UConn 314th in steals per game

[DRBackup]

They averaged 6.2 a game last year.

And much like turnovers in the NFL, the difference of 0.8 per game could easily be explained by the fact that they rarely trailed and put game pressure on the opponents to score, causing them to take more risks with the ball.

As an oh, BTW, the 2004 team stole the ball only slightly more often than this one.

 

[6Nattys4Us]

Your first defensive priority can be to deny your man a high percentage shot or it can be to look for a chance to get a steal. You can’t have two first priorities. We are a poor defensive team, but not generating enough steals is way, way down the list as to why.

Agreed, but let's shine a light on why we are a poor defensive team:
1. We turn the ball over more than are opponents do = more easy buckets for them than us.
2. Our guards are not +defenders. = we lack the steals, and the height to block shots which gives teams higher fg pct.
3. We foul a lot more than our opponents = 2pt +1 or 3pt +1 are killers to defensive ratings based on pts given up per 100 possessions.
4. Liam was out for a month = loss of a +defender and offensive threat replaced by Stewart mainly = less defense, less offense
5. Diarra limited with knee issue and lack of replacement PG - while Mahaney is NOT a turnover machine he does not create for the team on offence and Nowell is too limited in minutes to make a dent in stats - without Diarra our offensive efficiency suffers and we are on defense more.

The good news is even last year our defensive pressure amped up in the post season - of course a 30-0 run in the elite 8 game will do amazing things for your defensive rating (fg pct or pts given up per 100 possessions). But we dialed it up in March well above our 23-24 regular season stats showed.

 

[AZHuskiePop]

excellent point. I was surprised by that, and it makes me wonder how much of their great defense last year was solely due to Clingan. Also surprised that Spencer led the team with 1.5 steals.

Clngan was huge but , Castle was also good 1v1 . Both made my all defensive team 2nd and 3rd team respectable. . Might be the most difficult team to make as we’ve had so many .
Castle had potential to move up if he stayed . So did Clingan but a more difficult position
Newton was not bad and big for a guard , plus Diarra was terrific off the bench .and is on my HM list . Karaban is also adequate
I think there are ways to hide this years weakness’s at least try things to find a formula . But we shall see.

 

[Austin316]

Every time they are caught with their hands on the cookie jar it’s a foul. Also interesting how they foul - put opposition on FT line.

Our Fouls per game
Opponents Free throws made/attempted

2019/2020 - 18.6
Opponent FTAPG - 14.5 - 19.6
2021/2022 - 16.8
Opponent FTAPG - 12.5 - 18.2
2022/2023 - 17.7
Opponent FTAPG - 15.3 - 20.8
2023/2024 - 16.3
Opponent FTAPG - 12.9 - 17.7
2024/2025 - 18.2
Opponent FTAPG - 16.1 - 22.0

 

[gsmooth]

As your post reflects, we haven't pressed since the dream season

For a while I expected for Calhoun to bring the press back, but he never did

In his book A Passion to Lead he explains he stopped full court pressing because Ray and Doron did not like it.

 

[gsmooth]

We don't play to steal, hence we're going to steal less than many teams

Teams that play to steal press more, reach in more, play defense more aggressively, constantly pressing the ball for 94 feet. We don't

The GOAT emphasized defensive FG % and rebounding margin, not steals or deflections or even flopping. Hurley's defense is closer to Calhoun's than Pitino's. I'm OK with that

100% and that's what most of the posts in this thread are missing or failing to understand. UConn's defense under Hurley and Calhoun, although they were different in some ways, what they had in common was that they didn't pressure with the intent to turn the opposition over. The mantra was "you can keep the ball, but you are going to get a low percentage shot that you don't want." Creighton, although their defensive scheme is different from UConn's, they don't play with the intention to make the opposition turn the ball over either just like UConn.

 

[boog204]

Every steal = a turnover so naturally as SPG goes up TOPG goes up. The only upside to a steal vs say a block and recover or a defensive rebound is a steal by a guard is more likely going to result in an uncontested layup/dunk.

Of course, there is a correlation. Just saying that it's been a long time since we were a team that got a lot of steals or a team that thrived off of forcing turnovers. Our MO, aside from the outlier years of the dream season and the following one, has been tough M2M and having rim protectors.

