Their season average is 32.5%. They shot 48.4% tonight. Our 3-point defense continues to suck.
Bama was 15-31 from 3-point range tonight
- Thread starter FlotownDawg
- Start date
Feels like every game where we have the horses to pull away, the opposition finds a way to become 3-point snipers. Nothing takes the air out of any momentum like some cat getting hot from behind the arc. Saw it against Kentucky, and now tonight against Bama.
Of course, we got out rebounded too, but the 3-point defense is our achilles heel.
Of course, we got out rebounded too, but the 3-point defense is our achilles heel.
At this point, it’s who we are. We cannot defend the 3. That bodes rather poorly for our chances at a tourney run.
Well to be fair, one guy went 7-10. 70%.
That same guy had been a 30% 3-point shooter on the year. Rest of the team was 8-21…a respectable 38%. But if Youngblood just makes 4-10 instead of 7-10, the team shoots nearly 40% from the perimeter, but we still win by 5-7 points.
It was very much a RAT situation for us tonight. Didn’t help that nobody except Hubbard and Murphy got off the bus on offense. Still held Bama under their season average, and played the game we wanted to play against them on both ends, which was good to see. Just made too many mistakes down the stretch.
That same guy had been a 30% 3-point shooter on the year. Rest of the team was 8-21…a respectable 38%. But if Youngblood just makes 4-10 instead of 7-10, the team shoots nearly 40% from the perimeter, but we still win by 5-7 points.
It was very much a RAT situation for us tonight. Didn’t help that nobody except Hubbard and Murphy got off the bus on offense. Still held Bama under their season average, and played the game we wanted to play against them on both ends, which was good to see. Just made too many mistakes down the stretch.
This is the part that no one is talking about. I’ll give RJ a pass due to his turned ankle, but this is rough
RJ 1-6
Kugel 1-3
Cam 1-2
Harris 3-5
We got next to nothing on offense from anyone other than Hubbard and Murphy, and this is now the second consecutive home game against a top team where we just collapsed down the stretch. Couldn’t rebound, make a shot, defend, or hold on to the ball.
The evidence is mounting that we’re a decent Top 25 team and probably a 5-7 seed in the tourney, but we’re not great.
Agreed. Jones had two wide open 3s too. Where he missed. 8 for Bama when left open made his shots.
Bama has a big man that is a good shooter from anywhere on the court. Cam is a tough hard nose player but limited shooter.
Not to single those two out, but those performances are just two off the top of my head.
with that said, an ncaa tournament appearance is a good season. Hopefully we avoid other sec schools in the tournament.
I’m thinking either 6 or 7 seed. I’d rather not be a 5 seed because I guarantee you we’d be the 5-12 upset victim.
When you trap and help as hard as we do it opens up
The 3. But they launched some bombs tonight as well that I’m not sure we can do much about.
The 3. But they launched some bombs tonight as well that I’m not sure we can do much about.
This.
Jans defense is a combo of switching off and the double team in the low post. It’s going to leave someone open.
Some of those threes made were absolute bombs.
Well, yeah, if you take the guy who made the most 3-point shots out, every team's 3-point percentage goes down. We were 2-10 not counting Hubbard. When every team you play shoots their season high, it's not an anomaly.
They play the game we try to play.. They are just better at it. Even though, we had a chance, we just didn't do what needed to be done. We can't play a high 80's low 90's game and usually win...
Our defense helps ALOT after the guy guarding the ball gets beat, which in turn leaves someone usually wide open for a split second.
Seems to be a theme here, for sure. Especially when all good teams can apparently bomb 3s nowadays, even the tall guys.
Good thing the tournament seeding ignores rat performances and close losses**
^ this to a T.
Jans plays a trapping D. Recovers to the opponents best shooters. Intentionally leaves lesser shooters opens.
He's found out that the better teams 2nd and 3rd option shooting the 3, if left wide open, can deliver.
