Coaching Defense (effort/technique)

[Worf88]

The more I see, the more I think a lot of the defense issues is a lack of effort and bad technique/coaching.

An example, Fears does whatever he pleased in the first half. Second half Butler started guarding him quite a bit and when he did, Fears had a hard time even getting the ball let alone scoring. Butler would keep his eyes on Fears and the ball at all times and it eventually got to him to a point where he wasn’t even trying to get the ball and would just stand around.

Counter that with our other guards and they rarely ever, if ever, have an eye on the ball. They’re mostly just chasing the guy around not even trying to deny their man from getting the ball and are usually a full step or two behind the guy they’re chasing/guarding. Oweh is the exception to this most of the time. But with them not trying to deny their man the ball and not having the speed to stay in front of the guy, they’re basically cooked when their guy gets the ball. Taking better angles while guarding on the ball would help this but they don’t do that well either. Surely this is stuff they’ve been told to do?

One other little thing. On offense teams are clearly playing to not let us shoot 3’s. If we don’t hit 3’s then we likely aren’t beating decent teams. Our shooters aren’t quick enough to get quality shots running off Amari’s screens so why isn’t Carr or Almanor coming up to set a double screen? The chance to get a good shot from Brea off a double screen, a pass back to Carr/Ansley for a 3 or a good matchup from a switch goes way up. But it seems like we continue to do the same thing we always do regardless of whether it works or not and that goes for both ends of the floor. Early in the year Pope would change things up if needed but that’s been non existent since December pretty much.

 

[oldsports_]

The more I see, the more I think a lot of the defense issues is a lack of effort and bad technique/coaching.

An example, Fears does whatever he pleased in the first half. Second half Butler started guarding him quite a bit and when he did, Fears had a hard time even getting the ball let alone scoring. Butler would keep his eyes on Fears and the ball at all times and it eventually got to him to a point where he wasn’t even trying to get the ball and would just stand around.

Counter that with our other guards and they rarely ever, if ever, have an eye on the ball. They’re mostly just chasing the guy around not even trying to deny their man from getting the ball and are usually a full step or two behind the guy they’re chasing/guarding. Oweh is the exception to this most of the time. But with them not trying to deny their man the ball and not having the speed to stay in front of the guy, they’re basically cooked when their guy gets the ball. Taking better angles while guarding on the ball would help this but they don’t do that well either. Surely this is stuff they’ve been told to do?

One other little thing. On offense teams are clearly playing to not let us shoot 3’s. If we don’t hit 3’s then we likely aren’t beating decent teams. Our shooters aren’t quick enough to get quality shots running off Amari’s screens so why isn’t Carr or Almanor coming up to set a double screen? The chance to get a good shot from Brea off a double screen, a pass back to Carr/Ansley for a 3 or a good matchup from a switch goes way up. But it seems like we continue to do the same thing we always do regardless of whether it works or not and that goes for both ends of the floor. Early in the year Pope would change things up if needed but that’s been non existent since December pretty much.

@MarkPope, hire this guy now. He can fix your problems.

 

[JonathanW]

I've always said DEFENSE is primarily EFFORT & playing smart. Yes, being athletic can certain help. I was average height, and overweight and always slow & couldn't jump, but I was a good defender (at least better than I should have been). I put in more effort on defense than on offense, not that I took offensive plays off (I didn't), but I was 100% on defense (& rebounding). I thought if I played my man tight enough without the ball, then the odds it got passed to him went way down. I played passing lanes, looked out for backdoor cuts, fought thru screens, kept eye on the ball and my man both at all times. Once he got the ball, I backed off some to try and protect the drives, which did allow jumpshots.

As for our offense, I just don't see enough movement. I want to see old Princeton offense type of constant movement. I want to see Brea non-stop moving to get open like Murray did in 2016.
It's also interesting that Butler did not have 1 assist Saturday. He needs to kick out to open man on some of those drives.

 

[catlogic15]

Auburns switches on defense were masterful. Takes talent mostly.

 

[The_Answer1313]

Oh here we go again with the effort stuff.

 

[Catapult]

We made some adjustments in 2nd half, going more inside. Too little to late but maybe something Pope tries sooner if we get them in SEC tourney.

 

[Worf88]

We made some adjustments in 2nd half, going more inside. Too little to late but maybe something Pope tries sooner if we get them in SEC tourney.

