Athletic Article Ranking BB Coaches

[PurpleWhiteBoy]

If a ranking of 50-55 represents an NCAA bubble team, then NU has never had an NCAA tournament-caliber offense under Coach Collins. But we have had 5 NCAA tournament-caliber defenses, out of 10 seasons.

I just really want to believe that our offense is going to be more dynamic this year, but that is pushing hard against recent history.

I love Nicholson setting a ball screen for Buie and rolling to the basket, but we need more motion...

Screening away from the ball seems like the most obvious way to create more open chances near the basket.

 

[GatoLouco]

Not to mention an absurd amount of bad defensive players.

If you are thinking of Kopp, I don't doubt he was a liability on defense.

If you are thinking several others were "bad" because they were young and inexperienced... sure.

Still think that, overall, the zone defense was a big contributor to the lousy defense. To me it felt like Collins fell in love with it when he stumbled into a win, with a 1-3-1, against a good Providence team. After that, the 1-3-1 bombed, was abandoned quickly, but the love of zone remained.

 

[ThatkidfromHolland]

Also a team that played an absurd amount of bad zone defense.

Ryan Young would have been a liability when it comes to man defense. Personally, I'm not a big fan of zone defense, but Young and Olah played a major role in some of the CCC team's adoption of this strategy. That particular team was also very young and lacked the same level of skilled perimeter defenders as the previous year's team. Moreover, they did not have a strong defensive presence in the post like the team from the previous year.

Success in man-to-man defense requires multiple components to work well. On the other hand, zone defense is a simpler concept for players to grasp and it helps to conceal weak defenders like Kopp or Young. The positives about the upcoming team and the previous year's team is that they possess enough experience and talent to navigate through the challenges faced by young athletes in a man-to-man system.

Last year, having Martinelli play significant minutes would have been a major liability defensively. Instead, he had the opportunity to play limited minutes and develop his skills throughout the entire off-season. Also having the 🧙‍♂️ mentor players is a huge plus.

Don’t mistake this as me being a fan of zone please.

 

[Purple Pile Driver]

If you are thinking of Kopp, I don't doubt he was a liability on defense.

If you are thinking several others were "bad" because they were young and inexperienced... sure.

Still think that, overall, the zone defense was a big contributor to the lousy defense. To me it felt like Collins fell in love with it when he stumbled into a win, with a 1-3-1, against a good Providence team. After that, the 1-3-1 bombed, was abandoned quickly, but the love of zone remained.

Yes, and agree that CCC played way too much zone.

 

[GatoLouco]

Ryan Young would have been a liability when it comes to man defense. Personally, I'm not a big fan of zone defense, but Young and Olah played a major role in some of the CCC team's adoption of this strategy. That particular team was also very young and lacked the same level of skilled perimeter defenders as the previous year's team. Moreover, they did not have a strong defensive presence in the post like the team from the previous year.

Success in man-to-man defense requires multiple components to work well. On the other hand, zone defense is a simpler concept for players to grasp and it helps to conceal weak defenders like Kopp or Young. The positives about the upcoming team and the previous year's team is that they possess enough experience and talent to navigate through the challenges faced by young athletes in a man-to-man system.

Last year, having Martinelli play significant minutes would have been a major liability defensively. Instead, he had the opportunity to play limited minutes and develop his skills throughout the entire off-season. Also having the 🧙‍♂️ mentor players is a huge plus.

Don’t mistake this as me being a fan of zone please.

I personally believe the zone protected Nance more than Young. Because Pete would be the one having to match up with someone with a considerably faster first step. Young would be left with the non mobile dude on the other team.

We can argue this to death, but we ended up with 3 wins. Hard to believe it would have been worse with man to man.

 

[PurpleWhiteBoy]

Ryan Young talks about his career choices...

 

[TheC]

Ryan Young talks about his career choices...

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Self-awareness and sense of humor are two great traits to have!