The defense is terrible

[JerseyAlum]

Last night Baylor would drive to the hoop and either Mahaney or Ball would hang until they were beat but no weakside help came. Saw that at least 5 times where Johnson was not under center to help out.

They dominated on points in the paint and I guess near the end seeing Reed and Johnson in was Hurley’s way of saying someone better protect the rim.

 

[Hunt for 7]

This will not happen but bringing Ball off the bench as a spot-up shooter will keep his defensive liabilities off the court.

Mahaney needs to grow up and play the 2 guard like he knows he can. He was not this bad last two years on defense even vs. high major opponents.

Looks like Mahaney is starting to grow up. His defense is still bad but he clearly is a great shooter and he does not mind taking big shots. That will work as for me the best options at the end of the game if we need a basket is AK, Liam and then Mahaney. Ball is a great shooter but the tighter and later the game gets the less pure his shot looks.

 

[KembaRunner]

Castle is a unique and gifted athlete. Physically, Ball looks stronger than Castle, but Castle is taller, longer, and quicker. Castle can disrupt Steph Curry and there is nobody on the UConn roster who could do that.

Ball may look stronger than Castle, but he surely isn’t.

A year ago Castle was 6’6” 215
A year ago Solo was 6’3” 185

One or both may have put on muscle since then but they are most certainly built different.

 

[Improviser]

Castle isn't just taller, he appears longer, and rarely lets his man get by him.

 

[ctbro1999]

Castle isn't just taller, he appears longer, and rarely lets his man get by him.

Watching him basically lock up Curry most of the 2nd half of that recent game against the Warriors was very satisfying. Think the only time Curry scored on him was on a loose ball catch and shoot 3 where Castle and another defender were closing out but Curry hit it anyways.

 

[uh-no]

despite the win, the defense was still awful last night. we gave up 1.2 points per posession last night, which when adjusting for baylor's offense, comes to ~1.05ppp...both worse than we were rated and barely a top 100 defense. Our defense dropped from 88 to 92 on kenpom.

on the good side, we were playing without karaban....so we might have expected some improvement from being healthy, but baylor was also short handed.

In short, though things might have "looked" better, they actually weren't.

 

[JustbrewitMan]

Looks like Mahaney is starting to grow up. His defense is still bad but he clearly is a great shooter and he does not mind taking big shots. That will work as for me the best options at the end of the game if we need a basket is AK, Liam and then Mahaney. Ball is a great shooter but the tighter and later the game gets the less pure his shot looks.

He literally sank a beautiful clutch end of game 3 vs Memphis to send it to OT. The takes in this place hoo-boy!

 

[JustbrewitMan]

despite the win, the defense was still awful last night. we gave up 1.2 points per posession last night, which when adjusting for baylor's offense, comes to ~1.05ppp...both worse than we were rated and barely a top 100 defense. Our defense dropped from 88 to 92 on kenpom.

on the good side, we were playing without karaban....so we might have expected some improvement from being healthy, but baylor was also short handed.

In short, though things might have "looked" better, they actually weren't.

Anyone with half a brain who watched that game saw some progress in overall D. Yes, there still were a ton of dribble-drives allowed but the overall D was much better versus a Top 15 team.

They’re figuring it out and like Hurley said, they need some grace & patience. I’m not going to obsess over KenPom each game. Let’s see where we stand in 5-6 games and keep stacking wins in the meantime

 

[uh-no]

Anyone with half a brain who watched that game saw some progress in overall D. Yes, there still were a ton of dribble-drives allowed but the overall D was much better versus a Top 15 team.

They’re figuring it out and like Hurley said, they need some grace & patience. I’m not going to obsess over KenPom each game. Let’s see where we stand in 5-6 games and keep stacking wins in the meantime

you do you. I won't let actual data get in the way of your feelings.

 

[Stinger92860]

I didn't expect Ball to morph into Castle, but just that Ball should be an average defender at least with the natural skills he has. He has good size and speed, but he's one of the worst perimeter defenders I've seen under Hurley. It's not like he's small and is being bullied all the time. He gets caught watching the play way too often and is horrible at closing out on a shooter.

In addition to giving too much space at the perimeter, he is consistently getting beat off the dribble and it’s not even close. He is definitely not doing his part of D.

 

[superjohn]

despite the win, the defense was still awful last night. we gave up 1.2 points per posession last night, which when adjusting for baylor's offense, comes to ~1.05ppp...both worse than we were rated and barely a top 100 defense. Our defense dropped from 88 to 92 on kenpom.

on the good side, we were playing without karaban....so we might have expected some improvement from being healthy, but baylor was also short handed.

