Gonzaga #1 in Defensive Efficiency; South Carolina #2; N Carolina #18; Oregon #19

[Franisdaman]

From CBS Sports.com

DEFENSE REALLY MIGHT WIN CHAMPIONSHIPS


It’s a cliche that’s not always true. But “defense wins championships” does apply to this Final Four.

Gonzaga is rated No. 1 in defensive efficiency.
South Carolina is No. 2.
North Carolina is No. 18.
Oregon is No. 19.

So this is the second straight season all four Final Four teams have had top-25 defensive efficiency ratings.

And South Carolina’s defense has been so amazing that the Gamecocks are going to Phoenix despite ranking 105th in offensive efficiency.

http://www.cbssports.com/college-ba...to-know-about-a-final-four-nobody-saw-coming/

 

[DanL53]

From CBS Sports.com

DEFENSE REALLY MIGHT WIN CHAMPIONSHIPS


It’s a cliche that’s not always true. But “defense wins championships” does apply to this Final Four.

Gonzaga is rated No. 1 in defensive efficiency.
South Carolina is No. 2.
North Carolina is No. 18.
Oregon is No. 19.

So this is the second straight season all four Final Four teams have had top-25 defensive efficiency ratings.

And South Carolina’s defense has been so amazing that the Gamecocks are going to Phoenix despite ranking 105th in offensive efficiency.

http://www.cbssports.com/college-ba...to-know-about-a-final-four-nobody-saw-coming/

While that is very true, something must have been missing with defensive efficiency dynamo's #'s 3-17 and #'s 20-25.

 

[HoustonREDHawk]

Hawkeyes have a lot of offensive firepower, but the defense wasn't close to being good enough to make a run in the dance. It got better, after being remarkably bad early in the season. #200 in defensive efficiency

 

[blockm2]

what's almost always true year after year is that you need to be very good on both offense and defense. South Carolina is a true outlier with how terrible they were offensively this season.

Interestingly enough, South Carolina has played very well on offense in the tournament. Their worst offensive performance was 1.06 PPP against Baylor who has the #16 defense nationally. The last time they had an offensive performance better than that (before the tourney) was February 11th vs Miss State. They played 7 straight games before the tourney with worse offensive output than their worst game in the tourney.

 

[GT Hawkaholic]

While that is very true, something must have been missing with defensive efficiency dynamo's #'s 3-17 and #'s 20-25.

That's a poor argument. The point is that if you're looking for prerequisites, you better be a pretty damn good defensive team. Offense doesn't always show up. I bet occurrences of teams ranking outside the top 100 in defense are extremely rare

 

[hawkeyeinmo]

Do you think Gonzaga would be #1 in defensive efficiency if they played in a P5 conference?

 

[DanL53]

That's a poor argument. The point is that if you're looking for prerequisites, you better be a pretty damn good defensive team. Offense doesn't always show up. I bet occurrences of teams ranking outside the top 100 in defense are extremely rare

Yes, saying, "While that is very true...." Is a poor argument. Perhaps not even an argument. At all. You would have more chance with the OP, the post which said, "...not always true.."

 

[Hawksfor3]

Should be a fun game to watch. Zags vs SC. Williams-Goss will be hounded for sure, but I'm anxious to see how SC handles the twin towers.

 

[blockm2]

Do you think Gonzaga would be #1 in defensive efficiency if they played in a P5 conference?

considering it is adjusted for opponent, yes that is exactly what it is saying. In the tourney they have held all 4 opponents under 1 PPP including top 30 offenses Xavier and West Virginia that were both held under 0.90 PPP.

 

[blockm2]

That's a poor argument. The point is that if you're looking for prerequisites, you better be a pretty damn good defensive team. Offense doesn't always show up. I bet occurrences of teams ranking outside the top 100 in defense are extremely rare

VCU ranked #87 in D in 2011 which is the lowest I can find in the last few years. Not very strong evidence anywhere that defense is more important than offense. Both are important and it's hard to overcome severe weakness in either area.