As usual, my analysis is based on relevant games I have watched, my experience (The Naked Eye) and SYNERGY Statistics.

Fobbs & Howard lead almost every offensive statistical category for the Towson Tigers. The lack of balance is the main reason for their record so far. Too easy to game plan and squeeze these 2 with a focused, energetic defense. Two characteristics that the Hawks lack at this point. In fact, SYNERGY now has UNCW's defense rated as #352 out of 353 teams in D1. Yes, you read this correctly. Only the California Golden Bears and the UNCW Seahawks give up MORE than 1.0 Point Per Possession in NCAA D1 basketball.

Guess what is the most glaring weakness? Correct. Opponents have hoisted 540 three point shots and scored 613 points which means 1.13 PPP and an adjusted FG percentage (aFG%) of 57.3%!! It would be an exercise in sado masochism for me to continue pointing out other defensive deficiencies like Pick & Roll Ball handler defense (D1 Rank #337) after mentioning this last stat.

Let's just start there. Try to keep a team like Towson under their average 3pt % (33.8%). Go ahead. I dare you to try that game plan. That would of course require abandoning your weak side sagging defense (not quite 'Pack Line' because I haven't seen any extreme ball pressure unless Gadsen is on the court) that only encourages guys to let their man blow by because 'help is waiting'.

The good news is that the HAWKS offense has improved to where it is now categorized on SYNERGY as 'GOOD'. Which means in the 55th Percentile or rather, a D1 rank of #160. In fact, the only player rated 'BELOW AVERAGE' offensively is Toews unless you include 'Offense + Assists' (Yes, that is an actual category) and then he ranks in the top 200 players out 4053 in D1.

So in summary: Score more points than Towson.....and play ZONE. Even BAD Zone might deliver the win.

Go Hawks!

(01-30-2019 10:30 AM)HAWKING Wrote:  As usual, my analysis is based on relevant games I have watched, my experience (The Naked Eye) and SYNERGY Statistics.

Fobbs & Howard lead almost every offensive statistical category for the Towson Tigers. The lack of balance is the main reason for their record so far. Too easy to game plan and squeeze these 2 with a focused, energetic defense. Two characteristics that the Hawks lack at this point. In fact, SYNERGY now has UNCW's defense rated as #352 out of 353 teams in D1. Yes, you read this correctly. Only the California Golden Bears and the UNCW Seahawks give up MORE than 1.0 Point Per Possession in NCAA D1 basketball.

Guess what is the most glaring weakness? Correct. Opponents have hoisted 540 three point shots and scored 613 points which means 1.13 PPP and an adjusted FG percentage (aFG%) of 57.3%!! It would be an exercise in sado masochism for me to continue pointing out other defensive deficiencies like Pick & Roll Ball handler defense (D1 Rank #337) after mentioning this last stat.

Let's just start there. Try to keep a team like Towson under their average 3pt % (33.8%). Go ahead. I dare you to try that game plan. That would of course require abandoning your weak side sagging defense (not quite 'Pack Line' because I haven't seen any extreme ball pressure unless Gadsen is on the court) that only encourages guys to let their man blow by because 'help is waiting'.

The good news is that the HAWKS offense has improved to where it is now categorized on SYNERGY as 'GOOD'. Which means in the 55th Percentile or rather, a D1 rank of #160. In fact, the only player rated 'BELOW AVERAGE' offensively is Toews unless you include 'Offense + Assists' (Yes, that is an actual category) and then he ranks in the top 200 players out 4053 in D1.

So in summary: Score more points than Towson.....and play ZONE. Even BAD Zone might deliver the win.

Go Hawks!

I'm thinking scoring more points than Towson alone would do it. LoL

I'm a fan of you consistently pointing out the weak side sagging. As someone who never played collegiate ball at any level, it's still impossible not to see that is how teams lay in wait for us. Their shooters basically saturate the perimeter, typically with their best shooter off the ball on the "weak" side. Waiting for our defenders to swing to the ball side in the M2M defense and then quickly swing it to the weak side and fire away.

If we are going to stick to M2M, why not just teach the players to stop with all of the help in the paint. Force the opponents offense to beat us in the paint and stay in their face on the perimeter. Sure, we'll have blow by's here and there but at least put a bandage on the 3 pt barrages that are killing us. Especially, ESPECIALLY if we are able to develop a lead.

