The only part of the offense I don’t love is putting the center up top all the time. I understand the passing but there has to be more behind this. Defender can back off and no three point threat so it’s 5 guys guarding 4 threats frequently.
We are shockingly bad on defense
- Thread starter kydmb99
- Start date
I'm thinking the defense will get better, I'm sure Coach Pope knows this and is working on it. I thought the rebounding was better tonight, turnovers were an issue. In several games we haven't had many miscues. However you want to look at it a win over the 14th ranked team on their home floor is sweet.
I'll take 45% and 30% against top 25 offenses anytime. if we give up 90pts to USC or Texas or LSU then worry about defense.
I'm infinitely more worried about officiating that calls a foul on us anytime the opponent misses a shot inside or they rebound it and get a put back , that skewers the 2pt % defense for us.
I'm infinitely more worried about officiating that calls a foul on us anytime the opponent misses a shot inside or they rebound it and get a put back , that skewers the 2pt % defense for us.
Last year we were 7th in offensive efficiency but 109th in defensive efficiency
This year we are currently 3rd in offensive efficiency but 87th in defensive efficiency.
Someone got to fix the D lol. It's holding us back. We are very good. We could be great.
This year we are currently 3rd in offensive efficiency but 87th in defensive efficiency.
Someone got to fix the D lol. It's holding us back. We are very good. We could be great.
An upgrade in both 
By the way, can we just point out how crazy it is we had Reed, Antonio, and Dilly last season, yet could only muster the 7th best offense
By the way, can we just point out how crazy it is we had Reed, Antonio, and Dilly last season, yet could only muster the 7th best offense
That will happen 100% of the time. Score more and you win. Ass hat. Lol
Funny thing about that is offense is hit or miss (pun intended), but defense is every day if the will is there. That was something Bobby Knight once said (not verbatim), which I agree with.
I wonder though, the announcers of last night's game pointed out that in UK's first two SEC games our opponents shot 30 more fees throws showing we were called for many more fouls than our opponents. That will affect how tightly we play defense too so...
Our best defense is to shoot the ball well, like last night, like against Florida. Our defense is not good, is not ranked good in the statics that matter and anyone who thinks different is brain dead homer.
If you look at our offense, we are scoring so many points that it is putting pressure on the the other teams offense to take more 3’s then their season average. Just something to consider as we move on.
Which is kinda wild.
Opponents are shooting 28% from 3 against us this season. 13th best mark in D1
Opponents are also making 52% form 2 against us this season. 210th.
Very possible had UF (who shot 81% from 2 vs us) and Miss St (who shot 65% from 2 vs us) just took more twos, they probably win those games.
I have no idea if that's a byproduct of our offense like you said, our defensive philosophy or a little bit of both. I tend to think it's a bit of both.
Human nature trying to match or one up your opponent. Hitting a 3 excites the crowd much more than a 2.
I think defense also plays a bit of a role.
It's shown that defenses have more control over the number of threes an opponent takes than actual 3pt FG% defense.
In other words, the best defense against a three is to.........not let the opponent take one.
Because unless the shot clock is running out, no one is in a rush to take a contested three (for the most part). We tend to leave a bunch of guys open from 3 unfortunately. Luckily for us, they don't seem to be hitting.
Earlier in the year Pope mixed in some zone defenses that kept the opponent off-balance. We haven’t seen that in a while. I wonder if he’s saving it, or he decided that’s not what he wants to do defensively. If we reintroduce that to our game, I believe we will see our defensive efficiency improve.
It’s the offensive rebounds they are getting that makes the 2’s look better for the opponents.
If we just clean up defensive rebounding it will go a long way to solving other problems.
And we did rebound quite a bit better last night.
Turnovers were more of a problem last night than rebounding.
Defensive efficiency dropped a few points on every site. It was an awful defensive performance.
So far in conference played (I know just three games) we've given up 1.23 ppp.
That's second worst. Only Oklahoma is worse.
The opponent 2 pt FG% to me is most alarming. You cannot win basketball games consistently if you are letting your opponent make damn near 65% of their 2s.
That's second worst. Only Oklahoma is worse.
The opponent 2 pt FG% to me is most alarming. You cannot win basketball games consistently if you are letting your opponent make damn near 65% of their 2s.
