Now, some things have adjusted during the tournament and I did not look pre-tournament, but I cannot imagine that a couple games for most schools would change their rankings too much. According to his rankings, the top four teams this year were: Kansas, Memphis, UCLA and Carolina, in that order. Interestingly, Wisconsin and Louisville were next.
As for UCLA, it played the 217th fastest pace out of 341. Interestingly, Texas played a slightly slower pace. As for offensive efficiency, UCLA ranked 7th. The top six, in order: Carolina, Kansas, Texas, Memphis, Drake and Oregon.
UCLA ranked 4th in defensive efficiency, behind Wisconsin, Kansas and Memphis and just ahead of Louisville, Georgetown and Washington State. North Carolina was 19th in defensive efficiency.
UCLA's effective field goal percentage was 52.5%, which ranked 75th. Utah State was first at 57.4%. UCLA ranked 47th in Turnover Percentage at 18.6, while Texas led the nation at 14.1. UCLA ranked 10th on offensive rebounding percentage at 39.3%, while North Carolina led the country at 42.4.
On the defensive end, UCLA did not give up many free throws or offensive rebounds (9th in both categories), which compensated for being 37th in effective field goal percentage defense and 131 in turnover percentage.
What does it mean? It means UCLA is nearly equal offensively and defensively, but where it really dominates is rebounding and the free throw line. It also means that Kansas and Memphis are statistically the top two teams and are exactly where they should be, playing for the National Championship.
Two other quick points in response to common points I have seen elsewhere:
First, UCLA struggled to get Love the ball because Memphis played a one man zone and baited Luc Richard Mbahe a Moute or James Keefe or Lorenzo Mata-Real to shoot the ball. We used this defensive tactic when I coached u-10 girls' AAU basketball: we defended 4 players man2man and did not guard the 5th player, encouraging her to shoot wide open shots from the free throw line because we knew she would miss and she did. Memphis basically double-teamed Love before he received the pass, which makes it difficult to feed it to him. UCLA needed better spacing to exploit the one-man zone and punish it by getting Keefe, LRMM or Mata-Real lay-ups or dunks.
Second, Memphis does not play an NBA style offense, as many contend. They play a high school offense that Calipari got from former Pepperdine University Head Coach Vance Walberg who developed his system at Clovis West High School. Now, Calipari uses an NBA approach in that he attacks match-ups, like posting Derrick Rose against Darren Collison. However, his basic offensive system is not an NBA system and the only thing remotely close to it is the Bulls of last season who used a dribble weave quite frequently. Calipari definitely has an NBA-style mindset in terms of creating and using match-up problems, but his offense is a basic drive and kick offense without many screens (for more on his offense, see Blitz Basketball, as it is a close approximation). NBA teams call set plays almost every time down the court and run a ton of pick and rolls.
Finally, if the Memphis Grizzlies get the #1 pick, there is no way they pass on Derrick Rose. He's too good and too popular in Memphis. They'll find a trading partner for one or two of their other guards, but Memphis needs Rose (as do a lot of teams).
Monday Edit: I saw this on True Hoop:
His 12-point, nine-rebound performance against Memphis, in which he was bumped away from the basket by 6-9, 265-pound Joey Dorsey and knocked to the ground on a Chris Douglas-Roberts dunk, gave visual confirmation to one scout in attendance at the Alamodome that Love would benefit from a second college season. 'He needs to get stronger and in better shape,' the scout said. 'I would say he's not a lottery pick right now.'"
I just wish the people who write and comment on basketball knew more about the game. Love got knocked to the ground on the dunk because he tried to take a charge, not because he lacked strength. What a stupid comment!
And, scoring 12 points with 9 rebounds when the opponent double-teams you when you don't even have the ball yet is impressive, not a disappointment. Sure, Love needs to improve his strength and conditioning for the NBA. But, so does every college kid. You're going to tell me that Golden State's Brandon Wright or Chicago's Tyrus Thomas, two high lottery picks, were strong enough in college to play in the NBA?
If this scout's assessment is that Love isn't a lottery pick because of his lack of strength, I'd love to know the unfortunate franchise that employs him. I don't think Love is ready to be an all-star or anything crazy like that, but when has a college post player showed a more polished all-around game? The lower Love gets the drafted, the greater the indictment against the NBA Draft. After all, if being a 1st Team All-American, Conference Player of the Year and going to the Final Four isn't enough to prove your draft worth, what is the point of forcing kids to go to college before entering the draft? Of course, Carlos Boozer was a Second Round pick as an undersized power forward...
3 comments:
You can bring up all the stats you want but after watching ucla play this year, it's easy to see they had trouble creating shots in the half court offense. Love is great, but he can always be denied the ball. Their perimeter guys couldn't really create off the dribble (westbrook doesn't count because he can't finish).
Against good defensive teams, most of the ucla offense was created by a high pick and roll for collinson. Not by anyone creating individually.
Your post is incoherent.
1. They did not have trouble creating shots in the half court. They had patience. Most teams jack the ball at the basket with five seconds on the shot clock. Collison kept his coll, got into the lane and dropped floaters on people.
2. Sure, when teams double-team a player without the ball, he can be denied. Otherwise, when UCLA made concerted effort, few teams denied him the ball.
3. So what if they need a high on-ball screen to create a shot? That's called good offense. Oldest play in the book. Are you suggesting the Utah Jazz are a bad offensive team because they rely on on-ball screens?
Everyone struggles during the season. Carolina was the best offensive team in the country and they were down 40-12. It happens. Nobody plays a perfect game.
However, people simply refuse to understand the game and watch with prejudiced eyes because they don't want to see a parient team that uses the shot clock and turns down decent looks early to try and get a better look late in the shot clock.
The funny thing about stats is that they don't lie. However, your eyes can often deceive.
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