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This is an interesting perspective about what the Cats did today.

Our offense is now fifth in the country at 1.25 points per possession, adjusted for the opponent. We are behind only Auburn (who currently has the most efficient offense in Kenpom history), UConn, Florida, and Iowa St. Our defense took a huge hit this game though, largely due to playing the third best offense, and we sit at 91st.
 
Our offense is now fifth in the country at 1.25 points per possession, adjusted for the opponent. We are behind only Auburn (who currently has the most efficient offense in Kenpom history), UConn, Florida, and Iowa St. Our defense took a huge hit this game though, largely due to playing the third best offense, and we sit at 91st.

Which is a bit alarming, given we were so one sided last season as well and we know that teams that tend to get upset in the NCAA tournament are the one sided teams.
 
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Our offense is now fifth in the country at 1.25 points per possession, adjusted for the opponent. We are behind only Auburn (who currently has the most efficient offense in Kenpom history), UConn, Florida, and Iowa St. Our defense took a huge hit this game though, largely due to playing the third best offense, and we sit at 91st.
Where do you find these stats? I’m not a stat guy but would like to learn more.
 
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Which is a bit alarming, given we were so one sided last season as well and we know that teams that tend to get upset in the NCAA tournament are the one sided teams.
Alabama did make the Final Four last year with an elite offense and a sub-100 defense, so it can be done. Pope is probably like Oats in that he's a good enough Xs and Os guy to scheme his way to a Final Four with a bad defense.
 
Where do you find these stats? I’m not a stat guy but would like to learn more.
Kenpom. You can view the efficiency stats on the main page for free, and it's $20 (I think) for the year to get all the more advanced stats, lineup usage numbers, etc. I paid last year but haven't renewed yet this year, but all the paid stats were very interesting.
 
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Alabama did make the Final Four last year with an elite offense and a sub-100 defense, so it can be done. Pope is probably like Oats in that he's a good enough Xs and Os guy to scheme his way to a Final Four with a bad defense.

Kinda bizzare that year they were 111th ranked on D but made the final four but the year prior they were 3rd on defense but only made the S16 lol.
 
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It's a shame tho a lot is behind a paywall. Because people just look at the rankings but what is really interesting is the team pages.
I did pay for Kenpom last year and thought it was worth it. $20 or so for the entire year and it was interesting to see all the advanced stats.
 
Kenpom. You can view the efficiency stats on the main page for free, and it's $20 (I think) for the year to get all the more advanced stats, lineup usage numbers, etc. I paid last year but haven't renewed yet this year, but all the paid stats were very interesting.
Thanks.
 
In regards to the defense, I will still say some of this is that the guys we have just aren't gifted enough to be elite defenders (Butler aside). I suspect our defense will improve in the coming years as we not only add some top recruiting classes, but also have some returning players with experience in the system.
 
In regards to the defense, I will still say some of this is that the guys we have just aren't gifted enough to be elite defenders (Butler aside). I suspect our defense will improve in the coming years as we not only add some top recruiting classes, but also have some returning players with experience in the system.

This is why it's hard for me to get too upset about the weaknesses this year.

It's like.......if you aren't talented enough to be good, what can you really say about it lol.

Just continue to do the things u do well and hopefully that leads to enough wins.
 
It was an offensive explosion on both sides. Glad we had shot makers all over today. I think you can safely say this was an outlier. I’m not sure what to think about our defense. I thought we did some good things in defense at times but they just made tough shots. But early in the game we were really letting them get easy buckets without much resistance. I hope we can lock in on defense right from the start at UGA Tuesday.
 
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It was an offensive explosion on both sides. Glad we had shot makers all over today. I think you can safely say this was an outlier. I’m not sure what to think about our defense. I thought we did some good things in defense at times but they just made tough shots. But early in the game we were really letting them get easy buckets without much resistance. I hope we can lock in on defense right from the start at UGA Tuesday.

Yeah what is kinda wild is despite giving up a ton of points per possession to a historic level, those 16-0, 10-0 and 10-0 runs were mostly fueled by defense lol.
 
What this team really needs to do is watch tape of that 2003 team. If y’all remember, they were atrocious on defense through the first 6-8 games, then got cooked by Vandy in that first half. But something changed at halftime of that game, and they were elite the rest of the season. And that was with no better athletes than we have on this team.
 
What this team really needs to do is watch tape of that 2003 team. If y’all remember, they were atrocious on defense through the first 6-8 games, then got cooked by Vandy in that first half. But something changed at halftime of that game, and they were elite the rest of the season. And that was with no better athletes than we have on this team.

This all day long.
 
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What this team really needs to do is watch tape of that 2003 team. If y’all remember, they were atrocious on defense through the first 6-8 games, then got cooked by Vandy in that first half. But something changed at halftime of that game, and they were elite the rest of the season. And that was with no better athletes than we have on this team.

Just took a look cause I was curious. SEC Conference stats

Effective FG% 45.4% (1st)
Turnover 25.4% (1st)
Rebounding % 27.5% (1st)
FTR 32.5% (6th)

So certainly ELITE defense.

Since Cal we've just never been a team that generates a bunch of turnovers on D. I figured that would changed under Pope but it really hasn't.

Kinda surprising what Marquette did to that team after posting dominate defensive figures the past two months prior.
 
Just took a look cause I was curious. SEC Conference stats

Effective FG% 45.4% (1st)
Turnover 25.4% (1st)
Rebounding % 27.5% (1st)
FTR 32.5% (6th)

So certainly ELITE defense.

Since Cal we've just never been a team that generates a bunch of turnovers on D. I figured that would changed under Pope but it really hasn't.

Kinda surprising what Marquette did to that team after posting dominate defensive figures the past two months prior.

3 things happened:

1. Dwyane Wade was an HOF’r
2. Bogans was gimpy and couldn’t move laterally
3. Estill disrespected their big man in the presser
 
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3 things happened:

1. Dwyane Wade was an HOF’r
2. Bogans was gimpy and couldn’t move laterally
3. Estill disrespected their big man in the presser
It happens. The best team doesn't always win. It took two of Marquette's having monster games, and a slightly impeded Bogans. Kentucky wins that game 7-8 times out of 10.
 
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