San Diego St / CBS 9:40 PM

[Cusesky8214]

 

[MGP]

Please, bruh...

 

[Orangezoo]

Odds are that coach is from a school with one of the larger hoops budgets in the country.

 

[shandeezy7]

Guys that are there to win basketball games will not care about this minor inconvenience. Ridiculous.

 

[BurgundyOUT]

The MWC championship game if anyone's interested

A couple things to keep in mind while watching:

First, this is the third game in three days and the second in 20 hours (18 hours for the Aggies), so don't judge shooting from an insufficient and skewed data sample. Second, Utah St. ranks 8th in the nation in adjusted D and the Aztecs rank 11th (KPI). So you're watching two of the best defensive squads in all of D1. Enjoy!

 

[BurgundyOUT]

The version of the defense you will see is not likely to be the version that is 89th in Ken Pomeroy ( if we don't show up on D for some reason well then it won't matter much). We had two pauses this year in addition to losing our 6-11 starting C in game one. It took this team a while to figure itself out.

The average minutes over our season is deceiving. Unless Griffin gets hot or plays well you will be seeing 6-10/6-9/6-7/6-6 and then some 6-1 and plenty 6-5 at PG.

We extend the perimeter a lot. The corner 3 can be there at times but it's not been there as often since the team found their groove on both ends.

Boise to me is long but when I say soft they get disorganized on D a lot. So yes they are long but there are open shots to be had often. For reference I caught out 12 Boise games this year. I worked for a company based in CA so had to do west coast hours for most of 2020 virtually. Gave lots of chances to catch late games.

Also part of our numbers of Def are impacted by offensive rebounding. In poor rebounding games we gave up way too many second chance points. This was against Bigger teams with huge front lines of which there are a few in the ACC. Once again the numbers are deceiving. UVA is a better 3pt shooting team than SDSU and a bigger team. If you watch the UVA SU game you get a better feel.

Last thing I will say is that playing tall teams is different than playing a taller longer SU team. It's all how it's used. The top of the key is a major challenge when Kadary and Buddy are up there. That is an entry pass vs 6-5/6-6 and works the same for a closeout. Also where we turn teams over. So while this year's team is not as long as some- look at the lineup usage the past 5 games vs the whole season. We may not need to go to the bigger lineup Friday given you guys don't run as big as what we see in the ACC. Lots of chess pieces in this one.

Remember tho my comment that Boise was built to beat us? I can't speak to their defensive inefficiencies at large, but only to their defensive prowess in the context of our games against them.

I do appreciate the insight into your team though. Along this lines, given I see a lot of people basically saying, "yeah, our D is crap this year but our offense is way better," can you (or someone) give me a primer on how you guys run your offense and what I should be looking for Friday?

 

[BurgundyOUT]

Well-researched (and written) article...quite better than the normal "mail-it-in" pieces we mostly see this time of year on The Zone

Remember that's the daily for the 2nd largest city in Cali and LA just jocked our NFL steeze after stealing the Clippers a few decades earlier. So we take our college hoops fairly seriously and you'll see that reflected in Zeigler's column.

 

[pearl31]

Remember tho my comment that Boise was built to beat us? I can't speak to their defensive inefficiencies at large, but only to their defensive prowess in the context of our games against them.

I do appreciate the insight into your team though. Along this lines, given I see a lot of people basically saying, "yeah, our D is crap this year but our offense is way better," can you (or someone) give me a primer on how you guys run your offense and what I should be looking for Friday?

Yes.
At practice, our coach rolls the ball out and says, GO MAKE SOME BASKETS

 

[walsh2012]

if you're trying to lose so you can go home you might as well just stop playing basketball

 

[kuethstheman]

Yes.
At practice, our coach rolls the ball out and says, GO MAKE SOME BASKETS

A little longer version and only slightly more serious:
Start with an ineffective ball screen for the point guard and hope for the best. If the rest of the team just stands around, Boeheim usually doesn't complain until the post-game press conference.

 

[CousCuse]

Is that coach from Creighton in charge of things there in Indy?

 

[OttoinGrotto]

Neemias Queta is going to be a 1st round pick. That guy's a beast who would have produced at the 5-spot for any school int he country.

Yeah that dude balls out.

 

[pearl31]

Yeah that dude balls out.

when he's not fouled out

 

[Orangezoo]

Remember tho my comment that Boise was built to beat us? I can't speak to their defensive inefficiencies at large, but only to their defensive prowess in the context of our games against them.

I do appreciate the insight into your team though. Along this lines, given I see a lot of people basically saying, "yeah, our D is crap this year but our offense is way better," can you (or someone) give me a primer on how you guys run your offense and what I should be looking for Friday?

No knock on you but I find it odd that a team would be built for the sheer reason of beating a conference opponent but if that is the case than that is interesting to say the least.

Our offense will somewhat depend on how you defend us. If hellbent on stopping Buddy, which the last 6 games they have tried with no luck, you can expect to see Dolezaj go to work as the centerpiece/distributor. Both he and Guerrier will look to exploit matchups. Guerrier is a hard guard in the paint and will pop open for a 3 a few times a game. Buddy is constantly moving and with lots of screening to get him shots. He and Guerrier work well together.

