I always enjoy John Gasaway's Tuesday Truths, though I'm sure it's a little wonky for some of you. This week in his AAC section Gasaway had a nice little tidbit regarding the Bearcat defense.

Quote:Does Mick Cronin have the best defense in the country?

...

Cincinnati has played 329 possessions against American opponents, including 58 against SMU, easily the best non-UC team in the league. Even if the Bearcats’ opponents had committed zero turnovers over the course of all that basketball, Mick Cronin’s guys would still be giving up just 1.01 points per trip. That is some strong and, I dare say, entirely non-turnover-reliant defense. Granted, the American’s no murderers’ row where offense is concerned (that “0.98” at the bottom of the table is unsightly), but even making due allowance for their level of competition the Bearcats still come out looking notably fearsome. UC’s rivals for “best defense in the county” honors — usual suspects like Louisville and West Virginia, as well as shamefully overlooked newcomer South Carolina — all force turnovers, and that ability seems to diminish in importance annually around the time the bracket shrinks from 32 to 16. Conversely, if UC makes it that far, the Bearcats could still be standing tall. It’s tough to get the ball in the basket against these guys (at least through traditional means), and Cronin’s blessed with the best high-usage shot-making duo he’s ever had in the form of Jacob Evans and Kyle Washington.

https://johngasaway.com/2017/01/17/tuesd...e-edition/

pretty good stuff, I just followed on him on twitter. I know we haven't had that one total breakthrough season under Mick, but I think he's smart to continue to focus on defense/rebounding. Obviously we want players that excel at everything, but the premiere offensive guys often seem so much harder to get for a program like ours that is probably never going to be filled with HS AAs. And unlike offense (where even the best ones have off nights), it will keep us in every game and eventually things are going to fall in our favor.

(01-17-2017 12:39 PM)bearcatmark Wrote:  I always enjoy John Gasaway's Tuesday Truths, though I'm sure it's a little wonky for some of you. This week in his AAC section Gasaway had a nice little tidbit regarding the Bearcat defense.

Quote:Does Mick Cronin have the best defense in the country?

...

Cincinnati has played 329 possessions against American opponents, including 58 against SMU, easily the best non-UC team in the league. Even if the Bearcats’ opponents had committed zero turnovers over the course of all that basketball, Mick Cronin’s guys would still be giving up just 1.01 points per trip. That is some strong and, I dare say, entirely non-turnover-reliant defense. Granted, the American’s no murderers’ row where offense is concerned (that “0.98” at the bottom of the table is unsightly), but even making due allowance for their level of competition the Bearcats still come out looking notably fearsome. UC’s rivals for “best defense in the county” honors — usual suspects like Louisville and West Virginia, as well as shamefully overlooked newcomer South Carolina — all force turnovers, and that ability seems to diminish in importance annually around the time the bracket shrinks from 32 to 16. Conversely, if UC makes it that far, the Bearcats could still be standing tall. It’s tough to get the ball in the basket against these guys (at least through traditional means), and Cronin’s blessed with the best high-usage shot-making duo he’s ever had in the form of Jacob Evans and Kyle Washington.

https://johngasaway.com/2017/01/17/tuesd...e-edition/

i think this speaks to what a lot of NBA analysts already know: College shooting blows. This is why the take that D'Antoni offered previously only works if you have NBA caliber shooting, and not even the elite caliber but the average to above average tiers. You play the percentages and defend inside out. And, Yes, that unfortunately means that occasionally a wide open corner trey is the result.