That is the most we have averaged in the last 12 years. That includes Stansbury's last 10 years. That should add some perspective to those that think we are this great hustling defense.
We are averaging giving up 77 points a game in SEC play
- Thread starter MagnificentBastard
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I thought last year was as bad of fundamental defense I'd ever seen from MSU. I chalked a lot of that up to injuries and youth. The stats may not show it, but I think its much better this year and I'd think we may simply be looking at a small sample size at this point.
Being undersized in the front court probably has something to do with that (hard to defend the paint, second chance points due to rebounding struggles). That will change next year. And we're close to the top of the nation in steals, so we're doing something right.
Last year in conference play we gave up 74.2 ppg, this year through 6 games 77.5 ppg, an increase of 4.4%
Overall scoring in college basketball is up 6.2% over last year through Jan 27th. http://kpisports.wordpress.com/kpibasketball/
Our defensive ppg are actually down when you include non conference. 69.5 ppg vs 69.3 ppg
Our defense is actually better than last year when accounting for national trends.
Not saying this explains everything, but the new foul rules have a big impact on this.
Also, reason our record is better is our own increase in scoring.
60.6 ppg to 70.9 ppg (17% increase) all games
58.9 ppg to 71.0 ppg (21% increase) conference games
Basically our scoring has increased at a much higher % than the national avg. and our defensive points per game has increased less than the national average.
Numbers don't tell the whole story, but thought this would add some good insight into the discussion.
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We've played two of the best conference teams on the road for starters...
Not to mention you are comparing full seasons to six games. We had Auburn at 60 before they went on Ronald Dupree like last minute and a half, but we held them off. A&M went to overtime with us holding them to 67 in regulation. Want to complain we gave up a scorching 72 in a home win against Ole Miss, go ahead, chief. Our points allowed numbers are pretty skewed by getting thumped AT Kentucky, AT Ole Miss, and AT Bama. Three teams that should have beaten the crap out of us in their own gym. So, lets make sure we aren't being an ignorant dick before we say this team isn't hustling on defense.
Not to mention you are comparing full seasons to six games. We had Auburn at 60 before they went on Ronald Dupree like last minute and a half, but we held them off. A&M went to overtime with us holding them to 67 in regulation. Want to complain we gave up a scorching 72 in a home win against Ole Miss, go ahead, chief. Our points allowed numbers are pretty skewed by getting thumped AT Kentucky, AT Ole Miss, and AT Bama. Three teams that should have beaten the crap out of us in their own gym. So, lets make sure we aren't being an ignorant dick before we say this team isn't hustling on defense.
Kentucky is averaging 77 pts a game. They scored 85 against us. Ole Miss is averaging 74 points a game they scored 72 and 82 against us. Alabama is averaging 66 pts a game. They scored 80 against us. Texas A&M is averaging 63 pts a game. They scored 72 against us. Auburn is averaging 66 pts a game. They scored 74 against us. See a trend here? Ole Miss at home is the only game that we held a team under their average. Seems I remember something about their #1 scorer not playing in that game. SEC teams are scoring an average of 8 pts a game more than their average against us. We aren't this all out great hustling defense. Our defense is basically spotting everyone about 8 pts.
I don't know the right answer to the end question in all of this...
But I think if you take into account the rule changes on hand-checking, the number of free throws teams are taking now-a-days, and some form of multiplier due to players more rested (because of the extra free throws), that you may find a different conclusion on how good of a team defensively we are now compared to Stansbury's teams.
But I think if you take into account the rule changes on hand-checking, the number of free throws teams are taking now-a-days, and some form of multiplier due to players more rested (because of the extra free throws), that you may find a different conclusion on how good of a team defensively we are now compared to Stansbury's teams.
Not having a legitimate post presence is probably the main reason for this. When Ware gets in foul trouble (which is often), we have Roquez as our only post type player. That leads to a lot of offensive rebounds and 2nd chance points for the other team. When we get a big man to complement Ware and start winning the rebounding game, the defensive numbers will all of a sudden look a lot better. And yes, we are a good hustling defense. We lead the league in steals, which is what we have to do with a guard oriented team.
I think that our #240 SOS might help to explain the 17% increase in team scoring. To put things into perspective, that's 98 spots lower than the next closest SOS in our conference.
The increase in defensive PPG isn't overly alarming because we still don't have much of an inside presence and you already pointed out the national scoring trends, but it's certainly difficult to say that we've made any improvement in that area as compared to last year.
The increase in defensive PPG isn't overly alarming because we still don't have much of an inside presence and you already pointed out the national scoring trends, but it's certainly difficult to say that we've made any improvement in that area as compared to last year.