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Defense Limiting Scoring Runs

EnhancedFujita

EnhancedFujita

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Jan 28, 2013
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Anecdotally this season one thing I've noticed is this team seems to do a great job of limiting their opponents from going on big runs. It always seems like we're keeping pace with our opponent or building a lead (or chipping into a lead in the few times we've been behind).

So I went through the ESPN play-by-play and tried to identify anytime we've let an opponent score 5 or more unanswered points. Below is the data:

  1. KennSt - 5 pts - 20-26 to 25-26
  2. KennSt - 5 pts - 29-41 to 34-41
  3. KennSt - 10 pts - 45-62 to 55-62
  4. OSU - None
  5. AlaSt - 6 pts - 8-12 to 14-12
  6. AlaSt - 8 pts - 23-29 to 31-29
  7. AlaSt - 7 pts - 42-54 to 49-54
  8. Gramb - 5 pts - 25-53 to 30-53
  9. Xav - 5 pts - 18-27 to 23-27
  10. Xav - 7 pts - 23-29 to 30-29
  11. Xav - 6 pts - 48-62 to 54-62
  12. Mem - 5 pts - 27-38 to 32-38
  13. Mem - 5 pts - 38-51 to 43-51
  14. APB - 6 pts - 38-68 to 44-68
  15. APB - 8 pts - 44-70 to 52-70
  16. Cre - 6 pts - 0-2 to 6-2
  17. Cre - 10 pts - 8-9 to 18-9
  18. Cre - 6 pts - 31-39 to 37-39
  19. FIowa - 5 pts - 10-11 to 15-11
  20. JackSt - 5 pts - 12-27 to 17-27
  21. JackSt - 7 pts - 22-37 to 29-37
  22. SEL - 5 pts - 7-14 to 12-14
  23. SEL - 5 pts - 18-31 to 23-31
  24. ChiSt - 6 pts - 15-30 to 21-30
  25. ChiSt - 11 pts - 33-64 to 44-64
Some observations:
  • We're averaging allowing 2 runs of 5 pts or more per game.
  • Biggest runs came against some of our weaker opponents.
  • Worst performance was allowing APB to go on a 14-2 run, but we were winning by 30 at the time.
  • Only 6 runs allowed the opponent to gain a lead. All of those were in the first half and 3 were early in the game.
 
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EnhancedFujita said:
Anecdotally this season one thing I've noticed is this team seems to do a great job of limiting their opponents from going on big runs. It always seems like we're keeping pace with our opponent or building a lead (or chipping into a lead in the few times we've been behind).

So I went through the ESPN play-by-play and tried to identify anytime we've let an opponent score 5 or more unanswered points. Below is the data:

  1. KennSt - 5 pts - 20-26 to 25-26
  2. KennSt - 5 pts - 29-41 to 34-41
  3. KennSt - 10 pts - 45-62 to 55-62
  4. OSU - None
  5. AlaSt - 6 pts - 8-12 to 14-12
  6. AlaSt - 8 pts - 23-29 to 31-29
  7. AlaSt - 7 pts - 42-54 to 49-54
  8. Gramb - 5 pts - 25-53 to 30-53
  9. Xav - 5 pts - 18-27 to 23-27
  10. Xav - 7 pts - 23-29 to 30-29
  11. Xav - 6 pts - 48-62 to 54-62
  12. Mem - 5 pts - 27-38 to 32-38
  13. Mem - 5 pts - 38-51 to 43-51
  14. APB - 6 pts - 38-68 to 44-68
  15. APB - 8 pts - 44-70 to 52-70
  16. Cre - 6 pts - 0-2 to 6-2
  17. Cre - 10 pts - 8-9 to 18-9
  18. Cre - 6 pts - 31-39 to 37-39
  19. FIowa - 5 pts - 10-11 to 15-11
  20. JackSt - 5 pts - 12-27 to 17-27
  21. JackSt - 7 pts - 22-37 to 29-37
  22. SEL - 5 pts - 7-14 to 12-14
  23. SEL - 5 pts - 18-31 to 23-31
  24. ChiSt - 6 pts - 15-30 to 21-30
Some observations:
  • We're averaging allowing 2 runs of 5 pts or more per game.
  • Biggest runs came against some of our weaker opponents.
  • Worst performance was allowing APB to go on a 14-2 run, but we were winning by 30 at the time.
  • Only 6 runs allowed the opponent to gain a lead. All of those were in the first half and 3 were early in the game.
Click to expand...

