2016-17 Season

Anything and everything that is UMass Minutemen Basketball.
69MG
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Re: 2016-17 Season

Post by 69MG » Fri Dec 30, 2016 9:19 am

Here's our OOC grade from A10talk.com.
http://www.a10talk.com/10-non-conferenc ... minutemen/

NilesGold
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Re: 2016-17 Season

Post by NilesGold » Fri Dec 30, 2016 9:37 am

mlaconte459 wrote:^^ think it's because all of those gal 50-100.. we don't have any top 25 matchup, or even top 50.. was a lot of quality opponents without any very good opponents
Yep. First off, the RPI is pretty flawed at this stage. Regardless,there's a huge difference between a #75 team and a #25 team.

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Re: 2016-17 Season

Post by capezona » Fri Dec 30, 2016 11:14 am

InnervisionsUMASS wrote:I'd love to see where those teams fall at the end of the year. If all of them remain Top-100, I think most of us (myself included) will be eating some crow about the OOC being really soft.
I think that once conference play starts a lot of teams we've played will drop in RPI - like Wagner, Rider, Georgia State, Holy Cross, Harvard. Although I think Ga St may be the only top 100 team that may drop.

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Jackson96
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Re: 2016-17 Season

Post by Jackson96 » Fri Dec 30, 2016 3:10 pm

Because I am a weirdo (who doesn't like sushi), I thought it would be interesting to look at some stats from last year vs. this year in non-conference play to see where things may have gotten better and worse.

Here are the things that stick out to me:

Defense

Last year teams were actually slightly shooting worse from three (28%) than they are this year (30%) but on non-threes, teams were way more effective last year (50%) than this year (43%). That's a pretty substantial difference.

We're forcing almost 4 more turnovers per game than we did last year -- that's a pretty big jump. Our steals and blocks per game are up around 2 per game. With this increased aggressiveness our fouls are also up about 2 per game and opponents are shooting about 3.5 more free throws per game (but luckily are shooting worse).

Overall: Much better -- #'s are almost better across the board and rather substantially.

Offense

Last year we were shooting 36% from three, this year about 30%. Granted last year's explosion against Clemson help inflate that #, but still it is clear we aren't shooting as well from deep and we are shooting about 5 threes more per game. That said I generally like the threes more we are taking this year if that makes sense. Just like on defense though, our offensive improvement comes inside the arc. Last year we were shooting 50% on non-threes -- this year that has jumped to 55%. Free throw shooting has dropped 4%.

Last year our assist % was 53% -- this year it's 66% (I know I've pointed this out before but if someone can point out that the secret to a happy life is low expectations 83 times in one year than I am ok in repeating this). That's a pretty big jump. With that, though has come an increase in turnovers -- from 12.5/gm to 15/gm.

Overall: Slightly worse -- the decrease in 3 point % on more 3 point attempts and turnover increase has propelled the decrease in scoring. That said, we are doing some things better -- passing the ball, finishing inside the arc in particular.

Rebounding

Still not great, but it's gotten slightly better. Last year we were getting outrebounded by 3 boards per game. This year it's about 1.5 a game. Opponent offensive rebounds are down slightly too.

Overall: Slightly better

I just find this stuff interesting and know not many might, and I know it doesn't take into account SOS, but figure I'd throw it out there. It shows me areas where we can improve (even if some of them are obvious) and where we are doing well.

Areas to improve:
Offense: take less but hit more threes, better free throw shooting, take care of the ball
Defense: foul less, clean the glass better

Areas where we are doing well:
Offense: keep moving the ball, continue to convert inside the arc.
Defense: stay aggressive, turn the ball over

Anywho, enjoy the A-10 opener folks.
Last edited by Jackson96 on Fri Dec 30, 2016 3:59 pm, edited 3 times in total.
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capezona
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Re: 2016-17 Season

Post by capezona » Fri Dec 30, 2016 3:17 pm

^ Thanks for the analysis. It is interesting.

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Chris20
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Re: 2016-17 Season

Post by Chris20 » Fri Dec 30, 2016 3:53 pm

Weirdo.

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uz2b-len
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Re: 2016-17 Season

Post by uz2b-len » Fri Dec 30, 2016 11:04 pm

Your analysis doesn't take into account the quality of the opponents
"All credit to my teammates, all glory to God."-- Chaz Williams

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Jackson96
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Re: 2016-17 Season

Post by Jackson96 » Sat Dec 31, 2016 9:41 am

That's why I said I know it doesn't take into account the strength of schedule.
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Re: 2016-17 Season

Post by TheInsider » Sat Dec 31, 2016 9:44 am

I have a bad feeling we will be riding a 5 game losing streak going into the st. joes game.

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Swampy
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Re: 2016-17 Season

Post by Swampy » Sat Dec 31, 2016 11:37 am

^ Spoken like a true UMass fan. :lol:

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Re: 2016-17 Season

Post by TheInsider » Sat Dec 31, 2016 11:43 am

Trust me.. I don't want it to happen and I'm sure we will surprise someone like we always do..

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Re: 2016-17 Season

Post by minutefanjsf » Sat Dec 31, 2016 11:48 am

I think we win Wednesday night @GM. Not sure about the other three, but they should be much better games than what we just played against Bonnies.

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Re: 2016-17 Season

Post by 69MG » Sat Dec 31, 2016 1:45 pm

I'm not sure I have ever spent so much time thinking about the team after just 1 A10 game but I had my hopes up and yesterday was ugly. I'm putting this post in this thread because they symptoms from yesterday carry over to the rest of the season when the level of talent is much more even.

Our lack of 3 point shooting is going to kill us in the A10. When you look at how you defense SBU vs. how you defense us it's easy to see the issues. SBU can shoot from the outside and they can take it inside. You can't take away one part of their offense and make them beat you with their weakest part. You have to play straight up and either you play great D or hope they have a bad day. Against us, so far it's been easy. Collapse in the paint and make us beat you with our outside shooting.

While DK would love to press and harass for 40 minutes we're just not that good at it. Against a team with good guards it doesn't work and leads to easy baskets. At the very least we need to change up and pick up at half court for a few series, press for a few, switch up from man to zone and keep the other team off balance. As has been mentioned, Rashaan would be much more effective in a zone, playing alongside Gresham or Baldwin, than he is in man.

I have no suggestions on how to fix the offense (although we did score 77 points yesterday) other than to play big and find a way to take advantage of our size.

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Re: 2016-17 Season

Post by Berkman » Sat Dec 31, 2016 2:09 pm

^

We have plenty of three point shooters unfortunately none are consistent , hot and cold from game to game. Dk needs to revise his defense and stop full court pressing especially when the opponent is consistently beating it.

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Swampy
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Re: 2016-17 Season

Post by Swampy » Sat Dec 31, 2016 3:38 pm

UMass scored almost 80 freakin points. It would be nice if for once the Bonnie's didn't shoot 40 free throws when we played them!

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