Can Oats ever win a title with this philosophy?

[Louis_Skunt]

His teams shoot an extraordinary amount of 3’s.

To win a title you’re going to have to play 4 pretty good teams. And shooting that many has a higher risk factor of failure. Eventually you’re going to have a bad night from outside.

They looked great Thursday, but tonight they’re going to have to repaint the rims.

 

[ukcatz12]

I've said for a few years on this board he can't. And it's part of the reason I don't necessarily agree with Pope wanting his teams to shoot 30-35 a game either. All it takes to get knocked out in a single elimination tournament is going cold for a half.

 

[noncomposmentis]

Hate to bear bad tidings, but if this question is fitting for Bama, it’s also appropriate to ask about Pope and UK…..

 

[Cowtown Cat]

NOPE! Way too reliant on the 3 ball.

 

[Fox2monk]

I think it’s a good strategy but you have to do something else when a team is capable of shutting the 3 down. They didn’t have a guy who could dominate a one on one matchup and the short guards were overmatched. It’s why I love having 6’5” guards. Their lack of guarding caught up to them tonight as well.

 

[Fox2monk]

I've said for a few years on this board he can't. And it's part of the reason I don't necessarily agree with Pope wanting his teams to shoot 30-35 a game either. All it takes to get knocked out in a single elimination tournament is going cold for a half.

You have to outshoot teams in this day and age overall but you still need a well rounded team. Length, defense, rebounding, and shooting. Duke did it all. I wish we took more than 15 attempts in our game but Pope has shown many times he won’t shoot them just to hit a number. We were efficient on 15 shots.

 

[UKcats1988]

I like his philosophy but at some point you have to be able to mix it up.

 

[gojvc]

They used to say the same thing about Pitino.

 

[OliverSimmonstwinbrother]

They used to say the same thing about Pitino.

Fair enough. He has 1 title in his 300 years of coaching. 😀

 

[ukcatz12]

You have to outshoot teams in this day and age overall but you still need a well rounded team. Length, defense, rebounding, and shooting. Duke did it all. I wish we took more than 15 attempts in our game but Pope has shown many times he won’t shoot them just to hit a number. We were efficient on 15 shots.

Yeah Duke completely dominated this game and Bama losing wasn't them just going cold. Duke shut down every phase of their offense.

But Bama has lost tournament games before as a top seed because they just go cold. I do think Oats relies too much on the 3. Our offense this year had pretty good balance and our motion and back cuts for easy layups definitely balanced out the 3s.

 

[ralphdaltonfan]

LOL--he got to the Elite 8 after the Final Four at Alabama and his philosophy is the issue? WOW

The position he's got to upgrade is the wing position. He needs 6'6/6'8 wings who can play like Pitino eventually found with Anderson/Mercer/Walker--those are the difference makers in that system because they can do everything on the court and are hard to matchup with-but impossible when you have a litany of them.

 

[TucsonCat]

They used to say the same thing about Pitino.

And they were right and he knew they were right and he became more conventional. Started shooting less 3s and pressing less.

 

[The_Answer1313]

I remember when they used to say you couldn't win with underclassmen............then we won in 2012
I remember when Virginia was good and they said you can't win playing that style........then they won a title.

Yes. Oats can win the way they are playing.

There's more than one way of doing this.

 

[gbl97]

I thought they shot too many 2s tonight. Play to your strength and shoot 50 threes. Can't trade baskets.

 

[bbncal02]

I remember when they used to say you couldn't win with underclassmen............then we won in 2012
I remember when Virginia was good and they said you can't win playing that style........then they won a title.

Yes. Oats can win the way they are playing.

There's more than one way of doing this.

Virginia is not a great example. Bennett lost to a 16 seed and it took a very lucky foul call to win a title.

And we all saw what Bennett would've done this season.

Most underwhelming titled coach ever.

 

[Noahtogo24]

I think so-remember, lost to the national champions last tourney, most likely lost again to another nc team tonight.

