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66 - 68- 63

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Those are our point totals in the last three games. If we scored 70 in each we would be 3-0 in that stretch not 1-2. Our shooting has been closer to 40% than 50% in this stretch. These three games are the only times we haven't reached 70 except Dayton.

Offense -not defense- is the larger problem. This is NOT to say our defense has been great. It hasn't been. Too many open threes. Too many back doors and too many easy drives to the rim. But you don't advance in the NCAAs scoring in the 60s. Didn't we learn this lesson?
 

Marat

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Those are our point totals in the last three games. If we scored 70 in each we would be 3-0 in that stretch not 1-2. Our shooting has been closer to 40% than 50% in this stretch. These three games are the only times we haven't reached 70 except Dayton.

Offense -not defense- is the larger problem. This is NOT to say our defense has been great. It hasn't been. Too many open threes. Too many back doors and too many easy drives to the rim. But you don't advance in the NCAAs scoring in the 60s. Didn't we learn this lesson?
The simple reason our scoring is down is no Liam. With him we would have exceeded those point totals easily. Also with him playing it opens up AK as well. I am not very concerned on scoring. But, our defense will remain a problem unless that can be adjusted.
 
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Those are our point totals in the last three games. If we scored 70 in each we would be 3-0 in that stretch not 1-2. Our shooting has been closer to 40% than 50% in this stretch. These three games are the only times we haven't reached 70 except Dayton.

Offense -not defense- is the larger problem. This is NOT to say our defense has been great. It hasn't been. Too many open threes. Too many back doors and too many easy drives to the rim. But you don't advance in the NCAAs scoring in the 60s. Didn't we learn this lesson?
Wrong. Defense today in the first half is what cost us the game. Period
 
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Those are our point totals in the last three games. If we scored 70 in each we would be 3-0 in that stretch not 1-2. Our shooting has been closer to 40% than 50% in this stretch. These three games are the only times we haven't reached 70 except Dayton.

Offense -not defense- is the larger problem. This is NOT to say our defense has been great. It hasn't been. Too many open threes. Too many back doors and too many easy drives to the rim. But you don't advance in the NCAAs scoring in the 60s. Didn't we learn this lesson?
I said the same in the post game thread. I think having McNeeley makes a huge difference in these games. You're playing with fire only scoring in the 60s. Especially with this team not playing great defense.
 
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If you don’t think it’s our defense that is the issue because we landed on some number today, then you have a really distorted view of hoops.

We are 127th in KP defense, just below goliath Abilene Christian and just above UNC Greensboro. There are only a hand full of high majors with worst defensive ratings, and they are mainly the bottom of the ACC barrel. Our KP went down today.

One of our key starters is in the bottom 5 of worst defensive players in the country per metrics.

Defense is the problem. A 10 point a game scorer spin-cycled us for a relatively easy 24 points on 10-16 shooting. Creighton shot 48% from the field.
 
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If you don’t think it’s our defense that is the issue because we landed on some number today, then you have a really distorted view of hoops.

We are 127th in KP defense, just below goliath Abilene Christian and just above UNC Greensboro. There are only a hand full of high majors with worst defensive ratings, and they are mainly the bottom of the ACC barrel. Our KP went down today.

One of our key starters is in the bottom 5 of worst defensive players in the country per metrics.

Defense is the problem. A 10 point a game scorer spin-cycled us for a relatively easy 24 points on 10-16 shooting. Creighton shot 48% from the field.
Overall you're right. Defense was not really the bigger issue on why they lost to Creighton though. You give up 68 points then you should win, especially at home.

Huskies shot 44.8% from the field overall and 31.6% from three and scored a putrid 63 points on 58 shots. They only shot 5 free throws. I think McNeeley playing fixes that. Not sure what fixes the defense.
 
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If you don’t think it’s our defense that is the issue because we landed on some number today, then you have a really distorted view of hoops.

We are 127th in KP defense, just below goliath Abilene Christian and just above UNC Greensboro. There are only a hand full of high majors with worst defensive ratings, and they are mainly the bottom of the ACC barrel. Our KP went down today.

