Know your opponent: Murray State

[Bocephys]

I for one said zone because if Ja Morant does get into the lane and beat someone there will be another line of defense there to cover up quicker than. We all know how Theo plays defense and if he is not set and goes straight up he is going to be called for a foul every single time.

Didn't we just see Wojo solve this against St. John's without going zone?

[MU Fan in Connecticut]

Murray Head - One Night in Bangkok

[mu03eng]

Are you sure about that?

Yes, by rule an officiating crew can't be 100% from the conference that one of the teams playing is from. Now officials ref for multiple conferences but the crew cannot be a Big East crew by definition.

[Eldon]

Didn't we just see Wojo solve this against St. John's without going zone?

#jellyLegs

[Bocephys]

Yes, by rule an officiating crew can't be 100% from the conference that one of the teams playing is from. Now officials ref for multiple conferences but the crew cannot be a Big East crew by definition.

How does that work since refs work for multiple conferences throughout the season?

[Dr. Blackheart]

#crapshoot

[Frenns Liquor Depot]

This sounds like an opportunity for Sacar to emulate Jimmy Butler against X.

[Dish]

One major thing MU has to do is get back on defense and protect against transition lobs.

[mu03eng]

How does that work since refs work for multiple conferences throughout the season?

The refs are put into pools for each pod site and they are assigned to games in such a way as the refs assigned to a game aren't all affiliated with one conference or the other.

[Marcus92]

This sounds like an opportunity for Sacar to emulate Jimmy Butler against X

I was thinking the exact same thing. Xavier junior point guard Tu Holloway came into our first-round 2011 NCAA matchup garnering a ton of hype -- scoring 20 ppg as the A-10 player of the year. MU held him to 5 points on 1-13 shooting with 5 turnovers on the way to a 66-55 win.

Tu? Ja? How many point guards are there with two-letter first names in all of college basketball? This can't be a mere coincidence.

[Frenns Liquor Depot]

I was thinking the exact same thing. Xavier junior point guard Tu Holloway came into our first-round 2011 NCAA matchup garnering a ton of hype -- scoring 20 ppg as the A-10 player of the year. MU held him to 5 points on 1-13 shooting with 5 turnovers on the way to a 66-55 win.

Tu? Ja? How many point guards are there with two-letter first names in all of college basketball? This can't be a mere coincidence.

You forgot the part where he made Tu cry.

[NickelDimer]

Sacar f'n Anim. I actually think Sacar has a ton of swag right now and is poised for a big tourney

[TAMU, Knower of Ball]

I have no idea why we are so obsessed with zone around here.

Honestly,  I think most fans have trouble identifying and verbalizing defensive adjustments so the default is throw a zone at them

[ChitownSpaceForRent]

Sacar f'n Anim. I actually think Sacar has a ton of swag right now and is poised for a big tourney

He's been really good lately, especially since he's started draining 3s on a consistent basis. Kinda reminds me of senior year JJJ out of junior year Sacar.

If Sacar could finish at the rim a little better like JJJ we'd be set.

[ChitownSpaceForRent]

Honestly,  I think most fans have trouble identifying and verbalizing defensive adjustments so the default is throw a zone at them

Box and one them

[TAMU, Knower of Ball]

This sounds like an opportunity for Sacar to emulate Jimmy Butler against X.

Had the exact same thought. Sacar isn't JFB (no one is) but I think he's up for the task

[MU82]

Honestly,  I think most fans have trouble identifying and verbalizing defensive adjustments so the default is throw a zone at them

This. And I agree totally with what mu03eng wrote, too.

Any good m-t-m defensive team -- and that's exactly what we have been this year -- employs "one pass away," "two pass away" and "three pass away" guidelines. That's why, even when we play man, we almost always have Theo or Ed (or often Sam) ready to contest a shot at the rim. Many m-t-m defenses even look like zones at times; and quite often zones have m-t-m tendencies.

We have won 24 games playing how we play, and have beaten some very, very good teams along the way. Even during the 4-game losing streak, we had a late lead in every game.

As I said before the St. John's game, we don't need to reinvent the wheel. Our wheel is just fine.

Ja is gonna get his, or at least most of his, but ... we'll dominate the boards, we'll hit some open 3s when they concentrate too much on Markus, we'll score inside, we'll turn Ja over, and we'll win this game.

The only thing close to an "adjustment" I'd like to see is getting Sam a few more post-ups because I don't think they can stop him or even alter his shot. But again, this isn't major. Maybe 5-7 post-ups instead of 1-2. They respect that, and Joey, Sacar, maybe even Markus end up wide open from 3. Even without doing this, though, we win.

