Now that we have a pretty good idea what the roster will look like and who might be in the rotation, you can see clearly the trade-off Golden has made. We look to be a substantially improved defensive squad, but I also think it's worth considering how much that improved defensive will keep our offense efficient. Defensively, we will be improved on the ball/perimeter with Martin giving us 25-30 minutes, more minutes from Aberdeen (equal to or better than Kugel), hopefully improvements from Clayton and Richard as seniors, and agile fours in Alexis and a more experienced Haugh. We will have improved rim protection with Alexis (9.1 block rate), Chinyelu (9.6), and an experienced Condon (5.8) and Haugh (4.4), who were the best on the team in that regard last year. While losing Handlogten definitely hurts, Condon was our best defensive rebounder last year (22.5 rate), and Alexis (25.7) and Chinyelu (25.5) were outstanding at their levels. I think improved play defensively will have a massive impact at the other end. Golden still wants to play with a fast pace, and better defense will help. If our guards defend better on the perimeter, that will decrease fouls on our bigs and free throws, which will create more live ball rebound and turnover opportunities. If our bigs contest shots and clear defensive boards, that will increase transition opportunities or allow us to get into early offense. And the more shots we can get at the rim with drivers like Martin, Abrerdeen, and Klavzar, the more likely we are to get offensive rebounds and putbacks. Very excited to see exactly how the rotations shake out. I can't imagine a world in which we are not massively better on defense and comparable (if not better) on the glass, but I think that in turn will help us play with the pace we want, get the volume of shots we want, and hopefully finish or rebound that higher volume of shots well.
Seems like we scored 100pts a whole buncha times last season. Problem was that our opponents also did. It was exciting basketball for sure, but I'd happily sacrifice some pts for a few more wins. I like the way you describe the need for tempo in the offense, which will be guard-driven. Get to the hoop and let the big guys clean up misses.
Our best defender from last year suffered a compound fracture and will most likely redshirt this year. We have some guys coming in that might pick up some slack and maybe guys from last season will defend better. I am not sold that we will be a lot better defensively. Hoping for it.
I think defensively our frontcourt will be close to as good as last year, maybe better - we'll see. where I hope we're much better is on-ball defense from our backcourt. Martin seems like he can hold his own and I really hope Clayton Jr buys in on that end of the floor, but we need serious improvement there. We can't have guys beating us off the dribble all the time; it puts pressure on our bigs to react, which then too often leads to fouls or easy buckets from the big left open on the help. It all starts with our guards buying in - and keeping their man in front of them at all times.
Thanks 108, great story that will un-fold this season. Can’t wait to see him and Condon defending the hoop together on the floor. Teams playing us better be able to shoot from outside. If not it’s off to the races. Rueben hoping you can work on a short turn around shot to go with the put backs I know you will get with a lot of rebounds. The quick learning of more offense will get you to the NBA. A couple of years at Florida would help you get better with all the bigs you will practice against. I will be pulling for you to get success and attain your NBA goal. Shake the college landscape both in the SEC and the NCAA tournament, will get you there. Go get ‘em big guy!
That was a great read, thanks for posting it. High goals, great work ethic, physically imposing, what's not to like? It would be great if we could get a Larry Shyatt type asst to compliment Coach Golden's offense. It can be done.
Of our 12 losses last season, we allowed 80+ points in 9 of them. Even marginal improvement should help us pick up a few extra wins. The other 3 were the Vandy meltdown and the ugly slugfests against A&M and Virginia. So much potential to win a lot more games next year
