DePaul Scouting Report

[Hey Adrien!]

DePaul: 9-13
Kenpom Rating: 135
Record in last 12 games: 3-9​

Best wins:

• 73-72 v Xavier
  • Umoja Gibson: 22 points, 5-10 from three, 5 assists, 2 steals
  • Javan Johnson: 16 points, 3-6 from three
• 75-65 v Villanova
  • Da’Sean Nelson: 24 points, 8 rebounds
  • Javan Johnson: 18 points, 10 rebounds, 4-6 from three

Worst losses:

• 55-66 at Duquesne
• 67-86 at St. John’s
• 76-81 at Georgetown

OFFENSE: 119th in efficiency

• 16th in FT% (77.2%)
• 59th in quickest possession rate (16.5 seconds/possession)
• 75th in 3p% (35.9%)
• 93rd in A/FGM: 54.5%
• 118th in 3PA/FGA (40.1%)
• Median or lower in all other metrics

DEFENSE: 177th in efficiency

• 96th in 3PA/FGA (34.8%)
• 102nd in block rate (10.2%)
• Median or lower in all other metrics
• Only three players with positive efficiency rates according to EvanMiya.com (Anei, Cruz, Terry)

I forgot who said it, but one writer wrote that Stubbefield’s DePaul teams are a lot like Dave Leitao DePaul teams: they work hard, are well coached, just aren’t that skilled or talented.

Umoja Gibson is their star: originally from North Texas (known for their excellent defense), Gibson is an efficient offensive player and causes a ton of turnovers.

Javan Johnson is probably their most versatile offensive player and when he does well, DePaul wins: Johnson has scored 14+ ppg in each of DePaul’s wins.

Newbies Da’Sean Nelson and Eral Penn are tough for their size and have unquestionable effort. The jump from LIU to the Big East is huge, so major props to Penn.

A projected starter over the summer, Caleb Murphy is finally healthy at DePaul. He hasn’t done much in his four games, but at South Florida he was a ball dominant guard: ranking in the top-twelve in the AAC in % of shots and % offensive possessions used. In his freshman year, he was even more used: top-five in each metric. With Gibson and Johnson both averaging 15+ ppg, Murphy will have to learn how to play with more talented teammates than the ones he played with in USF.

KenPom prediction: 79-67 good guys.

 

[HuskyHawk]

Thanks for this as always. I knew little about this team. Very small, so it will be interesting to see how Hurley reacts to the size advantage and whether he sees it as a disadvantage. Efficiency wise, it looks like we should avoid fouling them, and instead let those shots go up. Need to play disciplined defense.

 

[ClifSpliffy]

clearly, the 'all big east name team.'
Philmon Gebrewhit? no dis to that guy intended, but i am completely bereft of tools to even figure out that one.

 

[husky429]

I had totally forgotten about Zion Cruz. What on earth happened to the kid? Things went awry down at Oak Kill? Seems like he was on track to be a 5* player, and now looks like he might not even be good enough for the A10.

As always @Hey Adrien! --great stuff.

I'm not taking any W for granted at this point, but we have enough talent to make this a blowout and a great opportunity for Clingan and Johnson to get some extended minutes.

 

[Chin Diesel]

Only one player on DePaul over 210 lbs. At least UConn shouldn't get bullied by dribble drive in to the paint.

 

[Umami Zen]

Great summary @Hey Adrien! We've got to respect our opponent(s)..Play for 40 minutes.. Play D/control the boards..

Let's start stacking some Ws

 

[ClifSpliffy]

easy call, but....
this roster is old, gr's and sr's all over it, yet and like a frosh team full of talent yet losing all the time that discovers it's mojo for a second, and beats a 'better' team, one thing experience usually doesn't do is beat itself.
so, given their foul shooting prowess, which could allow them to hang around if we do our typical hand fouling thing, keeping them in it, and they look around at the last 5 minutes or so and think 'hey, we can win this'
well, that's also when a lesser team could steal one.

 

[Hurleyman216]

Shut down Gibson…the end

 

[huskyharry]

I had totally forgotten about Zion Cruz. What on earth happened to the kid? Things went awry down at Oak Kill? Seems like he was on track to be a 5* player, and now looks like he might not even be good enough for the A10.

As always @Hey Adrien! --great stuff.

I'm not taking any W for granted at this point, but we have enough talent to make this a blowout and a great opportunity for Clingan and Johnson to get some extended minutes.

we seem to lose every game lately when someone predicts a blowout...shoo shoo you demons of hubris!

A one point, hard fought win would be mighty fine...we are doomed, DOOMED for sure!

 

[Deleted at users request]

It is not comforting that they found a way to beat Xavier at home lol.