[wadesworld]

I haven't read through this thread so maybe this has been thrown out there already, but I think Bailey's length will be a big key to defending Ja in this game.

[drewm88]

This sounds like an opportunity for Sacar to emulate Jimmy Butler against X.

I had forgotten about that game. Thanks for the reminder. What a great day.

[nyg]

Last year They got beat by WVA by 17 in the opening round.  WVA Jevon Carter, good defensive player, like Sacar, held Morant to 14 points, 2 assists, 5 turnovers and 4 fouls.  Sacar, Bailey and even Cain can guard and attempt to overwhelm him. 

[cheebs09]

Honestly,  I think most fans have trouble identifying and verbalizing defensive adjustments so the default is throw a zone at them

Also, we struggled so much with zone in the Crean era and with Buzz sometimes, that we think it solves a lot of problems.

[CTWarrior]

Not with the kind of block rate Theo has. And as a team, they don't come remotely close to Marquette's defensive efficiency inside the arc.

I know I'm in the minority, but I think Theo's defense is overrated.  He purposely plays poor position defense when helping, to entice opponents to shoot so he can chase a block (which often backfires), gets bad goaltending calls chasing blocks, gives up rebounding position so he can chase a block and at least as often as not blocks the ball out of bounds when he does get a block, keeping possession with the other team.  He also fouls A LOT, so you can't count on him for 25 minutes a game.  He is very solid directly guarding a post player, though, and is certainly the best we have.  We so rarely have had a good low block defender in the past 20 years we don't even know what one looks like anymore.

One thing our low post defenders do this year way more than I can ever remember (Morrow is the best at it but Theo is pretty good when he does it) is to greet a penetrator by jumping straight up with their hands up, not in an attempt to block the shot, but to make the shot very difficult without fouling.  I wish Theo would concentrate on that to stay out of foul trouble.

[mu03eng]

This. And I agree totally with what mu03eng wrote, too.

Any good m-t-m defensive team -- and that's exactly what we have been this year -- employs "one pass away," "two pass away" and "three pass away" guidelines. That's why, even when we play man, we almost always have Theo or Ed (or often Sam) ready to contest a shot at the rim. Many m-t-m defenses even look like zones at times; and quite often zones have m-t-m tendencies.

We have won 24 games playing how we play, and have beaten some very, very good teams along the way. Even during the 4-game losing streak, we had a late lead in every game.

As I said before the St. John's game, we don't need to reinvent the wheel. Our wheel is just fine.

Ja is gonna get his, or at least most of his, but ... we'll dominate the boards, we'll hit some open 3s when they concentrate too much on Markus, we'll score inside, we'll turn Ja over, and we'll win this game.

The only thing close to an "adjustment" I'd like to see is getting Sam a few more post-ups because I don't think they can stop him or even alter his shot. But again, this isn't major. Maybe 5-7 post-ups instead of 1-2. They respect that, and Joey, Sacar, maybe even Markus end up wide open from 3. Even without doing this, though, we win.

Couldn't agree with this more. I think both of the Hausers need to get 7-10 high post touches in this game. Hell, Theo/Ed should get 5-8 low post touches this game as well. Balance the scoring and while I think it'll be close most of the game, I think we pull away late.

[NWarsh]

I know I'm in the minority, but I think Theo's defense is overrated.  He purposely plays poor position defense when helping, to entice opponents to shoot so he can chase a block (which often backfires), gets bad goaltending calls chasing blocks, gives up rebounding position so he can chase a block and at least as often as not blocks the ball out of bounds when he does get a block, keeping possession with the other team.  He also fouls A LOT, so you can't count on him for 25 minutes a game.  He is very solid directly guarding a post player, though, and is certainly the best we have.  We so rarely have had a good low block defender in the past 20 years we don't even know what one looks like anymore.

One thing our low post defenders do this year way more than I can ever remember (Morrow is the best at it but Theo is pretty good when he does it) is to greet a penetrator by jumping straight up with their hands up, not in an attempt to block the shot, but to make the shot very difficult without fouling.  I wish Theo would concentrate on that to stay out of foul trouble.

I agree with this 100%.  Theo is a big part of our improved interior defense, but Ed and Sam are text book in terms of challenging shots by going straight up.  They wall up with their chests out and hands straight up, it really is a thing of beauty.

[SaveOD238]

Honestly,  I think most fans have trouble identifying and verbalizing defensive adjustments so the default is throw a zone at them

Zone is also the default for a lot of youth and high school programs, so it might be what folks played as kids before they realized they were more cut out for the stands than the floor.