What will this year's team look like?

[CardiacCuse]

Who guards the other teams best perimeter player? Bell and JJ have terrible defensive reputations and Carlo's is small. There seems to be room for Lucas Taylor to get big minutes if he makes shots and can defend.

isnt chance known as a lock dwn defender? why is nobody mentioning him???

 

[CardiacCuse]

I can’t put it on them. Brown and Taylor were the 2 best defenders in the starting lineup. Bell was bad the year before and JJ stunk on defense at Notre Dame. I think Freeman will be a clear upgrade over Taylor, but I’m worried about Lampkin in space. Those guys have to improve individually if we are going to have a successful season. Let’s see if Engelstad helps on that end here.

its not about who deserves blame

brown and taylor are weak rim defenders...and a horrible PF and Center combo defensively

doesnt matter if they are or arent to blame...its just facts

 

[IthacaMatt]

The reason for JJ’s numbers is not that he had to defend multiple guys in transition several times per game. That is just not true. I don’t want to get too deep into another Judah thing but the lengths people go to pin last years problems on him is literally insane. I’m not saying that never ever happened, but the notion that it happened so many times a game that it gave JJ the worst defensive numbers of almost any ACC guard is simply ridiculous. JJ got beat plenty, he showed little effort plenty, despite his athleticism. He would shadow guys but not actually contest anything they did. He would lose his man with a simple pick. He would be lazy contesting the three ball. I will find clips if I have too. Judah was far from perfect but the numbers for JJ are not a result of Judahs play.

You know what? There's a thing called the Eye Test, and sometimes that trumps advanced metrics. Remember that Purdue guy who was seemingly breast-fed on PFF statistics trying to convince us how much they would kick our asses on both lines.

Then, think about who is doing the grading. In the NFL or NBA, advanced stats only have to measure a more limited universe of teams. There are only so many teams to study. Then think about where the money is, who has the most money to invest in these stats.

Just like NBA scouts do a much better job than the ones scouting high school kids to create these Top 100 rankings. You can't see everybody, when there are over 340 teams in basketball. Who is doing the grading, college students who have never played Division 1 sports? Do you think it's coaches spending time doing this?

The proof will be in front of us shortly. We will have a much better balanced lineup. We will have fewer obvious liabilities on the floor this year. And we'll know in a month if JJ is still supposedly in the lowest 10% of all defenders in the country.

Don't be in love with advanced metrics. They alter how teams play the game, but not always for the better.

 

[IthacaMatt]

Out of 79 players that played at least 50% of minutes in 20 games Bell was 71st in defensive rating and JJ was 72nd. Bell was 75th in DPM and JJ was 78th. The only players near their level played at Louisville and Georgia Tech. Not company you want to keep.

This year Bart Torvik projects them to make minor improvement, but still in the bottom quartile of defenders.

This season, we will have rim protection. Last season we didn't.

This season, we will have a couple really solid options at PF, in case one of them has a mental breakdown and gets kicked off the team.

This season, we will have better athleticism on our overall team.
We have more depth. We have more mature guys.

I think we will be much better defensively. If JJ obviously sucks, he won't have to play 30 minutes. He won't have to play 20, if he's as bad as all you guys say.

If Chris Bell doesn't hustle on defense, we got 3 more guys to replace him, who can defend better, score inside the arc, and now we have a couple more guys who can play in the front court and make threes.

Depth will keep them honest. We have enough guys who know how to play at this level to make them play with effort.

 

[djcon57]

What defensive metrics are graded by people like PFF grades? What are we talking about here?

 

[baggerbob]

Jimmy B went for 14 and 6 and was a cone on D.

Not suggesting Freeman will but the point is it's not just basic stats. Have to include D (interior and the ability to guard PNR), can Freeman extend floor better than Maliq can, can Freeman pass as well as Maliq, etc

As much as it bummed me out to lose Maliq, looking at the build of this team, I'm more understanding with letting him go...that said...I'll continue to speak against the narrative some have against Maliq that he was some black hole on O or that he was a negative defender on D even playing center. Its just not true.

To me my biggest concern with Freeman is give me a season of 11 and 8 with a few blocks. That along with the other players gets us in the tournament. A balanced team effort will get us 20+ wins.

 

[baggerbob]

isnt chance known as a lock dwn defender? why is nobody mentioning him???

