Bottom line Pope has to do something about the defense

[B.B.H.]

I bet if u look at the defensive number for those 2 teams for the first 4 games of the tournament I bet you’ll find that they were among the top of the 68 team field.

I bet you we haven’t played 4 games in the tournament yet so that would be, even if true, entirely irrelevant to this point. A four game sample size is too small to extrapolate any kind of point from.

Edit: to add to that, if you’re correct about the 4 game figures being better in the tournament, you actually dismantled your own point further because that means the defensive efficiency numbers had to have been even lower entering the tournament

 

[Basscat1987]

I bet you we haven’t played 4 games in the tournament yet so that would be, even if true, entirely irrelevant to this point. A four game sample size is too small to extrapolate any kind of point from.

My whole point of statement was that if we countinue to guard like we have been we can’t make that same kind of run. Those 2 teams picked it up on defense. If we pick it up and start to guard we can too

 

[B.B.H.]

My whole point of statement was that if we countinue to guard like we have been we can’t make that same kind of run. Those 2 teams picked it up on defense. If we pick it up and start to guard we can too

No team is guaranteed a final four and this team isn’t likely to make it that far. We are limited by what we have but we CAN get to a final four. Takes a lot of luck to do it

 

[Basscat1987]

No team is guaranteed a final four and this team isn’t likely to make it that far. We are limited by what we have but we CAN get to a final four. Takes a lot of luck to do it

If this team would get better on the defensive end their chances of winning 4 games in a row against stiffer competition each round GREATLY improves tho. I’d rather have a team that needed to improve on defense than offense 🤷‍♂️

 

[bigblueinsanity]

He just had 11 rebounds each game, the last two against tough SEC teams

He had a very nice game two games ago. If he snuck in 11 rebounds last game, i am surprised. Rebounding is a struggle. If hes as good as metrics say, we wouldn't struggle nearly as much.

 

[B.B.H.]

If this team would get better on the defensive end their chances of winning 4 games in a row against stiffer competition each round GREATLY improves tho. I’d rather have a team that needed to improve on defense than offense 🤷‍♂️

I just looked and these were the scores from Bama last year in the tournament.

W 109-96 vs Charleston
W 72-61 vs Grand Canyon
W 89-87 vs North Carolina
W 89-82 vs Clemson
L 72-86 vs UConn

You call that improved defensively? That was awful defense. Thankfully, we will have a punchers chance even with our personnel. I can see us improving some but not a whole lot defensively

 

[Basscat1987]

Looks like that 2nd game was 72-61? You just proved my point. There’s gonna be a game where u have to win without scoring 80-90 in order to march on to the next round.

 

[B.B.H.]

Looks like that 2nd game was 72-61? You just proved my point. There’s gonna be a game where u have to win without scoring 80-90 in order to march on to the next round.

Cherry picking much? Gave up 82 ppg on average and the only team that didn’t score 80 was Grand Canyon…let that sink in…Grand Canyon lol. It’s ok to admit when you are wrong on something dude.

 

[Basscat1987]

Cherry picking much? Gave up 82 ppg on average and the only team that didn’t score 80 was Grand Canyon…let that sink in…Grand Canyon lol. It’s ok to admit when you are wrong on something dude.

I’m not feeling like I’m wrong lol. I hope I get proved wrong tho. I hope this team wins the national championship with a final score of 100-99 for 6 straight games.

 

[B.B.H.]

I’m not feeling like I’m wrong lol. I hope I get proved wrong tho. I hope this team wins the national championship with a final score of 100-99 for 6 straight games.

Well your point was that we can’t without guarding. I showed you that you absolutely CAN. None of us know what will happen in the tournament but the narrative that you have to be a good defensive team to make a deep run is patently false. History does show you have to be good on both sides to cut down the nets but this team isn’t likely to do that anyway. Let’s see what happens.

 

[Basscat1987]

Well your point was that we can’t without guarding. I showed you that you absolutely CAN. None of us know what will happen in the tournament but the narrative that you have to be a good defensive team to make a deep run is patently false. History does show you have to be good on both sides to cut down the nets but this team isn’t likely to do that anyway. Let’s see what happens.

