Fun fact, Mike Rhoades heavily recruited Mac McClung (before he got any power conference offers) and for a short while it seemed possible that he was going to end up at Rice. Never ended up taking a visit but a couple articles in which he mentioned Rice as one of his top suitors.

(02-18-2023 11:09 PM)Fort Bend Owl Wrote:  Fun (inside) moment from tonight's game - at a key moment late in the 2nd half when WKU was making another run and we really needed a basket...
Evee has the ball and dribbles it inside the lane in all sorts of traffic (maybe their 7-5 guy was around the basket), and then eventually dribbles it all the way back outside the 3-point lane and buries his one and only 3-pointer of the night - pretty much as the shot clock was winding down. Coach Pera kind of turns to us and mumbles 'green light u'.
We got a chuckle out of it at least.

I have no problem with being green light u. I’d much rather take a bad shot than make a bad pass. Bad shots sometimes go in, or you can get an offensive board if you are prepared to do so. Bad passes come back in your face.

Trey Murphy showed up at practice today on the heals of his NBA all-star game appearance (dunk contest, young gun game)...

https://twitter.com/RiceCoachPera/status...0473966592

Didnt he transfer out of Rice before graduating.?

(02-20-2023 04:20 PM)waltgreenberg Wrote:  Trey Murphy showed up at practice today on the heals of his NBA all-star game appearance (dunk contest, young gun game)...

https://twitter.com/RiceCoachPera/status...0473966592

Yes after 2 years. He went to Virginia and graduated there (with 1 more year of basketball there).

But he certainly comes to Rice quite often and doesn't mind telling the world he's a Rice fan. Unlike a lot of other transfers. That's significant to someone like Mekhi Mason (who was just named CUSA freshman of the week for the 4th time).

(02-20-2023 04:49 PM)Fort Bend Owl Wrote:  Yes after 2 years. He went to Virginia and graduated there (with 1 more year of basketball there).

But he certainly comes to Rice quite often and doesn't mind telling the world he's a Rice fan. Unlike a lot of other transfers. That's significant to someone like Mekhi Mason (who was just named CUSA freshman of the week for the 4th time).

Not sure he actually graduated from UVA?

That said-I agree with you… His loyalty to UVA is also probably affected by the fact that the season he played there was 2020-21 so there weren’t fans or any kind of traditional ACC environment.

I was surprised how (seemingly) poorly coached WKU was. Their adjustments were generally not effective with the exception of really focusing on keeping the ball away from Q in the 2nd half. They struggled getting the ball to their post (Sharp) and would not have been anywhere in the neighborhood of being in the game at the end if it was not for some 3-point sharpshooting when Rice was doing everything possible not to foul on the perimeter ver the last 5 minutes of the game. That was a team struggling to find an identity on Saturday night.

The Owls had 20 points on fast breaks (green light U!) and even had more offensive boards than WKU. Mason Jones made the most of his (brief) minutes on the court, which was nice to see. The team was also steady at the free throw line, a nice bounce back from the winnable North Texas game where they missed 8 free throws including the front end at least two 1 and 1’s. I thought Rice employed their zone defense pretty well in the first half, a bit less so in the final 20 minutes. The bench contributed far more than I expected and perhaps the best showing by the non-starters collectively all year.

I don’t think the team has enough juice to get 20 wins before the tournament but 19 may be possible. Only two more games at home for the team so I hope everyone clears their calendars and catches the final 80 minutes of men’s hoops on South Main this season. Karlgaard/Pera have fielded a competitive club in a major men’s sport this year. I give credit where credit is due. If they can win 2 off the last 4 they will finish 10-10 in conference this year, far above where the prognosticators predicted prior to the beginning of the season.

(02-20-2023 05:04 PM)Kayjay Wrote:  I was surprised how (seemingly) poorly coached WKU was. Their adjustments were generally not effective with the exception of really focusing on keeping the ball away from Q in the 2nd half. They struggled getting the ball to their post (Sharp) and would not have been anywhere in the neighborhood of being in the game at the end if it was not for some 3-point sharpshooting when Rice was doing everything possible not to foul on the perimeter ver the last 5 minutes of the game. That was a team struggling to find an identity on Saturday night.

The Owls had 20 points on fast breaks (green light U!) and even had more offensive boards than WKU. Mason Jones made the most of his (brief) minutes on the court, which was nice to see. The team was also steady at the free throw line, a nice bounce back from the winnable North Texas game where they missed 8 free throws including the front end at least two 1 and 1’s. I thought Rice employed their zone defense pretty well in the first half, a bit less so in the final 20 minutes. The bench contributed far more than I expected and perhaps the best showing by the non-starters collectively all year.

