Iupui

[bigticket1]

Re: Iupui

As long as the Jacks start four players 6'4" or smaller and have to sluff off their man to play help defense inside,they will allow teams that can move the ball well to get a lot of uncontested shots. We are a team that lives or dies with the three and shoots a high %,but if you look at the season stats,the opponents shoot almost as good a % as we do. Until the Jacks can bring in a second big player,or develop one currently on the roster, to play with Dykstra we will struggle defensively against bigger teams. Having two bigger players on the floor means playing more straight up man to man,and less help defense,which should cut down on the wide-open looks.

[Jackbacker123]

Re: Iupui

This post will probably be a little all over the board but here goes......

There are 2 ways to win a basketball game.....you can either try to outscore the other team, or make sure they score less than you do.

Given that we are ranked 13th in team scoring in the NCAA, its become pretty apparent which route we have chosen to go as a team. We have all become so enthralled with our offensive abilities that we have even taken to making posts such as this.....


....but the problem is, is that when your defense is so god awful bad, a great offense can't overcome it. We are on a stretch of 2 out of 3 games now, where in one game we give up 65%+ shooting and 82% from 3 pt range and in last nights game we gave up, I believe, over 70% in the second half (I believe those 2 qualify us for my previous comment as god awful on defense).

I know Nagy sounds like a broken record to some, and I do agree that Moss needed to be in at the end, but until the rest of the team, minus maybe a couple, bucks it up and figures it out on the defensive end we will continue to lose these games pure and simple. In fact, we might as well forget about the conference tournament until we play better defense as a team.

Defense is nothing more than a mindset. A combinination of effort and desire will get a pretty favorable result most every time. We even talk about how we can't have an offensive minded team in at the end of a game where we are down (back to my argument of a defensive mindset), it sounds to me like the players are choosing to be offensive minded vs. defense, which goes back to the heart of Nagy's comments. Those same skills that make a player good on offense, can make them good on defense if that was what they wanted.

I will give a local example of a defensive mindset from here in Nebraska. On Creightons mens team, they have a young man, Kaleb Korver. He is the younger brother of Kyle Korver, who is now in the NBA. Kaleb came to Creighton as an offensive player. Over time his game progressed from offensive player, to strictly a 3 pt shooter to last year he was even hesitant to shoot a 3 pter at times except when he was wide open. Kaleb figured out what that was going to mean for his playing time, this year he came back as a senior and he has gone from defensive liability to defensive stopper in one season, and a pretty good one at that. It all happened because that is what he wanted to happen.

My last point is this......we are currently ranked 3rd in the nation in 3 pt shooting as a team. Nagy could get up at the end of the game and say we lost because we aren't first in the nation in 3 pt shooting or he can keep beating the drum on defense. I personally hope he keeps beating the drum on defense, because the sooner the entire team figures it out, the sooner we take the next step to an elite team in the conference.

Good post. I agree with most of what you say. It is just frustrating to watch the way Nagy coaches this team at times. To stay on the Moss theme, he has for the last few years, game after game after drawn the toughest defensive assignments and why, beacause he is our best defender. So he is good enough to play during the first 30 minutes of the game but not for the final 10. This isn't the first game we have lost were Nagy has finished the game with Dale on the bench and a line-up with all shooters. Nagy then has the nerve to sit with Steve I. 10 minutes later on the radio and talk about how important defense is. Really? It makes no sense.

As far as our defense goes, I think it is a little more than just having more heart. I think defense also has a lot to do with athleticism. When mid-major schools take on the Kansas's or Carolina's of the world, one comment you frequently hear is that mid-major schools can't compete athletically. There are great shooters all over the country and at all levels but athletic players are harder to find. Though the schools we are playing in the Summitt are the same size, the top teams in this league have better athletes than we do. Clint, Chad, Giff are great shooters but they don't match up athletically to top 2's and 3's in this league. We have two players that can match up defensively with anyone in the league and one of them is continuing to see his minutes decrease. I would have more respect ofr Nagy if he would just come out and say in his interviews that we are going to forget about defense and just try and shoot our way to victories. As Nagy proved again last night, this isn't the best recipe for success but it is how he is going to coach this team.

