GYERO

[fatguy87]

A large portion of our defensive woes is because we have no continuity from last season.

Pope had BYU playing better defense. They weren't elite by any stretch, but the median BYU team he coached was much better than this team on defense. We'd be fringe top 10 right now in Kenpom if we were as good defensively as BYU was last year. The difference? Year to year continuity. A core group of players, even if they didn't play much, carry the experience and a sort of psychology about how to play within the coach's framework. There isn't a need to reinvent the wheel twice.

Alabama returned a core of 4 players that rank in the top 6 in minutes played this year from a team that was horrible on defense. They added some freshman talent and a fantastic paint defender who plays just 18 minutes a game and they've jumped from ranking in the 100's to the top 40 in defensive efficiency. Is Cliff Omoruyi playing less than 20 minutes game worth a 70 spot jump in adjusted defensive efficiency? The returning players also got better at defending by gaining experience playing together.

 

[cole854]

What we DON’T have a bunch of:


quality guards, and the only two we DO HAVE, are beat to hell/seriously injured.

In the game that Pope runs....

Oweh is a guard.
Robinson is a guard.
Brea is a guard.
Almonor is a guard. (168 3's the last 2 years has went poof in the wind)

Despite Brea being a one trick pony, you aren't going to find too many teams w/ 4 quality perimeter players like this.

 

[Hank Camacho]

Ansley Almonor and Trent Noah both entered Club Trillion last night. Almonor played 15 and a half minutes. Noah played 13. Neither one made any dent in the stat sheet other than clocking playing time. It wasn't like either was bringing any defense -- especially Almonor.

Hard to win when you are getting 28 minutes of literally ZERO production.

 

[Kooky Kats]

The two things that DO worry me, regardless of talent level or injuries, is the lack of effort on 50/50 balls and lazy effing passes.

THAT is direct effort and a coaching item that has regressed all season.

 

[ukalumni00]

The two things that DO worry me, regardless of talent level or injuries, is the lack of effort on 50/50 balls and lazy effing passes.

THAT is direct effort and a coaching item that has regressed all season.

Think some is coaching but a lot of it is the players being soft. He needs to find several dawgs who have the natural instincts to play with a high sense of urgency. Most of these players are not it.

 

[wildcatadam6]

The ridiculous number of Highest Quality Wins, combined with the circumstances under which this roster had to be assembled, divided by the crucial injuries we’ve had = ZERO red ass from me.*

*and you old-timers can appreciate the weight of that.

This team has a glut of players that are essentially the same guy: 6’6 guys that can get hot occasionally, can’t play defense, and have sketchy handles.

What we DON’T have a bunch of:


quality guards, and the only two we DO HAVE, are beat to hell/seriously injured.

End of story

Can’t believe it, but Clown is calming me down about my favorite sports team. Even MY dog is chill and not walking on eggshells.

 

[ukwizard]

Based on second half play, had we avoided that complete meltdown at the end of the half we could have made a game of it.

 

[august-west]

In the game that Pope runs....

Oweh is a guard.
Robinson is a guard.
Brea is a guard.
Almonor is a guard. (168 3's the last 2 years has went poof in the wind)

Despite Brea being a one trick pony, you aren't going to find too many teams w/ 4 quality perimeter players like this.

Oweh’s shot his broken and he had trouble finishing through contact last night. Robinson can’t create his shot and is Charmin soft. Brea, see Robinson and he can’t guard a screen door. Almonor is a nice 8/9 man. Quality is not the adjective I would use to describe them.

 

[gattongrad09]

Our guys just are not built with this athleticism which the SEC has exposed as many thought. Hopefully we have an eye out for them next year.

 

[PTI (pti)]

Without our two best point guards, the opposing team can extend their defense as far out as they want, and dare us to beat them off the dribble (which we can't). So what we're left with is taking contested jumpers, and watching Amari Williams mindlessly stuff the stat sheet as we trade our tough 2s for their open 3s. It's like watching re-runs of Oscar Tshiebwe put up historic numbers, win National Player of the Year, and yet wondering why our team still sucks.




