SMU Defense

[Duke Blue Blood]

While obviously against pretty bad teams, the most points thay anyone has put on us is 66.

While I can not say that I am impressed at at all with this team (especially turnovers) but where we lack in offensive skills, it may appear we can rely on our defense..

DBB

[angryfan04]

good defense against bad teams - great

[EastStang]

Last year this group played pretty solid team defense and with another year under their belts they've built on that. With Fall and Rack, it makes it tough to score in the paint. We're not going to beat a team in a scoring fest (like the Wizards and Lakers last night). But in a low scoring game, we increase our chances of winning. Even in the loss to Florida State we kept their point score down.

[CarMichael]

Accoring to Ken Pomeroy, you have the #31 team in adjusted defensive efficiency. The style of defense reflects Doh's Carolina bloodlines in that 2-point defense is exceptional-- boosted in this team's case by a very high shotblock rate. Because of the emphasis on 2-point defense, opponents are taking a high percentage of shots from outside. You can look forward to years of complaints on this board about the defense giving up 3s. However, so far your opponents are making a low percentage after adjusting for the effect of made 3s (eFG%). The rate of turnovers forced is not great, but it will go up over the years. Defensive rebounding is very good, a sign of attention to detail. The rate of fouling is low, so your shotblockers must be pretty talented.

http://www.kenpom.com/sr.php?team=Southern%20Methodist

[RGV Pony]

Accoring to Ken Pomeroy, you have the #31 team in adjusted defensive efficiency. The style of defense reflects Doh's Carolina bloodlines in that 2-point defense is exceptional-- boosted in this team's case by a very high shotblock rate. Because of the emphasis on 2-point defense, opponents are taking a high percentage of shots from outside. You can look forward to years of complaints on this board about the defense giving up 3s. However, so far your opponents are making a low percentage after adjusting for the effect of made 3s (eFG%). The rate of turnovers forced is not great, but it will go up over the years. Defensive rebounding is very good, a sign of attention to detail. The rate of fouling is low, so your shotblockers must be pretty talented.

http://www.kenpom.com/sr.php?team=Southern%20Methodist

I think we got used to complaining about 3s when Dement was here

[MustangStealth]

I think we got used to complaining about 3s when Dement was here

beat me to it...

[RE Tycoon]

I think we got used to complaining about 3s when Dement was here

beat me to it...

me too.

[Ponymon]

Accoring to Ken Pomeroy, you have the #31 team in adjusted defensive efficiency. The style of defense reflects Doh's Carolina bloodlines in that 2-point defense is exceptional-- boosted in this team's case by a very high shotblock rate. Because of the emphasis on 2-point defense, opponents are taking a high percentage of shots from outside. You can look forward to years of complaints on this board about the defense giving up 3s. However, so far your opponents are making a low percentage after adjusting for the effect of made 3s (eFG%). The rate of turnovers forced is not great, but it will go up over the years. Defensive rebounding is very good, a sign of attention to detail. The rate of fouling is low, so your shotblockers must be pretty talented.

http://www.kenpom.com/sr.php?team=Southern%20Methodist

Shot blocking = 7'1" Bamba Fall!

[angryfan04]

And the 4 corner offense looked good against PV

[originaloverthehilltop1]

thanks to carmichael for the analysis. send more!

[NCPony]

CarMichael's post is accurate. Look for the defense to get much better as the players continue to learn Doh's (or UNC) system.
It can be a lot of fun seeing the quick changes of pace from man-to-man to full court traps and half-court traps to keep the other team off-balance. Especially as Doh gets his recruits involved over the next few years they will get better at trapping and cause a lot of turnovers and breakaways. For now, it may get a little frustrating as the players are still learning the D.

Go Mustangs!

[Big10Ponyfan]

CarMichael's post is accurate. Look for the defense to get much better as the players continue to learn Doh's (or UNC) system.
It can be a lot of fun seeing the quick changes of pace from man-to-man to full court traps and half-court traps to keep the other team off-balance. Especially as Doh gets his recruits involved over the next few years they will get better at trapping and cause a lot of turnovers and breakaways. For now, it may get a little frustrating as the players are still learning the D.

Go Mustangs!

I know we've talked about the suspect ball handling abilities of this club. And they are valid.

But the ball movement is much sharper. The passing is crisper, and you can just tell there is an agenda on where to direct the sphere. That opens up higher percentage shots.

[CarMichael]

As NCpony says, the defensive scheme is complex, so defensive play should improve over the season and over the years. Some freshmen will have trouble getting it. However, from stats it looks like the team is already doing well.

In the half-court MTM, look for pressure on the ball with the adjacent defenders playing in the passing lanes. The most distant weakside defender plays a zone in the paint. He has to recover out as the ball moves toward his man and a defender on the former strong side takes his place. These constant rotations are tricky, and any slow reaction will lead to an open 3. But the scheme is supposed to inhibit post entries and dribble penetration through the middle. Sometimes Matt will also use the wings to double down on the post, which can also lead to 3-point opportunities.

There are separate defensive calls for full-court, three-quarters, and half-court traps. Trapping just inside the halfcourt line is a Carolina speciality. A few times, Matt has used a sort of halfcourt press which is a very aggressive 1-3-1 zone extended to the midline. He said Jerry Green invented this defense, but the rest of the stuff is basically Dean's Smith's.

[Big10Ponyfan]

As NCpony says, the defensive scheme is complex, so defensive play should improve over the season and over the years. Some freshmen will have trouble getting it. However, from stats it looks like the team is already doing well.

In the half-court MTM, look for pressure on the ball with the adjacent defenders playing in the passing lanes. The most distant weakside defender plays a zone in the paint. He has to recover out as the ball moves toward his man and a defender on the former strong side takes his place. These constant rotations are tricky, and any slow reaction will lead to an open 3. But the scheme is supposed to inhibit post entries and dribble penetration through the middle. Sometimes Matt will also use the wings to double down on the post, which can also lead to 3-point opportunities.

There are separate defensive calls for full-court, three-quarters, and half-court traps. Trapping just inside the halfcourt line is a Carolina speciality. A few times, Matt has used a sort of halfcourt press which is a very aggressive 1-3-1 zone extended to the midline. He said Jerry Green invented this defense, but the rest of the stuff is basically Dean's Smith's.

I loved it when our Tar Heel brethren jump on board with great stuff like this. Here's an idea for you guys. Since you all are Doherty fans, plan a trip to Dallas to go to a CUSA weekend game that doesn't conflict with the Tar Heels. Maybe when they are on the road and we are at home.

Just an idea. Get about 25-50 of you guys to make a weekend of it. We'd love to you see you and so would Matt.

[NCPony]

CarMichael gives a very good synopsis of the complexities involved in the different defenses used. You might see some things which seem a little unorthodox for what is happening in a particular game, where the team changes to a zone for no particular reason, for example. Then, the next time back down the floor they will be back to MTM. It's actually a way to set up the half-court trap later in the game. After they drop back to zone a few times, the offense will feel they have the perimeter to do what they want. This is when they will bring on the extended 1-3-1 CarMichael was talking about and catch the offense off-guard creating potential for a turnover and easy 2-pts.
I am a SMU grad so I would love to get back to see a game, hopefully soon.