 

[jdb50]

Saw 2 Depaul games, Xavier and Providence. They do not play uptight. Keep attacking and they do drive the ball. Will give us trouble.

 

[gsmooth]

DePaul: 9-13
Kenpom Rating: 135
Record in last 12 games: 3-9​

Best wins:

• 73-72 v Xavier
  • Umoja Gibson: 22 points, 5-10 from three, 5 assists, 2 steals
  • Javan Johnson: 16 points, 3-6 from three
• 75-65 v Villanova
  • Da’Sean Nelson: 24 points, 8 rebounds
  • Javan Johnson: 18 points, 10 rebounds, 4-6 from three

Worst losses:

• 55-66 at Duquesne
• 67-86 at St. John’s
• 76-81 at Georgetown

OFFENSE: 119th in efficiency

• 16th in FT% (77.2%)
• 59th in quickest possession rate (16.5 seconds/possession)
• 75th in 3p% (35.9%)
• 93rd in A/FGM: 54.5%
• 118th in 3PA/FGA (40.1%)
• Median or lower in all other metrics

DEFENSE: 177th in efficiency

• 96th in 3PA/FGA (34.8%)
• 102nd in block rate (10.2%)
• Median or lower in all other metrics
• Only three players with positive efficiency rates according to EvanMiya.com (Anei, Cruz, Terry)

I forgot who said it, but one writer wrote that Stubbefield’s DePaul teams are a lot like Dave Leitao DePaul teams: they work hard, are well coached, just aren’t that skilled or talented.

Umoja Gibson is their star: originally from North Texas (known for their excellent defense), Gibson is an efficient offensive player and causes a ton of turnovers.

Javan Johnson is probably their most versatile offensive player and when he does well, DePaul wins: Johnson has scored 14+ ppg in each of DePaul’s wins.

Newbies Da’Sean Nelson and Eral Penn are tough for their size and have unquestionable effort. The jump from LIU to the Big East is huge, so major props to Penn.

A projected starter over the summer, Caleb Murphy is finally healthy at DePaul. He hasn’t done much in his four games, but at South Florida he was a ball dominant guard: ranking in the top-twelve in the AAC in % of shots and % offensive possessions used. In his freshman year, he was even more used: top-five in each metric. With Gibson and Johnson both averaging 15+ ppg, Murphy will have to learn how to play with more talented teammates than the ones he played with in USF.

KenPom prediction: 79-67 good guys.

Nice report as usual : )

The only thing I will add is whoever is guarding Umoja Gibson don't you dare go under the ball screens when he has the ball or is about to receive the ball beyond the 3 pt line. It's basically the opposite of how to defend Posh Alexander and most St. Johns players. Force Gibson to put the ball on the floor as he will have trouble finishing over height inside the arc. He can shoot the lights out.

 

[Huskyforlife]

Nice report as usual : )

The only thing I will add is whoever is guarding Umoja Gibson don't you dare go under the ball screens when he has the ball or is about to receive the ball beyond the 3 pt line. It's basically the opposite of how to defend Posh Alexander and most St. Johns players. Force Gibson to put the ball on the floor as he will have trouble finishing over height inside the arc. He can shoot the lights out.

Hedge defense on Gibson ball screens should be the plan. They don’t have a roller to be afraid of. I’d like to see Andre get back in his defensive rhythm by shutting down a second tier scorer like Gibson.

 

[CTBasketball]

Hedge defense on Gibson ball screens should be the plan. They don’t have a roller to be afraid of. I’d like to see Andre get back in his defensive rhythm by shutting down a second tier scorer like Gibson.

We’ll likely do the same offensive and defensive scheming as we do for the start of every game.

 

[navery12]

we seem to lose every game lately when someone predicts a blowout...shoo shoo you demons of hubris!

A one point, hard fought win would be mighty fine...we are doomed, DOOMED for sure!

The last game that was supposed to be a blowout we beat Butler by 30

 

[Billy Jack]

This week is a gift. If they want to try something new, this is the week to do it. If they want to take those zones they used vs X in the second half, and install them as their go-to defense they have to games this week to work on them. Even if they get 2 W’s, how they approach these games should tell us a lot.

6 days off since the X game and 4 days until the Georgetown game. These are opponents against whom they should be able to use their bench. They have time to rest up and clear their heads. If there’s any point in the season for them to turn things around, this is it.

 

[FLDawg16]

This week is a gift. If they want to try something new, this is the week to do it. If they want to take those zones they used vs X in the second half, and install them as their go-to defense they have to games this week to work on them. Even if they get 2 W’s, how they approach these games should tell us a lot.

6 days off since the X game and 4 days until the Georgetown game. These are opponents against whom they should be able to use their bench. They have time to rest up and clear their heads. If there’s any point in the season for them to turn things around, this is it.

