WF MBB Game 18: Deacs at BC: Saturday 8 pm: ESPN2

[BarcaDeac]

Haven’t seen this posted yet. Carr named ACC PotW.

I posted in the credibility thread which is the closest thing we’ve got to a season thread.

 

[WRS]

That’s one heck of a stat line. I was really critical of Carr leading up to this and probably overly harsh on him. Felt like he was capable of playing better and he’s delivered in a huge way. Has a chance to be really good if he keeps playing like this.

 

[PhDeac]

I posted in the credibility thread which is the closest thing we’ve got to a season thread.

Maybe we need a fundamental thread.

 

[Haros]

Eye test only, but I feel our defense has looked better this year, with the exception of slow closeouts/rotation on 3 pointers (which seems to be part of the scheme). By the numbers, defense was better last year, but I feel that we play the passing lanes better and are giving up fewer easy buckets. I also feel like opponents have been shooting really well, even when shots are contested (and feelings are all that matter here, right).

now, FT rebounding this year.......woof.

I wish I felt the same. The numbers back up what I’m seeing — we are incredibly weak inside the 3-point line and are selling out to try and force teams to shoot a very high percentage of their shots from 3 against us. Last year everything at the rim was contested and we were #1 in the ACC in 2FGA%. Exact opposite at dead last this year.

It’s easy to forget, but last year we broke our losing streaks in Charlottesville and Atlanta on the back of that defense. Back to back games where we clamped down early second half and went on 5-6 minute stretches without allowing a FG to turn those games.

I guess my final thought is directed at whoever says we haven’t dropped off inside this year — the combo of Sy/Walton (aided by length from Mucius/Laravia who we could slide to the 2/3 in our best lineup) was responsible for that inside defensive presence. Marsh/Bradford/Carr probably isn’t a major drop off offensively. Defensively it’s massive.

 

[NJDeac’22]

I wish I felt the same. The numbers back up what I’m seeing — we are incredibly weak inside the 3-point line and are selling out to try and force teams to shoot a very high percentage of their shots from 3 against us. Last year everything at the rim was contested and we were #1 in the ACC in 2FGA%. Exact opposite at dead last this year.

It’s easy to forget, but last year we broke our losing streaks in Charlottesville and Atlanta on the back of that defense. Back to back games where we clamped down early second half and went on 5-6 minute stretches without allowing a FG to turn those games.

I guess my final thought is directed at whoever says we haven’t dropped off inside this year — the combo of Sy/Walton (aided by length from Mucius/Laravia who we could slide to the 2/3 in our best lineup) was responsible for that inside defensive presence. Marsh/Bradford/Carr probably isn’t a major drop off offensively. Defensively it’s massive.

Whenever the ball is caught in the post against us this year it's scored. Marsh and to a slightly lesser extend Bradford are really bad defenders. Recently we've played Carr at the 5 a lot more and it's worked out well, but we haven't really tried that against stronger and more physical bigs yet. Really interested to see who we put on PJ Hall tomorrow night.

 

[thatguy2016]

Last year in ACC play, WF's defense ranked:

#1 in 2-point FG%
#2 in effective FG%
#3 in 3-point FG%
#4 in percentage of FGA that were 3's
#7 in block %
#9 in the conference but still better than average nationally in FTA/FGA

This year, so far:

#15 in 2-point FG%
#13 in effective FG%
#10 in 3-point FG%
#14 in percentage of FGA that are 3's (opponents shoot 3's on 9% more attempts than last year)
#15 in block percentage. We block 5.1% of opponents' shots. Next worse is BC at 6.8%. Cuse blocks 17% of opponents' shots.
#13 and worse than average nationally in FTA/FGA

so...we don't block shots, we are allowing more 3's by design but still fouling much more, and opponents are shooting much better from everywhere on the floor. On the bright side, we are turning people over much better (#2 in the league), and our defensive rebounding has improved slightly.

As Forbes alluded to today, this means we need to play to our strengths, getting in passing lanes and turning people over, and also playing the right matchups (Carr at the 5 where he can handle it) as needed.

 

[Strickland33]

That’s one heck of a stat line. I was really critical of Carr leading up to this and probably overly harsh on him. Felt like he was capable of playing better and he’s delivered in a huge way. Has a chance to be really good if he keeps playing like this.

me, too.

he’s improving, that’s for sure

I definitely see it now