(01-01-2023 02:44 PM)mrbig Wrote:  Rice played a game into OT and the other team only scored 67. I will take that. For those more knowledgeable than me, has the defense improved from the early season disasters? Is the defense enough to give us hope in Pera’s future teams at Rice since that has always been a weak spot for his teams?

It's hard to say. Using the eye test, there are stretches where we look more defensively sound. Fewer glaring breakdowns, some really good scramble drills. But the underlying numbers haven't changed much. We're still bottom 75 in terms of paint defense, both when it comes to shots around the rim and jumpers. We're not great defending in transition. We're competent defending the three, but are actually allowing a worse percentage. One area we are significantly improved in is defensive rebounding. That obviously limits second chance points. And teams have shot woefully from the FT line against us, for whatever reason.

Overall, in terms of defensive rating, we've improved to the mid to low 200s. But it's hard to tell whether that's sustainable or if we'll regress back to where we usually are.

https://riceowls.com/news/2023/1/2/mens-...-week.aspx

Mason earns CUSA Freshman of the Week for the 2nd time this season.