I don’t think the team has enough juice to get 20 wins before the tournament but 19 may be possible. Only two more games at home for the team so I hope everyone clears their calendars and catches the final 80 minutes of men’s hoops on South Main this season. Karlgaard/Pera have fielded a competitive club in a major men’s sport this year. I give credit where credit is due. If they can win 2 off the last 4 they will finish 10-10 in conference this year, far above where the prognosticators predicted prior to the beginning of the season.

The thing that really caught my attention was that despite their height and physicality advantage over us, they didn't crash the offensive boards the entire first half. As soon as a WKU player put up a shot the entire team raced down court to play defense. Really odd.

(02-20-2023 05:08 PM)waltgreenberg Wrote:  As soon as a WKU player put up a shot the entire team raced down court to play defense. Really odd.

I see that behavior by many, many teams ... even in the NBA ... and also consider it to be head-scratching.

Can someone tell me the origin of/rationale for this give-it-up behavior?

Is there some analytics-driven "best practices" mantra that shows pulling everyone back on defense as soon as your teammate shoots a jumper is better than the possibility of getting another possession via an offensive rebound?

UPDATE: I've looked around for some explanations and found the following (I haven't read them in detail yet, just skimmed them):

2016 ESPN article that said Spurs coach Gregg Popovich was an early disdainer of the OREB. https://www.espn.com/nba/story/_/id/1450...room-floor

In this 2019 article, KenPom says "live-ball offensive rebounds have been worth 1.22 points per opportunity" while "all other possessions have yielded (only) 1.01 points" each. https://theathletic.com/789794/2019/01/2...ng-out-on/

Even the New Yorker wrote about it ... in 2012!! (https://www.newyorker.com/sports/sportin...nds-matter)
But since I've already read my free NY articles, I can't read this one.

I mean, in some cases it's exceedingly simple. If you send guys to offensive rebound, you expose yourself to transition opportunities. Rhoades used to run a drill in practice where 5 guys would pass the ball around the perimeter, he'd blow a whistle, and the offense would drop the ball and run back and defend. Basically simulating a missed shot and a long rebound. Notwithstanding any statistical rationales, if a coach sees bad transition defense tendencies (guys backpedaling, losing assignments, not stopping the ball, etc.), the easiest way to not give up transition baskets is to get your defense set.

WKU's transition defense last year was woeful. Like atrocious. Their eFG% allowed in transition last year was 5th worst in the country. This year they're ranked 138th. While there isn't much of a difference in their OREB% (meaning they weren't great crashing the glass last year either), what people saw was most likely a more concerted effort by the players (at the behest of the staff) to get back in transition. Might mean guys are running back instead of jogging or loitering around the perimeter.

Fiedler is having a year I wish was more recognized by national (or even mid-major) media. Averaging 11.3 points on 72% shooting (best in the country), 8.1 rebounds (best in CUSA), and 5.1 assists (best in CUSA as a 6-10 center). All the while maintaining a 3.89 GPA in Mathematical Economic Analysis and now named Academic All-District. For my many criticisms of him over the past few years, it's hard to think of many recent names who better represent what a Rice student-athlete should be.

Sheffield, Bellamy, and Crosthwait were also named CSC Academic All-District.

(02-21-2023 07:02 PM)elw4796 Wrote:  Fiedler is having a year I wish was more recognized by national (or even mid-major) media. Averaging 11.3 points on 72% shooting (best in the country), 8.1 rebounds (best in CUSA), and 5.1 assists (best in CUSA as a 6-10 center). All the while maintaining a 3.89 GPA in Mathematical Economic Analysis and now named Academic All-District. For my many criticisms of him over the past few years, it's hard to think of many recent names who better represent what a Rice student-athlete should be.

Sheffield, Bellamy, and Crosthwait were also named CSC Academic All-District.

I agree. Although if I ran a poll on our team MVP this year, I don't know if I'd put him first. Maybe. But at times, I think the MVP is Olivari. Earlier in the year, I even thought Evee was the most important player, but now I'd say it's close between Fiedler and Olivari.

(02-20-2023 11:41 PM)elw4796 Wrote:  I mean, in some cases it's exceedingly simple. If you send guys to offensive rebound, you expose yourself to transition opportunities. Rhoades used to run a drill in practice where 5 guys would pass the ball around the perimeter, he'd blow a whistle, and the offense would drop the ball and run back and defend. Basically simulating a missed shot and a long rebound. Notwithstanding any statistical rationales, if a coach sees bad transition defense tendencies (guys backpedaling, losing assignments, not stopping the ball, etc.), the easiest way to not give up transition baskets is to get your defense set.

WKU's transition defense last year was woeful. Like atrocious. Their eFG% allowed in transition last year was 5th worst in the country. This year they're ranked 138th. While there isn't much of a difference in their OREB% (meaning they weren't great crashing the glass last year either), what people saw was most likely a more concerted effort by the players (at the behest of the staff) to get back in transition. Might mean guys are running back instead of jogging or loitering around the perimeter.

