Seriously...if we play in Dayton, which I do not think we will, is it really so bad? That most likely means being on the 11 or 12 seed line. Here are the 8 most likely teams we would see there:
- USC: Mediocre rebounding team, okay offense, defense not much better than ours. Their front line is a load, but they are terrible defending the three.
- Vanderbilt: Doubt we see them again, but I don't think any Marquette fan has reason to be afraid of Vanderbilt. Poor offensive rebounders, don't force turnovers (the two things that get us into trouble), and we can definitely outscore them.
- Syracuse: This isn't the old Syracuse. They still play zone, but they play slower now. Not at all a good defensive team. I think we'd destroy them from three. 16 of their 18 wins came at home, and their best away win was Clemson. Pretty sure they don't play their home games in Dayton.
- Rhode Island: Maybe the scariest team for us to match up with. They defend the three well, have length at a lot of positions, and are good at attacking the rim. But they do foul a ton, so I expect even if they play well, they'd let us stay in the game by putting us on the line.
- Kansas State: Terrible at guarding the three and turn it over a lot. Sounds like the kind of team we would dissect.
- Illinois State: Their defense might take some time to crack, but other than that one win over Wichita State, their next best win is Loyola-Chicago. I just don't think they can score enough points to keep up with us.
- Iowa: They play fast, they like to turn the ball over (on offense), they aren't good on the glass, and 4 of their top 6 players are freshmen. I think we'd beat them by 20+. Giggity.
- Illinois: How are they in the discussion? They inexplicably swept Northwestern, but went 0-3 against Rutgers and Penn State. They are freaking terrible.
If we see any of those teams in Dayton, we open at worst as a 2-3 point favorite. Those aren't the types of teams we should be afraid of. Yes, it's still a one-off and anything can happen, but if we end up in Dayton, we most likely play one of those 8 teams, we most likely win, and we most likely are playing on Thursday or Friday anyway.
And if we play in Dayton, when we play Thursday or Friday, it's against a 5 or 6 seed. Seriously, if we got a play-in as an 11 in Dayton, and fed into a 6-seeded Minnesota, Iowa State, or Maryland, I'd be overjoyed. Follow that up with UCLA or Louisville (play zone, we win) as a 3-seed and I think we'd have a decent chance at a Sweet 16.
Is being an 11/12 in Dayton ideal? Maybe not, but if anyone is hoping to play in the second weekend of the tournament, it might be better to start in Dayton than to start in Tulsa or Greensboro as an 8/9 seed.
ABD
The biggest issue playing in Dayton is flying in and having to a rent a car. All Enterprise has is second generation Cavalier Coupes.
We were also a 3 point favorite against SH yesterday.
Quote from: wadesworld on March 10, 2017, 09:52:13 AM
We were also a 3 point favorite against SH yesterday.
This says it all for our team this year. The spread/potential is not the problem - it's execution.
Surprisingly our record is very good against good teams (KenPom 50 and below). It's our performance against beatable teams vs ranking that is our Achilles heal.
Anything is progress - personally would prefer Thur/Fri.
The only team i would be worried about is Iowa but besides that we can beat all of them
I just don't like the risk of not being playing on the real opening day.
But you're right a lot of good match ups.
That said, UL would blow our doors off Idk why the heck you mentioned them as a possible sweet 16 run.
Quote from: PFsHeroes32 on March 10, 2017, 10:05:41 AM
I just don't like the risk of not being playing on the real opening day.
But you're right a lot of good match ups.
That said, UL would blow our doors off Idk why the heck you mentioned them as a possible sweet 16 run.
Run zone against Louisville, turn it into a three-point contest, I like our chances. This UL team doesn't intimidate me nearly as much as the teams of the past.
EDIT: And I get the fear of not playing on Thursday/Friday, but I think we would still have a very good chance of playing those days even if we start in Dayton. I think quite a few MU fans underestimate what a difficult scout we are. Offensively, you need to prepare for the best three point shooting team in the country, a team that has 5 legit very good shooters from deep. I think Luke would also be a tough scout as he'll be far more effective against teams that haven't seen him than he is against Big East teams that have learned how to prepare for him. I think Cheatham and Johnson's driving deficiency of only going to one side is mitigated by playing teams that aren't as aware of how they play. Even on defense, we prefer man, but have no problem breaking out a 1-3-1 or even 2-3 zone.
