We are who we thought we are.

Honest question:

Do we suck at D because:

#1--lack of effort
#2--lack of athleticism
#3--defensive schemes by coaching staff puts us out of position or puts us in poor matchups?


Combo of above?
 
They did to us what we did to North Carolina. We were hot as hell and made them pay. Same with the Gonads against us.
 
Seth53 said:
Honest question:

Do we suck at D because:

#1--lack of effort
#2--lack of athleticism
#3--defensive schemes by coaching staff puts us out of position or puts us in poor matchups?


Combo of above?
Click to expand...
I don't remember where I read it....but I thought I read former players saying that Fran rarely practices defense in practice....or does not spend a lot of time with it.

I think it goes back to coaching. Someone put together a good run down in the Gonzaga game on twitter of how many times our players would be guarding the ball with 2 of our defenders leaving someone wide-open time and time again. How we covered ball screens was criminal.
 
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Rarely?
HaydenHawk56 said:
I don't remember where I read it....but I thought I read former players saying that Fran really practices defense in practice....or does not spend a lot of time with it.

I think it goes back to coaching. Someone put together a good run down in the Gonzaga game on twitter of how many times our players would be guarding the ball with 2 of our defenders leaving someone wide-open time and time again. How we covered ball screens was criminal.
Click to expand...
 
Seth53 said:
Honest question:

Do we suck at D because:

#1--lack of effort
#2--lack of athleticism
#3--defensive schemes by coaching staff puts us out of position or puts us in poor matchups?


Combo of above?
Click to expand...


Basically #3

Some elite teams probably have more athleticism than the Hawks

However, we are correcting that situation with this year's incoming class

Ulis, Perkins and the Twins have the athleticism and Attitude

The starters have the ability to play solid D with positioning and proper coaching
We certainly could use the half-court trap much more. It might have helped against the Zags

PMac and Keegan Murray have used it effectively this season using their length and intensity

And JOE T on D
 
Seth53 said:
Honest question:

Do we suck at D because:

#1--lack of effort
#2--lack of athleticism
#3--defensive schemes by coaching staff puts us out of position or puts us in poor matchups?


Combo of above?
Click to expand...
Excellent question. I’d say #3 and#1 in that order.
 
Seth53 said:
Honest question:

Do we suck at D because:

#1--lack of effort
#2--lack of athleticism
#3--defensive schemes by coaching staff puts us out of position or puts us in poor matchups?


Combo of above?
Click to expand...
I’ll go with 2, the fact we don’t make it a priority in practice and a little bit because of our offensive philosophy.
 
I think Lick focused a lot more on defense. I’ll take Fran’s approach over Lick’s 100 out of 100 times.

I do think we’ll be a top 50 defense the next 3 years. I’m not saying elite...just top 50. I like the freshmen (includes Patrick) and Toussaint. I also think CJ will continue to work on his all around game...including defense.
 
WindsorHawk said:
I’ll go with 2, the fact we don’t make it a priority in practice and a little bit because of our offensive philosophy.
Click to expand...
You look at a team like Texas Tech. They have pit bulls all over the floor. They contest everything inside. They pressure the ball, get hands in passing lanes, get physical, rotate and help.

You can tell they work on it every day in practice. You have to want to play defense. You have to work on it in practice every day.
 
Northside Hawk said:
You look at a team like Texas Tech. They have pit bulls all over the floor. They contest everything inside. They pressure the ball, get hands in passing lanes, get physical, rotate and help.

You can tell they work on it every day in practice. You have to want to play defense. You have to work on it in practice every day.
Click to expand...
And they really struggle to score...57 and 53 in their losses.
 
If this team worked more on defense, they would also regress at offense and probably be pretty much the same level they are now.
 
Seth53 said:
Honest question:

Do we suck at D because:

#1--lack of effort
#2--lack of athleticism
#3--defensive schemes by coaching staff puts us out of position or puts us in poor matchups?


Combo of above?
Click to expand...
I think it's more 2 then anything. A little bit of 1. I don't think it's the schemes so much. I mean man to man is what it is. Then it's just communication amongst the players how to play off screens. I think the lack of effort may come from guys wanting to save energy for the other end of the floor. Garza is just limited and JBo is who he is so there's 2 subpar defenders outta 5 and that's noticeable.
 
Fair play to anyone and everyone who finds the silver lining in this loss to Gonzaga. We showed that we can score at a high level against a good defense... even with mediocre efficiency and shooting %. It's very impressive.

But that's completely beside the point. This team doesn't defend well. And defense doesn't seem like a priority for the players nor coaches. We're not athletic enough to confidently play man-man. And our "zone" D allowed layups all game. I can't find any statistics on "points in the paint" but I know that Gonzaga had open layups all game long. The scary part about this is that any good team *should* lead with Defense. Team defense is so effort-driven in basketball... so it's frustrating that it seems like such an afterthought for this team.
 
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