4 hours ago, Jumper_Dad said:

While not stellar by any means, Kentucky's defense was ranked close to 120 nationally a month ago. It's now up to 61st according to current Kenpom rankings. 

That’s a lot different than where they are ranked in defensive efficiency, because in defensive efficiency they are ranked 160th. 

51 minutes ago, okie1 said:

If you liken it to football...fast paced teams on offense sometimes give up more points on defense...why?  More possessions! 

UVA was very good defensively a few years ago, why?  They had a clock controlled offense.  Anyone remember Tubby Ball...Tubby was thought to be a defensive guru.

The nitpicking from the fan base with Cal wasn't so much what he did...but his attitude towards them...he had a tendency to be condescending and arrogant:)

Well at least on here the nitpicking by some was literally on everything he did. Why doesn’t he play zone, he doesn’t teach them to handle picks right, doesn’t play pick n roll right, etc. I think that is what some are saying, is there is the same nitpicking in regards to how bad the defense has been this year. Which gets back to still in the honeymoon phase. 

1 hour ago, futurecoach said:

Well at least on here the nitpicking by some was literally on everything he did. Why doesn’t he play zone, he doesn’t teach them to handle picks right, doesn’t play pick n roll right, etc. I think that is what some are saying, is there is the same nitpicking in regards to how bad the defense has been this year. Which gets back to still in the honeymoon phase. 

When you're ready to break up with your girlfriend its easy to fixate on flaws you had never paid attention to before.

1 hour ago, futurecoach said:

That’s a lot different than where they are ranked in defensive efficiency, because in defensive efficiency they are ranked 160th. 

Correct, the defensive efficiency number is a much better indicator and matches the eye test. UK is practically the same team as last year. They have looked marginally better of late, I'll admit. That is not saying much though.

I should’ve just used defensive efficiency, but to me rebounding is part of that number. Maybe my eye test doesn’t see a good defense when we give up so many points every game. 
 

If the played slow like Tennessee at times on offense, would we still give up the same amount of points per possession as they currently do?

1 hour ago, Breds82 said:

I should’ve just used defensive efficiency, but to me rebounding is part of that number. Maybe my eye test doesn’t see a good defense when we give up so many points every game. 
 

If the played slow like Tennessee at times on offense, would we still give up the same amount of points per possession as they currently do?

Good point and the answer would be no, the faster you play offensively, the more points you give up defensively.

1 hour ago, Breds82 said:

I should’ve just used defensive efficiency, but to me rebounding is part of that number. Maybe my eye test doesn’t see a good defense when we give up so many points every game. 
 

If the played slow like Tennessee at times on offense, would we still give up the same amount of points per possession as they currently do?

I would say most likely, just because it is the half court already where teams are tearing them apart imo. Teams get into the lane almost time they want, which leads either layups or open threes. If UK played slower, the total points per game may come down some. However, I think the points per possession would be similar. 

1 minute ago, nikeman49 said:

Good point and the answer would be no, the faster you play offensively, the more points you give up defensively.

He asked about points per possession, not total points given up. If they played slower, yes the points per game would be lower. However, the points per possession probably will be about the same just because how much they struggle on defense, especially in the half court. 

3 hours ago, futurecoach said:

That’s a lot different than where they are ranked in defensive efficiency, because in defensive efficiency they are ranked 160th. 

Current defensive efficiency is ranked at 61. Just looked at it.

7 hours ago, Breds82 said:

So you are saying we have an entire team of players that are that lazy, slow, and uncommitted to playing hard nose defense and rebounding? 3 defensive players of the year in their respective conferences last year on this team. So what gives? The SEC is the best it ever has been is true but we give up 70-80 points almost every game 

I get what you are saying but it's not JUST Kentucky. Small sample size, but from this week's SEC games on Tuesday and Wednesday only one game had both teams fail to score 70 points, Tennessee beat LSU 69-55.

As for the remaining games.

Georgia 88 Florida 83

Alabama 111 Mississippi 73

Missouri 101 South Carolina 73

Auburn 106 Ole Miss 76

Vanderbilt 86 Texas A&M 84 

Arkansas 86 Texas 81. 

8 hours ago, Jumper_Dad said:

Current defensive efficiency is ranked at 61. Just looked at it.

Interesting. I am curious how the Pomeroy ratings are put together. Because every other ranking from different sites has UK much lower down. The defensive efficiency according to the site below in the picture has UK 180th. Then when you go to the NCAA.com UK ranks 130th in field goal percentage defense. Then in points given up per game UK ranks 304th out of 355 teams.

 

However, hopefully the formula that Pomeroy uses is more correct and is a better sign for the future of the defense under Pope.
 

 

9 hours ago, sportsfan41 said:

I get what you are saying but it's not JUST Kentucky. Small sample size, but from this week's SEC games on Tuesday and Wednesday only one game had both teams fail to score 70 points, Tennessee beat LSU 69-55.

As for the remaining games.

Georgia 88 Florida 83

Alabama 111 Mississippi 73

Missouri 101 South Carolina 73

Auburn 106 Ole Miss 76

Vanderbilt 86 Texas A&M 84 

Arkansas 86 Texas 81. 

This may be true, however UK is 305th in the country in point given up per game this year. The SEC is tough no doubt, but at the same time we just are really bad defensively lol. 

11 minutes ago, futurecoach said:

Interesting. I am curious how the Pomeroy ratings are put together. Because every other ranking from different sites has UK much lower down. The defensive efficiency according to the site below in the picture has UK 180th. Then when you go to the NCAA.com UK ranks 130th in field goal percentage defense. Then in points given up per game UK ranks 304th out of 355 teams.

 

However, hopefully the formula that Pomeroy uses is more correct and is a better sign for the future of the defense under Pope.
 

 

Kenpom offensive and defensive efficiency numbers are based on points scored or given up per 100 possessions. Points per possession is the best way to determine actually efficiency, as points are all that really matter.

1 hour ago, Jumper_Dad said:

Kenpom offensive and defensive efficiency numbers are based on points scored or given up per 100 possessions. Points per possession is the best way to determine actually efficiency, as points are all that really matter.

Points per 100 possessions is also how the other sites calculate defensive efficiency, and has UK much lower. Here is example of one that has UK defensive efficiency at 181st. 
 

https://www.teamrankings.com/ncaa-basketball/stat/defensive-efficiency

11 hours ago, futurecoach said:

Points per 100 possessions is also how the other sites calculate defensive efficiency, and has UK much lower. Here is example of one that has UK defensive efficiency at 181st. 
 

https://www.teamrankings.com/ncaa-basketball/stat/defensive-efficiency

How can those numbers be so different if they both are actually using the same data?