M.I.A: Defense

[WSUwatcher]

I've already said that I think those who are panicking are ahead of themselves, and that's my story and I'm sticking to it. WSU has some work to do, but McDuffie's return will help them get better, and I think SMU's game of the year performance makes things look worse than they really are and also skews the metrics because of the sample size (18 games may be half a college season, at least for a team aspiring to go deep into March, but it's still not a big sample).

Having said all that, though, I have to admit it's pretty weird to look at KenPom and see the Jayboys over two points ahead of WSU in Adjusted D, and ranked 33rd to the Shocks' 57th. That's a hard parlay even to fathom.

[Shockm]

I've already said that I think those who are panicking are ahead of themselves, and that's my story and I'm sticking to it. WSU has some work to do, but McDuffie's return will help them get better, and I think SMU's game of the year performance makes things look worse than they really are and also skews the metrics because of the sample size (18 games may be half a college season, at least for a team aspiring to go deep into March, but it's still not a big sample).

Having said all that, though, I have to admit it's pretty weird to look at KenPom and see the Jayboys over two points ahead of WSU in Adjusted D, and ranked 33rd to the Shocks' 57th. That's a hard parlay even to fathom.

I think you and are others are right. We can improve our ball screen defense and there were mistakes against SMU. The statistics tell you some things. However, individual games have to be scoured by possession. Anyone who has played basketball for a length of time has had games where everything you shot went in and you couldn't be guarded. That was Shake M. and to just a lesser extent Jamahl McMurray. We lost the game on several possessions on hedging mistakes, and bust as much on possessions when we turned the ball over with unforced turnovers, etc just as much as on defense. SMU was almost perfect with a perfect game plan and while the Shox were not bad, we were not as good as we needed to be. In looking at a season, I think you divide it into 3 seasons. 1 Preseason including OOC games. 2. Conference and 3. Post season or conference Tournament and NCAA. We were very good ( certainly above average) non conference. Now we are in the middle of Ohase 2. Last year we didn't hit our stride until after ISUR loss. Phase 2 and 3 are coming up

[Aargh]

WSU isn't in the MVC any more and now there's a year of film to watch to see the changes in D now that Baker and VanVleet are gone. I think the loss of Baker and VanVleet is more obvious this year than it was last year. Shox are facing a completely different type of point guards this year. The Valley had 3-point shooters playing PG who generally weren't quick enough to break down WSU's D.

This year the Shox are facing point guards who often are better 3-point shooters than were seen in the Valley, plus those point guardes are quick enough to break down the defense if they are closely guarded on the perimeter. WSU's D seems adapted to stopping PG's who are better at staying on the perimeter looking for 3-point opportunities. The D seems susceptible to PG's (or SG's) who can drive to the hoop. This has been seen and discussed over the last several years, but is more obvious against the better quality guards seen in the AAC.