(01-30-2019 10:41 AM)CG_Hawk06 Wrote:  I'm a fan of you consistently pointing out the weak side sagging. As someone who never played collegiate ball at any level, it's still impossible not to see that is how teams lay in wait for us. Their shooters basically saturate the perimeter, typically with their best shooter off the ball on the "weak" side. Waiting for our defenders to swing to the ball side in the M2M defense and then quickly swing it to the weak side and fire away.

If we are going to stick to M2M, why not just teach the players to stop with all of the help in the paint. Force the opponents offense to beat us in the paint and stay in their face on the perimeter. Sure, we'll have blow by's here and there but at least put a bandage on the 3 pt barrages that are killing us. Especially, ESPECIALLY if we are able to develop a lead.

We also need our guards to stop getting blown by on the dribble penetration. Hell, foul if you really need to. Otherwise, move your damn feet and prevent the need for help defense to even need to swoop in.

(01-30-2019 10:43 AM)Seahawk Nation 08 Wrote:  

(01-30-2019 10:41 AM)CG_Hawk06 Wrote:  I'm a fan of you consistently pointing out the weak side sagging. As someone who never played collegiate ball at any level, it's still impossible not to see that is how teams lay in wait for us. Their shooters basically saturate the perimeter, typically with their best shooter off the ball on the "weak" side. Waiting for our defenders to swing to the ball side in the M2M defense and then quickly swing it to the weak side and fire away.

If we are going to stick to M2M, why not just teach the players to stop with all of the help in the paint. Force the opponents offense to beat us in the paint and stay in their face on the perimeter. Sure, we'll have blow by's here and there but at least put a bandage on the 3 pt barrages that are killing us. Especially, ESPECIALLY if we are able to develop a lead.

We also need our guards to stop getting blown by on the dribble penetration. Hell, foul if you really need to. Otherwise, move your damn feet and prevent the need for help defense to even need to swoop in.

Goes back to the fact they don't play good individual defense because the weak side sagging gives them a "if I get beat I might get bailed out" approach instead of playing tough and tight defense.

(01-30-2019 10:50 AM)CG_Hawk06 Wrote:  

(01-30-2019 10:43 AM)Seahawk Nation 08 Wrote:  

(01-30-2019 10:41 AM)CG_Hawk06 Wrote:  I'm a fan of you consistently pointing out the weak side sagging. As someone who never played collegiate ball at any level, it's still impossible not to see that is how teams lay in wait for us. Their shooters basically saturate the perimeter, typically with their best shooter off the ball on the "weak" side. Waiting for our defenders to swing to the ball side in the M2M defense and then quickly swing it to the weak side and fire away.

If we are going to stick to M2M, why not just teach the players to stop with all of the help in the paint. Force the opponents offense to beat us in the paint and stay in their face on the perimeter. Sure, we'll have blow by's here and there but at least put a bandage on the 3 pt barrages that are killing us. Especially, ESPECIALLY if we are able to develop a lead.

We also need our guards to stop getting blown by on the dribble penetration. Hell, foul if you really need to. Otherwise, move your damn feet and prevent the need for help defense to even need to swoop in.

Goes back to the fact they don't play good individual defense because the weak side sagging gives them a "if I get beat I might get bailed out" approach instead of playing tough and tight defense.

The not helping is a double edge sword. You have to pick your poison give up an occasional layup on a blow by, or help and get crushed on the kickout. I'd say the getting crushed on the kick outs have hurt us more this year.

(01-30-2019 11:02 AM)Seahawkhoops Wrote:  

(01-30-2019 10:50 AM)CG_Hawk06 Wrote:  

(01-30-2019 10:43 AM)Seahawk Nation 08 Wrote:  

(01-30-2019 10:41 AM)CG_Hawk06 Wrote:  I'm a fan of you consistently pointing out the weak side sagging. As someone who never played collegiate ball at any level, it's still impossible not to see that is how teams lay in wait for us. Their shooters basically saturate the perimeter, typically with their best shooter off the ball on the "weak" side. Waiting for our defenders to swing to the ball side in the M2M defense and then quickly swing it to the weak side and fire away.