Because no one knows when or if he will play? And after sitting out 2 years he might never be the player he was.

 

[Capt. Tuttle]

Good post...Ive been playing with this anology.

College basketball is almost like a AAA baseball team. Old vets who know this is about as good as they got it and maybe if they have a good run, they'll get called up.

College football is like AA. The best guys know they'll see the majors one day.

Talking to a friend of mine who is a part owner of an independent minor league team (Springfield Lucky Horseshoes). He said MLB is going to drastically reduce minor league teams and will become more reliant on college players.

 

[Capt. Tuttle]

Defense is a concern for sure. I feel like that was a combination of the drama, poor communication, youth and guys not playing the positions they should by necessity. Paired with overall ending up as a smaller team for most of the year.

We brought in a coach who has a history of being a defensive tactician and have much better size, especially up front.

Lampkin was a poor defender at Colorado but was solid at TCU( not winning any awards but not a weak spot either). He dealt with a back issue last year as well. Just looking at his practice tape now vs his game tape even as recent as the tourney you can see he’s slimmed down a good bit which was definitely needed.

JJ is a gym rat and has committed it seems ( his words ) to using his speed and athleticism more on the defensive side of the ball to pair with honing his playmaking skills on offense.

Carlos is a decent defender, Taylor showed on tape he can be and coaches seem to see him as a good defender and he has the size and frame where he should be. Naheem being healthy means we have a post presence and Donnie being the athlete he is should be able to help on the weak side as we will be challenged on ball screens and pick and roll with the big guys. The staff and players have noted the importance of the big guys handling being put in that action.

Cuffe has trimmed down and looks explosive and showed to be a decent on ball defender in stretches but he just was too heavy last year.

So far it seems everyone is eyes wide open about defense so it comes down to execution. Red made what he could out of having one committed defender last year (maybe two in Taylor) in Brown. Judah was Jekyll and Hyde on defense. Had he committed every game we might have made the tourney but that’s in the past.

I’m neutral until we see them play a game but there is more reason to be hopeful about defense when you look at everything leading up. Notice I am silent on Bell- he’s got a long ways to go so I’m still expecting he is probably a major weak spot out there.

1. Re: JJ. I think it can be hard to play defense when your backcourt mates won’t do it. By many accounts, Judah and Q just blew off rotations and help defense.
2. Re:Justin Taylor- no one on last years team tried harder than Taylor. That is why he started over Q. He tried.

 

[Capt. Tuttle]

For me - guys improve and yadda yadda but for the most part we know what they are.

The game changer is Freeman. Can he board and help rim protect and get double figures? If so our expectations go way up (assuming the guys who have played college ball before maintain or improve last year levels).

I would not necessarily expect production from the lower level guys to go up. After all, they played against lower level competition and they were featured players.
I would like to see the +/- , points, rebounds, etc. proportional by minutes played between the staters and the bench. That would be indicative of no slippage when we go to the bench

 

[Capt. Tuttle]

What defensive metrics are graded by people like PFF grades? What are we talking about here?

Practice! We talking about practice!

 

[two3zone]

isnt chance known as a lock dwn defender? why is nobody mentioning him???

Because he's had two major knee surgeries in two years and hasn't played a game since Jim Boeheim thinking he was still going to coach another five years.

 

[CardiacCuse]

Because he's had two major knee surgeries in two years and hasn't played a game since Jim Boeheim thinking he was still going to coach another five years.

if he has lost that aspect of his game and he literally cant move his knees...he shouldnt be on the team

i trust red isnt just keeping him on as a sentimental fave

i get it that people assume the worst...but i assume he is his normal self...and a great defender

but then again red did say taylor is the best 1 on 1 defender 0n the squad

 

[Idiocuse22&]

I can’t put it on them. Brown and Taylor were the 2 best defenders in the starting lineup. Bell was bad the year before and JJ stunk on defense at Notre Dame. I think Freeman will be a clear upgrade over Taylor, but I’m worried about Lampkin in space. Those guys have to improve individually if we are going to have a successful season. Let’s see if Engelstad helps on that end here.

I really think Coach E will be a huge help on the defenside end. He has learned and developed his own style.
Our coaches have been married to Boeheims defense.
I get it they have experience with other defenses, but it will be refreshing to see another successful defensive mind from outside the 2-3 old school mind set. Coach B didnt bring that.
Bell has shown glimpses of good d, jj struggled but not bc of effort. These guys need to be coached up defensively, i believe we have the coach to do it. Petar could also be a huge plus on D.
We have the pieces and experience to do some damage! And I havnt had this level of confidence in a decade plus.

