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Defense, and why we may need to foul more - Printable Version

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Defense, and why we may need to foul more - 82hawk - 01-20-2019 09:23 AM

Is it possible everyone but Cacok isn't aggressive enough on defense and therefore aren't fouling enough?

Look, we play man to man mostly with a little press and a little zone. In almost every defensive category that can be found, all you have to do is start at the bottom of the list, and we won't be hard to find.

Our worst defensive stat puts us as the 5th worst team in the nation at creating turnovers(and that's saying a lot since we are terrible in every defensive category). We're also bottom 25 in steals. But, when you look at the amount we foul, and the amount teams get to the FT line, those are our BEST categories.

Could that be our problem? I have no idea if this is relevant, but hey, i'm searching for something! Maybe it would be worth fouling more to get stops, create some turnovers and get some steals? Especially from our guards. If we're going to rotate in so many guards, why not be more aggressive and see what happens? The whole point of playing man to man is to be more aggressive, right? If we're worried about committing fouls over getting stops, let's switch to zone?

We used to foul like crazy uncer Keatts, but we got enough TO's and steals to get high percentage fast break points to offest. The benefit was worth the cost. As a matter of reference, UNCW was #4 in the nation in committing the most personal fouls in 2015-2016.

Thoughts?







Out of 353 team in the NCAA:

Defensive efficiency - #345
Opponents points per game - #335
Opponents TO's per game - #348
Steals #328
Opponents effective FG% - #320
Opponents 3 pt% - #327
Opponents FG% #294
Opponents 2pt FG% #285
Opponents FT% #296
Opponents True % #323
Opponents 3pt attempts #331
Opponents made 3 pt game #342
Opp% of points from 3 pt #322

Opponents FT attempts #155
Opp FTA per FGA #115
PF per defensive play #103
PF per game #95
PF per posession #93


RE: Defense, and why we may need to foul more - billthebighawksfan - 01-20-2019 01:41 PM

Keatts teams did keep stats on deflections and had a minimum of 40 as a threshold value so aggression couldn't hurt. And, they were good at defending the 3 also for a few years. They still were far from perfect and gave up a ton of layups/easy ones, but they were good enough because they could score on everybody. Buffalo plays competitive practices where the players have to be in and stay in defensive posture (implying good tough man D) throughout every stand or you lose the point. He calls it a nonnegotiable. When you practice like that, you remember it in games.

So where to go? Individual improvement and implementation of good man to man defensive habits would likely be the best course of action. And, leaning on personnel that's capable/willing and, of course, isn't an offensive liability (which isn't the case here IMHO). Mixing in full court/3/4 court pressure after a made FG would give a different look. Still, the main deal is that at some point you've got to guard your man unless you're switching and then it's about communication as well.


RE: Defense, and why we may need to foul more - EvanJ - 01-21-2019 06:01 PM

Here are three reasons why I don't think you should foul more:

1. You commit 0.8 fouls per game more than the CAA average. Since you commit more fouls and allow more points than average, all other things equal I would expect decreasing fouls to decrease points per game allowed.

2. If you're proposing more fouls by the basket to stop layups, note that you defend twos better than threes. Your opponents shoot twos .017 above average and shoot threes .036 above average.

3. The CAA is the best of the 32 conferences in free throw percentage at .731. Your opponents' free throw percentage of .727 is near the CAA mean. To compare, the NCAA average is .700, and North Carolina's opponents shoot free throws .672.


RE: Defense, and why we may need to foul more - Seahawk2010 - 01-21-2019 07:20 PM

Watching the UNC vs Virginia Tech game right now and UNC’s 3pt defense looks like ours. Giving up wide open 3s.


RE: Defense, and why we may need to foul more - 82hawk - 01-22-2019 06:37 AM

Figures. Of all the things a weak CAA conference is good at it's FT's......


RE: Defense, and why we may need to foul more - Seahawk Nation 08 - 01-22-2019 07:51 AM

(01-22-2019 06:37 AM)82hawk Wrote:  Figures. Of all the things a weak CAA conference is good at it's FT's......

We have an inordinate amount of teams running 4-guard lineups in this league. I think that's a big factor in the quality free throw shooting.

Big men are hard to come by, but all CAA teams have done a really nice job recruiting quality guards of late.


RE: Defense, and why we may need to foul more - B_Hawk06 - 01-22-2019 08:55 AM

(01-22-2019 07:51 AM)Seahawk Nation 08 Wrote:  
(01-22-2019 06:37 AM)82hawk Wrote:  Figures. Of all the things a weak CAA conference is good at it's FT's......

We have an inordinate amount of teams running 4-guard lineups in this league. I think that's a big factor in the quality free throw shooting.

Big men are hard to come by, but all CAA teams have done a really nice job recruiting quality guards of late.

For that reason, I'm not a fan of fouling more. I can think of at least a couple games this year where we allowed 20+ free throws. Fouling more like that just gives teams a chance at easy points and especially with our offense that tends to go cold in almost every game for a 5-6 min stretch... that's a bad recipe, IMO.


