The defense is terrible

[JerseyAlum]

This staff has always been forward-looking. They'll figure it out with this group

Preach.

Defense is learned; offense is what brought in these players.

In time we will have a much better D but give it until late January.

Mainly it's the fouling but second is spacing.

Diarra and Nowell could be a good 2-guard backcourt that can drive and really handle the rock and are both defensively superior to other guards we have.

Karaban and Stewart are probably the best wing defenders.

Reed, Jr. is a better defender (see the ratings above) yet people say Johnson is better for some reason).

 

[Spaceman213J]

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.

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.

 

[RuffRuff]

Their weight distribution is so different.

Steph enjoys contact, seeks it out. In fact all three guards last year did. Solo hides from contact, plays mechanical. 4 rebounds in 3 games in Maui, despite 30 minutes a game. Also only 4 assists total. 20 of 27 shots were threes. Doesn’t bring any X factor to the table at all, one trick pony.

Solo will be given every chance to figure it out this season, and if he doesn’t he’s got a trio of big guards coming in to take over. The frosh should be licking their chops for PT.

 

[nelsonmuntz]

I am getting more optimistic the further I get from last week’s debacle. There is too much talent for this team to just suck on defense.

 

[JerseyAlum]

Their weight distribution is so different.

Steph enjoys contact, seeks it out. In fact all three guards last year did. Solo hides from contact, plays mechanical. 4 rebounds in 3 games in Maui, despite 30 minutes a game. Also only 4 assists total. 20 of 27 shots were threes. Doesn’t bring any X factor to the table at all, one trick pony.

Solo will be given every chance to figure it out this season, and if he doesn’t he’s got a trio of big guards coming in to take over. The frosh should be licking their chops for PT.

While Hurley enjoys positionless players, Solo is a shooting guard with almost only one skill in shooting. He may learn to drive, play better D (like everyone should learn to), and rebound but he has to want to learn. He has this season to really figure it out bc Nowell will be the PG next year for sure, and as for another guard, Adams has it all over Ball at least on current thinking.

Honestly I'd rather just see Nowell and Diarra start together and Ball and Mahaney can vie for coming in to rest either.

 

[RuffRuff]

While Hurley enjoys positionless players, Solo is a shooting guard with almost only one skill in shooting. He may learn to drive, play better D (like everyone should learn to), and rebound but he has to want to learn. He has this season to really figure it out bc Nowell will be the PG next year for sure, and as for another guard, Adams has it all over Ball at least on current thinking.

Honestly I'd rather just see Nowell and Diarra start together and Ball and Mahaney can vie for coming in to rest either.

Wouldn’t be opposed to that if for no other reason to bring toughness and play making to the backcourt, two things this team lacks big time. If Solo isn’t going to do the things a bigger guard should do (defend and rebound), what’s the point. Also, might as well start seasoning the kid that you’re gonna need more next year. Solo is gonna be massively redundant as a pure shooter with the crew coming in.

 

[cp176]

Defense is about making the offensive player go where you want him to go and keeping him there. It takes genuine determination and a certain amount of strength to be able to do that. You cannot be mentally lazy when it comes to defense whether you are on the ball or not. At this time, I see two backcourt players who make a commitment to defend - Diarra and Nowell.

 

[ctchamps]

Defense is about making the offensive player go where you want him to go and keeping him there. It takes genuine determination and a certain amount of strength to be able to do that. You cannot be mentally lazy when it comes to defense whether you are on the ball or not. At this time, I see two backcourt players who make a commitment to defend - Diarra and Nowell.

I don't see one player who is lazy. I see players with different skill sets and/or experience/mental recognition to react quickly.

If you are talking only about guards then Diarra and Nowell have better on ball coverage than Mahaney and Ball at this stage. It appears from the UMES game the staff are experimenting with Ross and Abraham to defend opposing teams best guards. Ross especially appears to be on track to be our best perimeter defender even considering his predisposition for taking chances with steals and players getting past him. To me he needs game experience to get his timing better. But of all the guards my money is on him to be that elite defender by year end. Additionally he's committed to rebounding. Watched him in the UMES game keep an eye on his player at the same time watching where the ball was on the court. There should be an iso tape of his rebounds. Reminds me a lot of AJ and Rip in assessing who and when someone on the opposing team is taking a shot and where the ball might careen if the shot is missed.

 

[ctbro1999]

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.

I'm really hoping he can figure things out on the defensive end soon. Doesn't need to become an elite defender, but as you said, just adequate.

 

[RuffRuff]

I'm really hoping he can figure things out on the defensive end soon. Doesn't need to become an elite defender, but as you said, just adequate.

Would love to know what the staff thinks is stopping him. It’s perplexing as to how bad he is, but then again similar to his absence offensively to doing anything but shooting threes. Feels upstairs to me.

 

[ctchamps]

Would love to know what the staff thinks is stopping him. It’s perplexing as to how bad he is, but then again similar to his absence offensively to doing anything but shooting threes. Feels upstairs to me.