In short, though things might have "looked" better, they actually weren't.

Our defense was a lot better than it has been for a significant portion of that game.

 

[Improviser]

I can't recall who was guarding or "attempting to guard" Wright, but Wright kept getting to the basket on the breaks especially toward the end of the game.

If it was Ball, it was terrible defense. If it was another player, bad job.

Even is Wright is a one and done, his defender(s) were awful. Hope we don't see a lot of similar opposing guards, or our guards step up on defense.

 

[Spaceman213J]

In addition to giving too much space at the perimeter, he is consistently getting beat off the dribble and it’s not even close. He is definitely not doing his part of D.

Last night he was getting beat 50-60 feet away from the basket. I don't understand why Hurley has him out so far to pick up a defender. Let the PG put a little token pressure on the ball so the shot clock starts and get the weaker defenders back and ready.

Also, Stewart made some nice plays, but he has to body his man on the defensive boards, even if there hanging farther out. At least one of Johnson's fouls and a few other fouls by players were from poor or no box outs by Stewart. I do want more minutes for Stewart though because he seems to have some natural feel for the game.

Finally, Diarra and Ross need to step it up or I'd like to see some minutes go to Abraham and Nowell. Both look very competent on either end of the floor.

 

[NJHusky]

despite the win, the defense was still awful last night. we gave up 1.2 points per posession last night, which when adjusting for baylor's offense, comes to ~1.05ppp...both worse than we were rated and barely a top 100 defense. Our defense dropped from 88 to 92 on kenpom.

on the good side, we were playing without karaban....so we might have expected some improvement from being healthy, but baylor was also short handed.

In short, though things might have "looked" better, they actually weren't.

They look better because we won

 

[CTBasketball]

Looks like Mahaney is starting to grow up. His defense is still bad but he clearly is a great shooter and he does not mind taking big shots. That will work as for me the best options at the end of the game if we need a basket is AK, Liam and then Mahaney. Ball is a great shooter but the tighter and later the game gets the less pure his shot looks.

Mahaney actually played great defense last night. Analytically he was one of the best players on the floor, offensively and defensively. Ball was net negative on both ends.

Everyone wants to slot Mahaney into the ever-overused “Joey Calcaterra” role, but that role fits Ball better.

 

[uh-no]

They look better because we won

exactly.

Don't get me wrong, there are still strong signals, less getting lost, less fouling....but we still didn't close out well on threes, still allowed way too much penetration, and were not as effective as we need to be on the defensive glass.

The fact that Baylor put up such a high number despite us not sending them to the line is a sign that we focused on not fouling....but in doing so, the defense on the floor is still not effective.

A lot of work to do here yet.

 

[auror]

Aspects of the defense were better. It also looked better because a good team finally shot less than 48% from 3 against us.

But it was not good. It was not significantly improved.

We were at home in a raucous crowd, and this was a Baylor team that for most of the second half had its 2 most dynamic offensive players out hurt (Roach, Edgecombe), a key contributor still on the mend from an ankle injury but playing (Love), their other main bench piece in foul trouble and then fouled out after only playing 5 minutes in the 2nd half (Celestine), and their freshman PG rolled his ankle but had to keep playing.

They didn't sub a guard/wing out the last 16 minutes of the game. Love played the entire 2nd half. Wright played the last 16 minutes straight despite the bum ankle. Nunn played 19 minutes in the 2H. Ojianwuna played 18 minutes in the 2H, Omier 16.

They were the walking wounded and tired, and they still put up 1.09 PPP on us in the 2nd half. We should've won this game by 15.

 

[bmayuc]

Our defense was a lot better than it has been for a significant portion of that game.

I really disagree with this take - the only real difference between this and memphis was the whistle. In Maui we were getting called for our sloppiness, last night we were getting a home whistle last night and alot of the handsy stuff wasn't being called on us.

There were 3-4 samson helpsides where he came over out of control or wasn't disciplined staying vertical and he got away with it. Some other specifics:

- Tarris needs to start. will stabilize the entire team and defensive rotations and is very clearly our best big and shot at reaching our upside on defense(and offense). I feel just like i did Adamas freshman year - what are we waiting for let the big guy eat and become a core part of this machine. Tarris can wall up, can provide athletic weakside help. Rugged. Boards. Get him 25+ and start him. make the other team gameplan for the hoss.

- Liam is going to be good eventually. He is very disciplined and has good contact strength. Does a really good job of staying on a drivers hip and using his length to cut off easy scoring angles, then walls up and stays on his feet when he gets near the rim. Rugged kid. This is going to sound weird but reminds me of Caron. Solidly built.