No offense but the Depaul team just took out Xavier recently. Don't think we have the luxury of switching our whole scheme up the ENTIRE game against them. Maybe with a second half lead

 

[husky429]

This week is a gift. If they want to try something new, this is the week to do it. If they want to take those zones they used vs X in the second half, and install them as their go-to defense they have to games this week to work on them. Even if they get 2 W’s, how they approach these games should tell us a lot.

6 days off since the X game and 4 days until the Georgetown game. These are opponents against whom they should be able to use their bench. They have time to rest up and clear their heads. If there’s any point in the season for them to turn things around, this is it.

Making a zone our base defense is a terrible idea, and something Hurley would absolutely never do. Zones are your counter to change the pace or force certain types of shots when your base defense isn't working. This isn't middle school basketball.

 

[gsmooth]

No offense but the Depaul team just took out Xavier recently. Don't think we have the luxury of switching our whole scheme up the ENTIRE game against them. Maybe with a second half lead

true. At this point I can't confidently say for any game that is approaching that UConn will definitely win after they lost at home to St. John's and on the road to Seton Hall.

UConn needs to be Depaul and then GTown in the worst way. Both of these teams have been very competitive, too, even though their records are not good.

 

[Billy Jack]

Making a zone our base defense is a terrible idea, and something Hurley would absolutely never do. Zones are your counter to change the pace or force certain types of shots when your base defense isn't working. This isn't middle school basketball.

That wasn’t my point. It was an example.

 

[PAHusky]

No offense but the Depaul team just took out Xavier recently. Don't think we have the luxury of switching our whole scheme up the ENTIRE game against them. Maybe with a second half lead

Agreed. The idea that any game is a "gift" or that we should be running experiments on the court the way this team is currently playing is laughable. We should and probably will win tonight's game, hopefully by a lot, but there are no games left on the schedule we can take for granted

 

[Billy Jack]

true. At this point I can't confidently say for any game that is approaching that UConn will definitely win after they lost at home to St. John's and on the road to Seton Hall.

UConn needs to be Depaul and then GTown in the worst way. Both of these teams have been very competitive, too, even though their records are not good.

Very competitive? Are we now afraid of our own shadow?

Georgetown has been anything but competitive. They’ve won only one game in conference and that was over DePaul. They’ve recently come close to St.John’s & Villanova, but that’s it. Every other conference loss has been a double digit blow out except for a 7 point loss to DePaul.

DePaul has sometimes been competitive. 5 of their conference losses have been by 11-20 points. They also have an 8 point loss to Butler and a 5 point loss to Georgetown, which don’t make them competitive vs anyone else. Just as their win over Georgetown doesn’t tell us much about their ability to compete against anyone else. What they have going for them are a 4 point home loss to Seton Hall, which isn’t great endorsement, a 10 point home win over Villanova at a time when Villanova was struggling and a 1 point home win vs Xavier. So does that make them very competitive? No. In fact, without the win over Xavier they wouldn’t be considered particularly competitive at all. But they did beat Xavier, so we have to say that they can rise to the occasion occasionally. But that’s the exception so it’s not what we should expect.

 

[Billy Jack]

Agreed. The idea that any game is a "gift" or that we should be running experiments on the court the way this team is currently playing is laughable. We should and probably will win tonight's game, hopefully by a lot, but there are no games left on the schedule we can take for granted

Running scared?

Of course no outcome is a given, otherwise there’d be no point in playing the games. But having the 2 worst teams in the league back to back during a 2-week gap between Xavier and Marquette is a gift from the schedule makers.

The betting line on the DePaul game is 10+ points. The spread on the Georgetown game will be even higher. Based on how these teams have performed, that’s as it should be. Neither of these teams is even ranked within the top 100. There’s every reason to be supremely confident going into these 2 games in spite of them being on the road.

 

[PAHusky]

Running scared?

Of course no outcome is a given, otherwise there’d be no point in playing the games. But having the 2 worst teams in the league back to back during a 2-week gap between Xavier and Marquette is a gift from the schedule makers.

The betting line on the DePaul game is 10+ points. The spread on the Georgetown game will be even higher. Based on how these teams have performed, that’s as it should be. Neither of these teams is even ranked within the top 100. There’s every reason to be supremely confident going into these 2 games in spite of them being on the road.

Running scared? Being realistic. What did the oddsmakers have the lines at for UConn in the last 8-10 games, and how'd we do there?

As I said - we can and should win these games. But this team can't afford to take any teams lightly the way they're playing right now, and we're not good enough to be running experiments during games.

Win tonight, get back on track and try to grab a decent seed for the BE tournament.

 

[NotADime89]

But having the 2 worst teams in the league back to back during a 2-week gap between Xavier and Marquette is a gift from the schedule makers.