That’s one of the issues with Popes philosophy. If he does happen to make a change then it won’t be until the second half at the earliest. He’s repeatedly said at half he looks at all the data of the first half to see what’s working and what’s not. Some games you can’t afford to wait that long. Especially when your team can’t play defense and isn’t hitting 3’s like they were early in the year. We just can’t make enough 2’s and get enough stops to catch up.

 

[Edgarman]

We made some adjustments in 2nd half, going more inside. Too little to late but maybe something Pope tries sooner if we get them in SEC tourney.

Our best hope is we do not see Auburn again. This year, we are not beating Auburn regardless of the adjustments. They are on a different level than us and most everyone else in the country, including Duke.

 

[TucsonCat]

Finally. Someone is imparting their middle school basketball knowledge to 9 year professional player and head coach of University of Kentucky.

 

[mcnicKY91]

Finally. Someone is imparting their middle school basketball knowledge to 9 year professional player and head coach of University of Kentucky.

Well unfortunately the nine year professional who is currently the head coach of UK looks to have a middle school defense, and unfortunately, that has been a problem everywhere he has been.

Fans are in for a rude awakening if they think Pope is just going to change his colors defensively...it ain't happening.

 

[Edgarman]

Well unfortunately the nine year professional who is currently the head coach of UK looks to have a middle school defense, and unfortunately, that has been a problem everywhere he has been.

Fans are in for a rude awakening if they think Pope is just going to change his colors defensively...it ain't happening.

If that is true, we will be in the market for a new head coach in 2027 - 2028 season. Just saying.......

 

[SkyPrince1]

Our best hope is we do not see Auburn again. This year, we are not beating Auburn regardless of the adjustments. They are on a different level than us and most everyone else in the country, including Duke.

Definitely not on a different level than Duke.
The Flagg UK saw in Nov won't be the one teams see in March.

 

[The_Answer1313]

Well unfortunately the nine year professional who is currently the head coach of UK looks to have a middle school defense, and unfortunately, that has been a problem everywhere he has been.

Fans are in for a rude awakening if they think Pope is just going to change his colors defensively...it ain't happening.

Currently we are 65th in defensive efficiency.

It does fall pretty much in line with his years at BYU.

Seems like his philosophy is to limit offensive boards. His BYU teams all hovered around top 25 in defensive rebounding % and at UK it's still good at 43rd. This despite playing in a conference that has a ton of teams that are great offensive rebounding teams.

His teams just do not force turnovers. Basically similar to Cal. In 3 of his last 6 years (his time at BYU and UK), turnover % ranked 325th or worse.

Teams are shooting 53,5% from 2 against us this season. If you are giving up that high a %, you need to limit shots by forcing turnovers. But we don't.

I guess what you have to hope for with Pope on the defensive end is that now that he's at UK, maybe he can recruit a higher caliber players than what he did at BYU. I think that's the thinking here. And just by that alone, should improve the defense.

 

[UKBB4Ever]

Unfortunately this team looks like an Eddie Sutton or Joe B team that played its best ball in Dec.

A lot of our offensive problems now are just talent, (lack of), and slow foot speed.

Our guys are slow to recognize plan B and C after the defense takes away what we want to do. And slow to do when they do.

On defense we are just slow. Almost everyone is in a zone body playing man.

They do too much ball watching to play man. Too slow to play effective help defense.

So what do you do? You out execute teams. You don’t turn it over and you get defensive rebounds.

We have done better of late on defensive rebounds. But now we walk it up on offense making a slow team slower.

Is it conditioning? Seems like Pope doesn’t put a premium on conditioning.

There’s a reason all these guys are still in school.

But that reason shouldn’t be because they are out of shape.

 

[JRCAT14]

The more I see, the more I think a lot of the defense issues is a lack of effort and bad technique/coaching.

An example, Fears does whatever he pleased in the first half. Second half Butler started guarding him quite a bit and when he did, Fears had a hard time even getting the ball let alone scoring. Butler would keep his eyes on Fears and the ball at all times and it eventually got to him to a point where he wasn’t even trying to get the ball and would just stand around.

Counter that with our other guards and they rarely ever, if ever, have an eye on the ball. They’re mostly just chasing the guy around not even trying to deny their man from getting the ball and are usually a full step or two behind the guy they’re chasing/guarding. Oweh is the exception to this most of the time. But with them not trying to deny their man the ball and not having the speed to stay in front of the guy, they’re basically cooked when their guy gets the ball. Taking better angles while guarding on the ball would help this but they don’t do that well either. Surely this is stuff they’ve been told to do?