Thus why we struggle against teams of certain talent levels and styles.
I’d rather be a 5 or a 7. The 6 seeds play the 11s that come from winning the play in games. They have some momentum.
I'm gonna disagree. It ceases to be random when it happens every time we play a big game. Instead of RAT it's T.W.A.T. This Week's A-hole Theory.
And none of the teams in the tournament are ever good at shooting 3s, so we should be good there too**
agree.
Their best 3 shooters went 3-5, 3-7, and 7-10. All above their seasonal averages.
Its the style Jans plays, but personally think its also due to the fact that we dont defend or matchup well 1-5, so the trapping style helps negate some of that... but the good teams can still punish that style as we've seen.
I don't see a problem with our effort on defense, but I see a coaching decision that kills us. We sag in the lane too much on weak side help, so it leaves the corner 3 point line open EVERY SINGLE TIME. It drives me nuts. We can't physically defend the corner like this. It's fine if you have to defend a good big man down low and there is a crappy shooting guard or forward over there, but we are playing in a talented league and it makes it too easy for the opponent.
And I know it’s always easy to question coaching after an L, but the whole trap defense against teams like this is hard for me to understand.
I understand that it gets the ball out of your playmaker’s hands, it burns shot clock, and sometimes it can even cause a turnover. However, if the end result for a team like Bama is typically just a couple passes to a good shooter for a wide open 3, I have to question why we’re doing it. These teams have more than one good shooter.
Like Huntdog said, maybe it is because we just don’t match up well with these teams man to man, so Jans doesn’t have a better option
It’s not about taking out the guy that made the most 3’s. It’s about looking at one guy who was absurdly accurate well beyond his (or anyone’s) normal percentage, and looking at the rest of what happened as a whole.
Teams tend shoot better from 3 point range than they usually do when they play us, that’s a function of how we play defense and our relative strengths and weaknesses on that end of the floor. Is what it is. But a 30% shooter that averages 8 ppg becoming a 70% shooter from 3 point range, for one night, is not something that is a function of anything we did or did not do. Steph Curry would probably be lucky to make 70% from 3 point range in warm-ups. Most players are lucky to shoot 70% from the free throw line, let alone 3 pointers. Making 70% of your 3’s on 10+ attempts in a live game is not something that just happens. It’s highly irregular.
But, it did happen, and we still could have and should have won. That tells me the gameplan was sound. We wanted them taking a lot of 3’s. Again, if they shoot 40% from 3 point range as a team, which is an absolutely outstanding percentage, we still win comfortably. We needed better execution down the stretch. That was the real difference. Final 2-3 minutes, Bama made every possession count, whereas we had a couple of turnovers, a couple of late shot clock off-balance 3-pointers, and a wide open layup that we missed. That’s what has to be better.
If the game plan is to give a nate oats teams wide open 3's and hope they miss, its a bad game plan. People getting way to carried about with % and things of that nature. A wide open look is different from a contested look. We give wide open looks. Wide open looks make all shooters better. When a career 41% 3 point shooter gets 10 wide open looks... its a bad strategy
The reason why alabama has shot so well from 2 is because teams are intentionally running them off the 3 point line. Jans went zone for 1 possession... result.. wide open 3 for alabama that went in. Their %s are what they are because they are known snipers from 3, and teams (most) dont want to give them wide open looks.
and FWIW: that bench warmer, someone keeps mentioning, was the AAC player of the year last season. Is a 41% career 3 point shooter.. and is/was recovering from injury. Not someone we should be just leaving wide open and hoping he misses... at the very least.. lets make an adjustment after he starts 4 for 5.
The reason why alabama has shot so well from 2 is because teams are intentionally running them off the 3 point line. Jans went zone for 1 possession... result.. wide open 3 for alabama that went in. Their %s are what they are because they are known snipers from 3, and teams (most) dont want to give them wide open looks.
and FWIW: that bench warmer, someone keeps mentioning, was the AAC player of the year last season. Is a 41% career 3 point shooter.. and is/was recovering from injury. Not someone we should be just leaving wide open and hoping he misses... at the very least.. lets make an adjustment after he starts 4 for 5.
