DePaul Scouting Report

[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.

 

[Billy Jack]

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.

Cynics and naysayers always claim they’re being realistic. You’re just playing it safe, protecting yourself from disappointment. I get it. This last stretch, especially the last 3 games have been extremely disappointing.

I never said we should be experimenting. It was clear by their effectiveness against Xavier that Hurley didn’t just pull those zones out of his during half time. They had obviously worked on them in practice. My point was whether it was the zones or some other strategy which the coach actually believed would get this team to play better, this week presents an opportunity to work on any such strategy under actual game conditions at LOWER RISK. Why wouldn’t you?

If you aren’t confident that they can win both of these games and be in control doing so, why continue following the team this season? If these are games that could go either way, then future games against Providence, .Marquette, Creighton, and rejuvenated Villanova with Moore back must be certain losses. Forget the BE & NCAA tournaments. If caution is needed niw, even caution won’t help vs better teams.

People on this board call Seton Hall & St. John’s bad teams. They aren’t but these two coming up are truly bad teams. DePaul isn’t even in the top 100 and Georgetown isn’t in the top 150.

Save yourself the stress. Give up on the season now.

 

[freshler40]

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.

It can be middle school basketball if you turn the ball over as many and at critical times as we have done. This is the one key piece along with offensive rebounding to result in wins this time of year. Love having our guards play at a faster pace and attack the rim.

 

[PAHusky]

Cynics and naysayers always claim they’re being realistic. You’re just playing it safe, protecting yourself from disappointment. I get it. This last stretch, especially the last 3 games have been extremely disappointing.

I never said we should be experimenting. It was clear by their effectiveness against Xavier that Hurley didn’t just pull those zones out of his during half time. They had obviously worked on them in practice. My point was whether it was the zones or some other strategy which the coach actually believed would get this team to play better, this week presents an opportunity to work on any such strategy under actual game conditions at LOWER RISK. Why wouldn’t you?

If you aren’t confident that they can win both of these games and be in control doing so, why continue following the team this season? If these are games that could go either way, then future games against Providence, .Marquette, Creighton, and rejuvenated Villanova with Moore back must be certain losses. Forget the BE & NCAA tournaments. If caution is needed niw, even caution won’t help vs better teams.

People on this board call Seton Hall & St. John’s bad teams. They aren’t but these two coming up are truly bad teams. DePaul isn’t even in the top 100 and Georgetown isn’t in the top 150.

Save yourself the stress. Give up on the season now.

You are oddly aggressive in these posts. Thank you for the suggestions on how to be a fan, duly noted

 

[Billy Jack]

You are oddly aggressive in these posts. Thank you for the suggestions on how to be a fan, duly noted

My apologies.

 

[auror]

Only one player on DePaul over 210 lbs.

Nelson, Penn, and Anei can all protect the rim a bit though.

 

[mauconnfan]

Cynics and naysayers always claim they’re being realistic. You’re just playing it safe, protecting yourself from disappointment. I get it. This last stretch, especially the last 3 games have been extremely disappointing.

I never said we should be experimenting. It was clear by their effectiveness against Xavier that Hurley didn’t just pull those zones out of his during half time. They had obviously worked on them in practice. My point was whether it was the zones or some other strategy which the coach actually believed would get this team to play better, this week presents an opportunity to work on any such strategy under actual game conditions at LOWER RISK. Why wouldn’t you?

If you aren’t confident that they can win both of these games and be in control doing so, why continue following the team this season? If these are games that could go either way, then future games against Providence, .Marquette, Creighton, and rejuvenated Villanova with Moore back must be certain losses. Forget the BE & NCAA tournaments. If caution is needed niw, even caution won’t help vs better teams.

People on this board call Seton Hall & St. John’s bad teams. They aren’t but these two coming up are truly bad teams. DePaul isn’t even in the top 100 and Georgetown isn’t in the top 150.

Save yourself the stress. Give up on the season now.

I’m realistic not playing it safe at all. I’m scared of DePaul because we will need to score the ball to win this game, something we’ve struggled to do as of late. Or play better defense!?!?

 

[Jaydumo20]

@Hey Adrien! Thanks for doing this work. Can't get this anywhere but here. Let's get W

 

[Icehawk]

Fingers crossed that the 4k broadcast looks good - I'm tired of not being able to see faces.

 

[HooperScooper]

Fingers crossed that the 4k broadcast looks good - I'm tired of not being able to see faces.

Unfortunately Verizon Fios hasn't picked up the 4K broadcast.

