Not losing any sleep over it but do enjoy seeing where he has everyone. It's still very early and our upside is much higher than where we are today. I like this team.
KenPom 12-18-2023
KenPom 12-18-2023
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They hate our defense right now, and I can’t really blame them. We have an elite offense super early in the season and that’s only going to get better. Cal emphasized we are not slowing down, I only hope he keeps his word.Even the computers hate us.
This is true. And I seem to recall that Cal said he used not to even work on offense in the early season and focused on defense only with young teams. Or am I misremembering that and it was the other way around? I'm getting old.They hate our defense right now, and I can’t really blame them. We have an elite offense super early in the season and that’s only going to get better. Cal emphasized we are not slowing down, I only hope he keeps his word.
Having Bradshaw and Onyenso back is only going to help our defense get on track. We have to start playing better of the picks.
Definitely, although I was a bit surprised to see our SOS as low as it is considering we've played KU, Miami, UNC, and St. Joe's, all pretty good to very good teams. Of course there are some weaker ones, but everyone else has those, too. PU, UT, Wisc, Bama, and A&M have pretty stout schedules it appears.We're going to take a beating in that formula with the UNCW loss. They're currently at 117. All we can hope is that they dominate their conference.
That is why UT is usually so high on KenPom's rankings.KenPom's algorithm really doesn't like teams that allow their opponents to score seemingly at-will. Cal has to figure that out over the next month or so.
That’s true to an extent, but the KenPom algorithm uses per possession defensive efficiency stats rather than points per game averages. I’m still hopeful that having Bradshaw and Onyenso back to change some shots at the rim can have a positive impact on our defense, but it’s legitimately been a little shaky in the early season.I'm also not too concerned about defense right now. We play fast and playing fast means more possessions for the other team, inherently. That UNC game was the 2nd fastest game of the season. You're not going to hold opponents to 60 points when you do that.
We were on a meteoric rise in offensive efficiency, reaching the top 3 in Kenpom, until the UNCW game. In that game, we scored less than a point per possession on our home court against a team with a defensive rating ranking in the 150's. We've come back to earth with some hot shooting cooling down. Our lost three games constitute 3 out of 4 of our worst shooting games and our 3 lowest 3 point shooting rates of the season. We are taking less threes and shooting worse than in all the games before UNCW.Surprising that with all the talk about our offense being so potent that we are 15th behind Duke, Creighton, Texas A&M, FAU, Colorado St and UNC.
Top 25 in both offense and defense, which is a qualification met by 14 of the last 21 teams to win the title.
Only 8 teams meet that criteria. We are NOT one of them.
Yep that loss really hurt.We're going to take a beating in that formula with the UNCW loss. They're currently at 117. All we can hope is that they dominate their conference.
Agreed. And it cant be "it is what it is". We're not going to make it very far if that's the case, cant stand that guy sometimes.That's fine, I would wager that our defense has the potential to be top-25 by years' end.
We are already showing major improvement in 3 of our last 4 games.
Held Penn to their lowest scoring total of the season.
Held UNC to their lowest PPP of the year (even less than what UCONN held them to).
Our pace is going to naturally allow more points because there are more possessions, but if we can maintain a PPP of as close to 1 as possible, we'll be fine. UNC had 1.05 against us, lowest of the year for them.
We were elite defensively against Miami, allowing only 0.88 PPP according to SynergySports.
And I think that will only improve as we get more into a rhythm with these shot blockers back.
People like Matt Jones who love to repeat every single show that our defense "is what it is" and that we are never going to be good defensively are not accurate- we are going to be really, really solid defensively come Feb and March IMO.
Miami is KILLING us right now. They've somewhat crapped the bed. The SEC teams crapping the bed aren't helping either.Definitely, although I was a bit surprised to see our SOS as low as it is considering we've played KU, Miami, UNC, and St. Joe's, all pretty good to very good teams. Of course there are some weaker ones, but everyone else has those, too. PU, UT, Wisc, Bama, and A&M have pretty stout schedules it appears.
People make fun of Camp Cal but over the break we will be practicing a ton. Working on detail stuff and better defensive principles I’m sure. I think these next few weeks are huge to where we will end up. Especially getting Bradshaw a lot of work in with the starters.This is true. And I seem to recall that Cal said he used not to even work on offense in the early season and focused on defense only with young teams. Or am I misremembering that and it was the other way around? I'm getting old.
Same. They are my least favorite team of all time, and yes that includes IU, Uavel, KU, and dook. I probably wouldn't feel this strongly if it weren't for the decades of institutionalized cheating that garnered them at least 3 ill-gotten, undeserved titles. All while taking a sneering, condescending tone with everyone else and touting their "Carolina Way". Nothing personal against any of their fans or even players...I don't hate any person. It's just the whole, damned stench of the crap that went on there. And they got away with all of it.Scoreboard. North Carolina @ Chapel Hill, nobody I want to beat more. Nobody I hate to lose to more. I guess that shows my age. I go back to following since 1963.
They weren't that great to begin with. Completely over hyped, the two guys they lost were massive losses.Miami is KILLING us right now. They've somewhat crapped the bed. The SEC teams crapping the bed aren't helping either.
Does that correlate to officiating? /sAs usual, Kentucky getting its butt kicked in the Luck metric- #257.
You put it perfectly!!!!!!!!!!!!Same. They are my least favorite team of all time, and yes that includes IU, Uavel, KU, and dook. I probably wouldn't feel this strongly if it weren't for the decades of institutionalized cheating that garnered them at least 3 ill-gotten, undeserved titles. All while taking a sneering, condescending tone with everyone else and touting their "Carolina Way". Nothing personal against any of their fans or even players...I don't hate any person. It's just the whole, damned stench of the crap that went on there. And they got away with all of it.
Okay, rant over. Carry on.
I don't deny that we have talent to be solid defensively. Reed has excellent anticipation and Bradshaw/Onyenso can provide some rebounding and rim protection that we were lacking. The one factor that causes some doubt in our defensive progression is that we simply haven't had an elite level defense in a long time. The last team to crack the top 30 in kenpom's adjusted defensive rating was the 2019 squad. Cal didn't have the same struggles producing solid to elite defensive units early in his tenure here. A part of me wonders if a bit of our defensive deficiencies we've experienced recently are built in to Cal's approach.People like Matt Jones who love to repeat every single show that our defense "is what it is" and that we are never going to be good defensively are not accurate- we are going to be really, really solid defensively come Feb and March IMO.
They play Marshall tonight and I think they play Arkansas on the 30th so that should be interesting how those games play out for themWe're going to take a beating in that formula with the UNCW loss. They're currently at 117. All we can hope is that they dominate their conference.
If we beat Louisville by 40 tonight I'm not convinced we wouldn't move down in the computer rankings. They are THAT bad.