We have one, maybe two more chances to give our home crowd a big win against a highly ranked team instead of simply playing them close (Florida and possibly A&M). It would be nice to get one of those just to reward the fanbase. It's tiring to constantly be coming up short in these.
We can win these, but we cannot let guys just waltz out on our home court and feel at home. And we have to find a way to guard the 3rd guard. We can guard the 2 best guards, just not the 3rd one. And finally, we have to grow up a litte with handling "pressure" situations. These are just regular season games against a good team. We can't keep acting like once we finally win one that we will be making a "statement." Mental hurdles that we set in our heads that cause anxiety.
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we match up well with TxAM. If the Florida game plan is similar to the one played last night. They'll put in a lot of 3s.
Its a tough answer. Lots of times we have a 6-6 Cam playing the 4 spot trying to guard a 6-10/6-11 player... and hubbard just isnt good defensively.
To guard the 3rd guard. Hubbard has to be able to defend, and defend without fouling... while at the same time having enough juice left to carry the offense.
Why do we play zone
that is exactly what KY and Bama and Auburn saw. But you have to have that 3rd guy show up BIG and both KY and Bama did. Crazy that they have guys warming the bench that can drop 20+ and shoot over 50%. We don't.
that is exactly what KY and Bama and Auburn saw. But you have to have that 3rd guy show up BIG and both KY and Bama did. Crazy that they have guys warming the bench that can drop 20+ and shoot over 50%. We don't.
again when its wide open looks... its not as crazy as it seems. Just like last night, kid went 7 for 10. How many of those were wide open? I cant remember even 1 shot of those 10 where someone was actually on him and made it a difficult shot.
Alabama also started 3 6-11 guys... when you do that, not only are we at a major size disadvantage BUT hubbard is forced to guard one of their better players... and again he's just not good defensively at all. There are mis-matches everywhere.
Jans counters this with traps. But as someone else said, good teams, with good guards, get out of the trap. Make a few passes, and its a wide open look for 3. Its not just happen stance these shooters have great nights against us...its how the D is set up.
yet our starters and bench warmers do not make wide open 3 point shots 2 out of 3 times... so a bench warmer at KY and Bama can make wide open shots 1 out of 2 times, sometimes 2 out of 3.. I guess the opposing coaches tell these bench warmers hey here is your night to shine buddy, and shine they do, and then they go back to riding the pine.
The guy last night for alabama was a starter. He was a projected starter, and has been working his way back from injury. Again he was the AAC player of the year last season at South Florida who averaged over 15 ppg and shot over 41% from 3.
if our game plan was lets give him 10 wide open looks and hope he misses... not a shocking result. If we give florida's 3rd guard 10 wide open looks..he'll do the same.
I guess we didn't plan on him being on the court. The way we "take our chances" and play loose super cute defense against top 10 teams... Wild.
There’s no excuse for Harris and Kugel to combine for 45 minutes at the other guard position and attempt 8 shots.
There have also been games where Josh and Harris have gone silent for 8-10 minute stretches in games. NOBODY else on this team is a scorer so what the hell are they doing?
There have also been games where Josh and Harris have gone silent for 8-10 minute stretches in games. NOBODY else on this team is a scorer so what the hell are they doing?
Harris has been solid all year. Had 8 points and 4 boards. Was 2/3 from 3 point land. He needs to be involved intentionally ever game.
This is the problem with hubbard he seems like hes trying to balance. He's a "volumne" scorer... and with no one to help him last season, he could fire out 20+ shots a night. Now with some solid pieces around him, they need to be involved as well.
Last night Josh took more shots than Melendez, Harris, Kugel, Jones, Cam, Nwoko-- had combined.
Hard for others to get into a rhythm when thats the case.
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