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And then there’s N.C. State, which has managed to stymie the power of adjectives that dare try, often futilely, to describe the Wolfpack’s defensive misery. Bad, porous, abominable, dreadful – those words all fit N.C. State’s defense. And yet they don’t quite do it justice, either.
From the 2006-07 to now, there have been 144 ACC teams. According to kenpom.com only one – 2013-14 Boston College – finished a season with a worse defensive efficiency rating than N.C. State’s current 108.1 (meaning the Wolfpack allows about 1.08 points per possession). The Wolfpack still has seven regular-season games, too, to make some dubious history.
Read more here: http://www.newsobserver.com/sports/college/acc/article130975424.html#storylink=cpy
It’s been proven time and again, the path to consistent NCAA success starts with talent and finishes with defense. Why anyone still thinks “they gotta guard us, too” will work is beyond me. If you can spot-motivate, it can get you an exciting upset or two in March, assuming that you can get there. But it’s not sustainable. And, as we’ve learned this year, when the level of competition rises, it’s not enough to get over even that modest threshold.
I’ve never defended being defenseless. What I have said, as a PARTIAL “maybe this could be tweaked to work” MG defense in the past, is that I thought the combo of elite offense and “pretty good” defense could be very well suited to tournament play, and what we could/should strive for.
But you have to meet a threshold minimum for acceptable defense, or it matters not how good your offense is. As this year’s wolves are demonstrating nicely.
To paraphrase Jim Croce….
Now I got them steadily depressin’, low down mind messin’ Watching State Basketball BLUES….
Actually I do have (officially tested positive for it) the FLU. Laddies and lassies, I am in pretty good shape for being a 1968 NCSU Grad (should have been 67), but I can tell you….this MESS will wear your body out. The term…”Creeping Crud” was coined after what I have. I have never been as tired and as weak as I am now. Avoid Crowds (OK BB games are not THAT crowded) and wash your hands about every five minutes….you do NOT want the “real” Doctor Tested Nose Swab Failing FLU….
When I wrote that series of posts on our defense, our defensive efficiency was 101.3, ranked 142nd in the nation. Between the second and third post, we played Tennessee St, and Gottfried commented that “we took a major step this week with our defense,” a statement that I expressed some skepticism towards. Well, I was wrong. We clearly did take a big step with our defense, it’s just that it was a step backwards. As mentioned in the article, our defensive efficiency is now 108.1, ranked 213th nationally. We rank behind such noted defensive powerhouses as Lipscomb, Abilene Christian, Gardner Webb and Fort Wayne. Zooming in at just this period of decline is even worse. If you look exclusively at conference games, State’s defensive efficiency is 117.2! That’s embarrassing. To put that in perspective, UNC leads the ACC with a 116.2 offensive rating in conference games. That means that the average team playing against us will score more efficiently than the best offense in the league. We’re so bad that if we fouled a 60% free throw shooter every single time down the floor, we’d expect to give up about as many points as if we actually tried to play defense.
Yes BJD – I think you say that because you hate the idea of grinding it out thanks to the wood chopping of Sendek.
There is no dispute – defense wins championships. Good offenses can run cold – witness Duke against us. Of course, our coach – who always seems to think the offense could improve – but our defense is where it needs to be.
He’s like Don Coryell? (San Diego chargers ex coach.)
You have to have good d to be consistently good.
We don’t and never will under Gott unless he is subjected to a clockwork Orange type treatment…And who knows how that will turn out.
I guess this is to be expected when we consistently run away from three point shooters.
Oh, I will freely admit there’s a PTSD element to my rationalizations. Though to counter that, I also liked that our offenses (when they’ve worked) have incorporated lost arts like the mid-range jumper.
That should (also rationalizing) make you less prone to the wild swings that exclusively 3-reliant offensive teams are. I mean, at some point, you will always have a cold night from deep in a tourney. It happens.
Plus, that whole “mathematically, every shot should be a layup or a three” has made offensive play unwatchable. And it makes me so angry to watch it, especially the old PTSD “weave and heave” play.
Oh, you better believe it. State is rank defensively.
dammit
Oh, I will freely admit there’s a PTSD element to my rationalizations. Though to counter that, I also liked that our offenses (when they’ve worked) have incorporated lost arts like the mid-range jumper.
That should (also rationalizing) make you less prone to the wild swings that exclusively 3-reliant offensive teams are. I mean, at some point, you will always have a cold night from deep in a tourney. It happens.