RE: Defense, and why we may need to foul more - dan10 - 01-22-2019 09:50 AM

Beyond the fact that we have good FT shooting teams, another good reason not to foul more is that there are some other really bad defenses in this conference. So if playing at close to a level playing field, the last thing you want to give up is more easy points. Focusing on quicker feet for man-to-man defense or better switching is your best route. I could say the same thing for Drexel and a couple other teams in the CAA.


RE: Defense, and why we may need to foul more - jumpinmullet - 01-22-2019 09:59 AM

If you watch high school basketball at all these you will see most teams with at least 4 guards on the floor. HS coaches don't know how to coach big men and are generally speaking not going to put in the extra work to find out anything about it. HS teams shoot the 3 ball more than ever and I don't see that changing. It is also tough to get kids to guard the 3 point line because they mostly just want to launch shots. Much of this attitude has crept into HS ball from the travel ball world. As far as fouling more goes -that is just stupid.


RE: Defense, and why we may need to foul more - Seahawk Nation 08 - 01-22-2019 10:10 AM

We definitely should play more aggressive and use our fouls against W&M Thursday night. They're easily the worst FT-shooting team in the conference.

Playing "Hack-a-Pierce" is a viable strategy when needed. PF Justin Pierce is shooting .474 from the line in league play (and barely over .500 overall).


RE: Defense, and why we may need to foul more - Seahawkhoops - 01-22-2019 11:46 AM

(01-22-2019 09:59 AM)jumpinmullet Wrote:  As far as fouling more goes -that is just stupid.

I agree completely. Maybe he was trying to convey the message that we should be more aggressive, which in turn could mean fouling more. That, I agree with.


RE: Defense, and why we may need to foul more - Seahawk Nation 08 - 01-22-2019 11:58 AM

(01-22-2019 11:46 AM)Seahawkhoops Wrote:  I agree completely. Maybe he was trying to convey the message that we should be more aggressive, which in turn could mean fouling more. That, I agree with.

Pressing, trapping, working hard at getting deflections, and not allowing easy buckets at the rim....yep, all of that has an increase in fouls as a byproduct.


RE: Defense, and why we may need to foul more - dan10 - 01-22-2019 12:04 PM

(01-22-2019 11:58 AM)Seahawk Nation 08 Wrote:  
(01-22-2019 11:46 AM)Seahawkhoops Wrote:  I agree completely. Maybe he was trying to convey the message that we should be more aggressive, which in turn could mean fouling more. That, I agree with.

Pressing, trapping, working hard at getting deflections, and not allowing easy buckets at the rim....yep, all of that has an increase in fouls as a byproduct.

I'd rather you just foul us. No need for forcing more turnovers. Thanks.


RE: Defense, and why we may need to foul more - SEA33HAWK - 01-22-2019 12:13 PM

I would prefer we draw more fouls and make our FTs.


RE: Defense, and why we may need to foul more - Seahawk Nation 08 - 01-22-2019 12:19 PM

(01-22-2019 12:13 PM)SEA33HAWK Wrote:  I would prefer we draw more fouls and make our FTs.

Of course. But I'm not sure how easily we will shift from being reliant on the 3 towards becoming more of a "slashing" team. Among the guys we have that can do that, one of them (Fornes) hasn't been playing much of late.


RE: Defense, and why we may need to foul more - 82hawk - 01-22-2019 07:23 PM

(01-22-2019 11:46 AM)Seahawkhoops Wrote:  
(01-22-2019 09:59 AM)jumpinmullet Wrote:  As far as fouling more goes -that is just stupid.

I agree completely. Maybe he was trying to convey the message that we should be more aggressive, which in turn could mean fouling more. That, I agree with.

BINGO. It was a rhetorical question, mostly pointing out that we need more aggression which would likely lead to more fouls. I see the two as maybe going hand in hand. It is then a matter of risk/reward. Not fouling for the sake of fouling, but fouling more because we get into guys faces and lock them down. Like I showed, UNCW was #4 in the nation in fouls while we took over the CAA and stayed close with UVA in the NCAA tournament.


RE: Defense, and why we may need to foul more - EvanJ - 01-23-2019 11:55 AM

(01-22-2019 06:37 AM)82hawk Wrote:  Figures. Of all the things a weak CAA conference is good at it's FT's......
I just checked the NCAA website, and they removed the page that ranked the conferences in statistics, so I no longer have a way of seeing if the CAA continues to lead Division I without doing all 353 teams by hand.

(01-22-2019 07:51 AM)Seahawk Nation 08 Wrote:  We have an inordinate amount of teams running 4-guard lineups in this league. I think that's a big factor in the quality free throw shooting.

Big men are hard to come by, but all CAA teams have done a really nice job recruiting quality guards of late.
Every CAA team has a big man who shoots free throws over .700, albeit with a small sample for some of them. These are not in order:

William & Mary's Nathan Knight: .734
Charleston's Jarrell Brantley: .760
Delaware's Eric Carter: .748
Drexel's James Butler: .719
Elon's Tyler Seibring: .781 (a forward who shoots a lot of threes)
James Madison's Dwight Wilson: .760
James Madison's Zach Jacobs: .750
Jeantal Cylla: .887
Northeastern's Tomas Murphy: .771
Towson's Alex Thomas: .778
Hofstra's Jacquil Taylor: .750
Hofstra's Dan Dwyer: .783