[jackmd]

Re: Iupui

Fact is it's tough to guard guys that are quicker and more athletic and the top teams in the Summit are just that. Our offensive capabilities are great and this team is very fun to watch/listen to but we can't expect them to defend at a level they just can't match.

Moss and Wolters are quick enough to defend most guards. Griff is physical but undersized. Tony is more physical than he was but still undersized. Jordan has some nice tools but doesn't have the experience on the defensive end. Clint, White and Carlson just aren't quick enough or strong enough to defend more experienced players on the perimeter and with Clint, we need him focused on scoring. He can't beat people off the dribble so he has to run constantly on the offensive end to find an open shot.

In order to rebound effectively we need a team effort as well, that puts you at a disadvantage after a missed shot in the transition to defense. This team is playing well and they are going to be in most games at the end. It's defensive stops that win the majority of those close games. Conclusion, there will be some more close losses, let's just hope we find a way to win in March.

[Just in the crowd]

Re: Iupui

This post will probably be a little all over the board but here goes......

There are 2 ways to win a basketball game.....you can either try to outscore the other team, or make sure they score less than you do.

Given that we are ranked 13th in team scoring in the NCAA, its become pretty apparent which route we have chosen to go as a team. We have all become so enthralled with our offensive abilities that we have even taken to making posts such as this.....

Just keep it in mind, we have the #313 strength of schedule so far. Not hard to score on those type of teams.

[Theee Catrabbit]

Re: Iupui

Calm down. We have a young team. We will lose Clint and Griff next year. Calm down. It's all progress.

[NoVaJack]

Re: Iupui

Calm down. We have a young team. We will lose Clint and Griff next year. Calm down. It's all progress.

griff is a junior.

[NebraskaJack]

Re: Iupui

Just keep it in mind, we have the #313 strength of schedule so far. Not hard to score on those type of teams.

.....and therefore not too hard to defend them either.....correct?

[NebraskaJack]

Re: Iupui

Calm down. We have a young team. We will lose Clint and Griff next year. Calm down. It's all progress.

Don't worry, I'm not too worked up yet.....heck, last night I was even able to sleep a couple of hours when I wasn't worrying about their defense.

[goon]

Re: Iupui

I think we can get 10. We have UMKC, So Utah, W Ill, and IUPUI at home. No reason we cant beat IUPUI at home when we led most of the game there. We have Centenary on the road. Thats gets us 9. I think we can beat IPFW at home next weekend, so thats 10. Who knows, maybe we win at IPFW or Oral Roberts to get to 11. Of course im drinking coffee from a half full cup.

We very well could win more, but I am thinking what is most likely going to happen to a young team for a program that never has had D-1 sucsess untill this year. Its just a fact we are going to lose some games that an experienced team would win, which we just witnessed at IUPUI. A win at NDSU is not out or question, but we didnt win here so I would guess that would be a loss on the road. All in all, 9-9 i think would be fine for this team to get too, anything above that I think is icing on the cake heading to the summit tourny.

[JACKGUYII]

Re: Iupui

We very well could win more, but I am thinking what is most likely going to happen to a young team for a program that never has had D-1 sucsess untill this year. Its just a fact we are going to lose some games that an experienced team would win, which we just witnessed at IUPUI. A win at NDSU is not out or question, but we didnt win here so I would guess that would be a loss on the road. All in all, 9-9 i think would be fine for this team to get too, anything above that I think is icing on the cake heading to the summit tourny.

This is much better than a 9-9 team. IMHO that would be underchieving for the talent on this team regardless of the inexperience. We need to stop using that as an excuse. Defense is about grit and heart and we didnt show much of either in the second half of the IUPUI game. Offensively this is as talented team we have ever had.

[goon]

Re: Iupui

This is much better than a 9-9 team. IMHO that would be underchieving for the talent on this team regardless of the inexperience. We need to stop using that as an excuse. Defense is about grit and heart and we didnt show much of either in the second half of the IUPUI game. Offensively this is as talented team we have ever had.

They should be better then 9-9 but its a fact they are a young team and not very good on D. Talent can only go so far, they have to apply it both sides to make things more sucsessful.