We give up so many easy baskets. What is the issue?
My believe is that we have to find a way to keep Moses in the middle instead of getting him caught up in a switch 25 feet from the basket,at least that’s where I would start. WPS
Need to find a way to play defense without Moses ending up on a switch 25 feet away from the basket, would be a good start ! WPS
Not impressed w our D as much v LSU.
Showed flashes on the road this week, but allowed bad LSU team to approach almost 90 points on home floor.
Yes we won and all but this D thing is what has had a lot of us concerned.
I’m guessing it has to be personnel because mike knows D.
Arkansas played pretty good defense in the two games before, but got into a flow of the game issue against LSU - who as their coach said can score aplenty, but can’t guard anybody.
Didn’t help that our best defender had the flu. In addition, the suspension of Thomas puts Adrio on the floor. He does some good things but seems to get lost, especially on the high pick.
Yea I noticed that as well.
It does seem like we are willing to sacrifice some defensive concentration if our opponent is willing to play up and down at our preferred pace. Not sure if this is an intentional strategy to go more full court defense and encourage/ give up open shots quick in the half court if opponent can be baited into running. Mike seems to put a lot of faith into fatigue working for our side late in games. He also seems to put faith in our shooting better than the opponent at this pace. But if we did not shoot 50% for three and outrebound then by 14 boards then uh oh. To mikes credit, he always addresses these obvious concerns when he speaks about the team. I have to believe he adjusts the game plan a little to the competition and is comfortable with an up and down pace. Rebounding was a huge accomplishment last night, and probably an emphasis from coach. I know he talks about three point defense, not fouling, and playing D every night as the shooting comes and goes. I have concerns about those areas, but it’s not like Mike isn’t aware too. I got to have faith and form opinions based on the final outcome. He is proving me wrong on a lot so far this year, Moses’ jump shot, Manny’s minutes, our ability to rebound ect…
In the 2nd half, everything LSU threw up went in. Some were way too easy, but some were just good play by LSU.
Mays kept getting the inbounds in open space and made a bee line to the basket. The only way to stop him was to foul. Someone should have stepped in front and took a charge. They should have figured a way to slow them down, but the Hogs pretty much had an answer every time.
Great game to watch.
WPS!!!
Our lack of defense will be the eventual undoing of this team. We give up way too many easy baskets and wide open shots. Nolan and Eddie used to demand defense or sit on the bench. Mike not so much or maybe he doesn’t have the players that can do it. Too often our defensive effort looks like what you would see from an NBA All Star game. That isn’t a compliment by the way.
A lot of it is just not rotating fast enough.
I agree. Saw us do so much better against a and m and got excited that we were finally getting it.
But LSU was a set back in D to me.
Like previous poster comment about NBA all star game D.
At times we look that way.
Going to be hard to win at Vandy or anywhere if don’t find our D or hide some personnel until we can improve it next year to play the D we would expect from Mike, who I have to believe still believes in D of the past.
Yes and no. We had a similar discussion last week. On some of the rotations, our guys were being lazy (don’t know what else to call it) and not switching, so they weren’t “rotating” fast enough.
Also, when we go to the zone, if Dusty or Macon are guarding the wing, they lay off the defender trying to get the ball to him, problem is neither has been quick enough to get to him. It looks like they are trying to force the ball to th spot. I’m assuming a trap is Ming, but they aren’t fast enough on the perimeter yet.
Edit: I said Dusty and Macon, but I’ve also saw Jones, Barford, Manny, Thomas, and Cook do it. Cook was the only one that got back in time and Beard left his man to double the spot, but Moses was out of position and the guy got the ball to the post.