 

[Idiocuse22&]

isnt chance known as a lock dwn defender? why is nobody mentioning him???

Yea, obvious answer is Chance, thats his niche. We have Taylor and a new coach that knows Def. We will be beyond fine.

 

[cusefan88]

I'm excited to see Jyare Davis and Lucas Taylor off the bench. Davis in particular has such a smooth game and is very physical around the basket.

That is going to be the big difference to me. Teams won't bully Cuse on the interior.

 

[Zelda Zonk]

Yea, obvious answer is Chance, thats his niche. We have Taylor and a new coach that knows Def. We will be beyond fine.

“Beyond fine.”
That’s an interesting characterization. Reminds me of a commercial I’ve been seeing lately, for some product that cleans and “removes up to 100% of deposits.” The product could do absolutely nothing and that claim would still be true….

 

[MikeSU02]

The biggest difference in inside defense this year will be at the 4. It will make a huge difference. Taylor wasn’t a 4. He didn’t ask to be the 4. That was Benny. Taylor was coming off the bench at a couple positions.

We will not be better defensively at any level.

Come on.

 

[Orangezoo]

We will not be better defensively at any level.

Come on.

I get your pessimism on the defense but we were really small after Naheem went down last year and Benny booted. Brown alone didn’t make last years team a passable defense. One player helps but team defense matters a lot too. I think we need to wait and see a bit. Having real size in the frontcourt does make a difference. It’s not a guaranteed fix either which I get too.

Saying we won’t be better at any level is an over the top take at this point in time in my opinion.

 

[two3zone]

if he has lost that aspect of his game and he literally cant move his knees...he shouldnt be on the team

i trust red isnt just keeping him on as a sentimental fave

i get it that people assume the worst...but i assume he is his normal self...and a great defender

but then again red did say taylor is the best 1 on 1 defender 0n the squad

I'm not saying his knees are still bad but you just don't jump right in like nothing happened. He hasn't played regularly in games since he was in high school. 20 minutes a game would be expecting a lot.

 

[two3zone]

I get your pessimism on the defense but we were really small after Naheem went down last year and Benny booted. Brown alone didn’t make last years team a passable defense. One player helps but team defense matters a lot too. I think we need to wait and see a bit. Having real size in the frontcourt does make a difference. It’s not a guaranteed fix either which I get too.

Saying we won’t be better at any level is an over the top take at this point in time in my opinion.

Naheem was awful awful unless he blocked a shot, like really bad.

 

[Orangezoo]

Naheem was awful awful unless he blocked a shot, like really bad.

To play the metrics game though- he had the best defensive BPR on the team for the portion of the season he played. His individual defense certainly reflected his flaws but team defense wise overall they were better defensively with him on the floor.

Offensively is a different matter but his size had an impact per the metrics.

We gave up over 80 points in 9 of the 18 games we didn’t have him and only twice in the 14 games we did.

In essentially every loss in conference we got eaten alive in the paint and in some high scoring wins.

 

[two3zone]

To play the metrics game though- he had the best defensive BPR on the team for the portion of the season he played. His individual defense certainly reflected his flaws but team defense wise overall they were better defensively with him on the floor.

Offensively is a different matter but his size had an impact per the metrics.

I assume that was because he us 7'4" and blocked a ton of shots, which I assume half the shooter rebounded then dribbled once around the guy and made an easy layup.

He eas awful.

 

[Orangezoo]

I assume that was because he us 7'4" and blocked a ton of shots, which I assume half the shooter rebounded then dribbled once around the guy and made an easy layup.

He eas awful.

The adjusted def when he was on the floor was 91.8 is what I’m looking at too. He was more beneficial as a presence than he was trying to block everything. When he went out and then no Benny we had nothing to protect the paint or detract teams from attacking us there except Maliq using his hands ( which were excellent).

 

[two3zone]

The adjusted def when he was on the floor was 91.8 is what I’m looking at too. He was more beneficial as a presence than he was trying to block everything. When he went out and then no Benny we had nothing to protect the paint or detract teams from attacking us there except Maliq using his hands ( which were excellent).

Ehhh, I guess if the numbers say it, still think he stinks.