 

[CaptainRon]

Unfortunately Verizon Fios hasn't picked up the 4K broadcast.

Fubo has the 4k, but the feed is still a bit choppy tonight.

 

[auror]

Unfortunately Verizon Fios hasn't picked up the 4K broadcast.

Yeah I got a prompt when I turned to the channel but there was nothing on the 4k channel. But the regular broadcast looked good once I adjusted.

 

[HooperScooper]

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.

Shut down Gibson. Johnson got his but shut him down pretty well after the initial burst to start the game.

 

[Chin Diesel]

It has now become the norm for me to keep these threads open to the OP for at least the first half of a game to balance what I am watching to what the players have done throughout the season.

@Hey Adrien! , thanks again for these.

 

[Hey Adrien!]

Updated Report!

DePaul: 9-20
0-7 since we’ve last played
Kenpom Rating: 145 (Down from 135)

OFFENSE: 136th in efficiency (down from 119th)

8th in Offensive Efficiency in the Big East​

• 4th in
  • 16.9 seconds/possession
  • 35.5 3P%
  • 56.5 A/FGM
• 5th in
  • 37.0 3PA/FGA
  • Turnover prevention
• 9th in
  • 69.1 ft%
  • Offensive rebounding rate
• 10th
  • 46.7 2p%
  • FTA/FGA 25.9%

DEFENSE: 177th in efficiency (same as last time we played

10th in Defensive Efficiency in the Big East​

• 3rd in block rate
• 4th in A/FGM (53.3%)
• 5th in 34.7 3PA/FGA
• 7th in 50.8 2p%
• 8th in 35.7 3p%
• 9th in steal rate
• 10th FTA/FGA (37.3%)
• 11th defensive rebounding

Injury: Anei (hammy) ; Bynum (suspended)

DePaul’s Top Performers Over the Last 30 Days​

Umoja Gibson: 18.0p, 3.3r, 4.4a, 1.1s, 3.6 3PM, 47.4 fg%
Javan Johnson: 12.3p, 4.1r, 3.3a, 1.1b, 2.4 3PM, 41.2 fg%, 42.9 ft%!
Nick Ongenda: 9.8p, 8.5r, 1.5s, 5.8 blocks!!!

While DePaul has not won since 1/18 (Xavier), the team has looked very different the last four games with senior center Nick Ongenda making his season debut after a wrist injury recovery. Within those four games, one loss was in 2OT against St. John’s, a one point loss to Butler and a six point loss to Marquette. All in all, that’s not a bad winless stretch.

Throughout his career, Ongenda has been a respected rim protector who keeps it simple on offense.

Like I said last game, Stubblefield gets his teams to play hard, but DePaul just doesn’t have a lot of firepower: Gibson and Johnson are a nice duo, Ongenda is a good defender, Penn/Nelson are hard workers, Murphy/Terry are suitable backup point guards and Gebrewhit is a good spacer.

 

[yungdowork]

If Ongenda gets in foul trouble, they really have no one who can defend the paint at a high level. I'd love to see some early aggressiveness to try to get that to happen. Anei isn't horrible, but he's not on Ongenda's tier by any means.

Johnson has been struggling with efficiency a bit lately, but you never know when he'll fill it up. He's only shot 7 free throws in the last month, so we just have to keep him from getting off clean jumpers and we should be able to limit his effectiveness.

 

[Samoo]

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.

Ethio-American

 

[HuskyHawk]

Thanks @Hey Adrien! Ongenda changes some things, so we will need to attack him. I don't see how UConn fails to win this in double figures unless the Huskies come out thinking they are God's gift again. Can't let a team like this get confident, that's how we lost to St. Johns. Mindset needs to be to crush their souls and spirit and bury them. Can't look past anybody now. Treat every game with respect, because in two games, there are no more do-overs.

 

[REB1094]

DePaul nearly came back from a 20 point deficit on the road in that Marquette game. Their defense was suffocating. They just didn’t have the talent (or late game strategy) to break through a 2 possession game down the stretch

If we sleepwalk, I expect a back and forth first half and then we pull away in the second

If we don’t sleepwalk, should be a 20+ point win here. Would love to see Springs play in his final UConn home game

 

[ucp990411]

This game scares me (they all do). Trap game before Villanova who will be extremely fired up for us. Take care of business first

 

[Kitaman]

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

Yeah but to me there is something to be said about facing such adversity in January, recover in February and now rising to the top in March. In other words their confidence is soaring, not sure that happens with late losses. Having so many new parts and faces, I think this schedule was actually what this team needed. "Survive and Thrive".