re: Tide Hoops | 25-12 (13-5)

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The key under Oats is defense.

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I don't understand at all.
Nelson, Wrightsell, Estrada, and Wague were recruited through the transfer portal, but why did defense become the key? Why do you want them to play defense?
They didn't play defense during their college careers and they couldn't play defense. They are players who focus on offense rather than defense.
Are you expecting them to play defense now? They are not very young freshmen like Stevenson. He is a veteran who has already become accustomed to his own style of basketball. But among the existing players, were there any players who were strong in defense? Players who were good at defense left for the NBA.
Defense is played by 5 people on the court. It would be very harsh to expect Stevenson to play good defense.

We played Purdue in Edeys home town with a crowd that was all cheering for Purdue, and they shot about 20 more free throws than us. That wasn't a neutral site game.

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We played Purdue in Edeys home town with a crowd that was all cheering for Purdue, and they shot about 20 more free throws than us. That wasn't a neutral site game.

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It’s still a neutral site game. We had more fans than Ohio State in November but it fortunately doesn’t make it a home game.

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Nelson scored 20 vs Ohio State, 14 vs Clemson, 11 vs purdue (despite playing while injured) and 13 vs Creighton (despite being injured.)

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Ohio State
FG 5-11 45.5% / 3PT 1-5 / FT 9-9
Oregon
FG 5-13 38.5% / 3PT 0-3 / FT 1-1
Clemson
FG 4-15 26.7% / 3PT 2-8 / FT 4-4
Purdue
FG 4-9 44.4% / 3PT 2-7 / FT 1-2
Creighton
FG 5-14 35.7% / 3PT 1-5 / FT 2-2

Nelson is a F-C, not a G. Although he is a F-C, his offensive efficiency is not as good as that of a G. Wouldn't it be better to recruit a F-C who is good at defense and an SF who is good at offense?

How would you guys be acting as Arkansas fans and ranked 54th on KenPom?

We’re 9th.

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I’m glad we’re good enough on offense to beat bad teams but bad enough on defense to never beat a good one. We’re 2-4, soon to be 2-5, against NCAAt caliber teams, with wins over Indiana State and a depleted Oregon. Literally nothing about this squad exists to indicate they can make any noise at all in March.

Arizona has TWO 7-footers who play significant minutes. Might be the worst possible matchup for us in America besides Purdue.

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Remind me. Was that Purdue game a close game despite a severely unbalanced whistle that allowed a 7'4" dude to be as physical as he wanted and giving our guys no chance to guard him? This team is incredible offensively and has to get better on defense, but considering the aforementioned loss and losing a game to a top 10 team (with another unbalanced whistle) at their place on a missed buzzer beater suggests that this team has an extremely high ceiling. Combine that with the facts that we are still early in the year with just 3 returning players and a total assistant overhaul and you have some high potential for improvement.

Do those losses help with seeding or really even matter to the selection committee? Probably not, but to think that those close losses under those circumstances don't matter when looking at a team's potential in March is extremely short-sighted. You said it: Purdue is the worst matchup for us in the entire country while possibly being the best team in the country, and we would have beat them with just a slightly less cruel whistle. That suggests potential at the very least.

This team has a lot to prove on the defensive end, but I don't believe this roster is as handcuffed by defensively deficient players as we had 2 years ago. I think the defense will improve and if we can become just a top 50 quality defensive team, we'll be able to make noise in March with this roster.

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Estrada scored 19 vs Ohio State, 16 vs Clemson and also hurt his ankle two games ago vs Purdue and has played through it.

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Ohio State
FG 9-17 52.9% / 3PT 2-5 / FT 1-2
Oregon
FG 8-14 57.1% / 3PT 3-6 / FT 3-4
Clemson
FG 6-16 37.5% / 3PT 2-8 / FT 2-2
Purdue
FG 2-8 25% / 3PT 1-4 /
Creighton
FG 3-14 21.4% / 3PT 0-3 / FT 2-2

Estrada played two games well and played poorly in the third game. He has bad defense. That's why he shouldn't have any ups and downs on offense.

Estrada and Nelson out on the perimeter is brutal defensively. They can’t stay in front of anybody. If we had Chuck to bail him out it wouldn’t be a big deal….hell if Wague could play without fouling it wouldn’t be as big of a deal.

I will say…Sam Walters looks much better defensively IMO.

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My prediction for this team is we will win 17/18 games, 1 in SEC tournament, end up in the 8/9 game and get bounced by a 1 seed in the round of 32

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Sounds about right.

Putting on my PosiBammer hat…

The offense is elite. Like Final 4 Elite. Even when we don’t shoot well we are scoring 80+ points

Unlike 2 years ago the defense problems isn’t effort based. This group fights and plays hard.

If we can get Wague to stop fouling and play him 20-25 mins a game I think we will end up being a MUCH MUCH better team