Correct me if I’m wrong but during the game the announcers mentioned that Washington has the worst shooting percentage in the entire pac-12 conference. Not today though...
UCLA defensive efficiency by ken pom metrics is now at a 90!!! That’s almost the worst defensive team out of the top 50 ken pom teams. This is not good and has slowly been trending in the wrong direction.
When you play a team like Washington that the top teams in the program beat by 20-30 and you sneak by with an ugly win, it doesn’t bode well for my confidence level for the rest of the season. This was a win... but UCLA is going nowhere as long as their defensive efficiency remains near 100 for all division 1 teams
UCLA’s defensive efficiency by KenPom last year was 112. I’m not completely shocked it’s trending that way again this year simply because the Bruins don’t have many naturally-good defenders. Even a player like Bernard who has clearly grown on that end this season would not be considered a great defender by any stretch.
Agreed that it’s not too surprising given the players on the floor. They played better in the second half on both ends of the court.
I think I also wanted to highlight that the 3 pt shooting by Washington wasn’t the only concern. They shot well from every area of the court and got shots wherever they wanted them. The threes were falling, but so was everything else, and this is the worst shooting percentage team in the conference... I can’t just focus on the three shooting defense when all of it was terrible considering the opponent
When you lose Smith and you bench Hill, you lose a lot of length on the court. I know Mick has been pulling Hill when he makes mistakes to send a message but it doesn’t seem to be working. Riley is an adequate defender but doesn’t jump well so the blocked shots and rebounds are down. Hill needs to play. Juzang is not a great defender. Clark may need to play just for his defense.
Losing Smith has definitely had an effect on the defense, agreed. Hill is a bit more of a questionable case because his defensive metrics have taken a nosedive over the past few weeks while Riley’s have been one of the best on the team. I think Hill’s got some bigger problems to his game right now, such as his lack of any offensive ability, that is hindering his playing time.
Agreed that I would like to see Clark play more, but I think the thing hindering him is his tentativeness on the offensive end. Unsurprising considering he’s a true freshman but still.
Juzang is not a great defender... but UCLA needs to keep him on the floor to open up the offensive court. He is also better than some of the others and is only a few months into his tenure with mick.
I remember Ben Howland's first year. He benched Michael Fey and Ryan Hollins. Hollins eventually turned it around and played a decade in the NBA. Fey never made it out of the G league. It appears Bernard has got the message. Hopefully, others will follow his lead.
Correct me if I’m wrong but during the game the announcers mentioned that Washington has the worst shooting percentage in the entire pac-12 conference. Not today though...
UCLA defensive efficiency by ken pom metrics is now at a 90!!! That’s almost the worst defensive team out of the top 50 ken pom teams. This is not good and has slowly been trending in the wrong direction.
When you play a team like Washington that the top teams in the program beat by 20-30 and you sneak by with an ugly win, it doesn’t bode well for my confidence level for the rest of the season. This was a win... but UCLA is going nowhere as long as their defensive efficiency remains near 100 for all division 1 teams
UCLA’s defensive efficiency by KenPom last year was 112. I’m not completely shocked it’s trending that way again this year simply because the Bruins don’t have many naturally-good defenders. Even a player like Bernard who has clearly grown on that end this season would not be considered a great defender by any stretch.
Agreed that it’s not too surprising given the players on the floor. They played better in the second half on both ends of the court.
I think I also wanted to highlight that the 3 pt shooting by Washington wasn’t the only concern. They shot well from every area of the court and got shots wherever they wanted them. The threes were falling, but so was everything else, and this is the worst shooting percentage team in the conference... I can’t just focus on the three shooting defense when all of it was terrible considering the opponent
And yet it's still better than 2018-19 and 2019-20.
I just finished watching the game, I’d say it qualifies as survive and advance. Also Washington was really up for it seems to me.
When you lose Smith and you bench Hill, you lose a lot of length on the court. I know Mick has been pulling Hill when he makes mistakes to send a message but it doesn’t seem to be working. Riley is an adequate defender but doesn’t jump well so the blocked shots and rebounds are down. Hill needs to play. Juzang is not a great defender. Clark may need to play just for his defense.
Losing Smith has definitely had an effect on the defense, agreed. Hill is a bit more of a questionable case because his defensive metrics have taken a nosedive over the past few weeks while Riley’s have been one of the best on the team. I think Hill’s got some bigger problems to his game right now, such as his lack of any offensive ability, that is hindering his playing time.
Agreed that I would like to see Clark play more, but I think the thing hindering him is his tentativeness on the offensive end. Unsurprising considering he’s a true freshman but still.
Juzang is not a great defender... but UCLA needs to keep him on the floor to open up the offensive court. He is also better than some of the others and is only a few months into his tenure with mick.
I remember Ben Howland's first year. He benched Michael Fey and Ryan Hollins. Hollins eventually turned it around and played a decade in the NBA. Fey never made it out of the G league. It appears Bernard has got the message. Hopefully, others will follow his lead.