 

[The_Answer1313]

Virginia is not a great example. Bennett lost to a 16 seed and it took a very lucky foul call to win a title.

And we all saw what Bennett would've done this season.

Most underwhelming titled coach ever.

Yeah.......but a title is a title IMO. Sure two of those games went to OT, another was a 1 pt win and another was a 4 pt win. But it was still done lol.

 

[megablue]

And they were right and he knew they were right and he became more conventional. Started shooting less 3s and pressing less.

10000% this ^^^

 

[The_Answer1313]

Key thing is you can win basketball games playing different styles.

IMO that's what makes this sport so great.

 

[tf4fun]

I think it’s a good strategy but you have to do something else when a team is capable of shutting the 3 down. They didn’t have a guy who could dominate a one on one matchup and the short guards were overmatched. It’s why I love having 6’5” guards. Their lack of guarding caught up to them tonight as well.

Anybody that has a big rim protector like duke,can really push out and funnel guards to the paint where he causes a miss Ala " Davis " 2012!

 

[bbncal02]

Yeah.......but a title is a title IMO. Sure two of those games went to OT, another was a 1 pt win and another was a 4 pt win. But it was still done lol.

And they got beat by a 16 seed with the same style. I just can't respect it.

 

[Louis_Skunt]

Hate to bear bad tidings, but if this question is fitting for Bama, it’s also appropriate to ask about Pope and UK…..

I could be wrong but I don’t think Pope’s team shoot this many 3’s.

 

[gamecockcat]

I know the analytics favor shooting 3s but the tournament is six games to win it all. It's definitely likely that your team will go cold from 3-point line at least one half, if not more, in those 6 games. And, one half may be all it takes to lose to a good team. Plus, any opposing coach worth his salt knows that AL is going to shoot a ton of 3s. If you can harass them (which the best teams have defenders who can), they're going to shoot a low percentage more nights than not. Being a one trick pony makes it much harder to win the tournament. Plus, once behind by more than just a few points, teams tend to shoot even more 3s to get back into the game quicker. Sort of like an Air Raid team that is not moving the ball and falls behind by 21 points. They sometimes tend to look at longer routes and bigger plays trying to get it all back in one play.

I believe a team like AL could win it. But, if I'm betting, I'd bet on the team that does many things very well vs one that relies on 24'+ shooting accuracy to win highly contested games in the tournament.

 

[The_Answer1313]

And they got beat by a 16 seed with the same style. I just can't respect it.

Totally agree.

And playing with a low amount of possessions that always is the risk.

Definitely not an attractive style and not something I would ever want to see UK play with.

But ......at times......effective lol.

 

[bbncal02]

I could be wrong but I don’t think Pope’s team shoot this many 3’s.

He wants to though. He's on record stating he wants to go 30-35 a game.

 

[Bmber225]

I thought they shot too many 2s tonight. Play to your strength and shoot 50 threes. Can't trade baskets.

I said this exact thing to my wife! They kept driving into the big center and couldn’t score over him
I was yelling to shoot more 3s

 

[michaeluk26]

Great question. They should've won it when they had Killer, I mean Miller, and choked in the Sweet 16.

 

[hotelblue]

Hate to bear bad tidings, but if this question is fitting for Bama, it’s also appropriate to ask about Pope and UK…..

idk. we don’t know pope’s full recruiting style for kentucky quite yet. oat’s has his system in place and is basically recruiting the same type of player in each spot going on several years now. kentucky may get a guy who can force the issue inside the arc. we don’t know. bama doesn’t have that, outside of their guards flailing to get to the line.

 

[gbl97]

Don't forget, you can go cold from 2-point range too. Exhibit A is our team this year.

If you can't get a layup, shoot a three. Nothing else.

 

[Mash 2.4]

Of course he can. Just takes peaking at the right time. He does need to find a way to stop people when he needs to. Switching up defenses is something i don’t think nearly enough college teams do.

 

[ukcatz12]

Yeah.......but a title is a title IMO. Sure two of those games went to OT, another was a 1 pt win and another was a 4 pt win. But it was still done lol.

