a more consistent effort on defense. We are giving up a bunch of uncontested 3's. Most coming off dribble drive penetration. WH don't focus on the shots the opposition makes. That is a product of opposition talent. Focus on the amount of good looks we are giving up. Better teams will knock more of those down. Butler got us for 78 on our floor. That is unheard of in the Mick era.

I see your point but I remember last year we thought we gave up a lot of good looks...especially in the corner...yet ended up being one of the best D in the country. I was thinking our style of switching would lend to that problem but would otherwise counter balance itself. Of course it would be great if we could switch perfectly. ..but if we did...we would probably be the best D in the country both this year and last

 

[WAITE HOYT 2]

I see your point but I remember last year we thought we gave up a lot of good looks...especially in the corner...yet ended up being one of the best D in the country. I was thinking our style of switching would lend to that problem but would otherwise counter balance itself. Of course it would be great if we could switch perfectly. ..but if we did...we would probably be the best D in the country both this year and last

last years team played at a much slower rate.

 

[waterhead]

last years team played at a much slower rate.

I'm not sure how adjusted D works...but doesn't it a count for some of that are no?

 

[WAITE HOYT 2]

I'm not sure how adjusted D works...but doesn't it a count for some of that are no?

probably does somehow.

 

[Bearcat_NTS]

I'm not sure how adjusted D works...but doesn't it a count for some of that are no?

Yes. It is scaled on a per possession basis. So giving up 80 points in an 80 possession game is equally as good as giving up 50 points in a 50 possession game. A good example is the Citadel. They average 94 points per game but their adjusted offense is rated just 184th in the country. Virginia on the other hand just averages 76 points per game, but their adjusted offense is rated as 8th in the country.

 

[waterhead]

Yes. It is scaled on a per possession basis. So giving up 80 points in an 80 possession game is equally as good as giving up 50 points in a 50 possession game. A good example is the Citadel. They average 94 points per game but their adjusted offense is rated just 184th in the country. Virginia on the other hand just averages 76 points per game, but their adjusted offense is rated as 8th in the country.

Thanks. I thought that was probably the case. So I'm still scratching my head over why so many people think we have to get better on D. We are 14th in the country in adjusted D and I think offense has been more of a focus early on until recently.

Clearly, to me, our problems lie on the offensive end. I'm not worried about our defensive intensity moving forward because we won't have a lot of cupcakes where we get up 20 points right away and then mail it in.

Turnovers needs to be a focus in big games. We can't really control how many shots fall. How fast we get up the court we can control. How we attack once we get there we can control.

 

[L-T]

Listen, this issue of giving up wide open 3s out of the corner has been here for all of Cronin's years. I've pulled my hair out over this in past years. These low point totals we've given up in past years was more a factor of how long we hung onto the ball, than it was our amazing defense. That's not saying our defense wasn't good, I just feel our pace of play made it look amazing because of the points given up. Conversely, we're seeing higher points given up this year and everyone is panicking, when the shot clock is causing additional possessions, and we're playing faster as well. On top of that, my eye-test (useless info) also says we seem to be giving up some things that I haven't seen that much in past years, which basically means maybe our defense has regressed a little too....but not to a panic level. I know the stats guys will shoot down everything I've said, so have at it. I still think my eyes are a lot more credible than your stats.

 

[waterhead]

Yes. It is scaled on a per possession basis. So giving up 80 points in an 80 possession game is equally as good as giving up 50 points in a 50 possession game. A good example is the Citadel. They average 94 points per game but their adjusted offense is rated just 184th in the country. Virginia on the other hand just averages 76 points per game, but their adjusted offense is rated as 8th in the country.

So last year we averaged 62 possessions per game and the opponent averaged 55.8 pts per game so they scored .9 pts per possession. This year we are averaging 70 possessions and the opponent is scoring 59 pts for a .84 points per possession.

So far we are MORE stingy per possession than last year...but our SOS will get tougher so we will have to wait and see. I do believe our D intensity will also pick up as we go into conference.

 

[waterhead]

So last year we averaged 62 possessions per game and the opponent averaged 55.8 pts per game so they scored .9 pts per possession. This year we are averaging 70 possessions and the opponent is scoring 59 pts for a .84 points per possession.

So far we are MORE stingy per possession than last year...but our SOS will get tougher so we will have to wait and see. I do believe our D intensity will also pick up as we go into conference.

I actually found the stats that would make more sense. I was using our possessions and their pts.

Our opponent's effective possession ratio last year was around .95 PPP. That ranked 204th (wow not great). This year our opponents are at around .90 and we are 45th.

WV has lead the country this year and last...last year it was 84%

 

[jacobkdoyle]

Things I'm hoping for:

-Clark close to a double-double (double digit points)
-Ellis 10 rebounds and 6 assists+steals+blocks
-Caupain 6 assists
-Cobb 15 points
-Evans 10 points
-Shaq 5 rebounds 3 assists and no more than 2 TO

Team
-8 made 3s
-Rebounding margin of +8
-Over 70% FT shooting
-Team AST/TO of better than 1.3