UNC Loses
- Thread starter bookemdano
- Start date
Surely that contributed but UNC blew a big lead from what I read. I find it hard to believe that would be possible without rules emphasis making it hard to play good defense. But I didn't watch the game so I am not certain. If you are #1 not having one guy shouldn't make that much difference against an opponent of that level.
We are very early into the adaption of the new rules. There are always early, unexpected upsets. One does not necessarily cause the other.
Nevertheless, since the advent of the 3-pointer, virtually every rule change has been to open up the offense. Wide open offense SHOULD allow the best players to excell and over the course of the season, it will probably work out that way.
But, one tenet always stressed by coaches has been some version of "We win with defense because defense never takes a day off." All teams have bad shooting days or days the offense just doesn't click. Defense is based largely on effort and teams USED to be able to ratchet up the defense to pull out wins on those bad offensive days.
With the new rules, if team A has a bad shooting day and team B shoots lights out, team B has a much better chance of winning. And, possiby winning big. (See Duquense and PSU.)
A lot of experts and pundits wanted to see an open, free-flowing game, not the hard fought, physical, even tactical style college basketball had become. We currently have that. Time will tell if it persists and what the real longer term effects are. Personally, I fear the removal of defense might ultimately turn college basketball into the AAU, not the NBA. I don't think there are enough really skilled players to make ths style of basketball effective across all of the NCAA.
And, the bangers and grinders need a place to play too. Just like has happened in the NHL, the physicality will probably make a comeback. While there are a number of purist "talking heads" like Jay Bilas, who don't seem to think there should be any contact whatsoever to deter the offensive player, I don't really think most fans have a strong opinion one way or another.
Change ALWAYS brings unexpected results. I suspect if a rash of blue-blooded teams keep getting upset, or teams like Pitt start scoring 95 points frequently, there will be an adjustment.
When elite teams actually go on the road, decent opponents have a chance. In the old BE, you almost never lost to the likes of Seton Hall, or Providence at home, but when you played at their place, they would occasionally beat you. Teams like UNI are at least as good as the mid level teams in the major conferences, and are dangerous on their home courts. People get a false sense of the strength of these teams, because they're usually forced to play any major opponent on the road.
I don't know Harve. I think the reduction of the shot clock actually helps the defense. Sure, there are things you can't do on the defensive end anymore, but the shorter clock offsets that. I saw part of the Nits/Dukes game, and the Dukes shut them down defensively. Not like that game was shocker, Duquesne was favored, and from what I saw, looked like the more talented team by far. May be a case where the light has come on for that team. You see that happen occasionally, most memorably with the Ricardo Greer team halfway through his senior season.
Again, the two biggest upsets occurred when those teams went on the road. We saw GW up close last year. That's a good team. Not many schools are going to be able to go into their place and win. I don't know as much about UNI. I can see Virginia wanting to play in Washington, but why is UNC playing at UNI? We can't get anyone with a pulse to come to the Pete, and UNC is playing at a Horizon League school?
*Understand your point about the shorter shot clock, but don't fully agree. Very few shots were taken between 30 snd 35 seconds anyway.
* If breathing on the guy with the ball or actually touching the guy you're trying to defend is going to be called a foul, the game is going to change - and not for the better. Soccer allows more contact.
* Personally, I mostly quit watching the NBA when it became watching the lead guard drive to the hoop 50 times a game. Point guards are supposed to , you know, PASS. Defenders are supposed to try to stop them. Basketball has never been a no-contact game. The recent change from the Spurs and Heat with very precise and quick ball movement has been a breath of fresh air and drawn me back.
* I don't begin to think eliminating contact favors the weaker team, but removing defense will lead to some upsets. It already has.
* UNC has a long standing tradition of playing an away game at the hometown of its players. It as nothing to do with UNI bringing them to town. They visited Pittsburgh back when they had some Pittsburgh kids.
I didn't know they had an Iowa kid on the roster. I wonder why they didn't just schedule Iowa, as they've become a powerhouse again.
The m2m defense will soon be rarely played. Need a clogged lane to offset the rules change. Zones will be the primary style of defense very soon and the purists will be screaming fir zones to be banned.
I know they are missing Paige but Roy is a really bad coach. He's similar to Rick Barnes, just with a lot more talent. They screw around until later in the year.
This is not surprising. I told a friend of mine to bet UNI.
This is not surprising. I told a friend of mine to bet UNI.
The new rules don't have anything to do with that. It has always been true that if one team shoots lights out and the other has a bad day shooting that the one shooting lights out has a better chance to win. Pretty much by definition.
What the rules may do is lower the chance the "cold" team can get back in the game by emphasing their defense. It may lower them to almost zero. It's gonna forever change the coach-speak about "defense is ALWAYS there". Previously, there was always a balance between offense and defense. That might have been changed.
I think mostly the pro-offense rules will benefit the clearly more talented team, but there has been a little string of upsets this early season that might be telling us an unexpected story....
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What I think the early results are showing is that---
Pure man to man defense is almost worthless. Zones are the future because they are the only way to protect the paint while keeping key players from excessive foul trouble.
Smart coaches will emphasize length, depth and 3 point skills in their recruiting going forward--
1. Length to make your zone defense more effective.
2. Depth because you will still be fouling more than under the old rules and will need higher quality bench players since bench minutes will go up.
3. More three point shooters to counter facing so many zones and because good 3 pt shooters generally also shoot free throws very well which is a more needed skill given all the additional fouls being called.
Note: This is just the biased opinion of a fan who detests the new officiating emphasis. The caveat is that it will depend on whether the whistle happy officiating really persists into the future.
Pure man to man defense is almost worthless. Zones are the future because they are the only way to protect the paint while keeping key players from excessive foul trouble.
Smart coaches will emphasize length, depth and 3 point skills in their recruiting going forward--
1. Length to make your zone defense more effective.
2. Depth because you will still be fouling more than under the old rules and will need higher quality bench players since bench minutes will go up.
3. More three point shooters to counter facing so many zones and because good 3 pt shooters generally also shoot free throws very well which is a more needed skill given all the additional fouls being called.
Note: This is just the biased opinion of a fan who detests the new officiating emphasis. The caveat is that it will depend on whether the whistle happy officiating really persists into the future.
There's probably a poster named something like TarHeelPoker on the Carolina Rivals board saying how Roy Williams needs to go....
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