It's so incredibly frustrating, because our head coach truly deserves better. He's done EVERYTHING right so far, and this could have, should have been a fairy tale season. But without Butler and Kerr, and without a healthy Carr, we'll be lucky to limp into the tournament.

 

[legalbeagle123]

The second half showed that this is team is capable of playing decent-to-good defense. That means it's a focus issue or a "want to" issue. Perhaps Pope should get an assistant who isn't as nice as Pope is to apply wood to backsides.

 

[PTI (pti)]

The second half showed that this is team is capable of playing decent-to-good defense. That means it's a focus issue or a "want to" issue. Perhaps Pope should get an assistant who isn't as nice as Pope is to apply wood to backsides.

I applied wood to YOUR MOM'S backside.

 

[btodd0224]

We missed 8 layups in the first half alone. It was as if Isaiah Briscoe was back on the team. Make those and the missed free throws and the outcome is different. Lack of concentration and toughness.

Still doesn’t change the fact that we’re chasing on defense and they were absolutely unconscious shooting.

We’re also standing around a lot and not moving like we did first of the year. They were cutting and setting screens better the first part of the 2nd half. That changed when Robinson started being a black hole, you just knew he was going to force something up.

 

[Catman100]

This is what we are if Butler does not come back. You cannot win in this years SEC without a true point guard.
Offensively and defensively a good point guard makes all the difference in the world.

Still love the future, and still think this team can make some noise if it get's healthy.

 

[B.B.d.K.]

Robinson can't take enough shots to satisfy me, even tough ones. Black hole? I kinda wish, tbh. 18 points last night, on 6-13 (5-10), while playing a position he has no business playing and was forced into out of pure desperation.

vs. Arkansas he had 20 points, on 6-9 (4-6), but was quiet in the 2H, and only got a few shots up. He's playing very well, seems like he's being unfairly singled out b/c he SUCKS at point guard? Well, no shit. Kid is slow as molasses & has a pretty weak handle - he literally has to dribble backwards to avoid the ball being taken from him b/c he can't get around anybody, especially a quick opposing guard. Probably why he's never played point guard until recently, imo.

In SEC play, he's averaging 16ppg on 48% from 3. Not sure what so many of you were expecting of the kid, or why he's the defualt whipping boy for so many, but he's the least of our issues right now.

 

[UnfrozenCatfanLawyer]

We need all of our pieces to work, and we don’t have them. The end.

 

[Catman100]

Robinson can't take enough shots to satisfy me, even tough ones. Black hole? I kinda wish, tbh. 18 points last night, on 6-13 (5-10), while playing a position he has no business playing and was forced into out of pure desperation.

vs. Arkansas he had 20 points, on 6-9 (4-6), but was quiet in the 2H, and only got a few shots up. He's playing very well, seems like he's being unfairly singled out b/c he SUCKS at point guard? Well, no shit. Kid is slow as molasses & has a pretty weak handle - he literally has to dribble backwards to avoid the ball being taken from him b/c he can't get around anybody, especially a quick opposing guard. Probably why he's never played point guard until recently, imo.

In SEC play, he's averaging 16ppg on 48% from 3. Not sure what so many of you were expecting of the kid, or why he's the whipping boy for so many, but he's the least of our issues right now.

I agree. He is absolutely doing the best he can with what he has to work with.
You could see the first time he brought the ball up the court against Arkansas that he was at a disadvantage against Wagner. That Arkansas advantage had a big effect on our offense. Butler in that game would have helped the offense and slowed Wagner down as well.
We must get Butler back if we are to make any noise this March.

 

[ukwizard]

Most of my ire towards any player was on the defensive end and lack of urgency to get loose balls. A Kentucky player was nearest to numerous 50/50 balls and failed to get them. Once again even without a true point, we scored enough points to win the game had we some defensive intensity in the first half.

 

[TheShowKiller]

Butler is the most important but Carr being a shell of himself is a massive problem as well, he is our most versatile big who, when right, was good for a handful of easy buckets (that we aren't getting now) and a huge part in operating the offense. He is also long and was an important cog on D...now, he just can't move at all.