And that was mainly because of John Welch .An upgrade in both
By the way, can we just point out how crazy it is we had Reed, Antonio, and Dilly last season, yet could only muster the 7th best offense
In beating a top 15 (NET top 12) team on the road with questionable officiating.
I think some of us are just shockingly addicted to hyperbole and emotional gratification.
I think some of us are just shockingly addicted to hyperbole and emotional gratification.
I think most of this is just seeing the bigger picture. I think everyone is ecstatic not just at the result of last night but the entire season. I mean I can't imagine anyone had us beating Duke, Gonzaga, UF, Miss St etc.
It's just ultimately how this season is going to end up will depend on the tournament results. That's what it always comes down to. So I think this is a good discussion on exactly what needs to get better in order to make a deep run.
I just don’t know what some of you guys expected. We are absolutely not good on defense. But given the circumstances when CMP took over , the limited time to hire a staff and build a roster .Did you expect a “perfect “ team ? Of course we’ve got warts .
Did any of you guys actually think we would make a deep tournament run ? And we could, depending on how the bracket falls and matchups.
Just seems like crying over spilled milk .
At the beginning of the year I saw a lot of Sweet 16 as the absolute ceiling.
So I don't think anyone expected much.
But expectations I feel shouldn't be static. This is clearly a better team that most felt it would be coming into the year. That's why I think it's fair to adjust those expectations upwards.
I don't think we are quite near the level of competing for a national title, but I feel like it's ok to discuss the warts and hope they are fixable to at least try to make said run.
Fair. I’m not sure how fixable our defense is though simply because of athleticism. Talking basketball is fine but it’s difficult to sift through the posts and see if it’s just Cal fanboys that have been waiting for us to be bad and Arkansas to be good and it just hasn’t happened so they are nitpicking. I’m thinking you were one of the staunchest Cal defenders till the bitter end. Correct me if I’m wrong.
Of course I was. He was the coach of my basketball team lol. In my mind there was no way to separate the two. Either UK was going to do good (and Cal) or .....they weren't. To me, what exactly was the alternative ........root against my team?
I think people confuse things. I'm pretty much indifferent to any other coach not at UK.
I don't hate Cal or love Cal. He's not at UK anymore.
I can understand your view because I'm sure some people do that. But I was doing this last year as well and Cal was here. I think I've been very consistent.
Overall it is perfectly explainable by the team composition. You have a bunch of crafty skilled veterans (with below NBA) talent who find ways to get open and score against basically any college opposition but those same vets are also limited from a length and athleticism perspective and can easily get overpowered (in fact many of our offensive turnovers when they do occur also stem from that). I think they do a decent job of getting out on shooters and putting in effort but you can't teach size and athleticism. Garrison is the only guy with NBA body and frame but he is definitely a work in progress
This dude is mad that Pope is winning games. Defense hasn’t been that bad. They just best stop 15 team on the road and all you do is criticize. Go follow Arkansas.
I started thinking about this last night. We have folks unhappy about winning 95-90 because our D may not be good enough. If we had won 55-50 I bet we would be worried about our offense not being good enough.
D is king and I’ve always said it. But winning trumps all. That dub is literally all that matters because we will not blow everyone out. There will always be something to complain about……except winning.
D is king and I’ve always said it. But winning trumps all. That dub is literally all that matters because we will not blow everyone out. There will always be something to complain about……except winning.
I think that last year is very much in the mind of a lot here and I think that's a fair point.
Ultimately, this season is going to be judged on just that wins......and losses. But it will be mostly how we do in the tournament.
People are just worried we might get bounced early due to the poor defense. It's a valid concern.
Yeah, that's the way I'm currently looking at it. There's definitely an athletic ceiling on this roster.
He has wildly exceeded my expectations considering the circumstances of how fast he had to put this team together using whatever he could find. And then had to teach them his concepts in the few months he had, and they had to all play together for the first time. Assistants had to get on the same page. It's pretty remarkable what he's already done.
Next year he'll have some continuity and more time to really get players he was looking for. And something tells me his defense is always going to look worse because he's such a gifted offensive coach who likes an uptempo style.
Just saying our defense isn’t winning any games for us right now. But thanks for your 2 cents douche bag 👍
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