Defensive Efficiency....

[AdaSooner]

It's true that this team is not as good on defense as they were at the halfway point of the season.

I think there may be several reasons for the decline. Our offense has been so good, it's easy to see how our players could almost subconsciously rely on it without realizing they were taking a few plays off on defense. A bit of a stretch, maybe, but possible nevertheless. The majority of players coming out of the high school and juco ranks still have an offense-first mindset. Defense is a necessity that has to be drilled into their heads repeatedly, not something they do automatically or like to do.

Case in point, Buford and Manyang in last night's game were responsible for way too many breakdowns on defense. They were playing hard, they just couldn't stay with their man. I have said more than once over the years that a man to man defense is only as good as its weakest link. That's why I like to see a match up zone when our opponents are getting too many open looks or driving the lane almost at will. Lattin's early foul trouble meant that when Dante and AK lost their man, OU's last line of defense was on the bench and the result was an easy basket or a foul to prevent a layup. A match up zone would cover for our "weak links" to some extent. Yes, I know the downside is rebounding. But, I would rather see us give up a board here and there than to give our opponents easy baskets.

Most here will disagree that fatigue may be setting in at this point of the season. Mental fatigue and nagging aches and pains can be part of what I'm talking about. It's not easy to come into every game with a can't lose mindset and a killer instinct. Our starters had it for the first few minutes of last night's game. They just couldn't match KSU's intensity when the game was on the line. Playing a team on their home court in front of a rowdy crowd cheering them on are just two of the reasons wins on the road in conference, regardless of the opponent, are do difficult to come by. If our starters don't get more help from our bench, we may see more games like that.

 

[opsooner]

The non conference schedule was pretty strong.

Not bad but OU is also a good team and can make up for some bad defensive plays. Anyone really watching can see the defensive break downs and they didn't just start last night. They just caught up with us last night.

I don't think our defense has been elite this year but I do think the defensive desire/intensity has decreased.

 

[sooner333]

The latest Bracktology I see is dated 2/5, and Hawaii isn't in. The list may be different on some other predicted bracket.

Bracketology has UC Irvine in from that league, probably b/c they have the same conference record and a better RPI at this point.

You are correct...my apologies. I googled "Bracketology" and apparently it sent me to the one posted two weeks ago instead of this week's version.

 

[Swans]

I bet we'll get friendlier whistles though!

God I hope so, but it doesn't really seem like we ever do.

 

[Sooner04]

I don't put as much stock into these "efficiency" numbers because I think they overlook a few factors. For instance, the Baylor game in Waco: we blew their doors off in the second half. And then, with the game over and our studs on the bench posting for pictures, Baylor rips off the final 14 points in four minutes. Same thing with K-State in Norman.

Some teams like Iowa State are going to give you a true efficiency because they're always required to be their best. All of their games are close this time of the year.

I think there's been an overreaction to yesterday's loss, which is what being a fanatic is all about.

Do I think we're playing defense as well as we did at the beginning of the year? No.

Do I think our best is as good or better than anybody else in the country? Yes.

 

[j2d2]

It has been poor not mediocre.

Noticeably so. It's just as true in basketball as in football - no defense, no win.

 

[inoref]

As good as the three guards have played offensively all three can be beaten off the ball fairly easy. Which leads to either a layup or a foul most of the time.

 

[WTSooner]

They gotten to aggressive/steal happy. Sometimes it's better to just play good defense, and the let the other team miss the shot. You start going for steals, you get out of position, and then it becomes easier for the opposing team to get good looks.

 

[scrybe]

I don't put as much stock into these "efficiency" numbers because I think they overlook a few factors. For instance, the Baylor game in Waco: we blew their doors off in the second half. And then, with the game over and our studs on the bench posting for pictures, Baylor rips off the final 14 points in four minutes. Same thing with K-State in Norman.

Some teams like Iowa State are going to give you a true efficiency because they're always required to be their best. All of their games are close this time of the year.

I think there's been an overreaction to yesterday's loss, which is what being a fanatic is all about.

Do I think we're playing defense as well as we did at the beginning of the year? No.

Do I think our best is as good or better than anybody else in the country? Yes.

This thread was running along so smoothly…and then you throw that reason and logic at us.

 

[Zimwillett]

Was it really though? Currently only two of our OOC opponents are in the tournament according to Bracketology, and one of those (LSU) is as a late arriving 10 seed. The other being Villanova, who obviously is having a fantastic season.

I'd guess there are several teams that played more than two OOC games against current tourney teams.

Wisconsin is quietly playing itself onto the bubble. Their early bad losses will probably doom them in the end, but that win keeps getting stronger as the Badgers improve.

 

[stormspencer]

I don't put as much stock into these "efficiency" numbers because I think they overlook a few factors. For instance, the Baylor game in Waco: we blew their doors off in the second half. And then, with the game over and our studs on the bench posting for pictures, Baylor rips off the final 14 points in four minutes. Same thing with K-State in Norman.

Some teams like Iowa State are going to give you a true efficiency because they're always required to be their best. All of their games are close this time of the year.