Obviously we would also have short time to scout, but I think very few teams are as versatile on offense as we are. Generally, you focus on taking away 2 or 3 guys, whereas we legitimately have 6 players who could lead us in scoring on any given night, and that's not including Duane or Cheatham. I think we're a tougher out than Marquette fans might realize, and think we are more dangerous on 1-2 days rest than most of the teams we'd be playing against.
Quote from: brewcity77 on March 10, 2017, 10:19:27 AM
Run zone against Louisville, turn it into a three-point contest, I like our chances. This UL team doesn't intimidate me nearly as much as the teams of the past.
Not sure what MU team you have been watching but we would have to have an unbelievable game to beat UL. Amazing how fans can get carried away.
Quote from: PTM on March 10, 2017, 09:49:52 AM
The biggest issue playing in Dayton is flying in and having to a rent a car. All Enterprise has is second generation Cavalier Coupes.
Tell me about. All the cars have a tassel from when the owner graduated high school hanging from the rear view mirror too. So annoying
Quote from: brewcity77 on March 10, 2017, 10:19:27 AM
Run zone against Louisville, turn it into a three-point contest, I like our chances. This UL team doesn't intimidate me nearly as much as the teams of the past.
EDIT: And I get the fear of not playing on Thursday/Friday, but I think we would still have a very good chance of playing those days even if we start in Dayton. I think quite a few MU fans underestimate what a difficult scout we are. Offensively, you need to prepare for the best three point shooting team in the country, a team that has 5 legit very good shooters from deep. I think Luke would also be a tough scout as he'll be far more effective against teams that haven't seen him than he is against Big East teams that have learned how to prepare for him. I think Cheatham and Johnson's driving deficiency of only going to one side is mitigated by playing teams that aren't as aware of how they play. Even on defense, we prefer man, but have no problem breaking out a 1-3-1 or even 2-3 zone.
Obviously we would also have short time to scout, but I think very few teams are as versatile on offense as we are. Generally, you focus on taking away 2 or 3 guys, whereas we legitimately have 6 players who could lead us in scoring on any given night, and that's not including Duane or Cheatham. I think we're a tougher out than Marquette fans might realize, and think we are more dangerous on 1-2 days rest than most of the teams we'd be playing against.
I do completely agree with all that regarding us and being a difficult match up.
But with UL they just have too much size. They would just rebound their misses and we see what length can sometimes do to our offense.
Even in UL loss to Duke yesterday shooting 4-21 from 3 and 55% from the line. They almost won because they are lethal down low.
Just don't see us stopping that.
But let's be honest. If you tell me right now I can get a gurantee round of 32 game against UL...I'll take it.
We need to worry about getting in first than we can talk matchups
The upside of playing in Dayton is that Kostas would be able to come to the game. If we do well he can spread the gospel to his younger brother Alexis.
Quote from: PTM on March 10, 2017, 09:49:52 AM
The biggest issue playing in Dayton is flying in and having to a rent a car. All Enterprise has is second generation Cavalier Coupes.
Just as long as it's red.
(https://i2.wp.com/www.curbsideclassic.com/wp-content/uploads/2014/03/chev862cavalierz24.jpg)
Quote from: brewcity77 on March 10, 2017, 10:19:27 AM
Run zone against Louisville, turn it into a three-point contest, I like our chances. This UL team doesn't intimidate me nearly as much as the teams of the past.
EDIT: And I get the fear of not playing on Thursday/Friday, but I think we would still have a very good chance of playing those days even if we start in Dayton. I think quite a few MU fans underestimate what a difficult scout we are. Offensively, you need to prepare for the best three point shooting team in the country, a team that has 5 legit very good shooters from deep. I think Luke would also be a tough scout as he'll be far more effective against teams that haven't seen him than he is against Big East teams that have learned how to prepare for him. I think Cheatham and Johnson's driving deficiency of only going to one side is mitigated by playing teams that aren't as aware of how they play. Even on defense, we prefer man, but have no problem breaking out a 1-3-1 or even 2-3 zone.
Obviously we would also have short time to scout, but I think very few teams are as versatile on offense as we are. Generally, you focus on taking away 2 or 3 guys, whereas we legitimately have 6 players who could lead us in scoring on any given night, and that's not including Duane or Cheatham. I think we're a tougher out than Marquette fans might realize, and think we are more dangerous on 1-2 days rest than most of the teams we'd be playing against.
