Good vs Bad Defense

[pdxmuskie]

Some on here seem to think getting stops is the same as playing good defense.

Let me give an exaggerated example as to why that is completely false.

If I played against a guy with no arms and he didn't score, that isn't necessarily because I played great defense.

Xavier has played 1 game of solid defense another with good defense. The rest have been pathetic attempts at guarding the other team. Xavier has been lucky in a number of games because the other team consistently missed open shots, some close to the rim and some from deep. Some deep shots were certainly taken by poor shooters and that can be good defensive strategy but not something you can rely on in close games. You want to be reasonably close to poor shooters unless they are truly horrific.

Rules changes over the years have made it more difficult to play great defense and officials sometimes make it almost impossible but even with those excuses, the team has been bad on defense.

1 other point, if someone says a game should have been easy based on how the other team played, it is specific to how that game went. The record, talent, etc of the other team is not relevant. What is relevant is how terrible execution was by Xavier given the opportunities presented and unforced errors. One could argue that X was lucky Houston didn't play at a high level given how talented they are and that would also be true. It is similarly true that Xavier blew an opportunity to get a huge win because Houston played so poorly.

Xavier needs a lot of answers on Defense and on offensive execution.