Last night I went over to Cullen Blvd. to see the Cougars play a decent Tulane team (that was 10-3 in conference prior to the game). Coach Sampson's team is not afraid to crash the offensive boards and ended up with 18 offensive rebounds to 8. Further the Coogs had 15 second chance points and only gave up 9 on fast breaks, meaning their transition defense was solid. You CAN focus on rebounding and still play good D. It was just a clinic on how to play stifling defense. They go 9 deep in their rotation and never, I mean never let up.

(02-23-2023 09:08 AM)Kayjay Wrote:  

(02-20-2023 11:41 PM)elw4796 Wrote:  I mean, in some cases it's exceedingly simple. If you send guys to offensive rebound, you expose yourself to transition opportunities. Rhoades used to run a drill in practice where 5 guys would pass the ball around the perimeter, he'd blow a whistle, and the offense would drop the ball and run back and defend. Basically simulating a missed shot and a long rebound. Notwithstanding any statistical rationales, if a coach sees bad transition defense tendencies (guys backpedaling, losing assignments, not stopping the ball, etc.), the easiest way to not give up transition baskets is to get your defense set.

WKU's transition defense last year was woeful. Like atrocious. Their eFG% allowed in transition last year was 5th worst in the country. This year they're ranked 138th. While there isn't much of a difference in their OREB% (meaning they weren't great crashing the glass last year either), what people saw was most likely a more concerted effort by the players (at the behest of the staff) to get back in transition. Might mean guys are running back instead of jogging or loitering around the perimeter.

Last night I went over to Cullen Blvd. to see the Cougars play a decent Tulane team (that was 10-3 in conference prior to the game). Coach Sampson's team is not afraid to crash the offensive boards and ended up with 18 offensive rebounds to 8. Further the Coogs had 15 second chance points and only gave up 9 on fast breaks, meaning their transition defense was solid. You CAN focus on rebounding and still play good D. It was just a clinic on how to play stifling defense. They go 9 deep in their rotation and never, I mean never let up.

I'm not trying to take away anything from Houston because you're right, they do play a phenomenal defense. And when they shoot well, they can beat anybody in the country with ease.

But I do wonder if they're battle tested enough to handle better teams in the NCAA tournament. The AAC is not good this year - even with Houston, CUSA ranks as the better overall conference. And Tulane is nothing special - they had no good non-conference wins and in fact, lost to Western Kentucky by 6 on a neutral court. Really, if you take away their two wins over Memphis, their RPI would be comparable to Rice.

(02-23-2023 09:20 AM)Fort Bend Owl Wrote:  

(02-23-2023 09:08 AM)Kayjay Wrote:  

(02-20-2023 11:41 PM)elw4796 Wrote:  I mean, in some cases it's exceedingly simple. If you send guys to offensive rebound, you expose yourself to transition opportunities. Rhoades used to run a drill in practice where 5 guys would pass the ball around the perimeter, he'd blow a whistle, and the offense would drop the ball and run back and defend. Basically simulating a missed shot and a long rebound. Notwithstanding any statistical rationales, if a coach sees bad transition defense tendencies (guys backpedaling, losing assignments, not stopping the ball, etc.), the easiest way to not give up transition baskets is to get your defense set.

WKU's transition defense last year was woeful. Like atrocious. Their eFG% allowed in transition last year was 5th worst in the country. This year they're ranked 138th. While there isn't much of a difference in their OREB% (meaning they weren't great crashing the glass last year either), what people saw was most likely a more concerted effort by the players (at the behest of the staff) to get back in transition. Might mean guys are running back instead of jogging or loitering around the perimeter.

Last night I went over to Cullen Blvd. to see the Cougars play a decent Tulane team (that was 10-3 in conference prior to the game). Coach Sampson's team is not afraid to crash the offensive boards and ended up with 18 offensive rebounds to 8. Further the Coogs had 15 second chance points and only gave up 9 on fast breaks, meaning their transition defense was solid. You CAN focus on rebounding and still play good D. It was just a clinic on how to play stifling defense. They go 9 deep in their rotation and never, I mean never let up.

I'm not trying to take away anything from Houston because you're right, they do play a phenomenal defense. And when they shoot well, they can beat anybody in the country with ease.

But I do wonder if they're battle tested enough to handle better teams in the NCAA tournament. The AAC is not good this year - even with Houston, CUSA ranks as the better overall conference. And Tulane is nothing special - they had no good non-conference wins and in fact, lost to Western Kentucky by 6 on a neutral court. Really, if you take away their two wins over Memphis, their RPI would be comparable to Rice.

Fair points. They did not shoot extraordinarily well last night but their rebounding and steals left Tulane in the dust. They showcase really active hands and are exceptionally disciplined in contesting shots (5 blocked shots), as well as not letting Tulane drive to the basket effectively. Great defense makes up for many offensive deficits.