If we are going to stick to M2M, why not just teach the players to stop with all of the help in the paint. Force the opponents offense to beat us in the paint and stay in their face on the perimeter. Sure, we'll have blow by's here and there but at least put a bandage on the 3 pt barrages that are killing us. Especially, ESPECIALLY if we are able to develop a lead.

We also need our guards to stop getting blown by on the dribble penetration. Hell, foul if you really need to. Otherwise, move your damn feet and prevent the need for help defense to even need to swoop in.

Goes back to the fact they don't play good individual defense because the weak side sagging gives them a "if I get beat I might get bailed out" approach instead of playing tough and tight defense.

The not helping is a double edge sword. You have to pick your poison give up an occasional layup on a blow by, or help and get crushed on the kickout. I'd say the getting crushed on the kick outs have hurt us more this year.

I agree. At this point, I'd rather see us get beat on the occasional blow by and I think our offense would do a better job of keeping pace/outscoring the opponent.

(01-30-2019 10:50 AM)CG_Hawk06 Wrote:  

(01-30-2019 10:43 AM)Seahawk Nation 08 Wrote:  

(01-30-2019 10:41 AM)CG_Hawk06 Wrote:  I'm a fan of you consistently pointing out the weak side sagging. As someone who never played collegiate ball at any level, it's still impossible not to see that is how teams lay in wait for us. Their shooters basically saturate the perimeter, typically with their best shooter off the ball on the "weak" side. Waiting for our defenders to swing to the ball side in the M2M defense and then quickly swing it to the weak side and fire away.

If we are going to stick to M2M, why not just teach the players to stop with all of the help in the paint. Force the opponents offense to beat us in the paint and stay in their face on the perimeter. Sure, we'll have blow by's here and there but at least put a bandage on the 3 pt barrages that are killing us. Especially, ESPECIALLY if we are able to develop a lead.

We also need our guards to stop getting blown by on the dribble penetration. Hell, foul if you really need to. Otherwise, move your damn feet and prevent the need for help defense to even need to swoop in.

Goes back to the fact they don't play good individual defense because the weak side sagging gives them a "if I get beat I might get bailed out" approach instead of playing tough and tight defense.

The basics of individual defense – of each defender taking personal responsibility for stopping his man. And while I also believe in the team concept of helping each other to stop the ball, it still begins with each defender taking pride in stopping their man.
I have always not allowed my teams to help on drives for the first 2 weeks of pre-season practice because it exposes bad defenders repeatedly and stimulates them to be better. It makes for a lot of layups and fouls but it sets the tone. We of course help them be better by focussing on techniques suited to individual athletic ability.

It doesn’t matter which philosophy you subscribe to – Pack-line, Pressure & Deny Defense, Zones, Trapping – teams win when they stop the other team from scoring and the more players you have that can stop their man, the better your chances.

(01-30-2019 11:09 AM)HAWKING Wrote:  

(01-30-2019 10:50 AM)CG_Hawk06 Wrote:  

(01-30-2019 10:43 AM)Seahawk Nation 08 Wrote:  

(01-30-2019 10:41 AM)CG_Hawk06 Wrote:  I'm a fan of you consistently pointing out the weak side sagging. As someone who never played collegiate ball at any level, it's still impossible not to see that is how teams lay in wait for us. Their shooters basically saturate the perimeter, typically with their best shooter off the ball on the "weak" side. Waiting for our defenders to swing to the ball side in the M2M defense and then quickly swing it to the weak side and fire away.

If we are going to stick to M2M, why not just teach the players to stop with all of the help in the paint. Force the opponents offense to beat us in the paint and stay in their face on the perimeter. Sure, we'll have blow by's here and there but at least put a bandage on the 3 pt barrages that are killing us. Especially, ESPECIALLY if we are able to develop a lead.

We also need our guards to stop getting blown by on the dribble penetration. Hell, foul if you really need to. Otherwise, move your damn feet and prevent the need for help defense to even need to swoop in.

Goes back to the fact they don't play good individual defense because the weak side sagging gives them a "if I get beat I might get bailed out" approach instead of playing tough and tight defense.

