[Cracked Sidewalks] MU rises to No. 1 in steals and 11th best team in country with dominant "40 Minutes of Hell"

[CrackedSidewalksSays]

MU rises to No. 1 in steals and 11th best team in country with dominant "40 Minutes of Hell"

Written by: noreply@blogger.com (bamamarquettefan1)

Friday Marquette played BY FAR its best season opener since joining the Big East, stealing the ball on  26.5 percent of all trips down the court and forcing a turnover on 43.3% of all trips, both the top mark of any team in the country.

People are tempted to lump all wins over cupcakes together, but this was anything but.

Since joining the Big East, the average Pomeroy ranking of MU’s opening season opponent has been 273rd, and Marquette has averaged winning by only 18 points.  Mount St. Mary’s was an above-average opening day opponent (257th even after the drubbing), and Marquette won by 54 points, 91-37.


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YearOpening opponentRankMargin[/tr]

2005	Western Carolina	288	11
2006	Rice	201	17
2007	Hillsdale	350	10
2008	IUPUI	91	8
2009	Houston Baptist	324	31
2010	Centenary	320	23
2011	Prairie View A&M	338	29
2005-11	Average	273	18
2012	Mount St. Mary's	257	54

Marquette’s performance was so impressive that MU improved from 21st to 11th in Pomeroy in just one game – but it’s the suffocating defense that truly indicates the potential of this team.

11-man rotation makes "40 Minutes of Hell" possible

MU is so deep that it’s hard to see how they let up with a big lead.  Who is their weakest player?  Derrick Wilson?  Are you sure?  The guy Buzz called the best freshman defender he has ever had who looks like he has the same toughness and football mentality of another MU great to turn down football scholarships, Tony Miller?  Then maybe it’s Todd Mayo.  Really?  Looks like he has all the confidence of his his brother O.J. Mayo who is now playing in the pros.  Jamail Jones, who didn’t play much last year? He is still consider a potential NBA draft pick who put in 10 points Friday.  Go through everyone on the roster.

So while Vander Blue and Jae Crowder, two of the top steals guy in the country, both came up with another four steals each Friday, the real story is that Marquette has NINE players who can pick you clean while being backed up by the best returning shot-blocker in the Big East in Chris Otule.

As a result, for the second time in two years, Marquette threw a defense on the court Friday that looked like Nolan Richardson’s "40 Minutes of Hell" that led Arkansas to the national title in 1994.

The first time was from November 26-29, 2009, when Marquette absolutely blitzed Xavier, Michigan and Florida State by cutting off every passing lane with a suffocating defense for two upsets and then a 17-point lead before running out of gas.

I saw in that series the potential for what Buzz might be able to do with pressure defense.  However, the chance to maintain that level of pressure in 2009-2010 ended when Jeronne Maymon left the team two weeks later MU was left with a 7-man rotation – including Joe Fulce playing through injiury.  MU was also 324th in the country in blocking shots, meaning a broken press would probably result in an easy basket at the rim.

In 2009-10, MU still stole the ball 12.1% of opponents trip down the court that season, the 32nd best total in the country, despite having to dial it back with only two players coming in off the bench, and Fulce for only 10 or 12 minutes.

Obviously in big games MU will want DJO and Jae on the court more than 24 minutes a game, so you can't keep 11 players on the court 16-24 minutes each in those games.  However, with 11 players this talented, Buzz has the option of running the hockey lines and going for steals as much as he wants in the right match-ups.

It's only one game, but this year could be good.  Now let's see how Marquette does Monday against a dominant big man like Norfolk State's Kyle O'Quinn.

http://www.crackedsidewalks.com/2011/11/mu-rises-to-no-1-in-steals-and-11th.html

[MuMark]

They played without 3 starters.

Way too early to say that this is a better cupcake then we played in other years. Won't know that until the end of the season.

Pomeroy rankings with no current data to work with aren't worth very much.