To be fair tho, only one of those games did Alabama allow 90 points. The unc game they only gave up mid 80s. That’s the kinda game I’m talking about. In a up and down game against a good offense, not great/Alabama yesterday type offense, but just a good one, we’d have to find ways to stop those type teams from scoring in the 90s. Time will tell

 

[jeffky]

I don’t know that that’s true, as in factually not true. Alabama and Miami made the final four in ‘24 and ‘23 respectively with similar or worse KenPom defensive rankings. We would all like the defense to be better but we need to be realistic. This was a portal built roster and there were always going to be significant flaws

Ignore that troll b b h

 

[mcnicKY91]

You can scheme an effective offense , there’s not much you can do to overcome a lack of athleticism on defense. And you realize Pope had a very short time to assemble a team right?

Always easy to tell the ones that never played the game.

What does any of that have to do with our guys consistently going under screens or failing to fight through screens, giving up wide open looks?

That literally has nothing to do with athletic ability or the fact that Pope assembled the team through the portal in a very short period of time.

Bad take dude.

Sometimes I wonder what 95% of our fanbase is even talking about...

 

[cats#1again]

What an absolute joke our defense is, we can't ****ing guard ANYONE. How is the defense still THIS bad over half way into the season?

Because we aren't very athletic
Have to focus on scoring and putting people away

 

[B.B.H.]

What does any of that have to do with our guys consistently going under screens or failing to fight through screens, giving up wide open looks?

That literally has nothing to do with athletic ability or the fact that Pope assembled the team through the portal in a very short period of time.

Bad take dude.

Sometimes I wonder what 95% of our fanbase is even talking about...

No he’s right. Why go under those screens? You don’t have the ability to get over them in time I.e. athleticism. Yoshukai isn’t just talking to hear his voice like the people crying about not having a top defense when we built our roster in a fast food drive thru.

What really gets me is Pope, in his own way, has been telling us this in pre and post game press conferences and people aren’t listening closely. He’s been telling you we have to give something up in scout to focus on other areas. This is a discreet way of saying we don’t have the athletes to guard everything so we have to play the way we play

 

[jboler]

Fans....is that what you call yourselves? Considering what Pope had to deal with, this team is miles above where they should be.

Some of you really need to get a grip.

 

[Dreklie]

nice one, you're clearly brain damaged.

 

[jeffky]

nice one, you're clearly brain damaged.

I will give you that one it's all good 👌 nothing personal were all fans I hate to lose too but in this time all teams have good players and coaches I just really like this teams make up they keep coming and they don't quit we will win some and lose some but if we keep scoring 90 plus we are going to be one tough out we are who we are we have to score the ball our defense lacks cause some of our players are a step slow but damn theyre fun to watch GO CATS

 

[Digger-Cat]

@yoshukai said:
Pope could have probably gotten better defensive personnel from the portal (at the expense of the offense). There weren't many/any good two way players left, I'll take the offense.

≤<<<<<<<<<<<<<
Actually, Butler, Williams and Oweh were some of the most decorated defenders in the portal. Pope purposely went after defensive players, because he knew he could get them to be good offensively.

 

[Digger-Cat]

How will it improve?

Butler - Good defender, banged up
Oweh - Decent on-ball defender but his strengths rely on him to take high risks
Robinson - Not exceptionally quick laterally, not strong enough to defend physical guards
Carr - Extremely slow laterally, hampered by ongoing back injury, not skilled to guard perimeter
Williams - Motor issues, average to below average perimeter defender, good paint protector
Brea - Abysmal lateral defense, too slight to defend slashers
Perry - Tiny frame gets punished by drives, slow defensive reads, short wingspan on shot contests
Almonor - Undersized for position, too slow to guard perimeter, not skilled rebounder, not paint defender
Garrison - Too slight for physical matchups, poor defensive IQ

We are what we are defensively. We are not waking up tomorrow morning to a top 30 defense. All the complaining in the world isn’t going to fix our personnel.

What? You think this team can't get any better than last place in the SEC?