I hate this for Pope, there is no question we've suffered from some effort issues in spurts but the majority of this just comes from having a team that was just athletic and skilled enough when healthy to pass as a top 12ish squad to the domino effect of having to rotate guys that are not ready to compete in the SEC. I'm not saying there aren't certain things he could do better but it would be a nitpick, John Wooden couldn't win with the current version of this team in this league.

 

[ksta]

I don’t know. I agree with almost everything that’s been said re: our defensive struggles, but part of me thinks there’s also a pretty good argument that it comes to this: we beat Tennessee because they only made 11 of their 45 mostly wide-open 3PAs, and we lost to Arkansas and Ole Miss because they made 26 of their 55. That’s basketball.

 

[ukalum01]

Against a really good Ole Miss defense…
84 points shooting 50% from the field, 47% from 3 with 10 makes, 21 assists, only 8 turnovers.

Even without Butler, offense wasn’t the issue last night. Not even close.

 

[UnfrozenCatfanLawyer]

I don’t know. I agree with almost everything that’s been said re: our defensive struggles, but part of me thinks there’s also a pretty good argument that it comes to this: we beat Tennessee because they only made 11 of their 45 mostly wide-open 3PAs, and we lost to Arkansas and Ole Miss because they made 26 of their 55. That’s basketball.

You won’t convince me that we haven’t been unlucky in terms of how some teams have shot against us - the Arkansas game being a prime example. If they shoot their average, we win.

 

[FearThe Blue]

And all the GD banked in threes.

 

[fatguy87]

There has been a run of bad shooting luck in the last couple of games for sure. Ole Miss and Arkansas torched us from deep.

We are bound to lose big in those situations because we can’t put on the clamps on scoring inside the arc and we force no turnovers. In our two game losing streak, our opponents have averaged like 4 turnovers a game or something crazy like that.

UT only turned it over a handful of times too, but we won because they laid brick after brick from 3.

Our “stop” generator is rebounding missed 3’s.

 

[HUBER]

If you turn a game off less than 10 minutes after it began, did the loss even happen?

 

[VernHatton52]

Ole Miss torched us pretty good from mid-range too. Dre Davis looked like Jimmy Butler out there.

 

[krazykats]

-My issue with Robinson is his laissez fair approach at just about every aspect. Sure he scores and shoots great, but not exactly when we need it to STOP scoring droughts.

His lob passes around the perimeter are also very annoying.

But as was noted, when/if we get an actual PG back some of that goes away and his laissez fair approach isn’t as bothersome because he isn’t setting the plays up then and urgency isn’t on him.


- Love the idea of Noah being with the starters. They need energy, and too much is made of his no stats last night. Pope used him for 90 seconds at a time except for the 4 minute run he got with my energy lineup and we cut it to 11 before ole Miss finally hit a couple shots and that lineup was pulled with 9 minutes to go and Noah didn’t see the court again until 2 minutes left.


- Feels like we just came off a west coast NBA road trip with that 6 game run. USC, OU, Texas, Vandy and LSU for 5 of our last 8 could get us back on track but the hunger for wins has to be there.

We’re still good, and this is a rough first year for coach in this SEC, but you can’t let up and they are being forced to deal with that.

- Lastly the past 5 years we had this same ability to lose to anyone, and that’s fair to say for this year too at this point. However Pope and this group has a fighters chance in every game IMHO where we haven’t had that in years past.

I’ll take that and be happy year 1 especially given the injuries.

 

[ksta]

Against a really good Ole Miss defense…
84 points shooting 50% from the field, 47% from 3 with 10 makes, 21 assists, only 8 turnovers.

Even without Butler, offense wasn’t the issue last night. Not even close.

We actually passed Alabama for 2nd in Kenpom in adjOE last night. We scored 53 in the 2nd half against a top-15 defense.

Unfortunately, we also fell to 112th in adjDE.

Again, silver linings: 2024 Alabama finished 2nd in adjOE and 111th in adjDE and made the Final Four. There's no "ceiling" on this team.

 

[Hank Camacho]

@fatguy87 is there a primer YouTube video on basketball analytics for dumbos like me? I'd like to be knowledgable of the statistics beyond the basic box score (and more recently the +/-) I've become accustomed over the years.

Before Pope I avoided any knowledge of such sorcery to shield my fan psyche.