Winning by 50 isn't easy against anyone though so certainly an encouraging first game.

[brewcity77]

I agree that this was a better-than-average opening day opponent at full strength, but MSM was anything but at full strength. It would have been a different game if all their players were available (of course, we still probably would have won by 25-30 points). I'm hopeful that they will improve from here, they certainly should, but it won't happen without a full roster. Despite lower rankings, I think Norfolk State and Kyle O'Quinn will be a much better early test.

[Henry Sugar]

I'm somewhat less effusive than Pudner, primarily because A) it's harder to force turnovers against good teams and B) teams get better at protecting the ball as the year goes on.  Still, a turnover rate of 43% is the best turnover rate any of Buzz's teams have ever achieved.

However, the MSM game was the best defensive performance by any team Buzz has coached.

Defensive Efficiency
MSM 2011 - 0.52 ppp (points per possession allowed)
Grambling 2009 - 0.57 ppp
UNI 2008 - 0.73 ppp
Centenary - 2010 - 0.72 ppp

Even better, it was the best defensive eFG% by any team Buzz has coached.  To restate again, eFG% is the most important of the Four Factors (2-14x more important than any other factor).

Defensive eFG%
MSM 2011 - 30.9% allowed
Grambling 2009 - 32%
Cincy 2009 - 36%
Providence 2011 - 36%
IPFW 2009 - 37%
North Florida 2009 - 38%
UNI 2009 - 38%
South Florida - 39%
TAMCC 2010 - 39%

[bilsu]

Irregardless of the opponents strength, MU looked very well coached for an early November game. The team defense was very strong and offensively they seemed to make a conserted effort to get the ball inside. Also, as I pointed out in another thread they played hard man to man and did not commit a foul until almost the 11 minute mark. It indicates they were playing defense with their feet instead of reaching with their hands as players went by them.

[Dr. Blackheart]

Please add all the caveats, especially about the major colon blow hat MSMU was.  However, we have played a whole lot of colon blow over the years, so let me expand.

• This was the best defensively efficient MU game in at least 12 years that there is recorded game data
• MU forced the most turnovers in any one game, as well as the highest turnover rate caused
• MU held MSMU to the second lowest eFG% of any D1 team MU has played
• This was the 2nd highest amount of steals in a game, and the 3rd highest steal %
• This was the 5th lowest trey percentage game against MU

So, for one game, it is hard to say that MU has improved that much defensively but against years of data, we can feel a bit better.  Beyond the statistics and to the naked eye, MU was going after it on defense, which is why Blue was starting.  MU was pressuring the passing lanes and anticipating the ball.  They challenged ball reversals for perimeter treys.  On second chance rebounds and put backs, they were able to defend (block, steal) or limit the collateral damage.  Yes, there were a lot of offensive rebounds given up, because there were a lot of misses, but only four second chance points were allowed.

For why defense is important, please see the recent piece by Luke Luke Winn in Sports Illustrated on "Measuring the Defensive Prowess of Five Teams"/url].  Very telling and a fascinating read, and while no noted kudos to Bama, this came out of Winn's hat tip to him a while back.

[tower912]

It was one game and it was against a shorthanded Mt. St. Mary's.   8 guys who have spent at least a year in Buzz's system played.    If we had stunk, it would have been news. 

[Silkk the Shaka]

I agree - taking it with a grain of salt due to the competition, the D looked much improved.  I wonder how much a press can be sustained against teams with elite backcourts.  Wondering if by conference play or against more legitimate competition Buzz it will morph into more of a half-court trap or just token pressure to wear out the opposition's pg.

[ATWizJr]

I agree - taking it with a grain of salt due to the competition, the D looked much improved.  I wonder how much a press can be sustained against teams with elite backcourts.  Wondering if by conference play or against more legitimate competition Buzz it will morph into more of a half-court trap or just token pressure to wear out the opposition's pg.

  I'd say, the whole shaker.