1/12: NET 25, KenPom: 25

[uconngb]

Who cares about metrics. We' re ranked 9th!!! Should be a 3 seed at worst, even if we slide a spot tomorrow. Rankings mean nothing now! Ridiculous!

Did you just say rankings mean nothing after noting that we are ranked 9th??

RANKINGS mean nothing, unfortunately metrics do. That’s a fact as has been pointed out ad nauseum on this board.

 

[Husky68]

In last 20 years the worst KP by a NCAA champ has been on O a UConn team and on D another UConn team. UConn don't need no KP.

 

[uh-no]

I guess I’d argue that fouling too much is major defensive flaw, and a problem we cannot dismiss so easily. Our defensive free throw rate, which is free throw attempts divided by field goal attempts, is 42.9%. That’s #341 in the country, and the worst among all high majors. Hurley’s teams have historically fouled a lot, but last year’s 31.1% rate was much better. We’re elite at defending against two-point attempts (11th nationally), blocking shots (4th), preventing three-point attempts (7th), and decent at keeping teams off the offensive glass (53rd). Teams are shooting 38.4% from three against us (354th ). There’s a lot of evidence that opponents’ three-point percentage is more luck that skill. If we get that inevitable regression, we just need to foul less to have a defense good enough to go on a run. Our offense is, and will continue to be, awesome.

Exactly. Jonathan ain't committing those fouls. The crux we're at is...to more closely guard the three, we leave less room for error on the drive, and end up fouling. We're a step or a couple inches of wingspan short on one side or the other....a result of players who are, IMO, near the limit of their current ability. high effort on the floor, but solo/diarra/johnson on the limit of their ability to execute.

 

[uh-no]

In last 20 years the worst KP by a NCAA champ has been on O a UConn team and on D another UConn team. UConn don't need no KP.

Even if it were true (which it's tenuous to begin with since raw comparisons across years don't really work given how the system calibrates within a year, not across them), This team is nearly 8 points a game WORSE on average than that 2011 team. Spotting an extra 8 points, that uconn team would have lost 5 of those 11 straight...losing in the BE quarters and the elite 8.

Don't get me wrong, I'd be thrilled if we were playing for a F4....but pretending like overcoming the #15 D in the land is equivalent to overcoming the #115 D in the land is a bit silly.