The more of our '7 second offense' we see, the less reliant we will be on our defense......
With faster offensive possessions you get more defensive possessions. We need more efficiency from our 7 second offense.
The more of our '7 second offense' we see, the less reliant we will be on our defense......
With faster offensive possessions you get more defensive possessions. We need more efficiency from our 7 second offense.
I seem to recall a great quote about this back when Loyola-Maramount ran it's high-scoring offense, but had a losing record. The coach was interviewed and the commentator marveled at the "highest scoring offense in the nation". He quipped, nope, that's our opponents.
The more of our '7 second offense' we see, the less reliant we will be on our defense......
I can recall seeing it twice, maybe three times last year.
Oh that's not true at all. We went fast a lot.
Our tempo was much, much faster than any of Underwood's SFA teams and nearly identical to his OSU team.
I know he's articulated it that way, but "seven seconds or less", with the connotation of Mike D'Antoni's philosophy, is a misleading description.
It's more like we're the Showtime Lakers, but if the fast break isn't there, you pull it out and become Tony Bennett's Virginia. Which is a pretty smart way to play in college basketball IMO. It puts multiple kinds of pressure on a defense.
Kenpom has been around since 2002 and last year was the first time ever Illinois was in the Top 100 of tempo. Our highest ever by like 50 spots. Self's last team had the previous record.
Oh that's not true at all. We went fast a lot.
Our tempo was much, much faster than any of Underwood's SFA teams and nearly identical to his OSU team.
I know he's articulated it that way, but "seven seconds or less", with the connotation of Mike D'Antoni's philosophy, is a misleading description.
It's more like we're the Showtime Lakers, but if the fast break isn't there, you pull it out and become Tony Bennett's Virginia. Which is a pretty smart way to play in college basketball IMO. It puts multiple kinds of pressure on a defense.
Kenpom has been around since 2002 and last year was the first time ever Illinois was in the Top 100 of tempo. Our highest ever by like 50 spots. Self's last team had the previous record.
We have a ton of room for growth when playing in transition. IMO this is a key areas we must (and will) improve on. We were terrible in transition last year and lowered our ceiling by a lot.
Feliz is outstanding in the open court, also. Actually, he is probably the best passer in the half court, too.Yup. And all indications are that Ayo is one of those guys that just has it as an open floor passer. For all the great things Trent did last year, that was not a strength of his.
Feliz is outstanding in the open court, also. Actually, he is probably the best passer in the half court, too.
I've been saying this and saying this, we have a good shot a surprising a lot of people this year, upsetting a lot of teams. I can't wait to see how this plays out.
I've been saying this and saying this, we have a good shot a surprising a lot of people this year, upsetting a lot of teams. I can't wait to see how this plays out.
We're super duper young, so while we ought to have more "wow, that's how the offense is supposed to look" moments, we will also probably be very inconsistent.
And if you have any idea how we're going to guard anybody, I'm all ears.
Vandy went 12-20 last year with the #29 offense and the #219 defense. That seems like where we're headed. Vandy are bringing in two RSCI top 15 recruits. That does not seem like where we're headed
I've been saying this and saying this, we have a good shot a surprising a lot of people this year, upsetting a lot of teams. I can't wait to see how this plays out.
I've been saying this and saying this, we have a good shot a surprising a lot of people this year, upsetting a lot of teams. I can't wait to see how this plays out.
We're super duper young, so while we ought to have more "wow, that's how the offense is supposed to look" moments, we will also probably be very inconsistent.
And if you have any idea how we're going to guard anybody, I'm all ears.
Vandy went 12-20 last year with the #29 offense and the #219 defense. That seems like where we're headed. Vandy are bringing in two RSCI top 15 recruits. That does not seem like where we're headed
Vandy went 12-20 last year with the #29 offense and the #219 defense. That seems like where we're headed.
And if you have any idea how we're going to guard anybody, I'm all ears.
it really isn't possible that the interior defense can get significantly worse.
Same way we did last season...you can't score if you don't get a shot off. All of the things that we won't be able to do on defense this year are exactly the same as all of the things we weren't able to do last year. Had Finke and Black been able to stop anyone in the post, the team would not have been ranked in the 300s on all of the defensive metrics. And as bad as things were in the post, the team was still like #130 on defensive efficiency.
This will not be a good defensive team, but it really isn't possible that the interior defense can get significantly worse. If it's a little worse, the difference should be absorbed by improved D in the backcourt and a regression to the mean on opponents FT%.
Yep. If Luka Garza goes 12-12 from the line against us this year, I'll...eh, I'll just be pretty upset. I like my hat too much to eat it.On top of this, it should be noted that despite the abysmal inside defense last year, we lost a lot of games by very small margins. It would not take a whole lot of offensive improvement for us to have exactly the same defense as last year but with a dramatically different result in the W-L columns.
That said, we lost Leron Black. I do think it is uncontroversial to say the guard play will be improved this year and the wing play will be greatly improved. However, these improvements will have to combine to not only replace Black's production, but surpass it in order for the above to be true. That's a pretty tall order for a bunch of young players. I'd say it's in the realm of possibility, but not probability.
Defensively, Black was an undersized four who didn't accomplish much in the paint. I'm not worried about the impact his departure will have on the defense at all.
As of last season, Kipper Nichols was listed as one inch shorter and five pounds lighter than Leron Black, and he wound up blocking more shots in far fewer minutes. (He also blocked more shots than Finke.) Those are not material differences.Yeah that would only be an issue if we were replacing him with an even smaller player who was even more of a turnstile...