Carmody --- defense?

[Palindrome]

The pattern of Holy Cross' 5 post-season wins is pretty interesting. They had some good shooting at times from 3 point range, but more importantly it seems to me is that all of a sudden BC's team brought some defense. Don't recall that being a strong suit in his NU gig, although the 1-3-1 zone tactics looked similar (except for the undersized Sobo on the back end of it). If I heard the commentators accurately, I think the 1-3-1 was not the norm for Holy Cross during the regular season.

During their five-game win streak, Holy Cross has held the opponent under their season average scoring in each game, sometimes by a big margin. The five opponents had averaged 74 points of offense overall, but got just 57.4 against Holy Cross over the 5 post-season games. So the falloff from their season averages was more than 16 points per game.

That said, I doubt Oregon is quaking in their Nike shoes and worrying about not getting to 60 points!

 

[thewildcat2011]

Bad teams with bad players and coaches can't handle a completely different scheme. Southern was absolutely lost about how to attack the 1-3-1, and didn't look much better coming out of halftime. I think their coach was clueless--they refused to dribble in and make one hard pass then swing around. Just lobbed it over the top. Refused to get the ball to the corner 3...I would fire that coach based on this game entirely if I'm honest. Completely outclassed.

 

[Secho99]

Bad teams with bad players and coaches can't handle a completely different scheme. Southern was absolutely lost about how to attack the 1-3-1, and didn't look much better coming out of halftime. I think their coach was clueless--they refused to dribble in and make one hard pass then swing around. Just lobbed it over the top. Refused to get the ball to the corner 3...I would fire that coach based on this game entirely if I'm honest. Completely outclassed.

Yeah, the 1-3-1 isn't that hard if you know how to attack it (ask Ed DeChellis) but if you go about it the wrong way it'll be a long night (see: Michigan State-NU in 2009). HC doesn't have the level of talent we had in '09 so it probably won't give Oregon problems past the 2nd TV timeout but I don't think it will be entirely comfortable for the Ducks.

 

[mesacat]

Even so-glad to have a rooting interest for one more game before hibernation (baseball season) until August. Has BCB lost weight or is it my TV? He looked pretty fit.

 

[Pete Purple]

I think part of the stat of holding opponents to below their avg is due to slowing down the entire game, which is a perfectly legitimate tactic. But it's a tactic, not stellar defense.

 

[docrugby1]

Even so-glad to have a rooting interest for one more game before hibernation (baseball season) until August. Has BCB lost weight or is it my TV? He looked pretty fit.

I believe Willycat mentioned in an earlier post that BC took his buy out from Northwestern in gold bars and has been running with them in a weighted vest.

 

[willycat]

I believe Willycat mentioned in an earlier post that BC took his buy out from Northwestern in gold bars and has been running with them in a weighted vest.

Right and also those "great" defenders were recruited by someone else.

 

[Palindrome]

I think part of the stat of holding opponents to below their avg is due to slowing down the entire game, which is a perfectly legitimate tactic. But it's a tactic, not stellar defense.

Can't quite agree with the "not stellar defense", Pete. HC had played 8 regular season games against the teams they faced again in their conference tournament. Going way out a limb here, I'll speculate that Bill C kept his inner Tarkanian in check and was intent on slowing down the pace of those regular conference games, too.

Bucknell scored 98 and 77 vs. HC in the regular season, then 72 in the post season game.
Lehigh had 87 and 64 vs. HC regular season, then 56 in the tournament matchup.
Loyola (MD) had 71and 78 vs. HC in the regular season, then 67 in the tournament game.
Army put up 65 and 72 vs. HC in the regular season, but got only 38 in losing the tourney.

Small sample, but the post-season defense looks to be 10-20 points per game better against the same foes. And all postseason games were away from home.

 

[hdhntr1]

Bad teams with bad players and coaches can't handle a completely different scheme. Southern was absolutely lost about how to attack the 1-3-1, and didn't look much better coming out of halftime. I think their coach was clueless--they refused to dribble in and make one hard pass then swing around. Just lobbed it over the top. Refused to get the ball to the corner 3...I would fire that coach based on this game entirely if I'm honest. Completely outclassed.

Their passing was pretty pathetic.

