SEC Men's Basketball

Nalt

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Jul 23, 2020
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Is the SEC just really bad this year or is Bama just that good? Or perhaps some variation of the two? So far Bama has beaten Old Miss by 18, #7 Tennessee by 8, Florida by 15, Kentucky by 20, Arkansas by 31, and just last night they beat LSU by 30. And I readily admit that basketball isn't typically our best sport in Tuscaloosa. I also know that even a blind squirrel finds an acorn occasionally. But come on! Traditional powerhouse teams Kentucky, Florida, USCe are middle-of-the-pack teams right now with Bama and LSU tops in the conference. How does that happen?

SEC MBB Standings.JPG
 

MJMGator

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Is the SEC just really bad this year or is Bama just that good? Or perhaps some variation of the two? So far Bama has beaten Old Miss by 18, #7 Tennessee by 8, Florida by 15, Kentucky by 20, Arkansas by 31, and just last night they beat LSU by 30. And I readily admit that basketball isn't typically our best sport in Tuscaloosa. I also know that even a blind squirrel finds an acorn occasionally. But come on! Traditional powerhouse teams Kentucky, Florida, USCe are middle-of-the-pack teams right now with Bama and LSU tops in the conference. How does that happen?

29614
Everyone sucks this year in the SEC. Bama just sucks less than usual. Enjoy it while it lasts.
 

lagator

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Sep 9, 2014
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A lot of it is coaching. It's really not that complicated, but Oats has figured out a simple formula that you don't take shots that only count for 2 points and have a relatively low percentage of dropping. Under his direction his team knows If you are taking a 2 it should be close to the hoop where the chance of making it is in the 70% range and the chance of getting and "& 1" is much higher. If you are taking a jump shot it should be for 3 since you will make those around 40% vs 50% for a midrange jumper. Simple math tells you .4 x 3 is significantly greater than .5 x 2.

Look at the Bama win last night. LSU had 8 more offensive rebounds, 4 more steals, 4 less turnovers, took 8 more shots, and had 9 fewer fouls than Bama. And yet they lost by 30? How TF can that be? Because Bama took 43 3's! And they hit them at over 50% last night. Obviously they aren't going to always hit at that rate but his plan of forgetting about trying to score in the area between the restricted zone and the 3 point line is definitely working, particularly because he has a team of great 3 point shooters. You would think knowing they are not going to pull up and shoot a jumper unless it's a 3 should allow coaches to game-plan against them, but so far his formula is working.
 

Nalt

Well-Known Member
Jul 23, 2020
6,626
18,112
A lot of it is coaching. It's really not that complicated, but Oats has figured out a simple formula that you don't take shots that only count for 2 points and have a relatively low percentage of dropping. Under his direction his team knows If you are taking a 2 it should be close to the hoop where the chance of making it is in the 70% range and the chance of getting and "& 1" is much higher. If you are taking a jump shot it should be for 3 since you will make those around 40% vs 50% for a midrange jumper. Simple math tells you .4 x 3 is significantly greater than .5 x 2.

Look at the Bama win last night. LSU had 8 more offensive rebounds, 4 more steals, 4 less turnovers, took 8 more shots, and had 9 fewer fouls than Bama. And yet they lost by 30? How TF can that be? Because Bama took 43 3's! And they hit them at over 50% last night. Obviously they aren't going to always hit at that rate but his plan of forgetting about trying to score in the area between the restricted zone and the 3 point line is definitely working, particularly because he has a team of great 3 point shooters. You would think knowing they are not going to pull up and shoot a jumper unless it's a 3 should allow coaches to game-plan against them, but so far his formula is working.
At nearly halftime last night, Petty was 7 of 7 from beyond the 3-point line. He finished the game with 8-3 pointers, that is 1/3 the total number of 3 point shots Bama made for the game. The team also set an SEC record for made 3-point shots in a game too...
 

FireFoley

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Nov 19, 2014
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A lot of it is coaching. It's really not that complicated, but Oats has figured out a simple formula that you don't take shots that only count for 2 points and have a relatively low percentage of dropping. Under his direction his team knows If you are taking a 2 it should be close to the hoop where the chance of making it is in the 70% range and the chance of getting and "& 1" is much higher. If you are taking a jump shot it should be for 3 since you will make those around 40% vs 50% for a midrange jumper. Simple math tells you .4 x 3 is significantly greater than .5 x 2.

Look at the Bama win last night. LSU had 8 more offensive rebounds, 4 more steals, 4 less turnovers, took 8 more shots, and had 9 fewer fouls than Bama. And yet they lost by 30? How TF can that be? Because Bama took 43 3's! And they hit them at over 50% last night. Obviously they aren't going to always hit at that rate but his plan of forgetting about trying to score in the area between the restricted zone and the 3 point line is definitely working, particularly because he has a team of great 3 point shooters. You would think knowing they are not going to pull up and shoot a jumper unless it's a 3 should allow coaches to game-plan against them, but so far his formula is working.

Bingo. Outside of UK who has Top 3 class every year, watch the teams and the most gifted, athletic teams year in year out, have the worst coaches. The King of that is Will Wade at LSU. He is even worse coach that Mike, who runs a close second. Teams like Mizzou, UToothless, USCe, never have the top talent but seem to play a bit above their talent level.
 

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