It doesn’t matter which philosophy you subscribe to – Pack-line, Pressure & Deny Defense, Zones, Trapping – teams win when they stop the other team from scoring and the more players you have that can stop their man, the better your chances.

Many of the fans on this board were around for the most successful period in UNCW history 2000- 2005/06, and those teams won by playing good hard nosed D! Its a great way to win at this level, because you can "out athlete" teams at this level like Keatts did, but you can't do that against P5 opponents. I do recognize the game has changed since then, AAU has a big negative effect on D IMO.

(01-30-2019 11:30 AM)Seahawkhoops Wrote:  

(01-30-2019 11:09 AM)HAWKING Wrote:  

(01-30-2019 10:50 AM)CG_Hawk06 Wrote:  

(01-30-2019 10:43 AM)Seahawk Nation 08 Wrote:  

(01-30-2019 10:41 AM)CG_Hawk06 Wrote:  I'm a fan of you consistently pointing out the weak side sagging. As someone who never played collegiate ball at any level, it's still impossible not to see that is how teams lay in wait for us. Their shooters basically saturate the perimeter, typically with their best shooter off the ball on the "weak" side. Waiting for our defenders to swing to the ball side in the M2M defense and then quickly swing it to the weak side and fire away.

If we are going to stick to M2M, why not just teach the players to stop with all of the help in the paint. Force the opponents offense to beat us in the paint and stay in their face on the perimeter. Sure, we'll have blow by's here and there but at least put a bandage on the 3 pt barrages that are killing us. Especially, ESPECIALLY if we are able to develop a lead.

We also need our guards to stop getting blown by on the dribble penetration. Hell, foul if you really need to. Otherwise, move your damn feet and prevent the need for help defense to even need to swoop in.

Goes back to the fact they don't play good individual defense because the weak side sagging gives them a "if I get beat I might get bailed out" approach instead of playing tough and tight defense.

It doesn’t matter which philosophy you subscribe to – Pack-line, Pressure & Deny Defense, Zones, Trapping – teams win when they stop the other team from scoring and the more players you have that can stop their man, the better your chances.

Many of the fans on this board were around for the most successful period in UNCW history 2000- 2005/06, and those teams won by playing good hard nosed D! Its a great way to win at this level, because you can "out athlete" teams at this level like Keatts did, but you can't do that against P5 opponents. I do recognize the game has changed since then, AAU has a big negative effect on D IMO.

The NCAA effectively dropped a massive hammer on that style of defense with all the rules making slashing, cutting, and interior guard play on offense a lot easier. Reducing hand checks, etc. I feel like some of those Brownell UNCW teams probably would foul out the starting 5 about 2 min into the 2nd half these days. Obviously, he made the jump to P6 and has a lot more "athleticism" at his recruiting disposal these days. It does appear though, that he's modified how he coaches the game a bit due to those rule changes.

(01-30-2019 11:33 AM)CG_Hawk06 Wrote:  

(01-30-2019 11:30 AM)Seahawkhoops Wrote:  

(01-30-2019 11:09 AM)HAWKING Wrote:  

(01-30-2019 10:50 AM)CG_Hawk06 Wrote:  

(01-30-2019 10:43 AM)Seahawk Nation 08 Wrote:  We also need our guards to stop getting blown by on the dribble penetration. Hell, foul if you really need to. Otherwise, move your damn feet and prevent the need for help defense to even need to swoop in.

Goes back to the fact they don't play good individual defense because the weak side sagging gives them a "if I get beat I might get bailed out" approach instead of playing tough and tight defense.

It doesn’t matter which philosophy you subscribe to – Pack-line, Pressure & Deny Defense, Zones, Trapping – teams win when they stop the other team from scoring and the more players you have that can stop their man, the better your chances.

Many of the fans on this board were around for the most successful period in UNCW history 2000- 2005/06, and those teams won by playing good hard nosed D! Its a great way to win at this level, because you can "out athlete" teams at this level like Keatts did, but you can't do that against P5 opponents. I do recognize the game has changed since then, AAU has a big negative effect on D IMO.