So Arkansas, Oklahoma, Texas and Vanderbilt have better veteran athletes? Better coaching?

Nobody is asking for a top 30 defense, but top 50 should easily be a reasonable expectation, especially when you have multiple good to great individual defenders and a team full of juniors, seniors and super seniors.

 

[Digger-Cat]

I don’t know that that’s true, as in factually not true. Alabama and Miami made the final four in ‘24 and ‘23 respectively with similar or worse KenPom defensive rankings. We would all like the defense to be better but we need to be realistic. This was a portal built roster and there were always going to be significant flaws

Right, it is a roster built out of the portal, but so was West Virginia's, Arkansas' and Vanderbilt's. Why are they so much better on defense? Our players are better, thry are rated higher and three of them are decorated defenders.

This is a coaching thing, not a personnel thing.

 

[Digger-Cat]

Well your point was that we can’t without guarding. I showed you that you absolutely CAN. None of us know what will happen in the tournament but the narrative that you have to be a good defensive team to make a deep run is patently false. History does show you have to be good on both sides to cut down the nets but this team isn’t likely to do that anyway. Let’s see what happens.

History showed us the 2 teams out of a million made it to the FF with a bad defense. That's not a trend, that's an outlier.
Without doing hundreds of hours of research, I'm thinking 1% of teams with a sub 80 defense has made the FF since the field expanded to 64/68 teams. luck plays a role.

 

[fatguy87]

We’ve also played two top 5 offenses in conference play, UF and Bama, as well as a top 20 offense on the road. Our opponents have been adept at putting the ball in the hoop.

 

[The_Answer1313]

I feel like this is a repeat of last season. Everyone knew the defense was bad. Everyone talked about it all season long. Nothing changed tho.

It's January 19th. We are more than halfway through the season. It's clear our defense is bad. But it might just be what this team is at this point.

TBH Pope didn't really have good defensive teams while at BYU. He seems to be more of an offense guy.

 

[Digger-Cat]

No he’s right. Why go under those screens? You don’t have the ability to get over them in time I.e. athleticism. Yoshukai isn’t just talking to hear his voice like the people crying about not having a top defense when we built our roster in a fast food drive thru.

What really gets me is Pope, in his own way, has been telling us this in pre and post game press conferences and people aren’t listening closely. He’s been telling you we have to give something up in scout to focus on other areas. This is a discreet way of saying we don’t have the athletes to guard everything so we have to play the way we play

Again, nobody is asking for a top rated defense. See, you're using extremes to put words in the mouths of those you are arguing with. Nobody said anything about UK needing to have "a top rated defense". Not one person said that.

But a top 50 rated defense is not too much to ask.

Shit, Purdue has Braden Smith, an unathletic white dude, running point, why are they better defensively? It's because they play great team defense, it's not about individual players.

 

[Digger-Cat]

We’ve also played two top 5 offenses in conference play, UF and Bama, as well as a top 20 offense on the road. Our opponents have been adept at putting the ball in the hoop.

Yeah, there aren't too many teams that have a Mark Sears.
I think Bama is just a really bad matchup for us. They are long, athletic and play like we do, only they have a trump card we don't have, which is Mark Sears.

 

[Digger-Cat]

I feel like this is a repeat of last season. Everyone knew the defense was bad. Everyone talked about it all season long. Nothing changed tho.

It's January 19th. We are more than halfway through the season. It's clear our defense is bad. But it might just be what this team is at this point.

TBH Pope didn't really have good defensive teams while at BYU. He seems to be more of an offense guy.

BYU was rated 60th in defensive efficiency going into the tournament last year, I would take that all day. We are 84th right now.
If we were 60th, we win that game yesterday.

 

[The_Answer1313]

BYU was rated 60th in defensive efficiency going into the tournament last year, I would take that all day. We are 84th right now.
If we were 60th, we win that game yesterday.

And what happened to BYU last year? They suffered the same exact fate we did by losing in the first round to a worse seed.

60th won't do.

Also we are 84th on defense at 101.7. The 60th is at 99.9. That's only a difference of 1.8 points per 100 possessions. We lost by 5. We still lose that game even rated 60th.