I think there's been an overreaction to yesterday's loss, which is what being a fanatic is all about.

Do I think we're playing defense as well as we did at the beginning of the year? No.

Do I think our best is as good or better than anybody else in the country? Yes.

I can agree with you to a point, but Kenpom, although not perfect, is probably the best measurement and predictor out there. And you're correct in that computers can't take every variable (as you mentioned above) into account as of yet....but in a few years, they will be able to account for those better.

Having said that, go back and look at years past on Kenpom (especially at the champions over the last 10 years) and you will find one common denominator - each of the champions had a top 12 defensive efficiency metric or better with one exception (North Carolina was #21 in 2009). And NC in 2009 had the #1 offensive efficiency that year....so that made up for it.

That is why I do put some faith into his numbers when it comes to defensive efficiency. And it's also the reason I feel that our defense needs to get much better if we want to be a more serious threat for the final four and beyond....we all want that.:OU-logo:

 

[WTSooner]

I can agree with you to a point, but Kenpom, although not perfect, is probably the best measurement and predictor out there. And you're correct in that computers can't take every variable (as you mentioned above) into account as of yet....but in a few years, they will be able to account for those better.

Having said that, go back and look at years past on Kenpom (especially at the champions over the last 10 years) and you will find one common denominator - each of the champions had a top 12 defensive efficiency metric or better with one exception (North Carolina was #21 in 2009). And NC in 2009 had the #1 offensive efficiency that year....so that made up for it.

That is why I do put some faith into his numbers when it comes to defensive efficiency. And it's also the reason I feel that our defense needs to get much better if we want to be a more serious threat for the final four and beyond....we all want that.:OU-logo:

Yep.

 

[opsooner]

If I was LK I would get the tape of the halftime show on ESPNU that just occurred and show it to the team. I am sure they have been through it internally but I would use it to try to get some extra motivation. It can't make them feel good to hear the analysts discussing this.

 

[stormspencer]

If I was LK I would get the tape of the halftime show on ESPNU that just occurred and show it to the team. I am sure they have been through it internally but I would use it to try to get some extra motivation. It can't make them feel good to hear the analysts discussing this.

That was a great segment....I just posted something about that in the game thread. And I liked hearing both JWill and Seth acknowledge that OU is a better defensive team than they showed last Saturday.

 

[Zimwillett]

To illustrate how fluid the KenPom efficiency efficiency ratings can be, OU went from 36 on Monday morning (actually moved up a spot without playing a game), to 29th after the Texas game.

I'm not saying that 29th is where OU should be if they plan to play for a national title, but I also think it's a little silly to overreact to a snapshot of their efficiency rating a month before the conference tournament even starts. Hopefully OU keeps improving this number every game from here until mid March.

 

[152219]

Overall the team defense in the 2nd half last night was much improved over the past couple of weeks.

 

[hoopsaustin]

Overall the team defense in the 2nd half last night was much improved over the past couple of weeks.

Yup. Need to build on this

 

[stormspencer]

To illustrate how fluid the KenPom efficiency efficiency ratings can be, OU went from 36 on Monday morning (actually moved up a spot without playing a game), to 29th after the Texas game.

I'm not saying that 29th is where OU should be if they plan to play for a national title, but I also think it's a little silly to overreact to a snapshot of their efficiency rating a month before the conference tournament even starts. Hopefully OU keeps improving this number every game from here until mid March.

I agree, but the problem is that OU, until last night, had been trending significantly downward on the defensive side over the last month. In late December, OU was top 5 in defensive efficiency, but we could all see that OU hadn't been playing as well on that side of the ball as of late. And the computers/metrics certainly validated those observations.

The defense was very good last night and helped us move up in defensive efficiency....so that is a positive. However, our offense was poor last night, which actually caused us a drop of 1 spot in the overall ratings (from 5 to 6). And again, I don't think anyone is "over-reacting", but there is virtually a direct correlation between defensive efficiency and success in the NCAA for top tier teams over the last 10 years. We already have the offense on most nights, thus overall defensive improvement should be the main priority for this team moving forward.

 

[skyvue]

there is virtually a direct correlation between defensive efficiency and success in the NCAA for top tier teams over the last 10 years. We already have the offense on most nights, thus overall defensive improvement should be the main priority for this team moving forward.

You cited previous national champs and where they ranked defensively when they won. But you didn't specify where they ranked in December or January or February. It's entirely possible -- I would say even likely -- any or all of them ranked lower at some point in their championship seasons.

 

[Sooner04]

The defense was very good last night and helped us move up in defensive efficiency....so that is a positive. However, our offense was poor last night, which actually caused us a drop of 1 spot in the overall ratings (from 5 to 6)

This proves my concern with the computer models a little bit. It's obvious that you can move up or down game by game, so I again wonder how much movement could we expect from Baylor's end-game flurry? Or K-State's in Norman.....one of the more lopsided ten-point wins you'll ever see.

What encourages me is that we were able to get lots of stops last night when the offense was very stagnant. As a matter of fact, the drop in ball movement on offense concerns me much more than any slides by the defense.