If you think other programs would have trouble figuring out that Cheatham and JJJ only drive in one direction I think you're entirely underestimating how much time and effort is put into major college basketball scouting. Without any doubt whatsoever there are people in every program that is around the bubble already putting together video of the other teams just in case they end up in Dayton playing against them. It would take them about an hour tops after the announcement of that matchup to have those things on their scouting report.
Quote from: 79Warrior on March 10, 2017, 10:26:31 AM
Not sure what MU team you have been watching but we would have to have an unbelievable game to beat UL. Amazing how fans can get carried away.
Louisville would absolutely crush us.
Quote from: GoldenEagles32 on March 10, 2017, 10:33:14 AM
We need to worry about getting in first than we can talk matchups
Not really much MU can do at this point. No games to be played until the Tournament...
id love to see us play VT
Quote from: Marquette Fan In NY on March 10, 2017, 10:35:39 AM
The upside of playing in Dayton is that Kostas would be able to come to the game. If we do well he can spread the gospel to his younger brother Alexis.
This is amazing
or UCLA
Quote from: Marquette Fan In NY on March 10, 2017, 10:35:39 AM
The upside of playing in Dayton is that Kostas would be able to come to the game. If we do well he can spread the gospel to his younger brother Alexis.
Keep selling your Papers.
Quote from: GoldenEagles32 on March 10, 2017, 10:54:22 AM
id love to see us play VT
Me too. I think we match up really well with Buzz's team.
And while I realize a ton goes into scouting, focusing on JJ and Cheatham driving will be about the 10th thing on the priority sheet. And it's different scouting for what they do versus how teams in the Big East have played against them already multiple times.
Quote from: wadesworld on March 10, 2017, 09:52:13 AM
We were also a 3 point favorite against SH yesterday.
At the Caesars and Westgate sportsbooks in Vegas, MU was a 3 pt favorite in the morning and by gametime, the line had fallen to MU -1.5, so a ton of big money came in on Seton Hall.
I see your point Brew but they could still be the 11 seed, not in Dayton and have the same 6-3 matchups. That would be the much prefered option, no?
Quote from: PTM on March 10, 2017, 09:49:52 AM
The biggest issue playing in Dayton is flying in and having to a rent a car. All Enterprise has is second generation Cavalier Coupes.
Must be pretty high demand for them next week. $800, damn.
(http://www.muscoop.com/index.php?action=dlattach;topic=53871.0;attach=6824;image)
Quote from: muguru on March 10, 2017, 11:13:16 AM
I see your point Brew but they could still be the 11 seed, not in Dayton and have the same 6-3 matchups. That would be the much prefered option, no?
Obviously the fewer games you have to win to progress, the easier that progression is. But I don't think being sent to Dayton is something to panic over.
And again, I don't think we will end up in Dayton. I think we're an 8/9 seed playing in either Tulsa or Greenville. But if we do go to Dayton, it might be a better path to the Sweet 16 than if we're in an 8/9 game.
I would have been fine with Dayton had we finished 9-9. At 10-8, and considering all things bubble, we don't deserve to be in Dayton.
My chief concern as it relates to Dayton is I feel the committee may want to put 1 BE team there. They shouldn't - it shouldn't have any barring on it whatsoever - but I do have this somewhat irrational fear that they will want 1 of the 7 BE teams there. Xavier's win over Butler yesterday scares me a bit in that regard.
Having said that, I really cannot see a scenario in which we fall into the bottom four. I've dug into it so many times, I don't feel like repeating myself again, but its just so farfetched.
I also generally think it will be much tougher for MU to win 3 games in six days, versus 2 games in four days. But maybe with this team having a game to get their gitters under control will help with shooting. It was pretty obvious yesterday that the moment got to us early on.
Quote from: JamilJaeJamailJrJuan on March 10, 2017, 11:35:27 AM
My chief concern as it relates to Dayton is I feel the committee may want to put 1 BE team there. They shouldn't - it shouldn't have any barring on it whatsoever - but I do have this somewhat irrational fear that they will want 1 of the 7 BE teams there. Xavier's win over Butler yesterday scares me a bit in that regard.