I really wish people would not look at ranked with this stuff but the actual raw number. The gap between teams isn't as high as most think. There's not some major difference between 84th and 60th.

 

[Digger-Cat]

And what happened to BYU last year? They suffered the same exact fate we did by losing in the first round to a worse seed.

60th won't do.

Also we are 84th on defense at 101.7. The 60th is at 99.9. That's only a difference of 1.8 points per 100 possessions. We lost by 5. We still lose that game even rated 60th.

I really wish people would not look at ranked with this stuff but the actual raw number. The gap between teams isn't as high as most think. There's not some major difference between 84th and 60th.

That BYU team didn't have the potent offense this team has, so there is a difference, but there is no reason to be 84th with this team, it should be better and I expect Pope to get it figured out.

As far as the difference between 60th and 84th, I'll take that 1.8 point difference, it would have actually given us a chance at the end of the game. You never know, that trims it to 3.

 

[yoshukai]

@yoshukai said:
Pope could have probably gotten better defensive personnel from the portal (at the expense of the offense). There weren't many/any good two way players left, I'll take the offense.

≤<<<<<<<<<<<<<
Actually, Butler, Williams and Oweh were some of the most decorated defenders in the portal. Pope purposely went after defensive players, because he knew he could get them to be good offensively.

I “kinda” agree with this . I think he tried to get a mix . I believe those 3 and Garrison were his defensive players. Robinson is average, maybe. But Carr , Brea, Almonore , and Kerr were all pretty terrible. All things considered, I think he did a fantastic job of assembling a team in such a short time .

 

[B.B.H.]

Again, nobody is asking for a top rated defense. See, you're using extremes to put words in the mouths of those you are arguing with. Nobody said anything about UK needing to have "a top rated defense". Not one person said that.

But a top 50 rated defense is not too much to ask.

Shit, Purdue has Braden Smith, an unathletic white dude, running point, why are they better defensively? It's because they play great team defense, it's not about individual players.

How, specifically, do you want us to adjust?

And btw let me add, cause I can see you are animated over this topic, I’d love to have a top 50 defense. I don’t see it when I watch the film. That’s why I’m asking you —- what defensive adjustment(s) to we need to make to become a top 50 defense?

 

[B.B.H.]

History showed us the 2 teams out of a million made it to the FF with a bad defense. That's not a trend, that's an outlier.
Without doing hundreds of hours of research, I'm thinking 1% of teams with a sub 80 defense has made the FF since the field expanded to 64/68 teams. luck plays a role.

In one post, says not to use extremes to make point.

In another post, refers to one in a “million”. Digger, my guy, I gave you two examples from the last two tournaments. That means 25% of the final four participants in the most recent tourneys were not defensive teams that meet your criteria. Also, I think you might be misunderstanding my point anyway. I’m not saying it is likely that we make a final four. I don’t think we are THAT good of a team personally. I think we have a punchers chance. We can get hot, but no I don’t think it’s likely we make a final four. I think people who are expecting that in year one are a little woozy from the eggnog

 

[Cowtown Cat]

Defending on picks was atrocious today, all they want is to drive and kick out or lob to the rim. Gotta be better about trapping or something out front but Carr’s inability to guard Nelson or give us anything is what lost this game. I know he’s hurt but can’t make an AA out of guy that was terrible his previous 3 games.

This! Carr’s inability to even be the least bit effective on either end killed us in this game. He couldn’t do shit on either end.

 

[B.B.H.]

This! Carr’s inability to even be the least bit effective on either end killed us in this game. He couldn’t do shit on either end.

Agreed. Dude can’t even sit on the bench his back is so bad and he’s simply slowwwwww laterally. Don’t think the defensive issues are basketball IQ issues by the coaching staff or the players. We don’t have a good defensive PF.

 

[Cowtown Cat]

Dude can’t even sit on the bench his back is so bad and he’s simply slowwwwww laterally. Don’t think the defensive issues are basketball IQ issues by the coaching staff or the players. We don’t have a good defensive PF.

I know, he’s hurt. Honestly, he shouldn’t have even played. Good for him to give it a go. Just think it hurt more than helped. He also had some cheap fouls.