One of our key starters is in the bottom 5 of worst defensive players in the country per metrics.

Defense is the problem. A 10 point a game scorer spin-cycled us for a relatively easy 24 points on 10-16 shooting. Creighton shot 48% from the field.
Hurley agrees with you though.

“Just the theme of our season, obviously we’re not who we’ve been,” Hurley said. “I’m not sure if Liam (McNeeley), when he returns, is going to be able to fix the lack of tenacity that we have right now. Coaches and players, as a program we’re a shell of ourselves from a defensive standpoint. We’ve only won the rebound battle twice in Big East games and the bar is so low for us defensively. We’re just not a tenacious enough team.”

“How did we let a dominant righty driver, a guy that loves to go right, just continue to drive the ball right?” Hurley said. “It’s a lack of attention to detail, and it’s a lack of will.”


 
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No it’s not . We gave up 68 in a college game. We lost because of our inability to make 5-10 ft shots
When DH talks about lack of toughness and tenacity, do you think he’s talking about on offense????
 
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The offense is pretty simple. We have no one, legit no one, who is a true triple threat without Liam. We have great shooters in Solo and AK who struggled handling and taking it to the basket. Diarra is a dog for sure, but is not a shooter and tends to over penetrate and pick up his dribble. Jaylin is a mediocre shooter who often plays passive and both of our bigs are entirely one dimensional. I mean we pretty much play 4v5 in a lot of our sets when our big is standing by themselves at the the three point while the opposing big plays goalie. As a defender, you can switch and over play, and force Samson to try to thread the needle with back door bounce passes while Kalk stands under the hoop. It’s pretty asinine tbh.
 
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To the premises of this thread our offense has assists and movement, but it’s been missing 2 vital components. We don’t have guards who are athletic driving guards except(Diarra). We face guards like that every game who torch us. Second, since Reed has not been a focus the ball doesn’t go into him. You have to get something inside or they just clamp our 3 point shooters.
Yeah the defense and rebounding are bad but the offense needs tweaking.
 
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I saw the press conference. Hurley talks a lot about defense, that is his center.
If you don’t think it’s our defense that is the issue because we landed on some number today, then you have a really distorted view of hoops.

We are 127th in KP defense, just below goliath Abilene Christian and just above UNC Greensboro. There are only a hand full of high majors with worst defensive ratings, and they are mainly the bottom of the ACC barrel. Our KP went down today.

One of our key starters is in the bottom 5 of worst defensive players in the country per metrics.

Defense is the problem. A 10 point a game scorer spin-cycled us for a relatively easy 24 points on 10-16 shooting. Creighton shot 48% from the field.

I think the defense is an issue but it is not "the" issue. What you call my distorted issue of hoops is looking at the stats. The average score of a game in the BE this season is about 146 points. In short if you score less than 73 points, you lose. Holding opponents in the 60s should earn you a "W"

If you want to use the eye test. We took way too many contested shots. Our offense did not provide good looks and we had very few good looks beyond the arc. That is not to mention the nearly double digit bunnies from the lane that missed.

As I said. I don't think we played well on defense. But an average offensive performance wins the game. It also wins the Villanova game.
 
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I saw the press conference. Hurley talks a lot about defense, that is his center.


I think the defense is an issue but it is not "the" issue. What you call my distorted issue of hoops is looking at the stats. The average score of a game in the BE this season is about 146 points. In short if you score less than 73 points, you lose. Holding opponents in the 60s should earn you a "W"

If you want to use the eye test. We took way too many contested shots. Our offense did not provide good looks and we had very few good looks beyond the arc. That is not to mention the nearly double digit bunnies from the lane that missed.

As I said. I don't think we played well on defense. But an average offensive performance wins the game. It also wins the Villanova game.
imagine not knowing how number of possessions impacts the score of a game in 2025.
 

CL82

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If you had asked me what this year's games were going to look like, I would have expected a lot of high scoring battles. Based upon our personnel, I expected to be able to score, but I thought our defense would not be up to the prior two years standards. as it turned out, I was half right. We are a dramatically better team with Liam on the court. Both for everything he brings and for the fact that his presence takes pressure (in the opposing teams best defenders) off of Alex.
 

