Fans have gotten a little obsessive with the constant gripes about the offense and the constant hair pulling about turnovers that they have not acknowledged what this team does well.

This team is elite defensively!

The coach and the coaching staff have taught a complex defensive scheme with many options and facets and these kids have bought in and picked it up well.

2nd in the nation in defensive field goal percentage behind only Virginia and ahead of West Virginia, two coach widely renowned for their team's defense.

2nd in defensive efficiency behind only Virginia.

3rd in Blocks per game.

24th in opponents assists/turnover ratio.

And amazingly enough, (this is actually miraculous)
39th in scoring defense.
Considering the pace that the team has played and the amount of turnovers which leads to opponents having high numbers of possessions per game this is a crazy stat.

People are not giving Penny, the staff and these kids enough credit for what they have done on the defensive end of the court and the culture that is being established.

(02-06-2020 10:25 AM)Blackman Wrote:  Fans have gotten a little obsessive with the constant gripes about the offense and the constant hair pulling about turnovers that they have not acknowledged what this team does well.

This team is elite defensively!

The coach and the coaching staff have taught a complex defensive scheme with many options and facets and these kids have bought in and picked it up well.

2nd in the nation in defensive field goal percentage behind only Virginia and ahead of West Virginia, two coach widely renowned for their team's defense.

2nd in defensive efficiency behind only Virginia.

3rd in Blocks per game.

24th in opponents assists/turnover ratio.

And amazingly enough, (this is actually miraculous)
39th in scoring defense.
Considering the pace that the team has played and the amount of turnovers which leads to opponents having high numbers of possessions per game this is a crazy stat.

People are not giving Penny, the staff and these kids enough credit for what they have done on the defensive end of the court and the culture that is being established.

No doubt this team has absolutely bought into the defense first mentality and been absolutely incredible defensively. When they really get after it for stretches it is blast to watch. They fly all over the court, hound ball handlers, deflect passes and block shots. A couple of players who have really stepped up defensively and surprised me;

Lance - His length causes serious problems and also moves his feet well enough in combination with his length to be able to defend guards
Tyler Harris - IMO he has improved defensively more than anybody. He absolutely hounds ball handlers now
Precious - In the absence of Wiseman he has consistently had to defend centers and has done great on not only bodying them up but also rebounding against them
Malcolm - This guy is going to be an absolute nightmare defender for other teams for years to come.

The effort that the players put into D has been missing here for a LONG time. Since the Cal days. It's a good sign that the coaches are connecting with and motivating the team.

(02-06-2020 10:25 AM)Blackman Wrote:  Fans have gotten a little obsessive with the constant gripes about the offense and the constant hair pulling about turnovers that they have not acknowledged what this team does well.

This team is elite defensively!

The coach and the coaching staff have taught a complex defensive scheme with many options and facets and these kids have bought in and picked it up well.

2nd in the nation in defensive field goal percentage behind only Virginia and ahead of West Virginia, two coach widely renowned for their team's defense.

2nd in defensive efficiency behind only Virginia.

3rd in Blocks per game.

24th in opponents assists/turnover ratio.

And amazingly enough, (this is actually miraculous)
39th in scoring defense.
Considering the pace that the team has played and the amount of turnovers which leads to opponents having high numbers of possessions per game this is a crazy stat.

People are not giving Penny, the staff and these kids enough credit for what they have done on the defensive end of the court and the culture that is being established.

Agree brother!! Great post!

May be better than Cal era defenses. If not already then by next year probably.

(02-06-2020 06:10 PM)BartlettTigerFan Wrote:  May be better than Cal era defenses. If not already then by next year probably.

Possibly, but unlikely. Those Cal teams during that run were 6,10,2,1 in defensive efficiency. That would be hard to be better than.

(02-07-2020 01:11 PM)tigers0830 Wrote:  

(02-06-2020 06:10 PM)BartlettTigerFan Wrote:  May be better than Cal era defenses. If not already then by next year probably.

Possibly, but unlikely. Those Cal teams during that run were 6,10,2,1 in defensive efficiency. That would be hard to be better than.

We are 10th...So very close.

But when you factor in the easy baskets we give up on turnovers that number likely should be much better. Say we give up 4 points a game on the extra 5 turnovers we shouldn't be making (If we only had 12 Turns a game). That dang near puts us in first place for defensive efficiency...(Simple Calculation without all the SOS and pace stuff).

(02-07-2020 01:14 PM)macgar32 Wrote:  

(02-07-2020 01:11 PM)tigers0830 Wrote:  

(02-06-2020 06:10 PM)BartlettTigerFan Wrote:  May be better than Cal era defenses. If not already then by next year probably.

Possibly, but unlikely. Those Cal teams during that run were 6,10,2,1 in defensive efficiency. That would be hard to be better than.

We are 10th...So very close.

But when you factor in the easy baskets we give up on turnovers that number likely should be much better.

It should that's why I think it is so impressive with how good we are on that end of the floor and that numbers aren't a fluke

Grit-n-grind!

(02-06-2020 10:42 AM)SeñorTiger Wrote:  Tyler Harris - IMO he has improved defensively more than anybody. He absolutely hounds ball handlers now

That's my opinion also.

Penny's overall coaching style is somewhat similar to Cal

(02-07-2020 05:05 PM)dwash Wrote:  Penny's overall coaching style is somewhat similar to Cal

What they focus appears to be...But their behavior is night and day.

(02-07-2020 01:14 PM)macgar32 Wrote:  

(02-07-2020 01:11 PM)tigers0830 Wrote:  

(02-06-2020 06:10 PM)BartlettTigerFan Wrote:  May be better than Cal era defenses. If not already then by next year probably.

Possibly, but unlikely. Those Cal teams during that run were 6,10,2,1 in defensive efficiency. That would be hard to be better than.

We are 10th...So very close.

But when you factor in the easy baskets we give up on turnovers that number likely should be much better. Say we give up 4 points a game on the extra 5 turnovers we shouldn't be making (If we only had 12 Turns a game). That dang near puts us in first place for defensive efficiency...(Simple Calculation without all the SOS and pace stuff).

Great point, imagine 5-10 less turnovers. That should be worth a 5-10 point swing, we do that and we're rolling.

Very pleased with how well this young team defends. If we can keep shooting it like we did against Temple, this team can be really good. That’s a big IF though. I’m hoping we’ve figured something out on the offensive side of the court. We’ll see.