Everyone figured out how much more important D is yet

[UKBrassowTipIN]

And that side of the ball is more valuable?

Every year ppl whine about shooters, and now you've got the best offensive team at UK ever, the best 3 point shooting team ever, 3 players shooting almost 50% from 3, multiple players with 30 point games, endless players with 4 made 3's in a game, games where 7 players are scoring double figures, the most efficient 2 year scorer in uk history. Everything everyone wants to jump off a bridge about every year, and you've got what you wanted.

And yet...

A ball screen is almost too devastating. Everyone just runs at the ball. No one bothers to box out. And no one isn't guilty.

A .500 team dropped 100 points.

Here's to hoping we don't go cold and opponents miss some bunnies 🍻

 

[GoNoles111]

The team is what it is, just try to enjoy it lol.

 

[Lempface]

So we’ve got to out score everyone, that’s still a strategy and a way to win games. I’d like the D to be better too but when it comes to the NCAAT, throw the ball up and let’s see if they can score 90-100 on us cuz they probably gonna have to.

 

[kennyskywalker34]

And that side of the ball is more valuable?

Every year ppl whine about shooters, and now you've got the best offensive team at UK ever, the best 3 point shooting team ever, 3 players shooting almost 50% from 3, multiple players with 30 point games, endless players with 4 plus 3's a game, games where 7 players are scoring double figures, the most efficient 2 year scorer in uk history. Everything everyone wants to jump off a bridge about every year, and you've got what you wanted.

And yet...

A ball screen is almost too devastating. Everyone just runs at the ball. No one bothers to box out. And no one isn't guilty.

A .500 team dropped 100 points.

Here's to hoping we don't go cold and opponents miss some bunnies 🍻

You aren't wrong. They aren't winning anything of significance in March with this lack if defense.
They are exciting to watch. Definitely frustrating as well.
It's more exciting to lose 110-109 than it is to lose a 69-68 rock fight. But the end result is the same.
I'll just enjoy what's left of the season. I don't expect much success. When it ends onto Opening day for me.

 

[ukcatz12]

In 2022 everyone complained about the outdated offense. This year's team is barely more efficient offensively and a lot less efficient defensively.

Points per 100 possessions:

Year	Points Scored	Points Allowed
2022	120.0	94.3
2024	122.8	102.4

 

[JonathanW]

And that side of the ball is more valuable?

Every year ppl whine about shooters, and now you've got the best offensive team at UK ever, the best 3 point shooting team ever, 3 players shooting almost 50% from 3, multiple players with 30 point games, endless players with 4 made 3's in a game, games where 7 players are scoring double figures, the most efficient 2 year scorer in uk history. Everything everyone wants to jump off a bridge about every year, and you've got what you wanted.

And yet...

A ball screen is almost too devastating. Everyone just runs at the ball. No one bothers to box out. And no one isn't guilty.

A .500 team dropped 100 points.

Here's to hoping we don't go cold and opponents miss some bunnies 🍻

Valid point OP. Many on here have been way too simplistic only wanting to play people based on offense, when defense is 50% of the game.

 

[BlueWhite21]

And that side of the ball is more valuable?

Every year ppl whine about shooters, and now you've got the best offensive team at UK ever, the best 3 point shooting team ever, 3 players shooting almost 50% from 3, multiple players with 30 point games, endless players with 4 made 3's in a game, games where 7 players are scoring double figures, the most efficient 2 year scorer in uk history. Everything everyone wants to jump off a bridge about every year, and you've got what you wanted.

And yet...

A ball screen is almost too devastating. Everyone just runs at the ball. No one bothers to box out. And no one isn't guilty.

A .500 team dropped 100 points.

Here's to hoping we don't go cold and opponents miss some bunnies 🍻

Its very important but so is balance. Getting stops ain't worth a shit either if you can't score the ball and just hoping to be in it at the end of the game by getting stops, but can't buy a basket but just hope to make enough to steal a game at the end by solely depending on the D. So I think you do need shooters.

I rather watch this 21-8 team score 100+ than watch us if we're still 21-8 and only scoring 60-70 ppg. I think a case can be made for both ways though. I don't necessarily disagree with you but I just rather watch a team that can score at ease.

 

[Aike]

Defensive side of the ball isn’t more valuable. I wouldn’t even call them even if I’m trying to win the tournament. Give me an elite offense with a decent defense, and I like my chances.