- Solo is an absolute catastrophe. He looks strong but his contact strength to anchor - core/base/lateral mobility - is pretty poor. He just gets pushed around whether off the dribble or under the rim.

- Aidan is just little, but he has some fight in him. I think he will improve over time and be a scrappy defender over time. His real problem is that he really needs to play off the ball, and that means he's paired with diarra or ahmad and those guys are small so one of them usually is significantly undersized and prone to getting steamrolled.

- Diarra is a gamer and can make some splash defensive plays. sometimes gets way to far up in offensive players grill leading to blow bys and hand check fouls but whatever - he's not the problem.

- Jaylin is rock solid and a gamer and needs to play more

- Jayden looks like a 16 year old playing a bunch of 22 year olds. Just a bouncy baby deer with poor composure/confidence. Same as solo with the poor playing strength just gets moved out of the way on drives and compensates by fighting(good) but leads to tonssss of fouls on drives and pump fakes(bad). Just not ready.

 

[Mr. French]

The perimeter D is worse than last year, no question.

Guess what else is worse? The rim protection and rotations.

Guys like Ball and Mahaney may get beat, just like Newton or Spencer may have, but the rest of the D isn’t up to last year’s level…yet.

Probably won’t ever, but certainly not at this stage. That’s making our perimeter D look even worse.

 

[JerseyAlum]

despite the win, the defense was still awful last night. we gave up 1.2 points per posession last night, which when adjusting for baylor's offense, comes to ~1.05ppp...both worse than we were rated and barely a top 100 defense. Our defense dropped from 88 to 92 on kenpom.

on the good side, we were playing without karaban....so we might have expected some improvement from being healthy, but baylor was also short handed.

In short, though things might have "looked" better, they actually weren't.

Don't forget Roach went to the bench injured so they were down both starting guards. That was good for us since Memphis guards were more athletic and beat us. Whew, so glad we got the W!

 

[Lambeau]

Castle was 6'4 1/2" 208 at the NBA Combine--not that big; Ball has a greater vertical.
But Ball's defense on Wright was ludicrous--he needs repeated benching to make the point.
How does 27 mpg make the point that his effort and skill level are unacceptable?

 

[superjohn]

Castle was 6'4 1/2" 208 at the NBA Combine--not that big; Ball has a greater vertical.
But Ball's defense on Wright was ludicrous--he needs repeated benching to make the point.
How does 27 mpg make the point that his effort and skill level are unacceptable?

Castle measured 6'5.5 barefoot at the NBA Combine, 210 lbs.

 

[3rdbass]

Ball may look stronger than Castle, but he surely isn’t.

A year ago Castle was 6’6” 215
A year ago Solo was 6’3” 185

One or both may have put on muscle since then but they are most certainly built different.

I found it funny all the talk about Ball going to the NBA after this year. He was never an NBA player unless he develops some kind of penetration and improves his D drastically. He is a good shooter but not quite Stephen Curry and definitely doesn't have his handle.

 

[3rdbass]

Castle measured 6'5.5 barefoot at the NBA Combine, 210 lbs.

Ball is listed at 6'3' but probably is closer to 6'1.5" too. Thus Castle has 4 inches on him. That is a lot.

 

[JustbrewitMan]

you do you. I won't let actual data get in the way of your feelings.

Reading and understanding data are two completely different things.

Look, I'm one of the nerds in this goofy place who gets geeked by stats. Love 'em.

But there are always limitations and practical considerations in computation and comparisons of stats. That's why you also do objective quantitative and qualitative analyses to come to the most meaningful conclusions. And understand what a stat means and what a meaningful change in a stat would be.

Let me ask you something:

In a 1-game sample, how important do you think having a DRtg of 101.1 compares to a DRtg of 99.1? At face value, that's 2 adjusted pts per 100 possessions. I picked that number because that's the difference between UConn ranked at 92 and the team ranked #70 in DRtg on KenPom (a whopping 22-place difference), Given that the average team has about 70 possessions per game, that works out to be 1.4 pts difference in the course of an average game.

Can you say that this 1.4 point difference in DRtg can be 100% attributed to a defense's performance in a given game? Heck no!!!

In a 1-game sample, players will inherently have variation in their shooting that has nothing at all to do with the defense. Players aren't robots and skill (mostly) & luck (to some degree) dictate whether a shot goes in. Look at Liam's game-to-game wide-open 3pt shooting variation as a recent example.

Using a change in DRTg from 88 to 92 as some definitive measure that "we had a bad defensive game" against Baylor is utter rubbish.