Great response. I’m a huge proponent of long arms and active hands, tracing the ball tips, deflections, anything that will disrupt the defense. We definitely have guys that can get after, I appreciate you sharing your 5 and will see about getting MJ on the pod
Mick has given the answer in almost every interview he's given about the goal of getting 40 deflections per game as the key to his winning formula. His mentor Rick Pitino is often quoted as saying 35 deflections or more will win you 95% of your games. I can't find a site that shows official deflections stats, do you know one?
Deflections: The Unofficial Stat That Measures Success
This last year, I would guess we averaged about 25 deflections (Record 16-17) per game and the year prior was around 35 deflections (Record 31-6) I think I heard Mick say so that proves that Pitino is close to correct and every year Mick's had 30 plus wins, I bet deflection #s were up there. So based on that, Mick will want athletic, quick and ball hunting players as his main guys.
So I would say without considering what positions they play and according to ability to play Mick's defense, #1 is Kobe, #2 DA, #3 Kyle (DPOY in his conf), #4 Dailey, plus you need 1 prolific scorer that may not necessarily be a great defender like Juzang (or yourself, haha) so I believe that would be Bilodeau as he's going to drive defenders crazy with his off-ball movement to get open shots. I think those 5 plus Lazar who shot a blistering 47.3% from 3 in his last 11 games of the season will average about 25+ minutes per game. Everyone else will need to prove their defensive ability to earn minutes before anything else. Skyy will need to improve his ball handling and defense as his steals/TO ratio is not good enough for Mick yet. Just my 2 cents.
Also great to hear you talk about MJ! Would love to hear an interview with him on your pod to see what he thinks of this new NIL age of college BB and a few yakkas!
You're on a roll and it's a lot of fun. So much excitement around UCLA, it feels good again. Last year's players ought to be thrilled with the new guys. And vice-versa. No promises, just opportunities. The new guys seem like gamers.
Guys I wonder about are Mack, BWilliams, and Buyuctuncel. You made some good points about each of them. We'll see what shakes out. I have no feeling for DWilliams as I only saw him in passing. Mara should be fun next year. Hopefully he'll put on a tuches and be ready for the more physical B1G
.
The love for your dad is great, really touching. The most important victory of all, life.
Appreciate you my man. I hear you on DWill. Mara is going to be key for us in the B1G. I really hope Mack doesn’t leave. We need his heart
Great response. I’m a huge proponent of long arms and active hands, tracing the ball tips, deflections, anything that will disrupt the defense. We definitely have guys that can get after, I appreciate you sharing your 5 and will see about getting MJ on the pod
Another great pod Kris!
Mick has given the answer in almost every interview he's given about the goal of getting 40 deflections per game as the key to his winning formula. His mentor Rick Pitino is often quoted as saying 35 deflections or more will win you 95% of your games. I can't find a site that shows official deflections stats, do you know one?
Deflections: The Unofficial Stat That Measures Success
https://www.wfdd.org/post/deflections-unofficial-stat-measures-success
This last year, I would guess we averaged about 25 deflections (Record 16-17) per game and the year prior was around 35 deflections (Record 31-6) I think I heard Mick say so that proves that Pitino is close to correct and every year Mick's had 30 plus wins, I bet deflection #s were up there. So based on that, Mick will want athletic, quick and ball hunting players as his main guys.
So I would say without considering what positions they play and according to ability to play Mick's defense, #1 is Kobe, #2 DA, #3 Kyle (DPOY in his conf), #4 Dailey, plus you need 1 prolific scorer that may not necessarily be a great defender like Juzang (or yourself, haha) so I believe that would be Bilodeau as he's going to drive defenders crazy with his off-ball movement to get open shots. I think those 5 plus Lazar who shot a blistering 47.3% from 3 in his last 11 games of the season will average about 25+ minutes per game. Everyone else will need to prove their defensive ability to earn minutes before anything else. Skyy will need to improve his ball handling and defense as his steals/TO ratio is not good enough for Mick yet. Just my 2 cents.
Also great to hear you talk about MJ! Would love to hear an interview with him on your pod to see what he thinks of this new NIL age of college BB and a few yakkas!
You're on a roll and it's a lot of fun. So much excitement around UCLA, it feels good again. Last year's players ought to be thrilled with the new guys. And vice-versa. No promises, just opportunities. The new guys seem like gamers.
Guys I wonder about are Mack, BWilliams, and Buyuctuncel. You made some good points about each of them. We'll see what shakes out. I have no feeling for DWilliams as I only saw him in passing. Mara should be fun next year. Hopefully he'll put on a tuches and be ready for the more physical B1G
.
The love for your dad is great, really touching. The most important victory of all, life.
Thank you!
DJ Davis was so lethal
Could really getting it going from deep. Watched him make some tough shots over and over again. UW got a good one