 

[hdhntr1]

The pattern of Holy Cross' 5 post-season wins is pretty interesting. They had some good shooting at times from 3 point range, but more importantly it seems to me is that all of a sudden BC's team brought some defense. Don't recall that being a strong suit in his NU gig, although the 1-3-1 zone tactics looked similar (except for the undersized Sobo on the back end of it). If I heard the commentators accurately, I think the 1-3-1 was not the norm for Holy Cross during the regular season.

During their five-game win streak, Holy Cross has held the opponent under their season average scoring in each game, sometimes by a big margin. The five opponents had averaged 74 points of offense overall, but got just 57.4 against Holy Cross over the 5 post-season games. So the falloff from their season averages was more than 16 points per game.

That said, I doubt Oregon is quaking in their Nike shoes and worrying about not getting to 60 points!

Still not great D but is was gimmicky and teams had not faced the 1-3-1 so it had an effect. If teams get to see it, they learn how to attack it just like any other D. Then the limits of his recruits are exposed. However being that he is now in a lower level league, his level of talent will likely be more comparable than it was in the BIG.

 

[hdhntr1]

Can't quite agree with the "not stellar defense", Pete. HC had played 8 regular season games against the teams they faced again in their conference tournament. Going way out a limb here, I'll speculate that Bill C kept his inner Tarkanian in check and was intent on slowing down the pace of those regular conference games, too.

Bucknell scored 98 and 77 vs. HC in the regular season, then 72 in the post season game.
Lehigh had 87 and 64 vs. HC regular season, then 56 in the tournament matchup.
Loyola (MD) had 71and 78 vs. HC in the regular season, then 67 in the tournament game.
Army put up 65 and 72 vs. HC in the regular season, but got only 38 in losing the tourney.

Small sample, but the post-season defense looks to be 10-20 points per game better against the same foes. And all postseason games were away from home.

More likely it was the opponents facing a gimmicky D that they had not seen before and coupled with the general slowdown, reduced points scored. Now that teams have seen it, look for teams to exploit it next year. It will still trip up a few teams. That said, at HC is likely not at the huge difference in talent he faced in the BIG. At the same time, he hasn't got guys in yet selected for proficiency in his O. At HC, he will likely do fine.

 

[YesterdaysCat]

The pattern of Holy Cross' 5 post-season wins is pretty interesting. They had some good shooting at times from 3 point range, but more importantly it seems to me is that all of a sudden BC's team brought some defense. Don't recall that being a strong suit in his NU gig, although the 1-3-1 zone tactics looked similar (except for the undersized Sobo on the back end of it). If I heard the commentators accurately, I think the 1-3-1 was not the norm for Holy Cross during the regular season.

During their five-game win streak, Holy Cross has held the opponent under their season average scoring in each game, sometimes by a big margin. The five opponents had averaged 74 points of offense overall, but got just 57.4 against Holy Cross over the 5 post-season games. So the falloff from their season averages was more than 16 points per game.

That said, I doubt Oregon is quaking in their Nike shoes and worrying about not getting to 60 points!

My guess is that Holy Cross will settle in as a lousy defensive team once all of Carmody's recruits are on the team. It was rare for us to have more than one or two good defenders on the team at the same time once Bill's boys were in and KON's were out. I guess it's possible that Carmody has changed his approach or his defensive coach is really good, but... come on, we are talking about Coach Carmody.

It's Make Shots, not Force Stops.

 

[Dugan15]

Yeah, the 1-3-1 isn't that hard if you know how to attack it (ask Ed DeChellis) but if you go about it the wrong way it'll be a long night (see: Michigan State-NU in 2009). HC doesn't have the level of talent we had in '09 so it probably won't give Oregon problems past the 2nd TV timeout but I don't think it will be entirely comfortable for the Ducks.

The other issue that Holy Cross will face. For the years that Craig Robinson was at Oregon State, presumably Oregon learned how to attack his teams, offensively and defensively. My hunch is that it gets ugly quickly. No disrespect to the Crusaders.

 

[Palindrome]

The other issue that Holy Cross will face. For the years that Craig Robinson was at Oregon State, presumably Oregon learned how to attack his teams, offensively and defensively. My hunch is that it gets ugly quickly. No disrespect to the Crusaders.

Good point about Oregon's experience, not that Oregon should need to do anything very strategic to outgun the overachievers from HC, anyway.

I will be expecting to see some palindromic scores as the game plays out. 21-12, 31-13, 52-25, 63-36 for example.