(08-18-2019 10:56 PM)CG_Hawk06 Wrote:  Bill is right. The press worked great for us UNLESS the other team broke it. Anytime they broke the press they would get into the paint and nearly score at will in there. We haven’t been great defensively since Brownell left.

You can go check the archives from the Keatts years and it’s full of posts from all of us bemoaning Keatts’ teams lack of defense against teams that could beat a press. Not to mention his hard headed inability to change it up when it was broken (Duke and UVA ring a bell?). He’s just as hard headed in his system as McGrath is with his. Not saying anything to praise or rebuke either, but to say they’re both equally system coaches. One obviously had better success rates, but they came with faults too. We seem to get rose colored glasses when it comes to the Keatts “defense”.


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You guys have lost your minds.

Let's just look at Buzz(aka McGrath series 1) last year vs. Keatts first year with basically the same roster. Conference only for the best comparison.

Offense - Buzz 59.8 ppg last - Keatts 67.8 ppg #7
Defense Buzz 65.6 ppg #4 Keatts 65,2 ppg #2

Scoring Margin Buzz -5.4 last Keatts +2.2 #4

FG% Buzz .403 last Keatts .422 #6

Fg% defense Buzz .426 #6 Keatts .425 #3

3 pt FG% Buzz .305 #8 Keatts .306 #9

3 pt. FG% defense Buzz .333 #3 Keatts .296 #1

Steals Buzz 5.9 #3 Keatts 8.3 #1

TO Margin Buzz -.12 #5 Keatts +4.11 #1

No doubt the 3 pt. FG% on defense improved, but we gave up almost the exact same PPG both years. Our offense improved dramatically because of the pressure, the steals, the easy baskets on layups. Our 3pt FG% on offense remained almost identical as well. It was the TO margin and steals that made the difference. It was the aggressive posture we took in the press that gave the guys a swagger and confidence to win and control games. Have you forgotten the runs we would go on because of the press? Have you forgotten how loud the crowd would get when we caused TO's and got steals? The atmosphere and attitude of UNCW basketball did a 180 and now has reverted back. When is the last game you watched or attended a game where you could just FEEL we were going to dominate a team? Where our guys imposed their will on the other team? It happened once, last year, that I can remember. And that was the last Hofstra game at home. That was it since McGrath has been here.

PLEASE spare me the "well the press didn't matter that much" nonsense.