I mean the schedule makers had to do something to balance out the front end of our schedule.

Nova
@ Xavier
@Providence
Creighton
@Marquette

The schedule makers did us no favors in that 2 week stretch

 

[gsmooth]

Very competitive? Are we now afraid of our own shadow?

Georgetown has been anything but competitive. They’ve won only one game in conference and that was over DePaul. They’ve recently come close to St.John’s & Villanova, but that’s it. Every other conference loss has been a double digit blow out except for a 7 point loss to DePaul.

DePaul has sometimes been competitive. 5 of their conference losses have been by 11-20 points. They also have an 8 point loss to Butler and a 5 point loss to Georgetown, which don’t make them competitive vs anyone else. Just as their win over Georgetown doesn’t tell us much about their ability to compete against anyone else. What they have going for them are a 4 point home loss to Seton Hall, which isn’t great endorsement, a 10 point home win over Villanova at a time when Villanova was struggling and a 1 point home win vs Xavier. So does that make them very competitive? No. In fact, without the win over Xavier they wouldn’t be considered particularly competitive at all. But they did beat Xavier, so we have to say that they can rise to the occasion occasionally. But that’s the exception so it’s not what we should expect.

Of course DePaul and GTown were blown out in some games, but they have been competitive recently and I know they are not good hence why I put the qualifier of both teams not having good records. DePaul was able to defeat Xavier on their home court, something UConn couldn't do and Georgetown went down to the wire against Nova and St. John's (on the road) while St. John's handed UConn their ass in Hartford.

The point being, UConn isn't good enough for anyone to say "oh this game will be a blowout in UConn's favor"-Big East play for UConn with the exception of Butler has been anything but easy. Or saying that the schedule is a "gift" to UConn is laughable.

Now, UConn might end up beating DePaul and GTown easily, and I hope they do, but to say the schedule is a "gift" or imply in any way that will win easily is being borne out of wishing and hope rather than any empirical evidence. Losing to a mediocre St. John's team handily at home and blowing a 17 pt lead to Seton Hall shows this. UConn has been favored in almost every Big East game, how has that gone?

 

[yungdowork]

Gibson and Johnson can straight up score the basketball. Both are great shooters from the FT line and can shoot the 3 too, especially Gibson. If we can shut down at least one of them, they don't have a ton of other weapons. Gibson makes me nervous though, as he is somewhat similar to Souley Boum and he played great against us.

 

[Orc]

This week is a gift. If they want to try something new, this is the week to do it. If they want to take those zones they used vs X in the second half, and install them as their go-to defense they have to games this week to work on them. Even if they get 2 W’s, how they approach these games should tell us a lot.

6 days off since the X game and 4 days until the Georgetown game. These are opponents against whom they should be able to use their bench. They have time to rest up and clear their heads. If there’s any point in the season for them to turn things around, this is it.

I will be surprised if georgetown or depaul games are blowouts. I think they will be close games. They’re decent this year

 

[CTBasketball]

Very competitive? Are we now afraid of our own shadow?

Georgetown has been anything but competitive. They’ve won only one game in conference and that was over DePaul. They’ve recently come close to St.John’s & Villanova, but that’s it. Every other conference loss has been a double digit blow out except for a 7 point loss to DePaul.

DePaul has sometimes been competitive. 5 of their conference losses have been by 11-20 points. They also have an 8 point loss to Butler and a 5 point loss to Georgetown, which don’t make them competitive vs anyone else. Just as their win over Georgetown doesn’t tell us much about their ability to compete against anyone else. What they have going for them are a 4 point home loss to Seton Hall, which isn’t great endorsement, a 10 point home win over Villanova at a time when Villanova was struggling and a 1 point home win vs Xavier. So does that make them very competitive? No. In fact, without the win over Xavier they wouldn’t be considered particularly competitive at all. But they did beat Xavier, so we have to say that they can rise to the occasion occasionally. But that’s the exception so it’s not what we should expect.

It should be noted Georgetown had us on the ropes for 32 minutes, then we went on a ridiculous run. If Joey C shoots closer to Big East average that games outcome might be very close.

Regardless, any road game in the Big East is tough. I anticipate us having a lot of trouble stopping their penetration. If we don’t play good interior defense we might see more layup lines tonight.

 

[gsmooth]

Hedge defense on Gibson ball screens should be the plan. They don’t have a roller to be afraid of. I’d like to see Andre get back in his defensive rhythm by shutting down a second tier scorer like Gibson.

yeah Andre has to get back to playing better fundamental defense and staying in front of his man instead of hoping his athleticism will allow him to catch up from behind for a highlight reel block.

I think Andre is going to be better matched up with Javan Johnson instead of Umoja Gibson, but I guess we will see when who he is guarding at the start of the game.