I could see a situation where the committee doesn't believe any BE team should be in Dayton but wants to appear unbiased and so is deeply divided on the matter... in that event, if it came down to X and MU, I would think that they would send X to Dayton primarily because MU swept X; however, if the committee was still on the fence, I still think they would put X in Dayton. My logic is that if they feel like they have to be unfair by putting a team in Dayton that shouldn't be there (just to appease the masses), then at least try to give that team some sort of advantage to balance it out (e.g. give X a de facto home game). It's the same logic the committee has used on numerous occasions where they'll bump a team down a seedline or two to keep them close to home or bump them up a seed and ship them across the country.
I really hope we are not in dayton as an 11 seed
I do agree that Marquette is a difficult scout. I think just about every Big East team played us better in the second game than the first. Without the benefit of seeing us before, I think we could catch a lot of teams off guard with our offense. You legitimately have have a game plan for every player because any one has the potential to go off for 15+.
Quote from: Benny B on March 10, 2017, 11:51:29 AM
I could see a situation where the committee doesn't believe any BE team should be in Dayton but wants to appear unbiased and so is deeply divided on the matter... in that event, if it came down to X and MU, I would think that they would send X to Dayton primarily because MU swept X; however, if the committee was still on the fence, I still think they would put X in Dayton. My logic is that if they feel like they have to be unfair by putting a team in Dayton that shouldn't be there (just to appease the masses), then at least try to give that team some sort of advantage to balance it out (e.g. give X a de facto home game). It's the same logic the committee has used on numerous occasions where they'll bump a team down a seedline or two to keep them close to home or bump them up a seed and ship them across the country.
Good point. I hope that is the case. I think we have a better overall resume than PC as well, but the fact that they swept us kind of makes me think they'll be ahead of us in the pecking order, even if it is just 1 spot ahead of us. Hopefully their bad losses outweigh them beating us by 1 possession twice. Honestly, the floor situation in that game at the Dunk should be brought into consideration as well.
Quote from: TAMU Eagle on March 10, 2017, 11:58:40 AM
I do agree that Marquette is a difficult scout. I think just about every Big East team played us better in the second game than the first. Without the benefit of seeing us before, I think we could catch a lot of teams off guard with our offense. You legitimately have have a game plan for every player because any one has the potential to go off for 15+.
Completely agree
Quote from: TAMU Eagle on March 10, 2017, 11:58:40 AM
I do agree that Marquette is a difficult scout. I think just about every Big East team played us better in the second game than the first. Without the benefit of seeing us before, I think we could catch a lot of teams off guard with our offense. You legitimately have have a game plan for every player because any one has the potential to go off for 15+.
A quick review says otherwise. Hmmm. Nova?...No SHU?...No Creighton?... Same Xavier...Same DePaul...No SJU...No Butler?...No Providence?...Yes Georgetown?...Yes Mostly, MU did better except for the latter two and the 3rd time with SHU.
Quote from: Nukem2 on March 10, 2017, 12:06:10 PM
A quick review says otherwise. Hmmm. Nova?...No SHU?...No Creighton?... Same Xavier...Same DePaul...No SJU...No Butler?...No Providence?...Yes Georgetown?...Yes Mostly, MU did better except for the latter two and the 3rd time with SHU.
Nova? No. SHU? Same. Two toss ups. Creighton? Same. Xavier? Same. DePaul? Yes. SJU? No. Providence? Same. Butler? Same. I'd say they were better the 2nd time. Beat us on our court. Dictated style of play. Georgetown? Yes.
The only games I'd say we played better in the 2nd matchup were against SJU and Nova.
Creighton, X, SHU, PC the same. Could make an argument PC and Creighton played us better the second time. Same with SHU. But I could also see an argument the other way.
Butler, Georgetown, DePaul played us better the 2nd game.
Quote from: Nukem2 on March 10, 2017, 12:06:10 PM
A quick review says otherwise. Hmmm. Nova?...No SHU?...No Creighton?... Same Xavier...Same DePaul...No SJU...No Butler?...No Providence?...Yes Georgetown?...Yes Mostly, MU did better except for the latter two and the 3rd time with SHU.
Nova and St. John's I agree.
Hall played better against us in the 2nd and 3rd games than they did in the first game. We just played a lot better in the 2nd game.
Providence, Butler, Georgetown, Depaul, Creighton and Xavier played us a lot tougher the 2nd time around. Keep in mind, I'm not talking about margin of victory here. I'm talking about how well they played.