Nice work - a lot of work!

Going to go out on a limb and say we don't lose a game we are leading at half this year. Between TJ's ability to make adjustments and the teams physical conditioning and mental toughness, they won't let it happen.
 
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Thank you for posting this! I was thinking about this last week but way too lazy to put in the research :)

In all seriousness, this really speaks to the success of this team and differences between Fred/Steve teams and this year.

Fred teams could go on a run at any moment but also likely to give one up. Needed too many comebacks to win.

Early Steve teams similar. Late Steve teams always went the wrong way.

Was discussing this in Brooklyn watching Xavier and Memphis games. Again versus Creighton and Iowa. When they go up double digits it just seems like a much bigger hill for the opponent to climb.

Defense is obviously the big difference, but we’re also patient and disciplined on offense.
 
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I'd assume that a contributing factor to limiting scoring runs is defensive rebounding. Thus far anyway, you can feel confident that the opponent is going to be one-and-done on the offensive end. Such a huge difference from the last couple of years.
 
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twincyties said:
Thank you for posting this! I was thinking about this last week but way too lazy to put in the research :)

In all seriousness, this really speaks to the success of this team and differences between Fred/Steve teams and this year.

Fred teams could go on a run at any moment but also likely to give one up. Needed too many comebacks to win.

Early Steve teams similar. Late Steve teams always went the wrong way.

Was discussing this in Brooklyn watching Xavier and Memphis games. Again versus Creighton and Iowa. When they go up double digits it just seems like a much bigger hill for the opponent to climb.

Defense is obviously the big difference, but we’re also patient and disciplined on offense.
Click to expand...

You definitely get the feeling that with our defense, whatever lead we have, feels like its doubled.
 
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I said after our first game that with the strength of our defense, an 8 point lead for us is like a 16 point for most other teams. We flat out guard on EVERY possession.
 
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Agree with other points made here. The point being that between our defensive and offensive style of play that kind of a lead takes a lot of possessions to make up. And if we make them burn clock snd we don’t hoist stupid shots early in a possession the time to get needed possessions may not be there.
 
BillBrasky4Cy said:
What I love about our defense is that we give up very few in rhythm three point attempts which has been a back breaker going back to the Hoiberg era.
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Very true. When you get challenged on almost all of your 3-point shots, the few times when our defense doesn't rotate in time to challenge you you're still looking out the corner of your eye to see when the challenge is coming. I thought that happened several times against Iowa. They just weren't used to being challenged on every shot.
 
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Pope said:
Very true. When you get challenged on almost all of your 3-point shots, the few times when our defense doesn't rotate in time to challenge you you're still looking out the corner of your eye to see when the challenge is coming. I thought that happened several times against Iowa. They just weren't used to being challenged on every shot.
Click to expand...

That's an underrated point. Good defense will make your shooting cold so that even the open ones don't go.
 
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twincyties said:
Agree with other points made here. The point being that between our defensive and offensive style of play that kind of a lead takes a lot of possessions to make up. And if we make them burn clock snd we don’t hoist stupid shots early in a possession the time to get needed possessions may not be there.
Click to expand...
For the first time ever, I've been able to relax during the last several minutes of our games because I knew there was very little chance the other team could overcome our lead. Think about it. If we're giving up an average of 28 points a half, it's next to impossible for the other team to make up a 12 point deficit with only 5 minutes to play.
 
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Peter said:
We throttle teams once we get a lead. It is very satisfying.
Click to expand...

I'm not sure throttling is accurate - I don't think we're good enough on offense to throttle anybody. I'd say it's more like sucking the will out of our opponents to compete with us. Offenses that are better than ours time and again aren't allowed to do what they do best. Do that over and over again, and by the time you get into the second half they're mentally drained and not doing what made them such a great offense in the first place. I mean, look at the second half of the Xavier, Memphis, Creighton, and Iowa games. They were all games at the half, but as the second half progressed, each of those teams became more and more frustrated as they were slowly taken out of their game.
 
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inCyteful said:
Nice work - a lot of work!

Going to go out on a limb and say we don't lose a game we are leading at half this year. Between TJ's ability to make adjustments and the teams physical conditioning and mental toughness, they won't let it happen.
Click to expand...
Adjustments have been pretty stellar this year IMO. Much of that is due to the coaches but a ton of credit should go to the players for adjusting so well on the fly.
 
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