 

[bbncal02]

Defensive side of the ball isn’t more valuable. I wouldn’t even call them even if I’m trying to win the tournament. Give me an elite offense with a decent defense, and I like my chances.

The issue is we aren’t that decent in D. We can be at times.

 

[KyCatFan]

Defensive side of the ball isn’t more valuable. I wouldn’t even call them even if I’m trying to win the tournament. Give me an elite offense with a decent defense, and I like my chances.

I wish we had a decent defense. 😂

 

[Aike]

The issue is we aren’t that decent in D. We can be at times.

I’m aware

 

[bbncal02]

I’m aware

Sorry. Wasn’t insinuating you weren’t. We do seem to have some that are though.

I like our chances if we can just be even halfway good on D.

 

[Rockfly78]

Defensive side of the ball isn’t more valuable. I wouldn’t even call them even if I’m trying to win the tournament. Give me an elite offense with a decent defense, and I like my chances.

Lo. Yeah I think everyone would take that.

But defense is king. Always and forever. It’s more important than offense. A good defense will lead to easy opportunities to score

 

[Fox2monk]

The team is what it is, just try to enjoy it lol.

I’m having a great timing watch us score 110 I know that. It would be really nice if we played better defense and stuff but it is what it is. Outscore everyone to the title I don’t care how it happens.

 

[Aike]

Lo. Yeah I think everyone would take that.

But defense is king. Always and forever. It’s more important than offense. A good defense will lead to easy opportunities to score

I disagree that defense is king in basketball. Good offense beats good defense.

 

[RMorris33]

Something that I dont think gets talked about enough: We're 5th in the nation in possessions per game and more possessions = more scoring. We're more likely to score a ton compared to the average team but also more likely to give up points. Our defense isn't great but the numbers can be skewed because of the fast "paste" we play with.

 

[Rockfly78]

I disagree that defense is king in basketball. Good offense beats good defense.

Until they have a bad shooting night. Defense is more consistent. Defense shows up

 

[NothinButNylon]

I disagree that defense is king in basketball. Good offense beats good defense.

I agree! We have never lost a game when we have out scored our opponent. You know what they say.. defense wins championships, but this year may prove otherwise (I hope).

 

[Aike]

Until they have a bad shooting night. Defense is more consistent. Defense shows up

Until you’re playing a hot team who just backs up and shoots from 30. We can go round and round like this forever. I don’t think you’re going to change my mind.

 

[uky8unc5]

Virginia is living proof: you can win a Title playing great defense.
But it ain't no fun watching it happen!
I like our Team

 

[Rockfly78]

Until you’re playing a hot team who just backs up and shoots from 30. We can go round and round like this forever. I don’t think you’re going to change my mind.

You won’t change mine either. Its just a discussion

 

[Jack2936]

Like others have said, our defense is what it is. Arkansas only scored more than 100 one time before this game, and that was against UNCW, of course. No one was playing defense in today's game until the last few minutes. IDK what that means going forward, but what they're doing the past few games is working against different styles. And that has be a good thing heading into the tournament imo.

 

[Atrain7732]

I keep telling myself these guys are gonna batten down the hatches on d once the ncaa tourney starts. That they will focus and at least get it a couple levels better than it’s been all year. We have seen glimpses in a few games, especially recently where that has happened. They seem to play up or down to the competition a lot.

Course, they could also allow 100 in the first game and get knocked out. I wouldn’t be shocked either way.

 

[MDGonzocatfan]

Everything I've seen from the OP is some sort of trolling and bitching thread. Enjoy the win and stop bitching.

 

[megablue]

Lo. Yeah I think everyone would take that.

But defense is king. Always and forever. It’s more important than offense. A good defense will lead to easy opportunities to score

A good defense creates mental frustration and pressure …

 

[Mike-D]

I disagree that defense is king in basketball. Good offense beats good defense.

This. 2015 says hello. Great defense.

 

[fatguy87]

I disagree that defense is king in basketball. Good offense beats good defense.

Dominant offensive teams will often slack a little on defense. They don't defend because they don't have too. They have another gear they can ratchet up defensively if they need to. A number of past tournament champs were like that.

 

[BBBLazing]

Something that I dont think gets talked about enough: We're 5th in the nation in possessions per game and more possessions = more scoring. We're more likely to score a ton compared to the average team but also more likely to give up points. Our defense isn't great but the numbers can be skewed because of the fast "paste" we play with.

