It's hard to tell who we had a shot at, because Brad didn't really make an effort to recruit any of the possibilities that were there for us. Kerr Kriisa comes to mind immediately.
Spain Tour
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Thanks for compiling that. I agree - plenty of 6'8 guys playing C in college ball and doing it well.
I find it hard to believe Krissa or mulkahey had any interest here. There were very few good point guards available that we had a chance at and very few mentioned that I would want.
I find it hard to believe Brad made no effort to recruit either one. It's pretty hard to gauge the interest of a player if you don't recruit them at all.
I'll still say the not going after Kriisa was extremely surprising to me. Some of the other options that were brought up at the time including Mulcahy I can understand why Brad might not have wanted to pursue, but Kriisa I have no clue why we didn't go after him. Seemed like a very odd choice at the time. Also not sure what he'd have against coming here- if we gave him a competitive NIL offer hard to think we wouldn't have been in the running...
I actually agree with you if we're talking teams that can win a championship. Generally, an Elite offensive team with a very good though not necessarily elite defense does seem to have a better shot at winning it all than an Elite defensive team with a very good though not necessarily elite offense based on historical performance, though both have gotten it done. The major outliers who won it all without having both a strong offense and defense were offensively skewed teams as well. I think it might simply be because to win a championship, at some point you're going to have a game on the line where you just have to make a shot, whether open or otherwise. That said, we'd still be talking contenders here as in Top 3-5 Offense and Top 25 Defense vs Top 25 Offense and Top 3-5 Defense
I responded more along the lines of this isn't an actual title contender and you just get to select elite offense and meh defense or elite defense and meh offense. And for that I'd take elite defense every time as I do feel there tends to be a much higher ceiling there in both making the tourney and getting to the second weekend
When's the next game?
DB11Headband
- Chicago Burbs
Mañana
Just a very quick, after the tourney sample of NCAA champions on Kenpom would agree with you. Offensives are higher ranked than their defenses, although teams have to be pretty strong in both categories (as you'd expect).
Thank you
Joel Goodson
- dawgville
I'll throw this out there without comment only because it addresses both sides of the argument, providing proof for neithe and both sides. Virginia: elite defensive team first one seed to lose to a 16, then wins championship the next season.
MDchicago
- Lake Norman NC
This. Over the last 25 tournaments, the NCAA champions average rank in adjOE was 6.2 and in adjDE was 8.6 (out of all D1 teams, ~363 at present).
Being ranked in the top 3 in offensive efficiency was more predictive of a champion (15 of last 25 champs) compared to being in the top 3 in defensive efficiency (4 of last 25 champs). 22 of the last 25 champs ranked 9th or better in AdjOE.
But very good defense remains critical, with all of the last 25 champs ranking in the top 22 for defensive efficiency and 18 of the last 25 champs ranking 11th or better in AdjDE.
One of our memories is shaky because I feel there are some timeline issues here. Didn’t Mulcahey come in late in the process, long after Dennis and others?
I thought (based on Indy’s notes) that Brad had already passed on several PGs willing to play for us, putting all chips on Dennis.
The lack of PG pursuit both before and after Dennis is perplexing.
We're on the same page. Both Mulcahy and Kriisa were possibilities late in the process after Dennis. If Mulcahy had absolutely no interest in coming here I get not going after him just to not upset the B10 applecart going after a conference foe for nothing. But yeah not trying for Kriisa I didn't get. And I agree with you. Some very perplexing decisions on the PG front.
When Virginia won it was the year they actually had a great offense. Kenpom 2nd best offense and 5th defense.
Virginia's issues in March are also more related to the pace they play than defense/offense imo. They play extremely slow, therefore both teams have fewer possessions and there is more possibility for different variables to impact a game and a less talented team can win.
Basically if you're playing at a slow pace it's kind of a double edged sword in that it gives you a chance to compete with basically any team in the country but it also gives lesser talented teams the chance to hang around and then maybe a hit a few contested shots or get a couple bounces and they win. If a good team plays at a faster pace there are simply more possessions for their talent to win out.
I'd argue a lot of Purdue's issue in March can be traced back to their slow pace and the added variability that can add. Good for regular season consistency, not optimal in single elimination.
Early game makes sense to rest up for the trip home. Need to set my alarm.
Is it being streamed somewhere?
if you remove Mayer, Epps, Clark, and Melendez… you take WELL over half of the 3-point attempts off the roster
- the remaining team shot… also 30.8%
NO BUENO smh
Govoner Vaugn Fan
- New Orleans
Nobody likes us, everybody hates us, I think I'll go eat worms.............
blackdog
- Champaign
Wow almost like winning a national championship requires a team be elite on both sides of the ball not just one.
The number of variables that influence player decision-making has increased dramatically. In the vast majority of cases, when a player opts for another univesity, the head coach does not do anythng wrong, Other variables were at work influencing decision-making.
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