3 Point Defense

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underground629

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I probably didn't need to start a new thread about this, but I just found it interesting that even without Nolen, we're 3rd in the BT (during conference play) in 3 pt defense % (32.5, not sure if that includes last night's game). We're also 2nd in overall fg % defense.
 

How about 3pt attempts against? I couldn't find that stat.
 

underground629 said:
I probably didn't need to start a new thread about this, but I just found it interesting that even without Nolen, we're 3rd in the BT (during conference play) in 3 pt defense % (32.5, not sure if that includes last night's game). We're also 2nd in overall fg % defense.
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And 11th in luck.
 

Gold Vision said:
How about 3pt attempts against? I couldn't find that stat.
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We're well in 1st with 317 attempts. 2nd is Illinois with 270, and they're actually #1 in 3pt defense. Teams fire a lotta threes against us, no doubt about it.
 

Opponents shoot 41.1% of their shots from behind the arc which puts the Gophers at 334 out of 345 teams. I think it's more the quantity of made threes that people get upset about. I don't necessarily view that as a bad stat, it comes with the territory of packing it in with a lengthy zone.
 


Where does Syracuse rank in these stats? Just to compare another zone team.
 


Losing Nolen and Joseph does make us slower on defense most of the time. I personally don't like the "3 bigs" lineup myself and this is a big reason why. We are too slow and vulnerable on defense especially from the outside.
 

Just a little math:

Say a team shoots 35% on 3-pointers and only shoots 3s during the game, so on average 65 shots. That equates to 68 points. Not bad.

Do to our lack of shooters, we struggle making 3s, so we would need 35 2-point baskets to win, or a large free throw margin in our favor (due to being a bad FT shooting team we need a lot more free throw attempts). We would need 78 shots to make 35 baskets (using a 45% FG%, we ranged from 37% to 51% over the last games).

So we need 13 more shot attempts, those come off of steals and blocks and turnovers, but when we also have 15+ turnovers a game, then we struggle getting off 78 shots.

To conclude, holding teams to a 30% 3-point percentage is good, but if the team jacks up 3s all game long because they know they can't compete with our bigs inside, then we have problem.

That's all. Defend the 3. Please. Let me know if my math is wrong.
 



GophersInIowa said:
Losing Nolen and Joseph does make us slower on defense most of the time. I personally don't like the "3 bigs" lineup myself and this is a big reason why. We are too slow and vulnerable on defense especially from the outside.
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You don't like the bigs because we have excellent 3pt defense when they are out there?
 

gall0249 said:
Just a little math:

Say a team shoots 35% on 3-pointers and only shoots 3s during the game, so on average 65 shots. That equates to 68 points. Not bad.

Do to our lack of shooters, we struggle making 3s, so we would need 35 2-point baskets to win, or a large free throw margin in our favor (due to being a bad FT shooting team we need a lot more free throw attempts). We would need 78 shots to make 35 baskets (using a 45% FG%, we ranged from 37% to 51% over the last games).

So we need 13 more shot attempts, those come off of steals and blocks and turnovers, but when we also have 15+ turnovers a game, then we struggle getting off 78 shots.

To conclude, holding teams to a 30% 3-point percentage is good, but if the team jacks up 3s all game long because they know they can't compete with our bigs inside, then we have problem.

That's all. Defend the 3. Please. Let me know if my math is wrong.
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Law of diminishing returns. A team will not (likely) shoot 35% by jacking up 65 three's in a game, there simply aren't enough opportunities for decent shooters to get those shots.
 

GophersInIowa said:
Losing Nolen and Joseph does make us slower on defense most of the time. I personally don't like the "3 bigs" lineup myself and this is a big reason why. We are too slow and vulnerable on defense especially from the outside.
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I would be surprised if they play three bigs against Penn State. Battle might go off against that defense.
 

gall0249 said:
Just a little math:

Say a team shoots 35% on 3-pointers and only shoots 3s during the game, so on average 65 shots. That equates to 68 points. Not bad.

Do to our lack of shooters, we struggle making 3s, so we would need 35 2-point baskets to win, or a large free throw margin in our favor (due to being a bad FT shooting team we need a lot more free throw attempts). We would need 78 shots to make 35 baskets (using a 45% FG%, we ranged from 37% to 51% over the last games).

So we need 13 more shot attempts, those come off of steals and blocks and turnovers, but when we also have 15+ turnovers a game, then we struggle getting off 78 shots.

To conclude, holding teams to a 30% 3-point percentage is good, but if the team jacks up 3s all game long because they know they can't compete with our bigs inside, then we have problem.

That's all. Defend the 3. Please. Let me know if my math is wrong.
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There's more to it than just that though. When a team shoots 3's, they're not nearly as likely to draw fouls, and they're less likely to get offensive rebounds.
 



The bottom line is that in B10 play we have defended the 3 well. i don't really know what more you can ask for, especially without al on the perimeter. the 3 has not been causing us to lose. it has been a number of other factors, especially the turnovers and a lack of energy at times during games. i really think we need to get off the "we need to defend the 3" kick. we are defending the 3. we need to make our shots, play with energy, and take care of the ball.
 

From the Barn said:
You don't like the bigs because we have excellent 3pt defense when they are out there?
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Huh?

It seems to me that when we go with the big lineup we are more vulnerable from the outside. When the other team is able to reverse the ball very quickly, guys like Iverson and Mbakwe have a hard time recovering because they are not as quick. Maybe I'm wrong, I don't have anything that proves it one way or the other, just seems that way to me.
 

I'm a little worried about Battle too. Luckily he's going to run into a brick wall when he drives htough. I'm hoping that if he's blowing by Hoffarber every time, Tubby tries putting Hollins on him.

jovs said:
I would be surprised if they play three bigs against Penn State. Battle might go off against that defense.
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