Quote :

"And actually, TWW is pretty old now"

Yea it is. Has the message board craze passed for the current students? Feel like its the exact same people on here as it was in the early 2000s.

Anyways it was a nice win. Played hard on both sides of the ball in the first half. Cruised and were a little sloppy in the second. It happens. If this team learns to play an entire game on both sides of the ball the sky is truly the limit.

Also Cleveland State has been a very good mid major the last few years. It's not like we were playing Shaw.

12/9/2012 7:53:35 AM

Cleveland State is ranked #119 this year so they aren't a good team, but they're better that a lot of the cupcakes we'll be playing.

Our offense is now ranked #10 nationally and our defense #94 on a pace & opponent adjusted ranking.

That defense just doesn't cut it. We were 65th last year and 48th in 2010 when we made our NIT run.

They've got to figure out the issues defensively. Also, I don't think anyone could have assumed we'd be such a terrible rebounding team this year. #115 offensively, and #220 defensively. By comparison we were #45 and #121 last year. Unacceptable decline.


We're giving up some of the most points at the FT line in the country and our FT% defense is nearly the worst in the country. These are huge red flags honestly.

We're also shooting almost the least amount of 3's in the country despite hitting a terrific percentage of them, we've got to figure out a way to attempt more 3's. Also, surprisingly we have one of the lowest Assists rates in the country despite one of the best FG% in the country. That's an odd stat, that I'm not sure how to evaluate. Perhaps we just have great shot creators and don't need to pass...

[Edited on December 9, 2012 at 9:38 AM. Reason : a]

12/9/2012 9:33:21 AM

We have scored a lot of points through post ups, offensive rebounds, and drives/in transition. We actually have played a limited amount of UCLA high post offense in a lot of games, letting Leslie create more on his own. That means less assisted baskets.

12/9/2012 11:31:26 AM

Quality face post

12/9/2012 11:33:46 AM

Serious question, how do you play free throw % defense? Just foul the worse shooters instead?

12/9/2012 11:37:01 AM

Use the force.

12/9/2012 11:44:01 AM

^^well for one, you've got to get a hand in their face. you cant give them an open look.

12/9/2012 12:12:11 PM

Sports Talk would suck without face.

12/9/2012 12:26:50 PM

FT% defense is in fact an important stat.

Fouls are not all created equal.

If you foul to stop a dunk/layup on a 55% ogre that's a good foul. If you're fouling because you can't stay in front of their best scorers/shooters and they're going 8/8 FT against you, those are bad fouls.

Considering our FT% defense is ranked #324 in the country and we are #279 in the country at the percentage of points we allow at the free throw line, I'd say we are not making quality fouls, instead it's an issue that is part of our all around horrible defensive efforts thus far.

12/9/2012 12:52:58 PM

What site are you using for ft% defense. I tried finding it earlier and couldn't.

12/9/2012 1:14:22 PM

kenpom, but that is subscriber data. we're allowing opponents to shoot 75%

12/9/2012 1:16:46 PM

Makes sense. In regards to this

Quote :

"We're also shooting almost the least amount of 3's in the country despite hitting a terrific percentage of them, we've got to figure out a way to attempt more 3's. Also, surprisingly we have one of the lowest Assists rates in the country despite one of the best FG% in the country. That's an odd stat, that I'm not sure how to evaluate. Perhaps we just have great shot creators and don't need to pass..."

we have great shot creators and don't need to pass. Leslie, warren, purvis and brown are both great at breaking down defenses for points. Wood relies on the pass. Howell relies on offensive boards. Also our offense doesn't rely on jacking up threes to win, thank god.

12/9/2012 1:23:23 PM

Quote :

"we're allowing opponents to shoot 75%"

so

so

stupid

12/9/2012 5:18:03 PM

Guys we have to stick the bud light labels outward to push the ball left!

12/9/2012 5:18:56 PM

Gott needs to spend more time in practice emphasizing FT% Defense

K spends about 20 minutes each practice teaching players to put their arms over their head when they're lined up for FT defense

12/9/2012 5:28:11 PM

" They score 6, we score 6, you gotta stay together"

12/9/2012 5:53:50 PM

bench scott wood = lower opponents FT%

lol

seriously though please dont give wood starter minutes. He needs to be used like the Knicks use Steve Novak. A good 3pt shooter that comes off the bench

12/9/2012 6:00:05 PM

It means don't foul guards.

12/9/2012 6:18:13 PM

Quote :

"Also, I don't think anyone could have assumed we'd be such a terrible rebounding team this year. #115 offensively, and #220 defensively."

Is this stat based on % of missed shots or is it just pure rebounding volume? If it's the latter, seems like its simply a product of our high FG% and poor defense. I don't think we are a bad rebounding team, we just don't get many rebound opportunities.

And really, enough with the bench Scott Wood garbage. I've leveled my share of criticism towards him myself, especially late last year when he failed to show up in big games, but he needs to stay in our stating lineup. The spacing and flow of our half court offense goes to shit when he's on the bench.

[Edited on December 9, 2012 at 6:41 PM. Reason : :]

12/9/2012 6:34:37 PM

Rebounding percentage is just as bad. The fact that cleveland state rebounded as well as we did shows that its a real problem

12/9/2012 6:45:09 PM

Quote :

"seriously though please dont give wood starter minutes. He needs to be used like the Knicks use Steve Novak. A good 3pt shooter that comes off the bench "

The problem with this is Warren is the worst defender on our team. He drifts like Leslie and doesn't have the athleticism to make up for it.

12/10/2012 8:23:48 AM

Rebounding stats are based on the percentage of available rebounds.

The main reason for the rebounding drop off has been warren/purvis. Both are TERRIBLE rebounders and Painter was decent and CJW was a good rebounding guard.

You can laugh all you want, but fouls are a huge issue for us right now. Games are won/lost at the FT line all the time.

12/10/2012 8:33:10 AM