Against Skyline we shot 21/45, almost 47%, which should be good enough for us to win any game. We were 40% from 3 (6/15), which again, should be a win for us every time, particularly because we held Skyline to 33% shooting (18/54). Even when you account for them shooting 37% from 3 (13/35), I'd argue we still should have won the game.
The issue is they not only got up 9 more shots than us, but they got up 54 overall. That tells me three things: We didn't screen off and rebound well enough (a team that is not bigger nor more athletic than us won the offensive rebound game 8-3 against us, with one offensive rebound basket); we turned it over too much (we lost the turnover battle 12-8); and more importantly, we didn't play with the kind of patience that we exhibit when we play our best. The line between good early offense and bad rushed offense was crossed too many times.
Getting to the line only 8 times also hurt us. Watching the film, you can see that often we tried to attack a set defense rather than one that has been made to move, scramble, shift. If we can get three sides, we can get the defense out of position, and probably get fouled more often, allowing us to set our defense and even press.
Unless we call a set play or have an unbelievably good shot in early offense, we need guys to wait until their second or even third touch before making a play in the half court. Trust each other to share the ball.
Against Kearns we only shot 37.5% (21/52), and only 21.5% from 3 (3/14). That's not great, obviously, but we won with worse numbers a few times last year. We missed numerous plays at the rim, which can partly be attributed to fatigue, but they were also playing their second game and finished at a higher rate, so that's no excuse. We did a better job of executing our actions out of Open (resulting in most of our half-court scores) and got to the foul line more (15/19), but didn't get into transition enough.
They were 21/52 from the floor, including 8/20 from 3 (both 40%). However, they got three offensive rebound baskets to our one (and got eight to our seven overall), and won the turnover battle 13-8. While we did get to the line more than them, they were 11/11, and had three transition hoops against us.
In all, from a defensive standpoint, there's a lot to focus on and improve upon. First, we need to be better in transition defensively. We were good against Skyline, but need to be better. Second, we need to do a better job of blocking off - you competed for the ball but at times your positional disadvantage was the difference. Third, we had an inbounds possession defensively in each game that resulted in a basket - we cannot fall asleep on end outs ever again. Lastly, our screen roll defense must improve with a harder, more aggressive switch by both men and better help from the three defenders not involved in the play. These are all things we'll improve in practice this week.
We're proud of the effort and toughness; now we need to execute better and play a little more intelligently. That comes from practice and playing together. I'm excited about the direction we're moving.
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