@ Denver Thurs 7PM

[kiyoat]

...Adding the SDSU and Denver games to this chart...

Yotes # Turnovers:

opponent	ave TO forced	vs USD	diff
NDSU	17.7	13	-4.7
Omaha	15.9	23	+7.1
Oral Rob	19.3	22	+2.7
St Thomas	16.1	17	+0.9
SDSU	16.1	15	-1.1
Denver	11.9	10	-1.9
Kansas City	16.0	11	-5.0
UND	16.5	12	-4.5
SDSU	15.9	12	-3.9
Denver	12.0	12	0.0

Yotes Scoring Defense

opponent	ave points	vs USD	diff
NDSU	79.7	84	+4.3
Omaha	70.6	71	+0.4
Oral Rob	82.1	91	+8.9
St Thomas	68.3	61	-7.3
SDSU	78.6	73	-4.4
Denver	67.6	70	+2.4
Kansas City	62.7	62	-0.7
UND	69.6	53	-16.6
SDSU	76.1	70	-6.1
Denver	68.8	48	-20.8

I have to say I like the trajectory of this team, from the standpoint of cleaning up these two problem areas. 

Even in a double-digit loss to State, the Yotes didn't lose control of the turnover game, and played defense well enough to win that game.  It was the offense that was the problem, and that's why you HAVE to play good defense- the offense comes and goes, especially if you launch a lot of 3-balls like we do.

The defensive performance against both Denver and North Dakota was the best of the year.  Our two worst defensive performances were against the two teams we need to beat to move up in the standings: NDSU and ORU.  If we can play good defense in those two rematch games, we might just be able to move up into a 2 or 3-seed.  A Conference regular-season championship is probably out of reach at this point, but upgrading to a 2 or 3-seed would really make a difference in the tournament.

[yote18]

Honest opinion our players played calm and with a goal. I’m sure Jewitt ran the team how Karius requested but the vibe from the team felt different. Genuinely as someone else mentioned I think Kayla might be over coaching the team cause they always seem rattled out on the floor. I don’t get that vibe last night under jewitt. I’ll be curious to see show we fare against NDSU and ORU on the road.

Last night from what I saw the team just played good ball and took Denver’s punches and then just punched right back. still some items to clean up but if we can put some performances like this together for the remaining road and home games we could still finish 2nd 3rd in league play.

[kiyoat]

Here's an interesting stat comparison:

Yotes' O-Rebound % [OR / (OR + opp DR)]

opponent	Yote O-Reb	Opp D-Reb	Yote OR%
NDSU	11	29	27.5
Omaha	9	26	25.7
Oral Rob	13	19	40.6
St Thomas	15	20	42.9
SDSU	13	28	31.7
Denver	5	20	20.0
Kansas City	8	17	32.0
UND	8	30	21.0
SDSU	2	27	6.9
Denver	5	17	22.7

vs.

Opponent's O-Rebound %

opponent	opp O-Reb	Yote D-Reb	Opp OR%
NDSU	11	15	42.3
Omaha	10	37	21.2
Oral Rob	11	20	35.5
St Thomas	6	28	18.2
SDSU	7	21	25.0
Denver	6	27	18.2
Kansas City	12	24	50.0
UND	12	35	25.5
SDSU	10	23	30.3
Denver	6	32	15.8

So what does this mean?  Obviously a team that can dominate the boards at both ends of the court is preferred.  But that is not always possible.

I don't think it's a coincidence that two of our 3 worst D-Rebounding performances resulted in our to worst scoring defense performances, vs NDSU and ORU.  Keeping the opponent's 2nd-chance opportunities down seems to be something we are emphasizing lately.

In terms of O-boards, one of our best performances there was against ORU --- our worst loss in conference play.  Looks like we are somewhat de-emphasizing getting O-boards, and I have a theory as to why.... so that we can get back and set up our defense.  We don't have the fastest, most athletic roster in the conference, so I think we are maybe trying to compensate for that?  To be better at preventing transition points.  Just a theory.

Seems to be working.

[kiyoat]

Feb 9, 2024 9:25:36 GMT -6 yote18 said:

Honest opinion our players played calm and with a goal. I’m sure Jewitt ran the team how Karius requested but the vibe from the team felt different. 

pic from twitter from the pregame practice...


Looks almost like they are having.... fun?

I'm not necessarily saying Coach K is over-coaching or anything, but I think you are making a good point about how an experienced coach can be a calming influence.

[90yote]

Really good to see them dominate another conference team. I had said to some friends that when they beat Denver and KC at home a couple of weeks ago in uninspiring fashion that the 2020-2022 teams would have beat those teams by 30.

Well looky-here.

In addition to the 25-0 second-half run, they had 13-0 and 11-0 runs in the first half. Again, Denver is not good, but they did just put up 102 against Oral Roberts.

Now let's see if the Yotes can make a run at 3rd place. ORU is the obvious target, so winning down in Tulsa will be a must. ORU still has to play the Jacks today and go on the road to play the Bison. So if the Yotes can win in Tulsa, ORU will probably finish 10-6. But they beat NDSU, so unless the Yotes do that ORU will have the tiebreaker advantage. So can the Yotes go 5-1 (and get to 11-5) in these last three weeks? They'll be big favorites in the three home games, so it probably comes down to winning at ORU and KC.

[90yote]

Also, for those that missed it Demers sat out with her injury that was mentioned in another thread. It sounds like they wanted to get her some rest and this week (with a bye and playing a team with only one real post) was good timing.

[90yote]

Denver won at St. Thomas this afternoon.