(Enlund) "It's All About Defense"

[Dr. Blackheart]

Didn't see this one stream in the other day from the JS....Amen, Buzz. Amen.

http://www.jsonline.com/sports/goldeneagles/for-williams-its-all-about-defense-892ton3-133278373.html

[Golden Avalanche]

This is my biggest concern. MU didn't learn their lesson last season over 35 games and the majority of the team returns so this year will go a long way in telling us whether its something that took time to learn or its something that isn't wanting to be learned.

Losing a guy like Butler doesn't ease the concern either. He wasn't an all-world defender but Butler was a smart player who could play angles or instinct that would clean up the mistakes of others. Who do we have for that role this year?

[avid1010]

More good stuff from Enlund....

[Nukem2]

Same as last year.  Defense and rebounding are huge keys.

[Dr. Blackheart]

Reasons why better:

• Experience in system
• Wilson and Blue more athletic, disruptive
• Junior better on the ball
• Otule will see more minutes as anchor

Reasons for concerns:

• Few big bodies inside (see UNC)
• Again, need to rely on perimeter disruptions vs. interior stops
• Jae, DG mismatched inside
• Missing Jimmy's smarts

[bilsu]

As long as Buzz wants to chase the ball all over the floor, which results in players being out of position we will never be a great defensive team.

[tower912]

Absolutely incorrect.   There are several different ways to be a great defensive team.   From Boeheim's zone, to Knight's man, to Richardson's 40 minutes of hell, to Bielein's 1-3-1, to Wooden's 2-2-1 press, to Dale Brown's amoeba, there are many different ways to skin a cat.    Great defensive teams require that the personnel match the scheme, that they all understand the scheme, and they all execute the scheme every time.  Switching defenses in a game is even OK due to personnel packages and foul situations, again, as long as everyone knows their role and sticks to it.
     Last year, we would play good defense for 20 seconds and have a breakdown at the 25 second mark due to a mis-communication or a bad rotation.   Our rotations and double teams of the post were poor.   The end of the Vandy game, for whatever reason, Jae switched out on the ball at the top.   Buycks, after feinting to cover Jae's man, opted instead to double the ball at the top of the key, leaving Otule, who had sealed his man perfectly, to be a step late getting over to stop the lay up attempt caused by the miscommunication on the switch.      The scheme, if executed correctly, was sound.   It was executed poorly.
    So, if this year's team understands the scheme and communicates correctly, our defense will be better.    But what this will entail is making the necessary adjustments about staying at home when DG is in the game instead of Otule.    Knowing who is going to switch and when, and communicating the same.

[denverMU]

I don't want to speak for Bilsu, but if he is talking about MU tightly guarding players 35 feet from the basket, only to have them drive by our players for easy baskets, I agree completely.  We did it all year and we got beat 75-80% of the time.  Hopefully we will be better this year.

[avid1010]

As long as Buzz wants to chase the ball all over the floor, which results in players being out of position we will never be a great defensive team.

Like Duke does?  I'm not a fan of over-extending on defense, but if you can play that type of defense correctly for a full game it puts a lot of pressure on the other team.  Pitino, Coach K., etc. won many championships extending their defense more than most. 

[tower912]

See the part about matching defensive scheme to personnel.   We chased the ball all over the floor in 09-10 with Lazar, Butler, Mo, Cubi, DJO, DB, and 08-09 before with Wes, Jerel and DJ.   We did it out of necessity 2 years ago because if the ball got passed into the post, we were dead.    The difference is that they all understood their role.    Last year, in particular Jae and Vander didn't always understand when to switch and double and Chris spent too much time away from the hoop, trying to double and turn the PG and then recover like Lazar could.    Players who should have known better, Buycks and DJO, got caught out of position, unsure when to rotate, double, recover.   DB and Junior struggled to stay in front of the PG like Mo/Cubi/ DJames could and like we took for granted. 
     So, I am not absolving Buzz from guilt.   His scheme did not change to reflect the fact he did not have a lot of shutdown, on-ball defenders like he had his first two years.     It did not fit the personnel he had, and even the guards who had played it for two years struggled.   But the scheme is not inherently flawed. 

[cheebs09]

Well we weren't exactly a great team defensive team in 08-09, at least I don't think we were as good as the year before. I don't think we've ever been that good of a defensive team under Buzz, which worries me a little bit.

[tower912]

Even Buzz's team at UNO was not a great defensive team.    So maybe it is him.   The first two years, with Burke, Lazar, JB, and Fulce as our bigs, the idea was to disrupt the perimeter to keep the ball out of the paint.   It is difficult to argue that wasn't a worthy goal, considering the size of the teams.  Scheme flaw or trying to hide weaknesses in personnel?  Last year, with near normal size, our guards were not good on-ball defenders, which meant the ball was getting into the paint easily, and then the recoveries were slow and erratic.    Scheme or personnel flaws?     Duke, UNC, and Louisville all are successful pressuring the ball in the halfcourt.    They have won a few games.   The scheme is not inherently flawed.  I would argue our defensive deficiencies are related to the defensive weaknesses of the players, and Buzz not adjusting his scheme to better hide some of those deficiencies. 
    This year, with 6 of the likely top 7 and 7 of the likely top 9 having a year in the system, hopefully there will be fewer communication/rotation/double team/ recovery breakdowns.    Hopefully, Junior is fully healthy and will do a better job guarding opposing PGs and DWilson is good on ball as they say.   Hopefully, DG will be able to actually move around and not automatically get caught behind his man whenever the ball is reversed.   Hopefully, Jae can learn like Lazar did to not make stupid fouls 30 feet from the basket. (does everyone remember how painful it was to watch Lazar guard on the perimeter his first two years?    Lets find out.   