One other little thing. On offense teams are clearly playing to not let us shoot 3’s. If we don’t hit 3’s then we likely aren’t beating decent teams. Our shooters aren’t quick enough to get quality shots running off Amari’s screens so why isn’t Carr or Almanor coming up to set a double screen? The chance to get a good shot from Brea off a double screen, a pass back to Carr/Ansley for a 3 or a good matchup from a switch goes way up. But it seems like we continue to do the same thing we always do regardless of whether it works or not and that goes for both ends of the floor. Early in the year Pope would change things up if needed but that’s been non existent since December pretty much.

As expected you got someone who had to make a sarcastic joke about your post, but I for one agree with some of your points. All good defenses are disruptive. The timing in running an offense and rhythm of a shooter are very important offensively. Really good defenses prevent the offense from getting the ball where they want it when they want it. We have the tendencies that you pointed out such as just guys chasing guys around and then trying to play defense without much denial beforehand.
We sometimes try to play pretty good denial defense on the other team's best scorer or facilitator but we allow the other guys to be wherever they want to be with an easy path to receiving the ball. This is an illustration of how important team defense is and the need for all five players to be focused and not taking plays off. Numerous times this year I have seen them play good defense for about 25 seconds and then someone relax and not only allow the other team to score, but score easily.

 

[Catapult]

Our best hope is we do not see Auburn again. This year, we are not beating Auburn regardless of the adjustments. They are on a different level than us and most everyone else in the country, including Duke.

That's only true if they shoot like they did against us. If they shoot like that then nobody is beating them. But if they shoot like they did against UT or Fla, then they are beatable.

 

[ralphdaltonfan]

Think some of the posters may be shocked that ex players no matter what level aren't the end all for basketball strategy. It speaks to their playing career/talent, not their acumen. The smarter you want to prove you are in this game, you will be humbled and proven wrong. Most coaches start out somewhere at the lower levels and work their way up and they all find out that it's about Jimmy's Joes, and Tyrone and Jerome's. Until this guy wins an NCAA tournament game, his theory/approach have proven to be incorrect. Now we can say look where he was....etc..but that's just talking in reality that is based on facts. Or for the analytical people-the data says this approach won't win in March.

My issue with the approach-you can't go off one form of data. Stats/Analytics are absolutely an important PART of the gameplan. So is the human eye and feel for your team/opponent. Nobody on this site can tell me that Mark Pope and Staff had a ****ing clue how to defend Arkansas after watching that game. I'd take a Youth Ball Rec Coach who is a diehard UK fan and would put up his take on how to defend the Hogs over whatever that BS was that evening.

There's been a lot of "I am glad we don't have that crybaby SOB Hurley......." this year. Well one thing Hurley did that Pope seems unwilling to do up to this point-he changed his approach to running the program. He was one of these "We'll just win with defense and toughness" guys and realized after losing in the 1st Round in '22 NCAA's that isn't going to get it done. You need to embrace offensive basketball and have guys who can make plays for teammates and get their own shot. We all know the results that followed that adaptation. So it's in there for anyone to do but are you willing to accept that maybe you don't know everything and need to make an adjustment? Or do you want to be the jackass who takes the "Tin Cup" approach to sports and would rather fail doing it your way?

 

[Creed Bratton]

Oh here we go again with the effort stuff.

C'mon man you can't seriously watch 3-4 UK guys stand and watch the opposing player dive to the floor for a loose ball and not think it's partially about a lack of effort. I have played with a lot of guys who weren't good defenders. For some it was athletic ability, foot speed, etc, for some it was technique and for some it was that they conserved energy for the offensive side of the ball. For this team I think it's a mix of all depending on the guy.

 

[bigblueinsanity]

It isn't effort. Its coaching and roster management. Even with this roster there is zero reason to be this poor on d.

 

[SemperFiCat]

Who on this team is actually a quick athlete/defender? Just Oweh? Butler is a great defender, but I think that's more of a knack, timing, technique than actual foot speed sometimes (not to say I think Butler is slow, by any means). Point is, if we get better athletes and quicker defenders, I think we see our defense improve.

I will say, we've rebounded a lot better than I thought this team would.

 

[JohnnyGreen1975]

Defense in basketball is indeed a combination of effort and playing smart. Let me break it down for you:

Effort​

• Intensity and Hustle: Good defenders consistently put in high energy and effort, staying active and engaged throughout the game.
• Physical Conditioning: Being in top physical shape allows defenders to keep up with their opponents and maintain high effort levels.

Playing Smart​

• Positioning: Smart defenders understand where to position themselves to cut off driving lanes and force opponents into difficult shots.
• Anticipation: Good defenders can anticipate the opponent's moves, allowing them to react quickly and make steals or blocks.
• Communication: Effective communication with teammates helps in coordinating defensive strategies and covering for each other.