The NCAA effectively dropped a massive hammer on that style of defense with all the rules making slashing, cutting, and interior guard play on offense a lot easier. Reducing hand checks, etc. I feel like some of those Brownell UNCW teams probably would foul out the starting 5 about 2 min into the 2nd half these days. Obviously, he made the jump to P6 and has a lot more "athleticism" at his recruiting disposal these days. It does appear though, that he's modified how he coaches the game a bit due to those rule changes.

True, but even still, Clemson is just outside the top 50 in PPG vs them, and that's in the tough ACC. I guess it goes back to the, he figured out how to adjust so.........

(01-30-2019 11:33 AM)CG_Hawk06 Wrote:  

(01-30-2019 11:30 AM)Seahawkhoops Wrote:  

(01-30-2019 11:09 AM)HAWKING Wrote:  

(01-30-2019 10:50 AM)CG_Hawk06 Wrote:  

(01-30-2019 10:43 AM)Seahawk Nation 08 Wrote:  We also need our guards to stop getting blown by on the dribble penetration. Hell, foul if you really need to. Otherwise, move your damn feet and prevent the need for help defense to even need to swoop in.

Goes back to the fact they don't play good individual defense because the weak side sagging gives them a "if I get beat I might get bailed out" approach instead of playing tough and tight defense.

It doesn’t matter which philosophy you subscribe to – Pack-line, Pressure & Deny Defense, Zones, Trapping – teams win when they stop the other team from scoring and the more players you have that can stop their man, the better your chances.

Many of the fans on this board were around for the most successful period in UNCW history 2000- 2005/06, and those teams won by playing good hard nosed D! Its a great way to win at this level, because you can "out athlete" teams at this level like Keatts did, but you can't do that against P5 opponents. I do recognize the game has changed since then, AAU has a big negative effect on D IMO.

The NCAA effectively dropped a massive hammer on that style of defense with all the rules making slashing, cutting, and interior guard play on offense a lot easier. Reducing hand checks, etc. I feel like some of those Brownell UNCW teams probably would foul out the starting 5 about 2 min into the 2nd half these days. Obviously, he made the jump to P6 and has a lot more "athleticism" at his recruiting disposal these days. It does appear though, that he's modified how he coaches the game a bit due to those rule changes.

Those rule changes don't prevent you from closing out early with a hand up and force baseline. lol

(01-30-2019 11:41 AM)HAWKING Wrote:  

(01-30-2019 11:33 AM)CG_Hawk06 Wrote:  

(01-30-2019 11:30 AM)Seahawkhoops Wrote:  

(01-30-2019 11:09 AM)HAWKING Wrote:  

(01-30-2019 10:50 AM)CG_Hawk06 Wrote:  Goes back to the fact they don't play good individual defense because the weak side sagging gives them a "if I get beat I might get bailed out" approach instead of playing tough and tight defense.

It doesn’t matter which philosophy you subscribe to – Pack-line, Pressure & Deny Defense, Zones, Trapping – teams win when they stop the other team from scoring and the more players you have that can stop their man, the better your chances.

Many of the fans on this board were around for the most successful period in UNCW history 2000- 2005/06, and those teams won by playing good hard nosed D! Its a great way to win at this level, because you can "out athlete" teams at this level like Keatts did, but you can't do that against P5 opponents. I do recognize the game has changed since then, AAU has a big negative effect on D IMO.

The NCAA effectively dropped a massive hammer on that style of defense with all the rules making slashing, cutting, and interior guard play on offense a lot easier. Reducing hand checks, etc. I feel like some of those Brownell UNCW teams probably would foul out the starting 5 about 2 min into the 2nd half these days. Obviously, he made the jump to P6 and has a lot more "athleticism" at his recruiting disposal these days. It does appear though, that he's modified how he coaches the game a bit due to those rule changes.

Those rule changes don't prevent you from closing out early with a hand up and force baseline. lol

Even though i play predominantly zone and half court trap with my boys, I still start out practices early on in M2M for a lot of the same reasons you mentioned you do with your teams Hawking.