[NotAnAlum]

I like what Buzz says about the defensive emphasis and agree with what you guys are saying.  I'm a little more concerned about what Buzz says about the starting 5 and the fact that he is kind of inferring that he is not committed to Junior at point.  I know he feels that Junior has some weakness defending his position (we all remember the Marq Revealed segments from last year).  However I feel his unwillingness to commit to Junior during the non-con season last year messed with Junior's confidence and set him back a lot.  As a result Junior didn't emerge until late in the season.  Some guys respond well to a challenge.  Other guys tense up and over think what they are doing to try to avoid making a "mistake" that will cost them their playing time.  I feel that Junior is the latter.  I think that is why we see Junior play so well in unstructured events like the Pro Am (remember Junior was great in the Pro Am last year as well).  I think Buzz would be better off to say "4 of our starting 5 is set and Junior is our starting point."  Of course if Junior doesn't play defense in the first few games you reconsider but I think avoiding the head games with him would allow him to come out of the gate more confident which is what we need from our point guard.  Lets face it if this team is going to be top 20 like we think they should be it isn't going to be with an unproven freshman or Vaner playing the point.  Junior has to be the man.

[GGGG]

I think Buzz has a much better handle on the mental state of his team, and how to motivate his players, than anyone on this board.

I think Junior struggled at the beginning of last year simply because it was essentially his first year of major college basketball.  I don't want to hear about the Pro-Am.  One of last summer's best players was the MVP of the Chech League who played at UWW.

[Dr. Blackheart]

On a related note, Hanner recently had this analysis up:  "How to Think about College Basketball Defense" (with stats and analysis in the link)

As such, when we evaluate defense, often the only key piece of information to incorporate is the past defensive performances of the coach. And since the talent levels can vary so greatly between schools, I am mostly focused on defensive performance at the current school.

Read more: http://basketball.realgm.com/article/216250/How_To_Think_About_College_Basketball_Defense_A10_And_MVC_Notes#ixzz1cwBe6VMe

[bilsu]

Maybe the problem is that MU does not have a lot of really good defensive players. Otule is good as long as he is not blindsided. Blue has potential and a year of experience.  Anderson needs strength and experience. DJO and Crowder are physically strong and experienced, but I would not rate them great defensive players. Both Wilsons have potential to be very good defensive players. I have not seen Mayo. Gardner and Jones are below average defensive players. The thing that bothers me about MU's defense last year was Otule ending up on top trying to steal the ball from a guard and the fact we really did not get a lot of steals given that we were always chasing the ball. This is also the reason I do not think we will beat Wisconsin this year. UW's discipline offense will take advantage of mistakes made by us gambling on defense.

[Dr. Blackheart]

It may be interesting to look at the impact of 1st year BE coaches on defense, if you believe Hanner's assessment (it is more about the coach's philosophy). Looking at Pomeroy's defensive efficiency ratings:

• SJU's rank improved slightly from 51 to 44 (no real difference under Lavin with an experienced squad)
• Purnell went from 116 to 243 with a lot of roster turnover, going very young
• Rutgers went from 168 to 76, losing some key roster pieces. Rice is definitely a defensive minded coach
• SH went from 39 to 13 under Willard, a defensive minded coach like BoGo--but less the drama

MU's went from 10th to 51st in the Crean transition. Was Ooze that much of a defensive anchor as the roster was essentially the same?  My thought, we are not a bad defensive team, our talent is catching up with the system, but Buzz's stresses offense first. To be elite, we need to adopt a "stop" philosophy when you look at the overall success of the teams atop the Pomeroy ratings. It sounds like Buzz gets' that.

[ATL MU Warrior]

Maybe the problem is that MU does not have a lot of really good defensive players. Otule is good as long as he is not blindsided. Blue has potential and a year of experience.  Anderson needs strength and experience. DJO and Crowder are physically strong and experienced, but I would not rate them great defensive players. Both Wilsons have potential to be very good defensive players. I have not seen Mayo. Gardner and Jones are below average defensive players. The thing that bothers me about MU's defense last year was Otule ending up on top trying to steal the ball from a guard and the fact we really did not get a lot of steals given that we were always chasing the ball. This is also the reason I do not think we will beat Wisconsin this year. UW's discipline offense will take advantage of mistakes made by us gambling on defense.

I watched 95% of our games last year and don't recall a single instance of what you describe.  When Otule was up top, it was because his man came up to set a screen for the ballhandler.  Otule would hedge on the screen to try to prevent the ballhandler from penetrating, which is the correct defensive play.  Sometimes (mostly early in the season if memory serves) he was far too aggressive and would body up on the guy with the ball, but he was not "trying to steal the ball from a guard".  Over the course of the season I thought he made a lot of progress on hedging correctly and then hustling back down low.