It's time for THAT post

[golf]

Correct. That's one of the significant points of my post. In the last - basically decade - the Gophers' main problem is that their offense descends to levels so low that no amount of defense can save them. Holding the opposing team to 63? That's great. They could have held them to 50.... So what? If you just don't score, none of it matters. That really has been their problem when they struggle.

100% agree. Thankfully i didnt see the game but Ryan James said it was obvious maryland was tilting their defense to stop carr and robbins. Imagine we'll see more of that.

 

[builtbadgers]

Points per possession tells you how efficient your team is. Offense and defense...two different calculations. How do you compare to your opponents? Takes tempo out of the equation.
Number of possessions tells if you run or drain the clock. You also can rate yourself by your desired number and efficiency.
Million stats in basketball...number of dribbles per game, passes per game, rebounds, defections, steals, percentage of contested shots, turnovers, opponents turnovers, times opponents got the ball in the paint, times you did...on and on...you can emphasize anything you want.
If you score like today, none of it matters.
Was Mutaf our best game day three point shooter? I’d recruit some shooters and play them every game...at least some minutes.
Gotta score! Great defense means you lose closer if you can’t score.

Number of possessions is not just about running or draining the clock. Some very low possession teams never drain the clock. They look for good shots, they run motion, they run sides, they set picks. They make you play offense for a long time by not giving up quality shots. We ran every model for pace and if the 63 type possession teams just turned it over 4 times per game over their average and earlier in the clock they would increase possessions. If they would just play terrible defense 10 times early in the clock they would add possessions. What they would have accomplished is a decrease in efficiency. Of course we will rarely win under 60. We are not good enough defensively to do that. And we have zero chance at 49 because asking for that from this program would mean we were nationally elite defensively'. My sons ran the data over the last 7 years and your right. under 65 and your in real trouble. Even UW can only win 36% of those. UVA rocks out above 70 % but of course are historical levels of greatness on defense and usually wildly efficient on offense. Even last year when they were horrible on offense they went 15-5 because of the defense. We are not good at either but yes , the offense killed us today.

 

[WhoFellDownTheGopherHole?]

It was obvious today was going to be a challenge from the first two Gopher possessions. Maryland was moving their feet fast on D, including swarming on Robbins. Apparently he's not a quick enough passer to do much about it. Other than against MI, Gophers consistently have problems getting it into the paint. Carr and Mash actually did a nice job driving the lane and drawing fouls over a period of about 5 minutes somewhere in there, but they didn't continue attacking despite Maryland going into half with 10 fouls already. Could have had a few of their guys sitting on the bench most of the second half.
This is what infuriates me: other teams cross half court and 2 seconds later they throw it into the paint to a wide open guy who gets an easy layup or put-in. This happens 7-8-9 times a game for the opposing team and rarely ever for the Gophers. We also (as i mentioned in game thread) never ever get easy breakaway buckets - Carr alone gives up 2 of these every game with lazy passes or inattention.

This team still needs a point guard.

The entire Pitino era can be defined by shooting guards being jammed into point guard roles.