Other than technical fouls, doesn't the opponent have the same number of possessions per game than us?

 

[The_Answer1313]

Virginia is living proof: you can win a Title playing great defense.
But it ain't no fun watching it happen!
I like our Team

Virginia also had a great offense as well when they won that title.

In fact, that defense finished 5th overall. The offense that season? 2nd.

 

[The_Answer1313]

At the end of the day it's really the margin between the two that's most important.

You want the offensive number to be as high as possible.
You want the defense number to be as low as possible.
And you want the difference between the two to be the greatest amount possible.

And lastly it's better to be balanced than imbalanced.

 

[The_Answer1313]

Something that I dont think gets talked about enough: We're 5th in the nation in possessions per game and more possessions = more scoring. We're more likely to score a ton compared to the average team but also more likely to give up points. Our defense isn't great but the numbers can be skewed because of the fast "paste" we play with.

This isn't how things work. Each game, each team has the same number of possessions.

Our defense isn't skewed because we play at a fast pace. Our points allowed are skewed but that's the whole purpose of using points per possession instead of using overall points scored or allowed.

Points per possession REMOVES pace from the equation.

 

[RMorris33]

Points allowed is what I meant. A team that averages 70 possessions per game is likely going to both score and give up more points that a team that averages 60 possessions per game

 

[The_Answer1313]

Points allowed is what I meant. A team that averages 70 possessions per game is likely going to both score and give up more points that a team that averages 60 possessions per game

Yeah but our problem isn't necessarily that we are giving up a ton of points. We are also giving up a ton of points per possession.

 

[fatguy87]

Yeah but our problem isn't necessarily that we are giving up a ton of points. We are also giving up a ton of points per possession.

Conversely, Wisconsin in 2015 was 53rd in points per game and 12th in points against per game. However due to their slow tempo, they were far and above the best offensive team. They led the nation in PPP. Defensively, they were 82nd in PPP (35th in adjusted defensive efficiency). They were much better on offense than defense despite being ranked worse in points per game than points against per game thanks to their extremely slow tempo.

 

[The_Answer1313]

Conversely, Wisconsin in 2015 was 53rd in points per game and 12th in points against per game. However due to their slow tempo, they were far and above the best offensive team. They led the nation in PPP. Defensively, they were 82nd in PPP (35th in adjusted defensive efficiency). They were much better on offense than defense despite being ranked worse in points per game than points against per game thanks to their extremely slow tempo.

Yep.

It's also the reason why when people talk Virginia they note the defense and rightfully so but they ignore the fact they had good offenses. At least the year they won the the title anyways.

 

[Cats192]

It’s not typically an either/or situation.

People that were complaining about the offense the last 3 years were right.

That doesn’t mean they were saying defense didn’t matter.

 

[The_Answer1313]

The other thing about that 2015 Wisconsin team is they didn't just have the best offense that season, they had the best offense in the entire Kenpom era (99-current).

Did it very much in the same mold as UK is doing it now. Great shooting team that just didn't turn the ball over.

 

[fatguy87]

It’s not typically an either/or situation.

People that were complaining about the offense the last 3 years were right.

That doesn’t mean they were saying defense didn’t matter.

Yes. We left free money on the table through crappy lineup choices and poor shot generation. We could have been even better offensively with higher quality shots and better players on average on the court.

 

[The_Answer1313]

It’s not typically an either/or situation.

People that were complaining about the offense the last 3 years were right.

That doesn’t mean they were saying defense didn’t matter.

But were they correct?

Post 15 compare the offensive numbers with the defensive numbers.

The defensive has been the issue and has been for a long long time now. The main difference between pre 15 and post 15 results has been on defense.

 

[The_Answer1313]

People didn't like the offense because our teams consisted of poor shot selection resulting in a lot of poor shooting. The flipside is we had dudes that rebounded so basically our best offense became a missed shot, rebound and put back.

It made for ugly basketball. It was also still efficient.

This offense we got this year frankly just looks better. But there's multiple ways of doing this.

Houston has a 15th ranked offense this season. They also have an effective FG% of 236th lol. But they don't turn it over (6th) and they rebound 38% of their misses (8th). As a result they take sooo many more shots their poor shooting is mitigated.