 

[rick64]

Defense is a lot about effort.

 

[Kyhoward]

I've always said DEFENSE is primarily EFFORT & playing smart. Yes, being athletic can certain help. I was average height, and overweight and always slow & couldn't jump, but I was a good defender (at least better than I should have been). I put in more effort on defense than on offense, not that I took offensive plays off (I didn't), but I was 100% on defense (& rebounding). I thought if I played my man tight enough without the ball, then the odds it got passed to him went way down. I played passing lanes, looked out for backdoor cuts, fought thru screens, kept eye on the ball and my man both at all times. Once he got the ball, I backed off some to try and protect the drives, which did allow jumpshots.

As for our offense, I just don't see enough movement. I want to see old Princeton offense type of constant movement. I want to see Brea non-stop moving to get open like Murray did in 2016.
It's also interesting that Butler did not have 1 assist Saturday. He needs to kick out to open man on some of those drives.

Agree, you cannot be a good defensive player without effort! The OP mentioned technique and that is true but I believe our staff probably knows how to teach the techniques of playing defense. Effort is essential as the offensive player generally knows where he is going - you do not, so the defensive player is out of the gate in a disadvantage. You have to expend more energy to "keep up with your man."

JonathanW said the following - "I played passing lanes, looked out for backdoor cuts, fought thru screens, kept eye on the ball and my man both at all times. Once he got the ball, I backed off some to try and protect the drives, which did allow jump shots. I thought if I played my man tight enough without the ball, then the odds it got passed to him went way down." That is textbook defensive technique, but offense gets the glory and the rise of AAU ball, where little defense is played, has contributed to poor defensive play by most teams. But offensive philosophy has changed in the past few years where the high pick is run by most teams to get a switch and take advantage of the offensive players quickness against a bigger man. I believe that in today's game you must have 1 or 2 solid defenders out front that can put pressure on the point guard to delay teams getting to their offensive setup. I would like to see Coach Pope use more 3/4 or full court pressure which I think he will do in future years, once he is able to obtain more athletic players. This gives you less time to actually guard hard on the halfcourt end. I was a skilled basketball player that was athletically challenged in high school but was a good defender as I forced the ball handler to go to his weak hand and gained an advantage there among the other techniques that JonathanW mentioned.

As far as our offensive play, we are not running the BYU offense efficiently nor should we be able to in the 1st year of implementation. As Amari/Brandon do, they dribbled to a side and the 2 offensive players ran a pick and one would flare past the center to get a handoff or cut to the basket while the other either flared to the corner or ran a backdoor. UK's offense is not a fluid as was BYU's and I know we have better athletes than they do. Their offense even had Coach Sampson of Houston at a loss for how to stop it. BYU also wore out their opponent not defensively but by running their offense at high speed with hard cutting to the basket. We cut but not in a direct line to the basket but flare out somewhat and it is not a hard cut. Wear the opponent out by having them chase you.

It is critical that however Pope builds the roster that he builds it with an emphasis of have multiple year players. I know with the portal this will be hard as every player is essentially a free agent every year.

'

 

[LineSkiCat14]

I'd really like to give Pope more than just one single shorthanded and rushed season to critique his defensive coaching abilities, motivation, and player effort. I don't really know what we can honestly take away from this season. We had a top5 offense all year.. and had a ton of injuries.. trying to play in the SEC. Is it possible that emphasis on defense just wasn't the highest of priorities at times this year?

 

[The_Answer1313]

C'mon man you can't seriously watch 3-4 UK guys stand and watch the opposing player dive to the floor for a loose ball and not think it's partially about a lack of effort. I have played with a lot of guys who weren't good defenders. For some it was athletic ability, foot speed, etc, for some it was technique and for some it was that they conserved energy for the offensive side of the ball. For this team I think it's a mix of all depending on the guy.

I have no doubt some instances some teams give more effort than others. I mean we actually watch a guy not jump for the opening tip one game. And that guy happened to be one of our better players this season.

I just think the point here gets overblown.

I've watched way too many guys on this team get blown by. I have way more feeling it's about a lack of all the other things you mention than effort.

You definitely need effort. But without the athletic ability, effort isn't saving you IMO.

If I played vs Lebron, I could try all I want. I could give effort. There's no amount of effort that's stopping that tho lol.

That's an extreme but I just feel we have too many players that lack an inability to defend. This is why it hasn't gotten much better.