(Frontpaged. Let's bring the discussion about next year to the forefront.)

Is to be this year's Georgetown team. I think, quite honestly, that what JTIII put together at G'town this year was great: he fielded a highly competitive team with only one known quantity senior and lots of young talent. It wasn't the most offensively gifted squad, but he was able to convince the team to dedicate itself to defense and it paid off.

A team comprised, in previous years, of some of the best talent in the Big East found itself asking how to replace Chris Wright at point, Austin Freeman at the swing, and Julian Vaughn, a senior forward. They had no idea what they had in Henry Sims, and the only other returning senior was point Jason Clark. So they focused on defense, and became seventh nationally in defensive efficiency, as per KenPom.

Now, I'm not saying Henderson is Sims, and obviously Jenkins staying is a huge question mark, but I think the pieces are there for a similar transformation in approach. Plus, we know from the 06-07 that Stallings can coax points from teams that play with a lot of shooters and limited post action. That team took a pair of hustle posts and a 6'5" power forward to the sweet sixteen.

I guess what I'm saying is, I don't see next year as having to be an NIT year; we know Stallings is flexible enough to change offensive approaches to suit the talent on hand (I, for one, would love to see a return to the Princeton-esque principals we ran in 03-04) and this team may have more potential as a defensive unit than the last few. A team that focuses on defense and utilizes some of Stallings' past experienced with non-traditional lineups and various offenses doesn't have to miss the tourney. And if Jenkins stays and breaks all our records, then we might have a chance to be dangerous.

Before the season really got under way, I posted that we'd only go as far as our defensive efficiency would take us.  I held up last years performance in the SEC schedule and what was a relatively poor defense (106 points per 100 possessions in SEC play). 

Guess what?  Our defensive efficiency in conference is allowing 104.6 points per game (using stats from Ken Pomeroy)!  Improvement! But still pretty bad.  So that's it.  That's why we're losing, right?  Not so fast...

All stats from Ken Pomeroy here.  And in the rest of this post.  Go to his website. http://kenpom.com

In conference, we have lost 2 of our best four overall defensive performances (UT/UF on the road... what a waste).   So, we know that half our in-conference losses, and a third of our total losses came with reasonable defensive performances.  So it isn't just "overall defensive efficiency."

More sleuthing post jump.

Continue reading this post »

We've gotten a great set of previews on each position by the guys here at AOG, and they've all been spot on.  But more than whether or not Ezeli can provide enough points in the paint, or whether our swing forwards can cover three positions effectively, or even if today's newest post hoping Taylor : Byars as Jenkins : Foster is prescient; I have a larger concern.  I want to know how efficient our defense will be.  I'm assuming most people are familiar with efficiency stats (made famous cheah!); if not, it essentially quantifies how many points per hundred possessions a team allows (or points per possession, as well). You calculate possessions, according to Ken Pomeroy's method, with FGA+TO-OR+.475(FTA).  Divide your opponent's total points by that number, and you've got your defensive efficiency.

Why does this metric concern me?  Luke Winn has pegged Defensive Efficiency outside of the top 60 or so teams, I believe, as the cutoff line for where teams can legitimately expect to get to the Sweet 16; we haven't gotten out of the first round in our last two tournaments.  I think our defensive efficiency is the reason why.

Continue reading this post »

As we SEC fans learned earlier this year, expansion was a big win for the Big Ten (according to many sources, such as here and here).  It was going to make it lots more money and this would be nothing but good things for everyone.  Some people expressed reservations about the future of divisions, and the like, but really, it was a good thing.

Unfortunately, it's because they forgot that with more money comes more problems.

Take it away Bad Boy Records:

Notorious BIG - Mo Money Mo Problems Feat. Puff Daddy, Mase (via thetruthmusicgroup)

Because now this is happening: Delany talks Michigan-Ohio State

Reactions to this after the jump...

Continue reading this post »