DEFENSE & REBOUNDING

[SnakeTom]

Two key things this season are different than in the recent past.

1. OUR REBOUNDING. We are pummeling teams on the boards. This is at least the 3rd BE game where we have had about a 20 rebound margin. and

2. OUR DEFENSE. just tough D with quite a few blocks & steals. I know many say a number of teams have had bad 3 pt shooting nights against us but that is not by accident. It has happened too many times to be just the other team having a bad night.

Another big factor in our Rebounding & Defense success has been the play of Ish Sonogo. We have not had a defensive player like him since Jerry Walker & Gordon Winchester.

Oh and don't forget the three BE road wins. When is the last time we did that ? Our only road losses are to teams ranked top 10 Nationally.

GO PIRATES !!!

Tom K

 

[Halldan1]

Teams in conference are shooting 31.6% against us from the arc. That's outstanding and not just luck.

 

[Piratz]

Sanogo has been our biggest surprise and definitely became the X-Factor, IMO. He's been great and allows others to do what they do well.

So we are 3-2 on the road in the league. Have to keep it up. Winnable games left against St. John's at MSG and at DePaul. Also have Georgetown and Butler.

The past few years we've been 2-7, 3-6, 1-8, respectively.

 

[PirateSal]

Can we skip the month of February and go straight to March!!!!

 

[Seton75]

Two key things this season are different than in the recent past.

1. OUR REBOUNDING. We are pummeling teams on the boards. This is at least the 3rd BE game where we have had about a 20 rebound margin. and

2. OUR DEFENSE. just tough D with quite a few blocks & steals. I know many say a number of teams have had bad 3 pt shooting nights against us but that is not by accident. It has happened too many times to be just the other team having a bad night.

Another big factor in our Rebounding & Defense success has been the play of Ish Sonogo. We have not had a defensive player like him since Jerry Walker & Gordon Winchester.

Oh and don't forget the three BE road wins. When is the last time we did that ? Our only road losses are to teams ranked top 10 Nationally.

GO PIRATES !!!

Tom K

Yeah. Ish got matched a few times on Watson and contained him. Then he plays post defense. I am not putting Ish with Jerry or Gordon yet, but he is a more versatile defender.

 

[TheBluePirate]

Tom, glad you pointed out the defense. They are demonstrating a strong shared understanding of how to close out, seal, help, switch, mix it up, and get in the lanes for deflections. I find myself regularly uttering a "wow, that was a good xxxx (whatever the defensive move is)!"

The other thing I'm really liking is the inclusion of many more bounce passes instead of sad (interception-prone) lobs. This helps carve out lanes offensively in a big way. It seems like they are really starting to know where each other should be on the floor a *lot* of the time.

Really pleased with the growth in team play.

 

[TheBluePirate]

The other thing is that Nzei is now showing better and better in his time on the court. This means that we have three forces down low - Angel, Ish and Mike - and either two in combo give different looks - and REBOUNDS.

 

[TrueBlue1989]

Yeah. Ish got matched a few times on Watson and contained him. Then he plays post defense. I am not putting Ish with Jerry or Gordon yet, but he is a more versatile defender.

Not yet but he is only a sophomore. He could easily be at that level in 2 years.

 

[Piratz]

Can we skip the month of February and go straight to March!!!!

Time to exorcise the demons, get the monkey off our backs, whatever.

Willard is 9-27 in the all-important, defining month of February at Seton Hall. He's 4-19 the past 3 years. That's right; 4 wins in 3 seasons.

Yikes. Different team though.

 

[SnakeTom]

The other thing is that Nzei is now showing better and better in his time on the court. This means that we have three forces down low - Angel, Ish and Mike - and either two in combo give different looks - and REBOUNDS.

Don't forget Desi on the boards either. I think he had 10 rebounds last night.

Tom K

 

[TheBluePirate]

Don't forget Desi on the boards either. I think he had 10 rebounds last night.

Tom K

The many-headed hydra. It's so satisfying to command the boards.

 

[Seton75]

I would love to see the deflection numbers for our forwards. They got to many passes, specially Ish and mike.

 

[Piratz]

Ish is quick, athletic, tall, physical and can stay in front of guards while playing bigs. What a terrific season he's having.

 

[Seton75]

He and Desi must have been told they could drive and score. And they did.

 

[Piratz]

Some statistical rankings for SnakeTom's points courtesy of KenPom out of 351 teams:

27th in Adjusted Defensive Efficiency
21st in Defensive EFG%
32nd in 2PT% Defense
52nd in steal %

This is our best defensive team since Willard's first season when we finished 8th in that top line stat. We were 34th in Year 2 (2011-12), but around 100+ in the years since. A lof of that has to do with talent level. Those early teams had the Gonzo holdovers that KW coached up well on defense.

We are 30th in offensive rebounding %, but 196th in opponents' offensive rebounding percentage.

 

[ATM82]

Should point out all of that defensive numbers without a true tall defensive center who can take up space and protect the rim by size alone. Shows the amount of effort post defense they're playing right now.

 

[Piratz]

Should point out all of that defensive numbers without a true tall defensive center who can take up space and protect the rim by size alone. Shows the amount of effort post defense they're playing right now.

Good defense is played with feet, not hands, and we're doing well in that regard.

 

[Seton75]

Good defense is played with feet, not hands, and we're doing well in that regard.

Played with the feet but quantified with the hands

 

[Halldan1]

I have said this in the past, both good and bad.

Willard is an outstanding defensive coach. He just needed the horses. And the last couple of years there were few in the barn.

Willard is not a strong offensive coach, but he is improving. Of course having talented guards certainty is helping.

 

[wpc75]

Well put Dan about our talent level performing at a very nice level right now. Coaches get too much credit for victories and too much blame for losses. The real work was done last spring and summer by these players.

One game at a time.