 

[boog204]

100% and that's what most of the posts in this thread are missing or failing to understand. UConn's defense under Hurley and Calhoun, although they were different in some ways, what they had in common was that they didn't pressure with the intent to turn the opposition over. The mantra was "you can keep the ball, but you are going to get a low percentage shot that you don't want." Creighton, although their defensive scheme is different from UConn's, they don't play with the intention to make the opposition turn the ball over either just like UConn.

For sure, other than the Dream Season, we played a fairly passive 2-2-1, which was designed to make things difficult. It caused you to rush your offense and settle for shots that were not in rhythm. We had teams regularly shooting in the high 30s/low 40s because our defense was disruptive, not because we were going crazy trapping and attacking.

 

[Uconn77Duke74]

Marquette is 14th in Nation in steals per game. I expect we need to heavily out rebound them to make up the difference.

 

[UCan3]

And a lockdown defender in Steph. We don't have one of those this year.

I would go a step futher as we don’t have the team ”locked in” on defense.

Steals are not just about quickness.

It’s being at right place, right time and being in the headspace of ”not today, not on my watch.”

I can’t tell you how many times I’ve seen us press…. Player 1 and 2 all over their guy, wonderful pressure.

And then you have Solo Ball who is literally looking lost on the court, day dreaming, standing 2-4 full steps away from the player he’s supposed to be guarding. Opposing Team makes a nice, easy outlet pass and onward the ball moves up the court. We jog back up court.

JC would never stand for this and I don’t care if it was Ray Allen or a walk-on on the court. He would get a quick pull out of the game. This I would point to as a coaching issue vs. player.

I’ve been saying this all season but I‘m more concerned with what our players are doing when they don’t have the Ball then anything else.

A lack of steals is just the symptom of a much larger problem.

The good news is that it’s March and it’s not too late to turn it all around!

 

[6Nattys4Us]

Marquette is 14th in Nation in steals per game. I expect we need to heavily out rebound them to make up the difference.

Tarris Reed, Jr.! Should easily get 10 rebounds in this one. We also are (just predicting here) going to go on a nice 12-14 pt run at some point with Solo and AK hitting threes and Liam driving for the hoop and the harm.

 

[RuffRuff]

As your post reflects, we haven't pressed since the dream season

For a while I expected for Calhoun to bring the press back, but he never did

Calhoun pressed out of necessity early in his coaching career as a gimmicky driver to winning. Once he did start winning, he attracted great players and no longer had to run gimmicks and could go man on man. Quite genius when you look back on it.

 

[Excalibur]

Calhoun pressed out of necessity early in his coaching career as a gimmicky driver to winning. Once he did start winning, he attracted great players and no longer had to run gimmicks and could go man on man. Quite genius when you look back on it.

Full court pressing was becoming less frequent throughout college basketball over that time, as bigger players got better at handling the ball and passing. Beyond adjusting for his personnel, Calhoun was adjusting to changes in the game.

 

[RuffRuff]

Full court pressing was becoming less frequent throughout college basketball over that time, as bigger players got better at handling the ball and passing. Beyond adjusting for his personnel, Calhoun was adjusting to changes in the game.

Hmm - the press concept dropped off a cliff, wasn't a slow evolution in his gameplan. Not sure the mid 90s was the era that big guys started handling the ball better as hoops was still being played in it's traditional form. I think it coincides much more with him finally getting into the recruiting channels that afforded him burger boys and top 40 types, where he knew he wasn't nearly as disadvantaged on talent playing other top programs. His recruiting went from local & international to domestic at that point.

 

[Excalibur]

Hmm - the press concept dropped off a cliff, wasn't a slow evolution in his gameplan. Not sure the mid 90s was the era that big guys started handling the ball better as hoops was still being played in it's traditional form. I think it coincides much more with him finally getting into the recruiting channels that afforded him burger boys and top 40 types, where he knew he wasn't nearly as disadvantaged on talent playing other top programs. His recruiting went from local & international to domestic at that point.

I'd say our press frequency didn't drop off until 98 or so, even if the nature of the press changed after Chris Smith's last season. I was just showing some highlights of the 96 Villanova blizzard game at Gampel to my son. We pressed from the opening tip there. Even with the first championship team we broke it out in just about every game, but only for a handful of possessions.

By the early 2000's, teams that pressed regularly were a small exception nationwide.