Agree with portions of your post.
There have certainly been plenty of breakdowns so I won’t say our defense has been airtight, but you should consider that many of the wide open threes are by design. Our team isn’t elite defensively at all positions so we have to give up something. If the other team has subpar shooters, those are the guys we want to give a gap to, let them shoot and finish those possessions with a rebound. You’d have to be more specific for me to believe what we are doing defensively is bad…what sharpshooter have we given wide open opportunities to on a regular basis?
If Pope's defense, as you say, is intentionally designed to give up wide open threes, then that is poor coaching.
I dispute the notion of “mostly wide open threes”. I’ve watched the Gonzaga game twice and Duke game three times. I’m not saying Pope gives up every open three. You allow some guys to shoot based on scout and not others. Sometimes, a breakdown occurs and a guy you want to prevent shots from gets one. Try to understand the point being made. When you reply to a strawman version of the point, that isn’t helpful.
I do understand the point. But your point is invalid. Pope's defense is letting EVERYBODY shoot wide open threes, not just individual players who suck from three point land.
Gonzaga isn’t a good 3pt shooting team dude. The point was to give them looks from deep. Did you see the complete assault Ike was performing on us? We had to give up something.
Never said Gonzaga was. I did say their season average is 34% as of today. What did they shoot on virtually all wide open attempts against UK??? 6/27, which is 10 percentage points below their season average.
I don’t think we are having the same conversation, talking right past one another. I’ll give one last point to be understood a little better. Yes, Gonzaga shot worse than their average from three. Luck was not the only factor in that, although it is one. Things outside of luck that will result in a lower percentage: the switching of defenses throws off offensive rhythm, general quality of shots, tired legs from trying to guard a perpetual motion offense, the “who” that was allowed to take the open shots, etc. Pope doesn’t control whether or not the other team makes their “open” shots, but he does have to decide how much to pressure the perimeter for each player on the opposing team. Over pressuring a matchup will increase the likelihood of giving up driving lanes to that player. That’s why I’m asking: which sharpshooter specifically do you think Pope didn’t gameplan well for defensively and we will go look at the film and discuss it
GOOD POST !! I don't know, but cannot help but wonder, as rotations tighten in the tougher games and in March, if a concerted attempt and emphasis to clamp down defensively will create fatigue on the offensive end and affect it. It takes a lot of energy for a team that is not built by quickness and athleticism to play really tight, aggressive defense. Every team has weaknesses ... I think the lack of overall quickness and athleticism is ours, along with physicality in the paint.
Of course not. We simply do not have the horses to take away everything from the outside and the inside. This is, despite their performance so far, a much less talented team than fans are used to
Maybe I shouldn’t have said first shot defense is good?
That’s exactly correct. We aren’t out there in prevent defense, packed into the paint exclusively. We are giving the opposing team what they don’t prefer on offense based on statistics and prior performance, to the best of this team’s capability to this point in the season. Defensive will improve, of course, but this team isn’t becoming the 2015 team or the 2003 team anytime soon
