UConn - UVa comp:
TL;DR - the only thing separating the #211 offense from the #1 offense is the number 2 and the number 1. So not much!
Yeah, no. Weâve had plenty of people in this system put up individual offensive efficiencies close to what UCONN is, within the system we used this year. You could argue that the system is better, but a big part of that is they are better at getting offensive rebounds and going to the FT line (though they are surprisingly mid with that).
Itâs the talent overall.
How about 2021. Beekman, Hauser, Murphy, Huff and Clark. Starting 5.
You think that roster from a talent perspective was behind what UConn has put on the floor this year and last year?
Spencerâs stats at Rutgers vs this year give a nice little window into the talent vs SPA (systems/philosophy/approach) influences. Heâs not shooting crazy better from 3, but a lot from 2, which I think might be due to the system getting him better looks. Same with NewtonâŚhe was good at ECU, but he got better at UConn. Or last season with Calcaterra; he had the kind of profile at USD that would have caused a revolt here if we recruited him, but he was a useful bench shooter at UConn.
I think a good question to ask is, if Hurley had this roster, would we have scored only 14 points?
(also more seriously feels like Rohde would do better with some of their DHO action. Similar to St Thomasâ offense)
Itâs going to be funny that UConn is favored to land the new Merrimack kid in the portal and we are going to see that yeah maybe its a jump up, but it also matters on how players are used.
I am actually of the point that it was more a talent issue this year, but this team did have skillets that we didnât really capitalize on and therefore I donât buy into the âItâs a miracle this team made the tournamentâ narrative.
Well a lot of that is having good offensive talent at pretty much every position. We had pretty much no guard offensive talent in 21 and yet we finished 17th due to incredible offensive talent in the forward positions and in spite of being one of the worst rebounding and FTA teams in the country.
Iâm not saying we shouldnât change things, but Iâm mostly saying we should try to get better players.
I memory-holed that weâve done the âbring in the outside person to consult on offenseâ move more recently than the Kirk Penney thing:
Indeed, Virginia was experimenting with a wholesale change in the way it approached offensive basketball. The system Bennett had installed â a free-flowing read-and-react style that prioritizes positionless play and the intuitive decision-making of the players on the floor â is the brainchild of Noah Laroche, the owner of Integrity Hoops, an NBA developmental consultancy that has worked with Blake Griffin, Russell Westbrook, and other professional basketball players. Laroche is a former Division III player at St. Josephâs of Maine. After hitting a low offensive point, Larocheâs coach, Rob Sanicola, asked his former player to help him install an entirely new offense. In 2018-19, the first full year of the offenseâs installation, St. Josephâs averaged 93 points per game, more than 20 per game more than it had the season before.
It did not stick.
Lasted about 1.5 games
I have no idea what to make of that when TB wanted new offensive ideas, he went way off the grid for them (I guess not so far off if Xs and Os accounts were making YouTube videos about them).
https://x.com/sam_vecenie/status/1771040968894271704?s=46
Posted this in another thread- but might just start dumping awesome sets/plays I see in the NCAAT in the hopes I can manifest change 
The Xs and Os thread might be a good spot for the NCAAT plays:
Specifically related to UVA, I actually think those kinds of set plays after timeouts or in special situations have been relative strengths for TB (I donât have numbers, just vibes).
https://x.com/halfcourthoops/status/1114690434725568512?s=46&t=wAzMZR-0PRGT1LpN6U5x0g
Itâs actually very curious that he can be so creative with the set plays andâŚless so with the base continuity offenses. Corollary to this is that he is also pretty good at diagnosing zone defensesâ weaknesses and manipulating them.
The good news about the particular flameout this year is, there is no more denying the issue or any tribalism about efficiency, control, pace, etc. It is readily apparent to 99% of our fanbase that this is the red alarm issue to address. Other programs are doing it. Are we so exceptional that we stubbornly avoid change or adapting? By this time next year, I think we will have a good answer as to what level of introspection/adaptability the staff adopted.
Thatâs an interesting one. Talks about how they developed a more intricate, ball-movement-heavy 5-out Princeton offense and then scrapped it for mismatch ball:
That night the Underwoods met, discussed Wrightâs feedback and made a decision.
Letâs do it. Enough of the fluff.
âWe were turning the ball over too much,â Underwood said. âAnd we needed to find a way to play into advantages for Marcus.â
They scrapped the NBA sets and started studying Wrightâs old Villanova teams, particularly when he had Jalen Brunson. Domask would be their Brunson. Theyâd unleash him in booty ball and also post up 6-foot-6 wing Ty Rodgers. Theyâd quit posting up Hawkins and backup center Dain Dainja. Theyâd keep playing fast. Seven seconds or less has always been the goal in initial offense. But if a quick shot wasnât there, theyâd try to pick on a mismatch or create them with ball screens.
Funny that it has worked better for them than for Villanova, which still plays that way.
Also, Underwood is interesting as someone who until somewhat recently was running another antiquated offense that is misleadingly called the âspreadâ offense (thereâs nothing spread about the spacing):
I was just thinking, I think this is at least the second Underwood transformation story Iâve read in the past few years.
Also, I like the transformation stories that you read a fair amount of this time of year, about the teams that are advancing in the tourney.
But to be fair, nobody is interviewing the teams that went 15-15 and asking like, why did that thing you tried totally fail?
Definitely an element of survivorship bias going on:
I would read the article âHereâs all the things the coach of this mediocre team triedâ but you usually donât get that until theyâve actually turned it around.
I think weâve all missed the big point in the UConnâs-offense-is-great story. From the story (emphasis added is mine):
The analytics sâ was a world Murray had been inhabiting for nearly a decade, fascinated with how the Warriors and Lenovo Tenerife in Spain were revolutionizing their shot selection. Both teams had designed offenses that were prioritizing 3-pointers, ârim shots,â free throws and easy baskets in transition to maximize scoring â all while bastardizing mid-range jumpers unless the shot clock was about to expire.
Currently on the roster of Lenovo Tenerife? Kyle Guy. Come home, Kyle. Revolutionize our offense.