(01-30-2019 11:30 AM)Seahawkhoops Wrote:  

(01-30-2019 11:09 AM)HAWKING Wrote:  

(01-30-2019 10:50 AM)CG_Hawk06 Wrote:  

(01-30-2019 10:43 AM)Seahawk Nation 08 Wrote:  

(01-30-2019 10:41 AM)CG_Hawk06 Wrote:  I'm a fan of you consistently pointing out the weak side sagging. As someone who never played collegiate ball at any level, it's still impossible not to see that is how teams lay in wait for us. Their shooters basically saturate the perimeter, typically with their best shooter off the ball on the "weak" side. Waiting for our defenders to swing to the ball side in the M2M defense and then quickly swing it to the weak side and fire away.

If we are going to stick to M2M, why not just teach the players to stop with all of the help in the paint. Force the opponents offense to beat us in the paint and stay in their face on the perimeter. Sure, we'll have blow by's here and there but at least put a bandage on the 3 pt barrages that are killing us. Especially, ESPECIALLY if we are able to develop a lead.

We also need our guards to stop getting blown by on the dribble penetration. Hell, foul if you really need to. Otherwise, move your damn feet and prevent the need for help defense to even need to swoop in.

Goes back to the fact they don't play good individual defense because the weak side sagging gives them a "if I get beat I might get bailed out" approach instead of playing tough and tight defense.

It doesn’t matter which philosophy you subscribe to – Pack-line, Pressure & Deny Defense, Zones, Trapping – teams win when they stop the other team from scoring and the more players you have that can stop their man, the better your chances.

Many of the fans on this board were around for the most successful period in UNCW history 2000- 2005/06, and those teams won by playing good hard nosed D! Its a great way to win at this level, because you can "out athlete" teams at this level like Keatts did, but you can't do that against P5 opponents. I do recognize the game has changed since then, AAU has a big negative effect on D IMO.

Exactly...and hard nosed defense is something every individual player can bring to the gym EVERY single night. The shots won't always be dropping, but sound fundamental defense AND effort on rebounding is something that should never be lacking. Its up to the coaches to get EVERY single player to buy into this concept however because ONE single individual not pulling their weight and this philosophy won't work.

I went to the NCSU/UVA game last night, and was able to watch a m-m STIFLING defense of UVA. What I noticed more than anything is how good they are at switching who they cover off picks.

There were almost no drives to the basket because the switching closed off the driving lanes. Also, when NCSU did drive and try to kick out, UVA defenders stayed with the kick outs which meant no open 3's. Their defense looks so natural and easy, you miss out on just how well coached they are. You can also tell UVA KNOWS the weak hand of players, and sits on their strong hand to force them to the weak hand.

On offense, the UVA pick and roll on the side produced wide open rolls to the bucket ending in dunks or easy layups. Something we could easily do wiith Cacok.

Really amazing to watch in person.

(01-30-2019 04:08 PM)82hawk Wrote:  I went to the NCSU/UVA game last night, and was able to watch a m-m STIFLING defense of UVA. What I noticed more than anything is how good they are at switching who they cover off picks.

There were almost no drives to the basket because the switching closed off the driving lanes. Also, when NCSU did drive and try to kick out, UVA defenders stayed with the kick outs which meant no open 3's. Their defense looks so natural and easy, you miss out on just how well coached they are. You can also tell UVA KNOWS the weak hand of players, and sits on their strong hand to force them to the weak hand.

On offense, the UVA pick and roll on the side produced wide open rolls to the bucket ending in dunks or easy layups. Something we could easily do wiith Cacok.

Really amazing to watch in person.

what's even more scary, is this year, they have offense too! Highest scoring offense in the Tony Bennant era

(01-30-2019 04:46 PM)Seahawkhoops Wrote:  what's even more scary, is this year, they have offense too! Highest scoring offense in the Tony Bennant era

It's gonna be scary when they get to the NCAA Tournament with high expectations. Having to shake off that 16-1 upset will be rough.

(01-30-2019 04:47 PM)Seahawk Nation 08 Wrote:  

(01-30-2019 04:46 PM)Seahawkhoops Wrote:  what's even more scary, is this year, they have offense too! Highest scoring offense in the Tony Bennant era

It's gonna be scary when they get to the NCAA Tournament with high expectations. Having to shake off that 16-1 upset will be rough.

They have had trouble in the past with hot teams and not having the offense to keep up. They don't have that problem this year.

We are 4.5 point favorites with the over/under at 148.

Sent from my SM-G955U using Tapatalk