I can't help but to say this.

[Danny J]

Does the other team missing the open looks make it better defense? I don't recall their shooters having as tough of a time to find good looks as Rotnei had.

Agreed. Missing wide open shots is not tantamount to good defense. We were lucky and they were not.

[thirtythree]

What game were you watching. He was getting his looks from just behind the arc. He just wasn't making them. They were swinging the ball and he was getting good looks. I am not taking anything away from the win, but I won't stick my head in the sand and act like I didn't notice this.

I'm talking about Leonard. He is considered to be their best shooter. He launched several long shots because the defense was playing the perimeter pretty good. You need to go look at it again.

A lot of their "open" looks came off of transition and offensive rebounds.

You're right. As a team they got some open looks, but Leonard struggled.

[chiefsfan]

The reason why Arkansas was able to outrebound them is because they were cold and took about 25 more shots than Arkansas. This was because Arkansas turned the ball over twenty times. Mo St. only had ten turnovers. The block shots differential is nice, but it cannot take the other stats you left out and turn them into something good.

Blocked shots is a huge stat...  it can turn into 2 free points for Arkansas, yet doesnt count as a turnover

Arkansas wasnt shooting great either, Using your logic if Arkansas shot 50 percent they would have won going away

[1highhog]

Yawnnnnnnnn

[Pork Twain]

When a team only has ten tournovers and you have twenty you cannot say you played good defense. When a team misses wide open shots you cannot say you played good defense. Fact is, Mo. St. played good defense but was unable to make anything. Thus, allowing a more athletic team that is poorly coached to win the the game. See, A good coach can take less and compete, but a poor coach can't. All he can do is take better talent and barely survive when the other team has an off night shooting on his court. And then make a fool of himself with his giddiness for actually having won a game. Go to the Arkansas web page and look at his picture after the game.

Are you one of FCJ's dingleberries?

[hawgsav1]

Thank you for saying it wasn't good defense, this was my point in the post.

Well, my point is that while we still have a long way to go, all I want to see at this point is improvement.  I'm still on the fence with John Pelphrey, yet despite this 4-20 stretch, the man deserves to at least finish out the season to see if he can make something happen.  The one consistent thing about the Pelphrey era is that our teams tend to be inconsistent.  His first year, that team was very talented, yet managed to drop a few little ones, while winning some big ones.  Last year's season was the Tale of Two Teams.  The team that started 12-1, and the team that finished 2-14.  If we finish at 17-18 wins, I'll consider that solid improvement.

[cmrhawg]

  I don't recall their shooters having as tough of a time to find good looks as Rotnei had.

of course not. none of there players scored 51 points and made 13 threes in a game earlier in the season. if that was the case then yes, we would have defended that player as hard as they defended Rot

[The_Iceman]

Are you one of FCJ's dingleberries?

he's a wannabe that got power hungry and wants to be recognized like FCJ.

[HogInThaGrove]

I won't stick my head in the sand and act like I didn't notice this.

will you just stick it in there and leave it?

[Smokehouse]

can we just give Atkinhog his own forum on here? He can start all the threads he wants and I can venture in whenever I'm in the mood for a good laugh.

[rude1]

of course not. none of there players scored 51 points and made 13 threes in a game earlier in the season. if that was the case then yes, we would have defended that player as hard as they defended Rot

Oh this makes sense. We don't bother to defend unless they have put up 51 with 13 three in a game. No wonder we have the worst 3point defense in the conference, all while playing one of the easiest schedules.

[cmrhawg]

Oh this makes sense. We don't bother to defend unless they have put up 51 with 13 three in a game. No wonder we have the worst 3point defense in the conference, all while playing one of the easiest schedules.

wow, your lack of basketball knowledge is astounding. teams game plan for Rot. they structure their entire defense around not letting him get open. yet you expect us to do that to 3 or 4 of the other team's players every game?

what i was saying (which obviously went way over your head) was that you cant compare the amount of open shots Rotnei gets to the amount of open shots the entire opposing team gets.

[Niels Boar]

There is more than one way to play good defense.  UConn is always amongst the worst teams in the nation at forcing TOs.  Yet, they are usually in the top 20 for overall defensive efficiency because they force low FG percentages and rebound a high percentage of the oppostion's misses.  That's what we did to Mizzou St.  Also, not every open shot is a mistake by the D.  See how open Fortson and Welsh usually were from the perimeter in SEC play last year.  Getting players to shoot the ball from postions where they do not make a high percentage is sometimes by design.

[Danny J]

There is more than one way to play good defense.  UConn is always amongst the worst teams in the nation at forcing TOs.  Yet, they are usually in the top 20 for overall defensive efficiency because they force low FG percentages and rebound a high percentage of the oppostion's misses.  That's what we did to Mizzou St.  Also, not every open shot is a mistake by the D.  See how open Fortson and Welsh usually were from the perimeter in SEC play last year.  Getting players to shoot the ball from postions where they do not make a high percentage is sometimes by design.

Dont forget uconn has led the entire country in block shots for 8 straight years. They average something like 8 blocks a game.

[Wild Bill Hog]

You can't have twenty turnovers and only produce ten from your opponent and fool people there has been good defense played. It was better than they have played, but it wasn't good. To the very end of the game it wasn't good. It was better, but not good.

How does the number of TO's we had relate to how good our defense was?

[Danny J]

How does the number of TO's we had relate to how good our defense was?

I agree. If anything I would make the argument that our defense when defending the 3 has to improve more than just forcing turnovers.

[eurohog]

Turnovers forced sometimes has very little to do with defense.   there are several turnovers per game that are unforced.  Remember a moving screen, a travel, a palm and a double dribble are all considered turnovers that have very little to do with defense pressure.

The best number to illustrate defense is blocked shots, rebounding steals and field goal percentage

funny how atkins completely ignores this post.  pokes too many holes in his 20-10=bad defense theory. 

Have you seen the movie idiocracy?

[hawgsav1]

Btw, we held Adam Leonard, who was their top 3 pt shooter, to 2-17 shooting.  That's not bad.  Our biggest mistake was letting Kyle Weems get free all night.  He was 6-10 from downtown. 

[thirtythree]

Btw, we held Adam Leonard, who was their top 3 pt shooter, to 2-17 shooting.  That's not bad.  Our biggest mistake was letting Kyle Weems get free all night.  He was 6-10 from downtown.

I think that's the point some people are trying to make as well. Their best shooter was 2-17. When you shut down a shooter like that someone is going to step up. Isn't that the same thing we say when a team tries to shut down Rot? It is going to happen. Weems was just in a zone.

[Niels Boar]

Dont forget uconn has led the entire country in block shots for 8 straight years. They average something like 8 blocks a game.

That's a major reason they force a very low 2-pt %.  It's impressive that they can go after every shot and still defensive rebound well.

[rbackfan87]

aktinhog5- you should change your name to NegativeNancy or SuzyStormCloud as you will never be happy.