Defense Limiting Scoring Runs

[BillBrasky4Cy]

I have no preference, but the mistakes on defense the past few years just disgusting to watch as a fan. Young never learned how to play a ball screen.

For where we want to go, to do what Baylor has done the last few years, you need to be adequate at both. With Green and TJ, I think we will be. Just maybe not this season.

But maybe Hunter improves like freshman sometimes do mid-season, Gabe gets back to being a 30% streaky shooter, and Enaruna/Kunc give us just enough playmaking at the 4/5. If we can play like a top-60 offense, we'll be good

Getting Grill and Kunc more open looks would also go a long ways. Those two are lethal when they can get off an in rhythm shot.

 

[SolarGarlic]

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.

This was an issue against SELA on Sunday. They just couldn't hit any of them. We're 2nd in the country in opponent 3P%. Some of that is luck, and you can bet that Big 12 guards will make us pay more often if left open or uncontested. Bringing the same defensive intensity every night will be a challenge.

 

[cyclones12321]

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.

One huge reason I think we’ll be tough to beat any game let alone on the road. As long as our offense is at least a little bit on

 

[CascadeClone]

It depends what your definition of talent is. This squad is extremely talented defensively.

I mean like size, athleticism, and skilled offensively. You are right though, defensively, they ARE talented in terms of quickness and skills.

 

[jdoggivjc]

I'm not exactly sure how well we're going to do against Baylor. But besides them, I'm not worried about Texas, Tech, or Kansas. Perhaps we'll lose some of those games, but I don't fear them.

 

[nfrine]

Getting Grill and Kunc more open looks would also go a long ways. Those two are lethal when they can get off an in rhythm shot.

Tre Jackson ain't bad either...