 

[Disappointed Cat]

What an absolute joke our defense is, we can't ****ing guard ANYONE. How is the defense still THIS bad over half way into the season?

You are 100 percent correct. The defense needs a major upgrade if we are going to advance very far in the tournament.

 

[Blue wood]

Cherry picking much? Gave up 82 ppg on average and the only team that didn’t score 80 was Grand Canyon…let that sink in…Grand Canyon lol. It’s ok to admit when you are wrong on something dude.

That's what that person does ...constantly

 

[Digger-Cat]

How, specifically, do you want us to adjust?

And btw let me add, cause I can see you are animated over this topic, I’d love to have a top 50 defense. I don’t see it when I watch the film. That’s why I’m asking you —- what defensive adjustment(s) to we need to make to become a top 50 defense?

I'm not getting animated, I just think you're being disingenuous when you say we are saying we are asking for a top rated defense.

I'm not a coach, I don't make 5 million a year and I don't have 20 years of coaching experience. I'm assuming you don’t either.

But, I would certainly start with pressuring the ball more. I would trap the ball, I would also train the bigs on what verticality is. Right now, our bigs play with their hands down, they reach and they don't know how to play physical with their bodies. Put your hands up and only jump straight up.

We foul too much, because we're late to cover and our hands are down.

This is coaching and I bet Mark Pope makes good improvements.

But, it's a little unfair to ask me how to fix the defense, it's like me asking you why Vanderbilt has a better defense? What is vandy doing that makes them better?

Louisville has the 42nd rated defense, they have several players out injured, a new coach and a new roster from the portal. Can you tell me why they are 42 spots higher than we are? Does it seem right to you that we are at 84 and they are at 42? It seems odd to me.

 

[Digger-Cat]

In one post, says not to use extremes to make point.

In another post, refers to one in a “million”. Digger, my guy, I gave you two examples from the last two tournaments. That means 25% of the final four participants in the most recent tourneys were not defensive teams that meet your criteria. Also, I think you might be misunderstanding my point anyway. I’m not saying it is likely that we make a final four. I don’t think we are THAT good of a team personally. I think we have a punchers chance. We can get hot, but no I don’t think it’s likely we make a final four. I think people who are expecting that in year one are a little woozy from the eggnog

No, it's not me using extremes again. You cherry picked 2 teams that made the FF with low rated defense, I said those teams are outliers, which is very true.

I think you are confused on what an extreme is.

Sorry if you think I'm being difficult, I'm really not, I just refuse to believe this is as good as our defense can be. I call BS on that. Far less athletic teams, with less size, have better defenses, so it's not the players, it's the scheme and I bet CMP makes improvements, he's too smart not to.

 

[B.B.H.]

I'm not getting animated, I just think you're being disingenuous when you say we are saying we are asking for a top rated defense.

I'm not a coach, I don't make 5 million a year and I don't have 20 years of coaching experience. I'm assuming you don’t either.

But, I would certainly start with pressuring the ball more. I would trap the ball, I would also train the bigs on what verticality is. Right now, our bigs play with their hands down, they reach and they don't know how to play physical with their bodies. Put your hands up and only jump straight up.

We foul too much, because we're late to cover and our hands are down.

This is coaching and I bet Mark Pope makes good improvements.

But, it's a little unfair to ask me how to fix the defense, it's like me asking you why Vanderbilt has a better defense? What is vandy doing that makes them better?

Louisville has the 42nd rated defense, they have several players out injured, a new coach and a new roster from the portal. Can you tell me why they are 42 spots higher than we are? Does it seem right to you that we are at 84 and they are at 42? It seems odd to me.

As far as comparing to Louisville or Vandy, I can’t. I don’t watch those teams enough to evaluate and I don’t like to just pull things out of my hind end to win an argument.
Let’s watch the year play out. I don’t blame you for wanting better defense so do I. I’m enjoying the heck out of watching these guys. When I watch this team, I don’t see big defensive improvement on the way. I have a summary of each player somewhere on one of these threads and exactly why I believe that. If you see it different, I respect that. Go Cats!