traversb
Bulldog (over 250 posts)
Posts: 397
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Post by traversb on Jan 3, 2024 19:10:59 GMT -5
Epps is still holding the worst defender of the normal rotation guys unless you consider Bacote in the rotation but Styles is 2nd behind him. He seems to have the build and athleticism to be a good defender but he has never been one. He loses his guy more than anyone on the team and he is a big part of the bad transition defense. Masoud is a decent help defender but that really shouldn't be all that celebrated when he's such a bad on ball defender but that was known as well. It does help Masoud rate out at one of the better defenders on the team although that is not exactly something to brag about on this team. Masoud shot the exact same 3% that he is shooting this year in his sophomore and junior year which is when he had a similar level of attempts. His good shooting years where on much lower volume so I am not sure this is just a funk. He's a streaker shooter who has bad shot selection so there will be some good games and some bad games. The key is in the bad to bench him as you pointed out. It's just hard to take any opinion seriously that doesn't think Heath is the worst defender on the team. He's a constant disaster, and followed closely by Massoud. I would suggest you stop using D Rating, which is fine at a team or rotation level, but misses out completely on its allocation to the individual, over-rewarding, blocks, steals and defensive rebounding, none of which have much actual correlation to overall defense. Net rating is similarly flawed; D rating is a terrible way to look at defense even before we understand the mathematical biases against starters and big minutes players in the stat. Bacote's an even worse level down, but Heath is far worse than Epps or Styles. Heath can't stay in front of anyone, gets lost on about 30% of plays and gets super lazy on footwork to the point that he shades players to their strong hands and gives them open lanes to the basket. His defense borders on bizarre at times, the decision making. Styles needs a wake up call, because he's still young and should be better on both sides of the ball. But the older guys seem like lost causes, which is super disappointing. I honestly wish we had enough quality players to simply bench some of the worst offenders on defense, but I don't even think we could field five players at this point. Heath is far from even an average defender although better before hobbled. Even now he still isn't the worst but he's bad. Should he be better at age? Sure but that isn't what I'm debating. The worst is clearly Epps and it's not particularly close to my eyes or the numbers. I have said I don't know if he is worried about getting in foul trouble or what but he could care less about even getting close to guys. He gets passed like he is standing still. Remember the Le Moyne guard? On top of Epps being an atrocious defender he doesn't rebound. Massoud is 2nd on the team in blocks and 3rd in steals/100. They are mostly off help and I don't think he is great but at least he does something unlike Epps. Instead of Rtg would you rather me use BPM? It doesn't matter what it is Epps is the worst followed by Styles and that's what my eyes see. I guess Epps was just really unlucky to have far the worst DRtg on Illinois last year as well. If only he could catch a break and teams would stop scoring when he's on the floor. Styles defense kept him off the floor at UNC last year as well but I am sure that is all a coincidence as well.
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calhoya
Diamond Hoya (over 2500 posts)
Posts: 4,358
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Post by calhoya on Jan 3, 2024 19:21:45 GMT -5
I am not certain we aren't splitting hairs here. Overall its a horrible defensive team, though I think that some players in the right system could at least be better than what we have seen. Ryan will be better. Fielder could be better. Hard to imagine older players getting better. Styles is baffling because he is so athletic that he should be better at cutting off his man, but I think at this point with him it is more focus and effort than ability.
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drquigley
Diamond Hoya (over 2500 posts)
Posts: 3,385
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Post by drquigley on Jan 3, 2024 20:05:12 GMT -5
I am not certain we aren't splitting hairs here. Overall its a horrible defensive team, though I think that some players in the right system could at least be better than what we have seen. Ryan will be better. Fielder could be better. Hard to imagine older players getting better. Styles is baffling because he is so athletic that he should be better at cutting off his man, but I think at this point with him it is more focus and effort than ability. Up until last night I would have agreed with you that Ryan will get better. But the Creighton bigs just destroyed him and it's obvious to me that now after 2+ years "what we see is what we get". He's just not quick enough nor strong enough to make up for his lack of mobility. Great kid but never going to a great basketball player.
