The longer they play defense....the worse they are

[stormspencer]

those are the stinging words from Avery Johnson during a "miced up" timeout on Saturday. And unfortunately, there is a lot of truth to what he says. Our defensive efficiency rating continues to plummet (now #66 in Kenpom) and what faint hope we do have to win the conference.....likely starts at the defensive end. So....what do we do?:

• continue trying to outscore people (same or less emphasis on defense)
• try to settle on a lineup for a good portion of the game that provides the best results on defense (and maybe at the expense of our offense)
• find a niche/junk defense that we can fall back on if our "man to man" isn't working

I don't have the answers, but at some point this season, our defense is going to have to get noticeably better if we want to make a run in March. I'm sure Lon knows this, but it would be nice to see a little more consistency on that side of the ball. I hope he has the answers because I don't.

 

[oudna]

66th a bad rating?

What is the rest of the B12 for comparison?

 

[MichaelM]

66th a bad rating?

What is the rest of the b12 for comparison?

tt  3
ut  5
wv  15
ku  22
bu  36
osu 64
ou  67
ksu 80
isu 137
tcu 142

Forum keeps eating my capital letters.

 

[SoonerSpock]

Very surprised to see KSU ranked 80th. Of course once you get past 25-35 the differences become miniscule.

 

[stormspencer]

66th a bad rating?

What is the rest of the B12 for comparison?

For context, we were ranked in the low 30s in December. And since the efficiency rating is adjusted for SOS, the defense has gotten progressively worse over the 6 weeks.

There is much talk on this board about inconsistent offense and making shots. I was just pointing out that our biggest area/opportunity to improve is on the defensive side.

 

[usedtobe1]

I heard Avery make that comment, but that’s probably true of most teams. Trae has to work so hard on offense that he has to take a blow sometime..... probably late in a defensive possession. It’s just hard physically to sustain your intensity when you’re playing 35+ minutes per game. Same for Manek because he’s not as strong as a lot of the guys he is guarding. The pounding takes a toll.

OU on the other hand gets shots up so quick that the other teams don’t have to work as hard on defense..... especially with no interior offense. Defending half court sets is hard work.

 

[cjhsooner]

OU won't make it past the first weekend in the NCAA tournament. Heck, they need to won 5 or 6 more games to be assured of getting in, and that will be a challenge.

 

[CoachTalk]

OU won't make it past the first weekend in the NCAA tournament. Heck, they need to won 5 or 6 more games to be assured of getting in, and that will be a challenge.

This is an awesome take! #12 in the polls needs lots of help to just make the tourney!!

This is why people are sick of football messag board and it’s coming to the basketball side. Just over the last 4-6 years.

That’s kind of why I’m fine with empty LNC. Bc football fans filter in and the ups and downs of NCAA basketball its more than they can handle.

 

[CoachTalk]

I heard Avery make that comment, but that’s probably true of most teams. Trae has to work so hard on offense that he has to take a blow sometime..... probably late in a defensive possession. It’s just hard physically to sustain your intensity when you’re playing 35+ minutes per game. Same for Manek because he’s not as strong as a lot of the guys he is guarding. The pounding takes a toll.

OU on the other hand gets shots up so quick that the other teams don’t have to work as hard on defense..... especially with no interior offense. Defending half court sets is hard work.

Of course its true in every level.

We talk about it in HS. 2-3 ball reversals open up so much more. Not uncommon.

 

[Maverick008]

I heard Avery make that comment, but that’s probably true of most teams. Trae has to work so hard on offense that he has to take a blow sometime..... probably late in a defensive possession. It’s just hard physically to sustain your intensity when you’re playing 35+ minutes per game. Same for Manek because he’s not as strong as a lot of the guys he is guarding. The pounding takes a toll.

OU on the other hand gets shots up so quick that the other teams don’t have to work as hard on defense..... especially with no interior offense. Defending half court sets is hard work.

And there are a ton of coaches who live by this style and preach patience on each possession. The main issue with this style is IF you are missing the open looks you get, you'll most likely go down that night because you are getting less shots most likely than your opponent (of course your opponent has to be making shots as well). This is the style that fans usually feel is boring. Virginia is a prime example of the "patience on offense" and defend the hell out of the rim on the other end. It's not always a pretty style but for the most part is effective.

 

[opsooner]

His comments were true but not surprising. We are not a team that is going to be able to get it to a big to work magic late in a shot clock. However, Odomes in isolation worked well when he was in there. When he wasn’t we struggled. We are just a much better team when we can run and get shots in rhythm. Even with all that said we just missed too many wide open shots which is really why we lost.