Shooting threes at an elite level. It would be neat if someone can do side by sides of Ball and Hawk to compare how quickly they curl, catch the ball, and release their shots. My bet is Ball may end up being better than Hawk.

Upstairs or In your head means different things to different people. So let's postulate why Ball an elite shooter and who has the body framework to be an elite defender struggles with it. How can someone who has no hesitation between the time he catches the ball, shoot and make them at an elite level frequently looks lost on defense.

All postulation from this point on:

Regarding his defense I don't think it's a mental block. I don't think it's because he doesn't like or care about defense. Millions are riding on his development of it. I don't believe he is a one trick pony. My wife's thought is Solo is a linear learner. He learns something to the point of mastering it and then he moves onto the next thing. My additional thought is he an observational learner. He watches and assesses something until he is comfortable with it and if it clicks (my wife has full confidence it will) he will become really good at it. He is the polar opposite of a player like Ross who learns by immersion. Ross will play aggressively to the point of making mistakes but refine his movements until he gets them under control. I have full confidence that over time he will.

For comparison sake:

McNeeley and Castle blend the learning processes of Ross and Ball. Intellectually thinking about their game and what they need to do to improve it while not being afraid to play and make mistakes as they are learning. The difference between these two and Ross and Ball is that someone guided them at an early age to integrate the two learning processes or they were born with that ability. Either way it is why they are players who don't (didn't) play like most freshmen.

I have confidence Ross and Ball will get there. It just will take them longer than Liam or Steph. But isn't that the more typical situation with most of our players who turned out great?

 

[JerseyAlum]

Shooting threes at an elite level. It would be neat if someone can do side by sides of Ball and Hawk to compare how quickly they curl, catch the ball, and release their shots. My bet is Ball may end up being better than Hawk.

Upstairs or In your head means different things to different people. So let's postulate why Ball an elite shooter and who has the body framework to be an elite defender struggles with it. How can someone who has no hesitation between the time he catches the ball, shoot and make them at an elite level frequently looks lost on defense.

All postulation from this point on:

Regarding his defense I don't think it's a mental block. I don't think it's because he doesn't like or care about defense. Millions are riding on his development of it. I don't believe he is a one trick pony. My wife's thought is Solo is a linear learner. He learns something to the point of mastering it and then he moves onto the next thing. My additional thought is he an observational learner. He watches and assesses something until he is comfortable with it and if it clicks (my wife has full confidence it will) he will become really good at it. He is the polar opposite of a player like Ross who learns by immersion. Ross will play aggressively to the point of making mistakes but refine his movements until he gets them under control. I have full confidence that over time he will.

For comparison sake:

McNeeley and Castle blend the learning processes of Ross and Ball. Intellectually thinking about their game and what they need to do to improve it while not being afraid to play and make mistakes as they are learning. The difference between these two and Ross and Ball is that someone guided them at an early age to integrate the two learning processes or they were born with that ability. Either way it is why they are players who don't (didn't) play like most freshmen.

I have confidence Ross and Ball will get there. It just will take them longer than Liam or Steph. But isn't that the more typical situation with most of our players who turned out great?

Liam was at Montverde which was an offensive juggernaut and had players with the height to defend at almost every position.

Liam was kind of like AK being a point forward so has some bk iq but defense was not at a premium there as much as college.

Hurley knows this and recruits players who can score but want to learn D and we need to be patient as they all do not learn at the same pace.

 

[80shusky]

It's right here. Defensively 85th isn't going to cut it. Need that in the mid-twenties to be a realistic title contender while keeping a top 25 offense. They need to find a way to get there and I still believe there is too much talent on this team and coaching staff that they can't improve that drastically if not get all the way there. I still think mixing in some other defenses with the straight man might help but the staff is in the best position to figure that out obviously. Hoping for a nice showing tomorrow night to start a turnaround.

 

[uh-no]

It's right here. Defensively 85th isn't going to cut it. Need that in the mid-twenties to be a realistic title contender while keeping a top 25 offense. They need to find a way to get there and I still believe there is too much talent on this team and coaching staff that they can't improve that drastically if not get all the way there. I still think mixing in some other defenses with the straight man might help but the staff is in the best position to figure that out obviously. Hoping for a nice showing tomorrow night to start a turnaround.
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it's even worse if you discount the preseason bias....whch puts the defense at 200+. that's inexcusable given the quality of the athletes on this team.

 

[Husky68]

Not sure I have seen anything in this year's offense that remotely resembles the dynamic "Euro style offense" of last year, in which there were players constantly rotating, criss-crossing, picking and cutting all over the half court. This year at area around the key is continually vacant with our guards and 5s dribbling and passing above the arc and the forwards generally stationary in the corners.

Hopefully the coaches figure it out way sooner than later.

You hit it on head, looks more like the Cole/Martin/Polley/Whaley offense where no easy looks (Polley never seemed to be open and Cole had to try and win games one on one). Maybe it was more the players than the system last two years.

 

[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.