Plus, that whole “mathematically, every shot should be a layup or a three” has made offensive play unwatchable. And it makes me so angry to watch it, especially the old PTSD “weave and heave” play.
Oh, I will freely admit there’s a PTSD element to my rationalizations. Though to counter that, I also liked that our offenses (when they’ve worked) have incorporated lost arts like the mid-range jumper.
That should (also rationalizing) make you less prone to the wild swings that exclusively 3-reliant offensive teams are. I mean, at some point, you will always have a cold night from deep in a tourney. It happens.
Plus, that whole “mathematically, every shot should be a layup or a three” has made offensive play unwatchable. And it makes me so angry to watch it, especially the old PTSD “weave and heave” play.
Especially when its the “weave and dry-heave”…
I did (do?) grudgingly admire the “slap the floor we’re gonna tighten up the D now” choreography that Dook used to do. (Do they still? Doesn’t seem like it.) I think it inspired their team to play tough, instilled fear in the hearts of opponents and worked wonders getting the refs to prepare for “tendencies” aka “Dook is playing very aggressive tough D WITHOUT FOULING”. I really wish State had something like that to fall back on, along with actual defense skills and strategy. The Pack never should have lost to Cuse or the Canes, because they should have had a plan to shut down the likes of Gillon and Reed having field days.
Does anyone remember the N&O ever writing anything negative about Sendek? I sure don’t.
Me neither.
Folks, defense is hard work. It involves concentration and tenacity and dedication to the task at hand. But, if you are athletic, you are capable–on any level–of playing good defense individually. And, if you are properly coached, you are taught TEAM defense. This should be a plus with shot blockers that we have on the roster.
Throughout my basketball life, despite being a short white guy who couldn’t shoot, dribble, or jump (all decidedly damning obstacles), the one thing I could do is run and play defense, and I got playing time. Using peripheral vision with the proper spacing, staying down on the ball and the floor, moving your feet, hands up in the passing lanes–this is not hard to coach, technically. It does take a lot of unglamorous effort and conditioning. But a lot of it is intuitive.
This is what kills me about this program. The talent is there to ruthlessly feed off of turnovers. Yet you don’t work on defense hard enough, or with enough aptitude or discipline, to create those turnovers. Playground crap doesn’t work on this level anymore. Not even at Kentucky. They’ve got at least a modicum of defense there.
Caveat: I also did get my nose and mouth busted a few times in the process, but I wanted floor time. 🙂
I have been harping on the defense for a long time and I got responses like “Wood or so and so can’t guard”. It was never about a player it is about a coach who doesn’t care about defense. He never was going to do anything.
^This subject was covered by national media and other Pack sites in detail upon Gottfried’s hiring. It was a known fact that his defenses were not good in the weak, top heavy SEC. The only surprise this year is just how terrible we actually are on that end.
I’ve said all along that we’d never be good on defense under him, and the only way to possibly counter that weakness, would be to speed up the tempo considerably, press, trap, etc. Now, with that said, I didn’t imagine that our presses, traps, would actually be great considering the overall defensive weakness, but it would speed tempo, possibly force quicker shots, and rely less on communication in the half court. We’ve not really had adequate depth to run in a lot of quality bodies until this year, but look how he uses those. Awful substitution patterns.
Well, we certainly don’t have anybody with Wood/Turner/TAFKAWBS athleticism on the roster anymore, so we’ve conclusively proven the case on the defensive issue. No more arguments to be made.
There will be a good defensive team on the floor tonight! Unfortunately, it won’t be us…
We wil leave their shooters open and if they miss we might have a chance.
Using peripheral vision with the proper spacing, staying down on the ball and the floor, moving your feet, hands up in the passing lanes–this is not hard to coach, technically. It does take a lot of unglamorous effort and conditioning. But a lot of it is intuitive.
I want to analyze a bit because this is what frustrates me about a coach of just about any sport.
While defense and team defense aren’t rocket science, it is extremely helpful if it’s done with a good TEACHER. A bad teacher can screw up teaching just about anything (we all had one of these Teachers)
For some players, defense is intuitive (feels that way for me), but for most I don’t think it is. Some people don’t have that built-in vision/awareness, don’t recognize patterns, and don’t consider the next move like with billiard, chess, etc..
All in all, my frustration is that one of the scenarios must be true about our coaches since we don’t seem to have made any progress.
-They don’t understand team defense
-They understand, but can’t teach team defense
-They understand it, can teach it, but just not to this group (players can’t grasp it)
-They don’t sufficiently value team defense
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