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Defense! Defense! Defense!


Keenan Henderson

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We have some time in between games so maybe our forum can discuss the Eagles weakness: defense.  How can they improve? What can they do different, since what Coach has tired so far has not worked.  Any other thoughts?

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Offense = Skills based
Defense = Effort

Staying in front, sending help, etc can all be improved even with inferior talent.

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To improve defense I would play Jones, Plet, and Clover more. I like what I see from those guys even if they are raw offensively.

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1 hour ago, Dr. Cornelius said:

To improve defense I would play Jones, Plet, and Clover more. I like what I see from those guys even if they are raw offensively.

Yeah you are right Dr. Cornelius, they may have to sacrifice some offense for defense to win these grind them out games.  Also Coach has RJ and Max on the floor maybe 90 percent of the time and they are only 6'0 guards going agaisnt other guards that are 4-5 inches taller (plus 25-30 pounds stronger).  That just does not work on the defense end.  Kansas City's guards were buildt like a rock and made ORU's backcourt look like a high school team.  On the inside K.O. is not able to guard most centers.  That is where they really miss a guy like Lufile who is so much stronger and tougher then K.O. (try 50 pound difference).

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2 hours ago, Dr. Cornelius said:

To improve defense I would play Jones, Plet, and Clover more. I like what I see from those guys even if they are raw offensively.

Took a quick look to see how many blocks Clover has on the season. It's 10 total. Not bad for a freshman but noticed he has only played 77 total minutes (roughly a block every 8 minutes). Lacis is the team leader with 16 and has played 5x's the minutes. I would love to see Clover out there with Obanor and Lacis/Weaver to give us more length. Honestly, if Clover fouls out of every game being aggressive I'm ok with that, especially if he can learn to limit the turnovers.

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Should they play more zone defense or is that more of just a surpise option to throw a team off once and awhile?  What about trapping the ball at midcourt?  Or just trying something different on defense?

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When the names on the jerseys continue to change, yet the defensive issues remain the same from season to season, the problem lies with either the recruiting or the teaching. 

In other words:  the problem is the coaching.

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Old Titan just said it extremely well! I have intentionally not posted recently because we are witnessing the same old thing and I have grown weary of pointing them out. The definition of insanity is to keep doing the same things and expect different results. The student(players) is not greater than the teacher(coaches). The past few years I have had an excellent health and fitness trainer. He has taught me things that have helped me feel better physically as well as strengthened my body. I would have never figured this stuff out on my own. This is what we are witnessing at ORU....a coach that can recruit but cannot teach good and proper defense. Therefore either Coach Mills needs to make significant changes ie. intensively study defense and/or hire a defensive expert who can instill his knowledge into the players.  If either of these 2 strategies don't happen get used to more seasons of the same old thing or hire a coach who can both recruit and teach defense!

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Seems to TheEagleman that Coach Mills philosophy is to just try and outscore the opposition....works against bad and mediocre teams most of the time but not against the best ones....I believe Ken Trickey did the same thing....and it worked when we played lesser teams but against the big boys....it generally did not....still ORU almost got to the final four.....but when we needed some D in the Kansas game(1974) in the final 3 minutes we didn't have it.....here we are 45 years later and not much has changed....its like Groundhog Day...plus we don't have Richard Fuqua, Anthony Roberts, Eddie Woods, Greg McDougald, Sam McCants and Al Boswell.....:hc_mills:

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It is Mills first head coaching job so maybe he can improve in his teaching of defense.  He has one more year left on his contract but as long as he is 8-8 or 9-7 in league play, I would be suprised if they let him go.  Whoever ORU brings in would still have to figure out how to beat the Dakota teams. That will usual be the difference between an average and good ORU team.  Coach Sutton had good talent (Green, Tuit, and Owens) and still coached solid defense.   So it can be done!

 

 

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LOL....no, Voice...not comparing Trickey to Mills....just saying that those ORU teams back in the day weren't exactly known for their D.....Trickey was basically wanting the guys to get up 100 shots a game and let's see if you can keep up with us....Run and Gun.....it was exciting and it packed the house....lots of high scoring games....we were always a bit disappointed when we didn't get 100 especially at home....ORU would average close to or over 100 points per game and I bet we were giving up close to 80....but against the better teams it didn't always work.....and if we were having an off shooting night we were in trouble.....in early 73 we had a 53 game home court winning streak carried over from the old HRC ended at Mabee when we lost to Marshall in a shootout something like 106-103.....not much D played in that one.....and the night ORU gave up 49 to Doug Collins at Mabee in 73 i think the final was something like 111-96....all run and gun...no D.....no....Trickey isn't Mills....not even close obviously....but Ken Trickey was also not John Wooden or Eddie Sutton.....wonder what would have happened to ORU basketball had OR landed Eddie like he tried several times?.....hummmm 😎

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6 hours ago, Keenan Henderson said:

It is Mills first head coaching job so maybe he can improve in his teaching of defense.

 

LOL - won’t it always be his “first head coaching job”, even 10 years from now?

He’s no rookie:  it’s his fourth year at ORU, after something like 15 years at Baylor.  

Just what sort of defensive epiphany is realistic to expect, and based on what impetus?

I’ve seen coaches in different sports over the years change their offensive philosophies over time (Nick Saban, Eddie Sutton, and Lon Kruger pop to mind), but I struggle to recall any head coaches who evolved into defensive-minded types after starting their careers giving it lip-service.

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