UConn Fan Checking In

ISU's defensive deficiencies have sorta been by design due to our game plan (as odd as that sounds). When we get clearly beat, we allow mildly contested layups versus taking a hard foul and putting our guys in foul trouble and opponents on the line. WVU really capitalized on Staten's quickness in the lane when we played in Morgantown. It's almost a bend-but-don't-break defense because Fred feels confident that he can outscore anyone he faces.

I think this game is going to be decided on the boards. If ISU can hit the offensive boards and maximize their points per possession, we're going to be tough to beat. However, I'll be surprised if the margin of victory is more than 6 points (either way) when the final buzzer sounds.

How is Uconn in terms of rebounding? I have seen a very limited amount of Husky-ball this year.
 
ISU's defensive deficiencies have sorta been by design due to our game plan (as odd as that sounds). When we get clearly beat, we allow mildly contested layups versus taking a hard foul and putting our guys in foul trouble and opponents on the line. WVU really capitalized on Staten's quickness in the lane when we played in Morgantown. It's almost a bend-but-don't-break defense because Fred feels confident that he can outscore anyone he faces.

I think this game is going to be decided on the boards. If ISU can hit the offensive boards and maximize their points per possession, we're going to be tough to beat. However, I'll be surprised if the margin of victory is more than 6 points (either way) when the final buzzer sounds.

How is Uconn in terms of rebounding? I have seen a very limited amount of Husky-ball this year.

It's our Achilles heel.
 
Your issue is that your "10th Ranked Defense" doesn't play against offenses like Iowa States....your defensive stats are inflated. We however have played defensive squads (like K St) and still hung 80+.

Good luck.

This. During ISU's current 6 game winning streak they scored 85 against Oklahoma State, 91 against Kansas State, 94 against Kansas, 74 against Baylor, 93 against NC Central, and 85 against North Carolina.

The most impressive game was the Baylor game IMO. Their defense over the past 14 games has been dominant. In regulation they are giving up an average of 64.6 points per game. In the Big XII tourney championship game ISU nearly scored 50 points on Baylor's D in the 2nd half alone. Compare that to the 55 total points that Creighton scored on Baylor Sunday night.

Throw in the K-State game down in Kansas City... the Wildcats allowed 65.4 points per game for the entire season. ISU dropped 91 points on K-State. Compare that to their showing in the NCAA Tournament where they held a talent rich Kentucky team to 56 points for the entire game.

Throw in the NC Central game... The Eagles allowed just 59.5 points per game for the entire season. They held Wichita State to 77 points on the Shockers home court. Iowa State... they just managed to drop 93 points on them on 64% shooting overall and 53% from 3.


This Iowa State offense is just a different beast compared to what other teams bring to the table.
 
Having a .jpg of your favorite ammo must be a thing in the midwest.


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How is Uconn in terms of rebounding? I have seen a very limited amount of Husky-ball this year.

Rebounding is one of UConn's weaknesses; in the sense that they have solid team rebounding (Napier team's leading rebounder as a 6'1" PG), but if they face teams with people who can get rebounds out of their area, UConn struggles and can be beaten pretty badly on the boards. That being said, they do a good enough job of boxing out that they still out-rebound their opponents on average.
 
This. During ISU's current 6 game winning streak they scored 85 against Oklahoma State, 91 against Kansas State, 94 against Kansas, 74 against Baylor, 93 against NC Central, and 85 against North Carolina.

The most impressive game was the Baylor game IMO. Their defense over the past 14 games has been dominant. In regulation they are giving up an average of 64.6 points per game. In the Big XII tourney championship game ISU nearly scored 50 points on Baylor's D in the 2nd half alone. Compare that to the 55 total points that Creighton scored on Baylor Sunday night.

Throw in the K-State game down in Kansas City... the Wildcats allowed 65.4 points per game for the entire season. ISU dropped 91 points on K-State. Compare that to their showing in the NCAA Tournament where they held a talent rich Kentucky team to 56 points for the entire game.

Throw in the NC Central game... The Eagles allowed just 59.5 points per game for the entire season. They held Wichita State to 77 points on the Shockers home court. Iowa State... they just managed to drop 93 points on them on 64% shooting overall and 53% from 3.


This Iowa State offense is just a different beast compared to what other teams bring to the table.

http://statsheet.com/mcb/teams/compare?t1-season=2013-2014&t1=villanova&t2=iowa-state

Looks very similar to a wildcat.
 
Prior to playing us in the 2nd round, Villanova had a similar offensive efficiency rating to Iowa state.

You can see a plot of it here:

http://i.imgur.com/LAQLUYF.jpg

The horizontal access is offensive efficiency ranking. The further left the better the offensive team.
The vertical access is the defensive efficiency ranking. The lower the better the defensive team.

This represents a snap shot of all teams just before the start of tournament play.

The takeaway is that Villanova was a proxy for Iowa State in terms of offensive efficiency heading into the tournament.

After shooting 35% against us vs. their 45% average for the year, they fell from roughly 10th to 26th in the offensive rating.

And your offensive rating was prior to losing Niang.

Try to keep in mind that Villanova played in a garbage conference. Their offense was significantly helped by the lack of quality competition. Iowa State on the other hand played in arguably the toughest conference in the nation in the Big XII. There is a big difference in how both teams were able to accumulate those offensive ranks.
 
Try to keep in mind that Villanova played in a garbage conference. Their offense was significantly helped by the lack of quality competition. Iowa State on the other hand played in arguably the toughest conference in the nation in the Big XII. There is a big difference in how both teams were able to accumulate those offensive ranks.

Out of conference they Beat three tournament teams including Kansas.
 
Out of conference they Beat three tournament teams including Kansas.

Congrats to them. Their 2 biggest wins outside of their conference were before the end of November against Kansas and Iowa down in the Battle 4 Atlantis. How they played in 2 games that were nearly 4 months ago has nothing to do with how they are playing now. Their 1st round game against Milwaukee was flat out pathetic.
 
Similar numbers? Yes. Similar level of competition? No. Iowa State played in a tougher conference and overall had a tougher schedule then what Villanova faced.

Defensively ken pom has the big 12 the 5th best in the country and the big east 8th. The big 12 overall had a lot of great teams in depth, but if you think your parody offensive numbers should be taken to be substantially better than villanova's I will challenge you on that. Both played in defensively average conferences.

Remember kenpom statistics are both normalized for competition and tempo. And its hard to turn your nose up at Nova for playing in the big east when they clipped the jayhawks on a neutral court.

The big 12 hasn't exactly blown through the competition in the dance either.
 
Congrats to them. Their 2 biggest wins outside of their conference were before the end of November against Kansas and Iowa down in the Battle 4 Atlantis. How they played in 2 games that were nearly 4 months ago has nothing to do with how they are playing now. Their 1st round game against Milwaukee was flat out pathetic.

Out of conference wins typically do come in November/early December, don't they?
 

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