CL82

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In short if you score less than 73 points, you lose.
The interesting thing is that we are three missed chippies away from hitting the mark.
 
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I saw the press conference. Hurley talks a lot about defense, that is his center.


I think the defense is an issue but it is not "the" issue. What you call my distorted issue of hoops is looking at the stats. The average score of a game in the BE this season is about 146 points. In short if you score less than 73 points, you lose. Holding opponents in the 60s should earn you a "W"

If you want to use the eye test. We took way too many contested shots. Our offense did not provide good looks and we had very few good looks beyond the arc. That is not to mention the nearly double digit bunnies from the lane that missed.

As I said. I don't think we played well on defense. But an average offensive performance wins the game. It also wins the Villanova game.
Even with many missed bunnies this game felt uphill. We got beat on the glass, beat at the foul line. We then have to constantly outshoot the other team, which is a pressure cooker because teams have off games. It’s not like we shot the ball poorly at 45%. So are you expecting us to shoot 50% plus a game to win? Tough expectation.
 
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Solo Ball goes missing in too large of gaps during the game! He’s built like a running back

. Don’t take yourself out of the game lingering at the three point line. That spin move he made was beautiful! Would love to see him attack more! Once he realizes he’s unguardable he will be unguardable!

Let these kids grow and watch them develop. It’s one of the best parts of college sports! We are fine!
 
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Offense is a factor but we don't magically get more shot attempts and points unless we play defense; get rebounds ,blocks, steals etc... Our D is the much bigger issue by a far margin.
I wonder if Hurley regrets not playing Stewart, Solo etc.. more minutes last year. Some of these sophomores are clearly freshmen minute wise. We should be playing Nowell more this year.
 

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Even with many missed bunnies this game felt uphill. We got beat on the glass, beat at the foul line. We then have to constantly outshoot the other team, which is a pressure cooker because teams have off games. It’s not like we shot the ball poorly at 45%. So are you expecting us to shoot 50% plus a game to win? Tough expectation.
Rebounding is another reason Tarris should play more than Sampson. Samson Johnson is playing better, but still is not a very good rebounder. Dumb fouls hurt him, but need to get back to the basics and not play soft.
 

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Offense is a factor but we don't magically get more shot attempts and points unless we play defense; get rebounds ,blocks, steals etc... Our D is the much bigger issue by a far margin.
I wonder if Hurley regrets not playing Stewart, Solo etc.. more minutes last year. Some of these sophomores are clearly freshmen minute wise. We should be playing Nowell more this year.
Last year we were a machine of ballers so finding minutes for these guys was not easy. But this year I think most of us agree that Nowell needs the min as it will be needed for next season. Maybe Dan wants an older PG from the portal .....
 
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Offense is a factor but we don't magically get more shot attempts and points unless we play defense; get rebounds ,blocks, steals etc... Our D is the much bigger issue by a far margin.
I wonder if Hurley regrets not playing Stewart, Solo etc.. more minutes last year. Some of these sophomores are clearly freshmen minute wise. We should be playing Nowell more this year.
Doesn't look like Nowell can put the ball in the basket. Too many misses yesterday by AK as well. Samson Johnson can only score if it is an alley oop. No real scoring threat on this team on a consistent basis. Stewie makes a three once in a while, but not consistently. That is where the addition of Mahaney failed. He was supposed to be the next Cam, but it didn't work out. Need the hit the portal big time for some shooters for next season.
 
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1737301902133.gif
 
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Offense is a factor but we don't magically get more shot attempts and points unless we play defense; get rebounds ,blocks, steals etc... Our D is the much bigger issue by a far margin.
I wonder if Hurley regrets not playing Stewart, Solo etc.. more minutes last year. Some of these sophomores are clearly freshmen minute wise. We should be playing Nowell more this year.

Offensive rebounding. Offensive efficiency. Getting clean open looks versus contested shots. Starting the offense faster. There are lots and lots of numbers we can cite.

I'll cite three. 66-68-63. Those are not good enough to win consistently in today's college basketball.
 

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