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calhoya
Diamond Hoya (over 2500 posts)
Posts: 4,358
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Post by calhoya on Jan 3, 2024 21:41:56 GMT -5
I am not certain we aren't splitting hairs here. Overall its a horrible defensive team, though I think that some players in the right system could at least be better than what we have seen. Ryan will be better. Fielder could be better. Hard to imagine older players getting better. Styles is baffling because he is so athletic that he should be better at cutting off his man, but I think at this point with him it is more focus and effort than ability. Up until last night I would have agreed with you that Ryan will get better. But the Creighton bigs just destroyed him and it's obvious to me that now after 2+ years "what we see is what we get". He's just not quick enough nor strong enough to make up for his lack of mobility. Great kid but never going to a great basketball player. Sorry i meant to write Rowan, not Ryan.
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prhoya
Blue & Gray (over 10,000 posts)
Posts: 23,338
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Post by prhoya on Jan 4, 2024 9:29:11 GMT -5
It's just hard to take any opinion seriously that doesn't think Heath is the worst defender on the team. He's a constant disaster, and followed closely by Massoud. I would suggest you stop using D Rating, which is fine at a team or rotation level, but misses out completely on its allocation to the individual, over-rewarding, blocks, steals and defensive rebounding, none of which have much actual correlation to overall defense. Net rating is similarly flawed; D rating is a terrible way to look at defense even before we understand the mathematical biases against starters and big minutes players in the stat. Bacote's an even worse level down, but Heath is far worse than Epps or Styles. Heath can't stay in front of anyone, gets lost on about 30% of plays and gets super lazy on footwork to the point that he shades players to their strong hands and gives them open lanes to the basket. His defense borders on bizarre at times, the decision making. Styles needs a wake up call, because he's still young and should be better on both sides of the ball. But the older guys seem like lost causes, which is super disappointing. I honestly wish we had enough quality players to simply bench some of the worst offenders on defense, but I don't even think we could field five players at this point. SFHoya99, I like your signature. Who said it? When?
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Post by hoyasaxa2003 on Jan 4, 2024 10:17:13 GMT -5
Not that we don't have enough issues regardless, but this team just can't catch a break. And the multi-million $ coach with the multi-million $ program chose to go into the season with 9 scholarship players (should have seen Akok leaving when the rumors were going around and planned for it). Negligible. I don't care if the top transfer players didn't want to come here because GU has been mismanaged for the last decade. There were hundreds of players in the portal. We just needed three grads/seniors with big cojones who wanted to come to this unique place with a great educational reputation. As for the "fit" excuse, we only had three returning players and it was always going to be an issue. Assuming no departures, we only have 2 scholarships open, and I expect Cooley to fill them through the portal. I would hope we are never in this situation again. I can excuse it in Year 1, particularly because the last two Ewing teams were so abysmal and were a hindrance to recruiting. It's less excusable beyond that. Much of the reason why I give Cooley and the staff leeway on this stuff is that it's Year 1. But, as time goes on, these problems need fixing.
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SSHoya
Blue & Gray (over 10,000 posts)
"Forget it Jake, it's Chinatown."
Posts: 18,344
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Post by SSHoya on Jan 4, 2024 10:24:24 GMT -5
It's just hard to take any opinion seriously that doesn't think Heath is the worst defender on the team. He's a constant disaster, and followed closely by Massoud. I would suggest you stop using D Rating, which is fine at a team or rotation level, but misses out completely on its allocation to the individual, over-rewarding, blocks, steals and defensive rebounding, none of which have much actual correlation to overall defense. Net rating is similarly flawed; D rating is a terrible way to look at defense even before we understand the mathematical biases against starters and big minutes players in the stat. Bacote's an even worse level down, but Heath is far worse than Epps or Styles. Heath can't stay in front of anyone, gets lost on about 30% of plays and gets super lazy on footwork to the point that he shades players to their strong hands and gives them open lanes to the basket. His defense borders on bizarre at times, the decision making. Styles needs a wake up call, because he's still young and should be better on both sides of the ball. But the older guys seem like lost causes, which is super disappointing. I honestly wish we had enough quality players to simply bench some of the worst offenders on defense, but I don't even think we could field five players at this point. SFHoya99, I like your signature. Who said it? When? Coach Cooley after the LeMoyne game, November 8, 2023
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