Duke Defense

[madrussian]

Not sure if this has been said but I saw this tweet in the ncaa's news. Duke has the second best defensive efficiency score in the ncaa's.

They were 96 before tourney.

 

[dbav]

Great run for these guys. Hard work has paid off. Defense wins championships.

 

[FearTheBeard_rivals208808]

1-3 months ago, defense was the one thing we would have all said is holding this team back from getting #5. This is great news!

 

[aah555]

Duke's season-long Kenpom # on defense has skyrocketed from the 80s after the Va Tech game to #18. It really has been the key to this final four run, as our offense (particuarly Jah and Cook) was actually somewhat pedestrian in Houston. Holding Gonzaga to 52, in particular, was truly an incredible effort. That was the lost point total for a Gonzaga team in more than 5 years -- when, interestingly, they were held to 41 by Duke's 09-10 championship team.

 

[mo.st.dukie]

I think it's been a combination of the guys finally figuring it out and simply executing better as well as the importance of these games causing them to place a higher level of concentration on defense. Quinn Cook has also been one of the main reasons for the better defensive effort, he really locked down Wright and Pangos showing great leadership on that end of the floor.

 

[Showenuff]

Good call mo.st.dukie

 

[aah555]

Originally posted by mo.st.dukie:
I think it's been a combination of the guys finally figuring it out and simply executing better as well as the importance of these games causing them to place a higher level of concentration on defense. Quinn Cook has also been one of the main reasons for the better defensive effort, he really locked down Wright and Pangos showing great leadership on that end of the floor.

And he's going to be just as critical against MSU. Trice's emergence has really been a key to MSU's rise from a borderline NCAA tournament team to a final four squad. If Cook can keep Trice in check, not sure MSU has enough scoring around him to beat us. The Cook / Trice matchup will be critical.

 

[DukeJim99]

Does KenPom award quintuple points for NCAA games? How does a team's year-long defensive efficiency go from in the 80s overall to #18 based on just four games? I don't understand.

 

[aah555]

While I don't think Kenpom treats the games any differently, the NCAA tourney can significantly impact the kenpom numbers of the teams that advance because it gives the winning team a number of opportunity to record extremely efficient performances against very good, highly-efficient teams. San Diego St. was a top 30 team on Kenpom, while Gonzaga and Utah were both top 10 teams. Holding all 3 well below 60 significantly improved our numbers. Relatedly, our strength of schedule on kenpom has improved from around 20 to 5.

 

[JCColsCane]

I just hope they can focus for two (2) more games. As I've said many times before, when they talk, switch, and help, they are almost unbeatable!
If Quinn can neutralize Trice like he did on Pangos, and the guards will penetrate on offense, I really like our chances Saturday.
Go Duke!!


JC-OFC

 

[youngman42]

Originally posted by aah555:

While I don't think Kenpom treats the games any differently, the NCAA tourney can significantly impact the kenpom numbers of the teams that advance because it gives the winning team a number of opportunity to record extremely efficient performances against very good, highly-efficient teams. San Diego St. was a top 30 team on Kenpom, while Gonzaga and Utah were both top 10 teams. Holding all 3 well below 60 significantly improved our numbers. Relatedly, our strength of schedule on kenpom has improved from around 20 to 5.

SDSU was not top 30 on offense. They were top 30 overall (27 b/c they are a very good defensive team - not offensive) but are ranked 168 on offense after the Duke game.

The measurement for defensive efficiency is related to the other team's offensive efficiency; not their overall KenPom rating. One look at SDSU's scoring average over the season and it's clear they did not have a great offense.

Gonzaga and Utah, however, were very highly ranked on offense and that did help Duke's rating. Especially holding the Zags to 52.

 

[Tim1515]

I'm pretty sure we were ranked #55 going into the tournament. I looked at those numbers before doing my bracket

 

[dukiejay]

I can't recall the name of the poster in the Duke-Gonzaga game thread who was calling for Duke to pick up the tempo in the game, but I just remember typing out a message and electing not to click 'post message'....so I deleted it altogether. He even said something to the effect of us playing right into Gonzaga's hand. It was maddening at the time. But I digress.

My point is this team has made tremendous strides throughout the year, and not just on defense. With three great freshman and a fourth finding minutes, it amazes me how much they have continued to listen and learn. We all knew they were talented coming in, but they've believed in one another, their teammates, and most importantly their coach.

Six weeks ago I would have never believed anyone if they had told me we'd get to the Final Four based more on our defense than our offense. And that can kind of be misleading, because our offense, while not shooting great all the time, has been efficient.....especially against Gonzaga with only three turnovers.

I'm excited for the Final Four, but I wish it could be another week before it got here. I'm not content knowing that, win or lose, in four days this group will never play together again for Duke. I've really enjoyed this team.

 

[madrussian]

it is such a bummer that we only have these guys for one year, and win or lose that will be the saddest part about this weekend.