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

 

[AdaSooner]

find a niche/junk defense that we can fall back on if our "man to man" isn't working

Since Lon can’t seem to settle on our best lineup, this would be my choice.

I have said it before and I’ll say it again, a man to man defense is only as good as the weakest link. This team has too many weak links to be effective in a man to man defense. You may give up a rebound here and there in a zone defense, but that’s better than giving up easy scores on dunks and layups. Besides, this team is not that good at blocking out on the boards anyway.

 

[chuckb]

Playing more zone would help Trae and the bigs because they're not good on-ball defenders but are very athletic and could take advantage of that athleticism.

The other thing the team needs to do is be more efficient on offense. OU gets killed in transition because (it's really hard and) they don't match up well. Turnovers and missed 3's often end up with run-outs for the other team and they get transition buckets. If the offense makes more shots, the team can set up defensively and you end up with fewer transition buckets.

 

[j2d2]

Sampson taught me that, even when you are no shooting very well, you can win with superior defense. Villanova destroyed a good team with good defense last year. Good defense increases your ability to win championships (in football, too). We wont get very far in the tournament without better defense.

 

[sdcloud9]

Of course its true in every level.

We talk about it in HS. 2-3 ball reversals open up so much more. Not uncommon.

As a rule, three ball reversals almost always leads to an open shot. Defenders can only help and recover so long.

 

[cvangild]

I heard the comment as well...and you could say that for 90% of the teams out there!!!

One thing is for sure...Avery Johnson is doing a good job there, but has to be one of the worst sounding interviews on D-1 head coaches that I have heard!!! Very awkward sounding. Not the most articulate guy in the world.

 

[usedtobe1]

One thing is for sure...Avery Johnson is doing a good job there, but has to be one of the worst sounding interviews on D-1 head coaches that I have heard!!! Very awkward sounding. Not the most articulate guy in the world.

Probably true. I got to know Avery when he lived in The Woodlands (Houston) and coached the Mavs. His son played in a very competitive youth league where I refereed.... several kids of pro players played in that league. Almost an AAU level league.

It was the same son who was face guarding Trae last Saturday. Avery would fly back to Houston almost every week to watch Avery jr’s games and then fly back for the Mavs.

One week they were playing a very important late season youth game and the score was tied with about a minute to go. Avery’s team was shooting a free throw, and Avery was out beyond the arc. He broke for the ball before the shot got to the rim, and I called him for the violation. His team lost the game. Afterwards Avery Sr approached me. He said it was absolutely the right call and thanked me for calling it. From that point on, he made it a point to chat with me between games.... and we became casual friends.

He’s a very nice guy and obviously knows basketball. He does have a high, squeaky voice but really can be articulate. I wish him nothing but the best.

Another funny story about that league.... Reid Gettys, the announcer and former Houston Cougar player, was head coach for his son’s team. They were probably 13-14 yo. Late in a game they were having trouble getting the ball across half court in time and their guard kind of heaved a desperation pass just as Reid was running up to me to call a timeout..... which I didn’t grant. He said “I called timeout”, and I said they didn’t have possession because they had already thrown the pass. Reid stood there a second and said “Oh my gosh, you’re right. I just got caught up in the moment. I apologize”.... or something like that. That was back in the days when Kelvin Sampson was the OU coach, and Reid knew I was an OU fan. He would relay conversations to me he had with Kelvin when he was announcing OU games the week before. Pretty neat stuff and very insightful.

I miss those days.....

 

[stormspencer]

Playing more zone would help Trae and the bigs because they're not good on-ball defenders but are very athletic and could take advantage of that athleticism.

The other thing the team needs to do is be more efficient on offense. OU gets killed in transition because (it's really hard and) they don't match up well. Turnovers and missed 3's often end up with run-outs for the other team and they get transition buckets. If the offense makes more shots, the team can set up defensively and you end up with fewer transition buckets.

It seems like this has been happening more lately and probably is one of the primary factors in our defensive inefficiency the last month. Since Trae is in the lane quite a bit in our offense, at least one of the wings has to fall back instead of crashing the boards. But then this leads to another problem.....less bodies around the basket to rebound.

 

[cvangild]

Interesting stuff usedtobe. I agree, Johnson does seem like a very nice guy and to last 16 years in the league as a player is impressive! I think he'll do well at Bama. Has already shown he can recruit!

 

[Soonerinkc]

Defending half court sets is hard work.

I HATE playing half court...even 3v3, we play full...definitely much more work