Quote from: TAMU Eagle on March 10, 2017, 12:27:32 PM
Nova and St. John's I agree.
Hall played better against us in the 2nd and 3rd games than they did in the first game. We just played a lot better in the 2nd game.
Providence, Butler, Georgetown, Depaul, Creighton and Xavier played us a lot tougher the 2nd time around. Keep in mind, I'm not talking about margin of victory here. I'm talking about how well they played.
Butler hammered MU the first time. Not sure how they played better the second time.
Quote from: brewcity77 on March 10, 2017, 09:41:47 AM
Seriously...if we play in Dayton, which I do not think we will, is it really so bad?
At the beginning of the year, we would have been thrilled with it. I have zero expectations for this team beyond making the tournament. They stink defensively and can be inconsistent offensively.
If we are one and done in Dayton, I consider the year a success.
Quote from: Dr. Vinnie Boombatz on March 10, 2017, 12:31:14 PM
At the beginning of the year, we would have been thrilled with it. I have zero expectations for this team beyond making the tournament. They stink defensively and can be inconsistent offensively.
If we are one and done in Dayton, I consider the year a success.
Agree Dayton is way better than where we have been the last 3 years and better than NIT.
Quote from: Nukem2 on March 10, 2017, 12:30:19 PM
Butler hammered MU the first time. Not sure how they played better the second time.
We had a 16 point lead on them at one point. They lead pretty much from coast to coast in the second game.
Quote from: TAMU Eagle on March 10, 2017, 11:58:40 AM
I do agree that Marquette is a difficult scout. I think just about every Big East team played us better in the second game than the first. Without the benefit of seeing us before, I think we could catch a lot of teams off guard with our offense. You legitimately have have a game plan for every player because any one has the potential to go off for 15+.
I don't think there's much truth to this at all.
- Nova: Got blown out in the first meeting, won the second meeting. Better the second time around.
- Butler: Lost by 8 on the road in the first meeting, lost by 3 at home in the second meeting. Roughly a push.
- Creighton: Won by 8 in the first meeting, won by 8 in the second meeting. First meeting was on the road but also the first game with no Watson for Creighton. Push
- Seton Hall: Lost by 3 on the road in the first meeting, won by 3 at home in the second meeting. Push.
- Providence: Lost by 1 at home in the first meeting, lost by 4 on the road in the second meeting. Push.
- Xavier: won by 22 at home in the first meeting, won by 11 on the road in the second meeting. Would argue this has much more to do with not having Blueitt in the first meeting than anything else, so not sure you can conclude one way or the other.
- St. John's: blown out on the road in the first meeting, blow out win at home in the second meeting. Better the second time around.
- Georgetown: 10 point win at home in the first meeting, blow out loss in the second meeting. Worse the second time around.
- DePaul: two blowout wins. Push.
Pretty much an overall push.
Quote from: wadesworld on March 10, 2017, 01:01:04 PM
I don't think there's much truth to this at all.
- Nova: Got blown out in the first meeting, won the second meeting. Better the second time around.
- Butler: Lost by 8 on the road in the first meeting, lost by 3 at home in the second meeting. Roughly a push.
- Creighton: Won by 8 in the first meeting, won by 8 in the second meeting. First meeting was on the road but also the first game with no Watson for Creighton. Push
- Seton Hall: Lost by 3 on the road in the first meeting, won by 3 at home in the second meeting. Push.
- Providence: Lost by 1 at home in the first meeting, lost by 4 on the road in the second meeting. Push.
- Xavier: won by 22 at home in the first meeting, won by 11 on the road in the second meeting. Would argue this has much more to do with not having Blueitt in the first meeting than anything else, so not sure you can conclude one way or the other.
- St. John's: blown out on the road in the first meeting, blow out win at home in the second meeting. Better the second time around.
- Georgetown: 10 point win at home in the first meeting, blow out loss in the second meeting. Worse the second time around.
- DePaul: two blowout wins. Push.
Pretty much an overall push.
I would argue a lot of your pushes were actually not. But again, not talking about margin of victory. I was talking about how well they played against us. Margin of victory is one way to measure but that doesn't take into account how we would have scouted them and adjusted.
Honestly, I'm just giving my opinion, facts. From what I saw in most of those games, teams played us better the second time around.