Jesus how many UVA fans had heart attacks during that title run? Weren't they also down double digits at the half to the 16 seed in round one? That had to be an incredibly stressful few weeks.

 

[MakinMusic]

How many times has the phrase “It’s the modern game” been posted on this board?? This is the problem with that mentality. It needs to be a mix.

 

[The_Answer1313]

Jesus how many UVA fans had heart attacks during that title run? Weren't they also down double digits at the half to the 16 seed in round one? That had to be an incredibly stressful few weeks.

Especially after the year before. It had to be in the back of their minds "oh god here we go again" lol

 

[ArtLaibsGhost]

Hate to bear bad tidings, but if this question is fitting for Bama, it’s also appropriate to ask about Pope and UK…..

No it's not. Have you even watched Pope's offense, nothing like what Bama runs

 

[CrimsonCats]

I feel like his philosophy gets misconstrued a bit. It isn’t really so much about taking 3s specifically as it is avoiding long 2s. He actually wants his team to score at the rim, and that’s been their downfall when they did lose in the tournament more than shooting too many 3s the past couple of years. They ran into teams with absolute erasers at the rim in Clingan and Maluach, that allowed the opposing guards to smother the 3 point line rather than having to make any choice what to take away. He made it to a Final Four and Elite Eight playing that style though, so if he could recruit just a little better on defense, there’s no reason to think sometime soon couldn’t be his year.

 

[AJG-15]

It depends on personal. If the guys that are shooting are midgets they will have an issue to shoot over 6”5 or 6”6 guy or defend those.

Basketball is not only offense and it is also about playing defsense, and for that you need the right personal.

I hope Pope learns from this and recruits accordingly.

 

[AJG-15]

Regarding Oates his philosophy is right, his personal was not.

He promised a title run this year. I heard that some of Bama boosters were pissed off after losing to Auburn at home and in the SEC tournament . Oates was under some pressure and he was basically begging before the Duke game for NIL money to keep flowing at high level so he can keep getting players.

 

[Rideordiewildcat]

For me,with Kentucky at least you got to go get dogs. Shit talkers, we usually don't have, in your face. Push the boundaries and guard and finish. 3s are great but a guy who can eat up another's best player is paramount with that game plan. Via Liggins type.

 

[catfan220]

I've said for a few years on this board he can't. And it's part of the reason I don't necessarily agree with Pope wanting his teams to shoot 30-35 a game either. All it takes to get knocked out in a single elimination tournament is going cold for a half.

I’ve believed for a while that the real purpose of having a team that’s dangerous from the 3 should be to score a lot of 2s. Force the other team to guard everyone on the perimeter and then score in bunches right around the rim on drives, cuts, posts, whatever. And for the most part I think that was how UK operated this year. Not 3 crazy, use our big with the ball at the top to take the defensive big man away from the basket, find cutters to the basket or get one-on-one drives. It’ll be interesting to see next year if we have better athletes who can get their own shot more than this team had the ability to do, how much the 3 point numbers will change.

 

[bigblueinsanity]

I've said for a few years on this board he can't. And it's part of the reason I don't necessarily agree with Pope wanting his teams to shoot 30-35 a game either. All it takes to get knocked out in a single elimination tournament is going cold for a half.

Key thing is you can win basketball games playing different styles.

IMO that's what makes this sport so great.

I know the analytics favor shooting 3s but the tournament is six games to win it all. It's definitely likely that your team will go cold from 3-point line at least one half, if not more

All correct. Any team that over relies on 3s will have a very tough time winning 6 hard games in a row. Its why I want pope to diversify his philosophy.

Even though people on this board railed on me for saying that, diversifying is exactly why we looked so good in the ncaa.

I said this exact thing to my wife! They kept driving into the big center and couldn’t score over him
I was yelling to shoot more 3s

Hes their best college player imo. I know flagg will kill it in the nba, but their center is the best defender since AD and probably shaq before that. You literally cant score in the lane if hes in. Their backup isn't a huge drop-off either.