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Those of you who subscribe to Basket Under Review can read a really good write up about UNI and their excellent defense. Will Warren does a great job and provides a lot of great details about why we are so good. I'm going to attach the article but also provide a couple highlights:
Here are some of the big takeaways to me:
- UNI is above average with 2 pt and 3 pt % but because we don't get to the free throw line or get offensive rebounds our margin for error on offense is razor thin
- Warren notes that we have the 5th best defense in the nation with Houston and Arizona on each side of us. Their NIL budgets projected at around $10 million respectively while he projects ours to be close to $500,000. (I'm not sure about that number, though. I feel like I've heard mixed projections on that.) The bottom line is that we are just playing a different game in the new NCAA.
- He notes that Trey and Leon are excellent defending guards in different ways. Trey gets into passing lanes and Leon just doesn't let anyone get past him. That also makes Will and Tristan's jobs easier so they don't have to clean up.
- The best defender on our team statistically is Ben Schweiger. Warren makes note of the fact that Benny is a bit of a unicorn for us from year's past. He's a tall wing who can guard 1-5 if needed.
- The way we are playing is probably not sustainable according to Warren. We are currently allowing the lowest 3 pt % in modern history at 24.5%. Belmont shot 48% the other night and already started pushing up that number a bit. Belmont is also the best shooting team in conference however.
- Even if we started allowing teams to shoot 31%-33% from three the rest of the year, we would still have one of the best 3 pt defenses in the country and we will likely be in good shape.
I really encourage people to read this article. It's very interesting and it's not often we get highlighted by national level writers anymore. Warren also provides some good video evidence of what he describes and highlights our effectiveness. Go Cats!
Here are some of the big takeaways to me:
- UNI is above average with 2 pt and 3 pt % but because we don't get to the free throw line or get offensive rebounds our margin for error on offense is razor thin
- Warren notes that we have the 5th best defense in the nation with Houston and Arizona on each side of us. Their NIL budgets projected at around $10 million respectively while he projects ours to be close to $500,000. (I'm not sure about that number, though. I feel like I've heard mixed projections on that.) The bottom line is that we are just playing a different game in the new NCAA.
- He notes that Trey and Leon are excellent defending guards in different ways. Trey gets into passing lanes and Leon just doesn't let anyone get past him. That also makes Will and Tristan's jobs easier so they don't have to clean up.
- The best defender on our team statistically is Ben Schweiger. Warren makes note of the fact that Benny is a bit of a unicorn for us from year's past. He's a tall wing who can guard 1-5 if needed.
- The way we are playing is probably not sustainable according to Warren. We are currently allowing the lowest 3 pt % in modern history at 24.5%. Belmont shot 48% the other night and already started pushing up that number a bit. Belmont is also the best shooting team in conference however.
- Even if we started allowing teams to shoot 31%-33% from three the rest of the year, we would still have one of the best 3 pt defenses in the country and we will likely be in good shape.
I really encourage people to read this article. It's very interesting and it's not often we get highlighted by national level writers anymore. Warren also provides some good video evidence of what he describes and highlights our effectiveness. Go Cats!
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