Quote from: TAMU Eagle on March 10, 2017, 01:09:43 PM
I would argue a lot of your pushes were actually not. But again, not talking about margin of victory. I was talking about how well they played against us. Margin of victory is one way to measure but that doesn't take into account how we would have scouted them and adjusted.
Honestly, I'm just giving my opinion, facts. From what I saw in most of those games, teams played us better the second time around.
Just genuinely curious why you think some of these teams played better the second time around. Georgetown obviously did. St. John's and Nova obviously did not. Butler's second time around, quite frankly, they played pretty awful, we just did not take advantage. Xavier, sure they played better the second time, but that'll happen when your best player is available as opposed to the first time when he wasn't. The first two SH games were basically identical games, both Creighton games basically identical games, Providence I suppose played worse as they made a comeback in the second half of the 2nd game while the first game they led the whole way. DePaul, don't think scouting or anything mattered, those were two easy blowout wins.
Quote from: wadesworld on March 10, 2017, 01:18:37 PM
Just genuinely curious why you think some of these teams played better the second time around. Georgetown obviously did. St. John's and Nova obviously did not. Butler's second time around, quite frankly, they played pretty awful, we just did not take advantage. Xavier, sure they played better the second time, but that'll happen when your best player is available as opposed to the first time when he wasn't. The first two SH games were basically identical games, both Creighton games basically identical games, Providence I suppose played worse as they made a comeback in the second half of the 2nd game while the first game they led the whole way. DePaul, don't think scouting or anything mattered, those were two easy blowout wins.
Quite frankly .....the whole discussion would be moot.....if.....we had finished the games against Butler, Seton Hall, and Providence.....
Learning to win until we got rid of that "senior leadership" was most of the issue.....
The doesn't even count WOJO's faux pas in some of these and other games.....
This team could easily have a +5 winning record.....
I hope we get a 10 or 11 seed.....But I expect us to get "screwed" as usual with either an 8/9...LOL.....or a play-in.....
Why would you want to "place" a Catholic school truly in the "seating" that they belong.....
The most laughable scenario would be playing in Dayton.....against Dayton.....of course.....
Quote from: wadesworld on March 10, 2017, 01:18:37 PM
Just genuinely curious why you think some of these teams played better the second time around. Georgetown obviously did. St. John's and Nova obviously did not. Butler's second time around, quite frankly, they played pretty awful, we just did not take advantage. Xavier, sure they played better the second time, but that'll happen when your best player is available as opposed to the first time when he wasn't. The first two SH games were basically identical games, both Creighton games basically identical games, Providence I suppose played worse as they made a comeback in the second half of the 2nd game while the first game they led the whole way. DePaul, don't think scouting or anything mattered, those were two easy blowout wins.
I can agree with all these arguments except DePaul. We were up nearly 30 in game 1. We were only up 5 with 3 minutes left in game 2.
Quote from: MUeagle1090 on March 10, 2017, 01:45:32 PM
I can agree with all these arguments except DePaul. We were up nearly 30 in game 1. We were only up 5 with 3 minutes left in game 2.
The order in which we played them is less significant than who was the home the second time around.
Quote from: wadesworld on March 10, 2017, 01:18:37 PM
Just genuinely curious why you think some of these teams played better the second time around. Georgetown obviously did. St. John's and Nova obviously did not. Butler's second time around, quite frankly, they played pretty awful, we just did not take advantage. Xavier, sure they played better the second time, but that'll happen when your best player is available as opposed to the first time when he wasn't. The first two SH games were basically identical games, both Creighton games basically identical games, Providence I suppose played worse as they made a comeback in the second half of the 2nd game while the first game they led the whole way. DePaul, don't think scouting or anything mattered, those were two easy blowout wins.
What I remember about the 2nd Butler game is that they played stellar defense and ran us off the three point line. Their offense wasn't great but it was more their defense stopping their offense than us just not taking advantage. The first Seton Hall game I remember us being the better team all game but then imploding in the final minute. The second game I thought they played us more evenly. I remember being comfortably in control of the first Creighton game and then letting them back in at the end. I remember feeling a lot more nervous during the 2nd game. Depaul actually gave us a scare for a moment late in the 2nd half before we clamped down.
Honestly, its a matter of opinion. Not hard facts. I felt like we were consistently defended better in the 2nd games but our defense also performed better. I could definitely be wrong, haven't actually looked at the numbers.