Why we do NOT have a decent defense, yet:

[CBB_Fan]

23

39

36

Those are the FTA numbers for our 3 tough games. Our defense, to this point, may hold people to low FG% numbers, but we give that back (and more) from the line. We will not be decent defensively until we stop giving our opponents 30-40 FTAs per game. It doesn't matter how hard we defend if we bail our opponents out.

Right now, we lose to ANY decent team that can shoot free-throws and shoot 35% from the field. VCU couldn't. Tennessee did. Our offense is not good enough for our defense to give good opponents any extra chances to score. If we played Creighton today, we'd lose because they can shoot free-throws. If we play Illinois State today, we'd lose (MVC tournament last year?). UNI? I think we lose.

So please, don't say "our defense is good" until we start keeping our opponent off the line. It simply is not true. We didn't play good defense today, and we lost because of it.

[KC Shox]

Very astute observation and there is a trend with the 'good' teams. You're right, VCU hits their free throws we lose, the Vols hit theirs - we lost. And when MVC play begins, don't think some MVC brethren won't notice this and flop even more than they already do.

[ShockerPrez]

Depaul missed a lot of fros too, if I recall.

[WSUwatcher]

And so did Air Force...

It probably wasn't key against DePaul, because that was a double digit win. But against the Falcons, their missed FTs were why WSU won.

[CBB_Fan]

And so did Air Force...

It probably wasn't key against DePaul, because that was a double digit win. But against the Falcons, their missed FTs were why WSU won.

Forgot about that one. Airforce shot 25 free-throws but only made 14. Another game where we could have lost if our opponents made free-throws. And we can't defend from the line.

[moshock]

Yeah, we really suck.................9 - 1

[martymoose]

Yeah, we really suck.................9 - 1

Who said we suck? That has nothing to do with the thread. The point is, if our opponents hit their free throws we lose. If we could just cut down on the stupid fouls we'd be much better off. 2 T's in a game is uncalled for.

[proshox]

But the total number of free throws is exaggerated due to on purpose fouls to extend the game. Also, we are going to foul more. We do not give up open jump shots. That leads to more drives which will lead to more fouls. It is a function of strategy. The strategy had worked for the most part.

[RomeoCrennel's Belly]

We should have lost to Air Force. That'd put us at 8-2 with no real great wins. Our schedule has been soft thus far and we don't have one win to point to when making our argument for an at-large bid.

Iowa? A decent win but not great.
DePaul? Another decent win but they won't be out of the bottom 3 in their conference.
Air Force? Nope. Should have lost.
VCU? I think their name speaks louder than their actual team. Probably our best win though.
Tulsa? Hell no. They're awful.

Then we have a bunch of cupcake wins.

I think we'll be tough as nails come conference season but as far as our non-conf. goes, ehhhhhhhh. We need to sweep CU or at the worst beat them at Koch.

But back to the original poster's thread title, our defense is much better than our offense. So I will not rag on our D.

[Rlh04d]

VCU? I think their name speaks louder than their actual team. Probably our best win though.

Top 50 RPI team = good win.

[CBB_Fan]

But the total number of free throws is exaggerated due to on purpose fouls to extend the game. Also, we are going to foul more. We do not give up open jump shots. That leads to more drives which will lead to more fouls. It is a function of strategy. The strategy had worked for the most part.

No, fouling is never a strategy. Consider that the average basketball player can shoot free-throws at a 70% rate, but shoots 40% on mid-range jumpshots. Giving up a shooting foul on the drive is almost always worse than the mid-range jumpshot because that 70% shooter will make 2 shots 49% of the time and one 42% of the time. So the chance of getting a point from the jump-shot is 80% (40% * 2 points) while the odds of getting a point from the free-throw is 140% (.49% * 2 + .42 * 1). Essentially, what I'm saying is that free-throws are worth more points on average than jump-shots.

We are winning close games because a lot of the teams we've played have shot free-throws at 60% or lower. VCU and Airforce both have uncharacteristically bad free-throw shooting when we played them. Hoping your opponent plays worse than normal is not a strategy. We need to continue what we do well on defense (blocks, steals, limiting easy looks) but we cannot ruin those efforts by committing silly fouls (especially technicals). Unfortunately, we didn't do any of those things well against Tennessee (they shot much better than normal), and then we helped them by putting them on the line whenever they wanted.

[moshock]

Who said we suck? That has nothing to do with the thread. The point is, if our opponents hit their free throws we lose. If we could just cut down on the stupid fouls we'd be much better off. 2 T's in a game is uncalled for.

I was being sarcastic....to say we don't "have a decent defense" is a little out there. Our defense is the only thing that is decent and it's a little better than decent IMO. We aren't winning because of offense.

So we must just be lucky ??? The meltdown by some around here after a loss is rediculous.

This team plays good defense - the offense is much better than it was in game 1. Good teams win - You make your own luck.

I doubt that I could make a free throw after going up against the Beast on offense and defense.

[CBB_Fan]

I was being sarcastic....to say we don't "have a decent defense" is a little out there. Our defense is the only thing that is decent and it's a little better than decent IMO. We aren't winning because of offense.

So we must just be lucky ??? The meltdown by some around here after a loss is rediculous.

This team plays good defense - the offense is much better than it was in game 1. Good teams win - You make your own luck.

I doubt that I could make a free throw after going up against the Beast on offense and defense.

Look at our true shooting % defense (which essentially combines free-throws with regular defense). Guess where our "decent" defense is?

Top 10? Nope.
Top 25? Nope.
Top 50? Nope.
Top 75? Nope.

We are barely in the top 100 teams at #98. We are between UCLA and UNI, and you wouldn't say either of those teams is great at defense. We were 23rd in the country last year.

Essentially, we are significantly worse at stopping other teams from scoring than we were last year, despite actually holding opponents to lower eFG% numbers (and we were top 25 in that last year). We stop fouling, and we do have a decent defense, but until then we give up too much to be in that category.

[moshock]

Look at our true shooting % defense (which essentially combines free-throws with regular defense). Guess where our "decent" defense is?

Top 10? Nope.
Top 25? Nope.
Top 50? Nope.
Top 75? Nope.

We are barely in the top 100 teams at #98. We are between UCLA and UNI, and you wouldn't say either of those teams is great at defense. We were 23rd in the country last year.

Essentially, we are significantly worse at stopping other teams from scoring than we were last year, despite actually holding opponents to lower eFG% numbers (and we were top 25 in that last year). We stop fouling, and we do have a decent defense, but until then we give up too much to be in that category.

9 - 1

[ShockerFever]

Hey CBB, why didn't you let us know about all of this doom and gloom and suckatude before we lost??