URI Basketball Has One of the Worst Defenses in America - Malachowski

URI Basketball Has One of the Worst Defenses in America - Malachowski

The URI men’s basketball team has one of the worst defenses in the country. According to KenPom’s statistical analysis, their adjusted defensive efficiency, which is points allowed per 100 possessions, is 111.1. That ranks the Rams 267th in the country, which is 73rd from the bottom.

When asked about the collapse of the defense, Miller said, “Just in general, our quickness level, our inability to disrupt, and our inability to get back when we have to be able to be organized and communicate has just been nonexistent.”

 

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Opponents’ sore close to 100 points in back-to-back games

After letting up almost 100 points to St Bonaventure (99 points) and Dayton (96 points) in their first five A-10 games, the Rams have allowed an average of 84.8 points per game. Even in their three conference wins, URI has let up a considerable number of points. In the victories over St. Josephs and UMass, they let up 78 and 77 points, respectively.

These Rams have no inside presence, don’t block shots, and have no rim protection. URI blocked a combined total of one shot against St. Bonaventure and Dayton. No one on the team is averaging even one block per game. With no rim protector, opponent’s drives to the hoop are more successful.

 

Weak on the defensive glass

Miller commented further, “I think the other problem with our defense is we have a really soft rebounding team on the defensive backboard. We have a hard time collecting and rebounding balls, securing balls, and not getting 50/50 balls that are leading to threes.”

At the beginning of the season, Miller, in talking about the 6’ 9” David Fuchs, said, “David must defend multiple positions and defend on the perimeter.” Miller envisioned Fuchs covering the opponent’s swing player or scoring forward. That strategy has changed. Fuchs handles the game-opening jump ball and is usually underneath, covering the opponent’s tallest frontcourt player.

The Rams hoped the 6’ 10” Josaphat Bilau would return from his knee injury for conference play. His continued absence hurts. Even with Bilau out, the 6”11 Jeremy Foumena gets limited playing time because he is not a skilled defender.

St. Bonaventura’s power forward Chad Venning and his backup off the bench, Noel Brown, combined for 28 points. URI had no answer as these two bigs repeatedly got the ball down on the blocks and made their shots. The Bonnies scored 44 points in the paint and had 15 second-chance points.

Questioned on this, Miller said, “With the makeup of our group right now, we are just not a very tough-minded defensive unit.” He said later, “We were very weak in the St Bonaventure game.”

 

Defense is not disruptive

More than once during the year, Miller has mentioned this team is not very disruptive on defense. In the first five A-10 games, URI stole the ball 18 times compared to 30 steals by their opponents. With limited steals and turning the ball over almost twice as much as their opponents (URI-64, opponents-33), the defense is constantly under stress.

Dayton spread out its offense with wide spacing around the 3-point line. In many instances, their initial offensive setup had no one underneath. A player would then move to the inside and get the ball. With the wide spacing, URI could not help or double team down low. It was one-on-one, and the Dayton player often won. Similar to previous games, there was no rim protection when a player on the perimeter beat his primary defender and drove to the hoop. URI had no one there to help. Dayton’s “Five Outside” offense strategy augmented by their excellent 3-pointer shooting worked well.

 

Team defense has not improved

Individual players have gotten better on defense; for example, Jaden House is coming on strong on the defensive side of the ball. However, with the season more than halfway over, it appears the overall team defense has yet to improve. URI game film is out there for all A-10 teams to see. It can’t be erased. Teams scout their opponents, identify, and then exploit weaknesses.

Addressing the problems with the interior defense, Miller said, “As we move forward, we need to be more creative to get it out of there (the ball) in different ways. Can you scramble or trap? These are the things and more we are deciding on as we try to help that area of the floor.”

If Miller and his coaches don’t quickly figure out how to adjust their defense with lineup or strategy changes, the Rams will struggle in A-10 play.