We will work to spread you out to get shooters looks and provide opportunities for Buddy or Dolezaj to drive. Girard will facilitate and pick his spots. When Kadary is in, he will find the open guy no matter what. Kadary will drive his man inside and force a decision as he will have a couple options usually which all depend on which personnel you use and how you defend our key guys. Griffin is one to watch. If he hits a couple early he will force someone to shadow him all game. He makes tough shots and contested shots. He also is prone to take bad shots. He goes game to game. When he goes rogue you will see Braswell. He mainly will roam the perimeter as he can shoot the 3 and at 6-9 has no issue getting his shot off.

That isn't super helpful but we have given different looks through the year. Big thing is Buddy will find his way in the paint if no looks are there outside and he is crafty and stronger than he looks. Our offense flows through Buddy/Dolezaj and Griffin most possessions and then through Kadary when he comes in as well. Griffin and Girard are your up and down guys who when they are on lookout.

We haven't had a game with all four shooters being on really the whole year. I wouldn't expect it to happen Friday vs a good defense either.

 

[two3zone]

Guess they forgot their xboxes

 

[BurgundyOUT]

Yes.
At practice, our coach rolls the ball out and says, GO MAKE SOME BASKETS

Your coach is Dave Rice?

 

[SUOrangeSU]

my bracket is quite interesting......

USC to the elite eight
UNC over Baylor
Arkansas to the Final 4
Uconn to the Final 4
Cuse to the Elite Eight

 

[BurgundyOUT]

No knock on you but I find it odd that a team would be built for the sheer reason of beating a conference opponent but if that is the case than that is interesting to say the least.

Our offense will somewhat depend on how you defend us. If hellbent on stopping Buddy, which the last 6 games they have tried with no luck, you can expect to see Dolezaj go to work as the centerpiece/distributor. Both he and Guerrier will look to exploit matchups. Guerrier is a hard guard in the paint and will pop open for a 3 a few times a game. Buddy is constantly moving and with lots of screening to get him shots. He and Guerrier work well together.

We will work to spread you out to get shooters looks and provide opportunities for Buddy or Dolezaj to drive. Girard will facilitate and pick his spots. When Kadary is in, he will find the open guy no matter what. Kadary will drive his man inside and force a decision as he will have a couple options usually which all depend on which personnel you use and how you defend our key guys. Griffin is one to watch. If he hits a couple early he will force someone to shadow him all game. He makes tough shots and contested shots. He also is prone to take bad shots. He goes game to game. When he goes rogue you will see Braswell. He mainly will roam the perimeter as he can shoot the 3 and at 6-9 has no issue getting his shot off.

That isn't super helpful but we have given different looks through the year. Big thing is Buddy will find his way in the paint if no looks are there outside and he is crafty and stronger than he looks. Our offense flows through Buddy/Dolezaj and Griffin most possessions and then through Kadary when he comes in as well. Griffin and Girard are your up and down guys who when they are on lookout.

We haven't had a game with all four shooters being on really the whole year. I wouldn't expect it to happen Friday vs a good defense either.

No offense taken. When you're the dominant program in a conference, everyone else knows they have to knock you off the hill to assume the top spot. And given the lack of quality OOC games most MWC teams have on their sked each year (to build a tournament resume), they have to plan to win the MWCT to get a chance to dance. Thus, teams were built to beat us.

Re: your offense, thanks for the breakdown.

I imagine we'll switch on screens but expect to see Trey Pulliam guarding Boeheim unless he starts dropping shots due to his height advantage - then you'll likely see Jordan Shackel pick him up on D. Both are lockdown defenders. The other matchup I'll be looking forward to is Matt Mitchell on Guerrier.

I see you guys are middle-of-the-road tempo wise (138 in KenPom), but you make it sound like you guys work some time off the clock in your half court sets. I'm interested to see how that circle gets squared come game time.

 

[imdevo]

We'll easily see him in 2030. Wouldn't be surprised if he ends up staying to coach Buddy Jr

 

[BurgundyOUT]

I've seen a couple "Virginia Light" comments regarding our D. Cute. Except KenPom has us ranked 11th in adjD and Virgina ranked 33rd. So maybe, defensively speaking, Virgina is SDSU Light?

 

[two3zone]

Your coach is Dave Rice?

Our coach just rolls the balls out.

 

[pearl31]

I've seen a couple "Virginia Light" comments regarding our D. Cute. Except KenPom has us ranked 11th in adjD and Virgina ranked 33rd. So maybe, defensively speaking, Virgina is SDSU Light?

uh

 

[BurgundyOUT]

Our coach just rolls the balls out.

I took that as a joke... For real?

 

[721Comstock]

I've seen a couple "Virginia Light" comments regarding our D. Cute. Except KenPom has us ranked 11th in adjD and Virgina ranked 33rd. So maybe, defensively speaking, Virgina is SDSU Light?

Well, a few things:

I'd imagine UVA played a tad harder schedule than you did.
I mean, a 'down' ACC is still sending a LOT more teams to the Dance than the MWC.
7 vs. 2

Also - The Hoos got LIT THE FFF UP by the Zags back in late Dec, which I'm sure doesn't help their D stats any.

Lastly - this is probably Virginia's "worst" defensive team in several years.
So, the fact that one ratings system has you rated higher in this one particular year?
Cute.

 

[kuethstheman]

I took that as a joke... For real?

Many fans believe that.