Vandy Can Light It: UC better figure out how to play defense, FAST

[BasketBySteveLogan]

I'll tell you what- everybody on Vandy's roster can shoot the ball. As a team, in the opener vs Lipscomb (yeah I know, it's only Lipscomb), the Commodores shot 59% from the field for the game.

UC let TOLEDO get plenty of open looks last night, and the perimeter players haven't done a great job at stopping penetration.

They better figure it out in a hurry, or else Vandy will torch 'em bigtime.

[BeastUC]

UC can light it up too,so Vandy better be prepared to play defense as well.

[JohnFrancis]

Living down here in SEC country (TN), many sports writers and talk shows have mentioned that they believe Vandy, Ole Miss and USC will be very, very good teams this year even though UK is getting all the pub. Last year the league was somewhat down, look for the SEC to rebound this year. Throw UT and MSU into the mix too - all 6 should make the NCAA tournament.

[Bearcat Jeff]

The Cats have to learn to play defense to be an elite team. This is a good opportunity for them to make a statement and establish themselves as a team to be reckoned with. That starts with being able to play defense and get stops when you need them. I think they will become a good defensive team, but they need to step it up big time in a hurry.

[Not Guilty]

The Cats have to learn to play defense to be an elite team. This is a good opportunity for them to make a statement and establish themselves as a team to be reckoned with. That starts with being able to play defense and get stops when you need them. I think they will become a good defensive team, but they need to step it up big time in a hurry.

Agreed. They gave up 68 points in 69 possessions to Toledo. Given the level of opponent, that is simply too many. I think we have a lot of solid to good defensive players, but they need to develop as a consistent unit. Given the level of competition in Maui (3 strong teams if we beat Vandy), hopefully they can make quite a bit of progress this week.

[juckerrules]

Agreed. They gave up 68 points in 69 possessions to Toledo. Given the level of opponent, that is simply too many. I think we have a lot of solid to good defensive players, but they need to develop as a consistent unit. Given the level of competition in Maui (3 strong teams if we beat Vandy), hopefully they can make quite a bit of progress this week.

While I agree there is much room for improvement, especially considering the level of oppostion, that isn't so bad as a points per possession ratio (PPP)
Here are last year's BE stats....an opponents' ratio of .985 (68/69) would have been fourth best in the league - Problemis, as you alluded, the competition will be much tougher...soon
Opp.
Pace PPP PPP EM
1. Louisville 66.0 1.04 0.92 +0.12
2. Georgetown 61.9 1.07 0.97 +0.10
3. Pitt 64.5 1.10 1.01 +0.09
4. West Virginia 63.6 1.05 0.97 +0.08
5. Connecticut 70.6 1.10 1.05 +0.05
6. Marquette 70.0 1.05 1.02 +0.03
7. Syracuse 70.4 1.01 1.00 +0.01
8. Seton Hall 70.5 1.07 1.06 +0.01
9. Notre Dame 74.2 1.02 1.02 0.00
10. Providence 68.6 1.06 1.06 0.00
11. DePaul 68.2 1.02 1.05 -0.03
12. Villanova 71.2 1.03 1.06 -0.03
13. Cincinnati 66.3 1.02 1.05 -0.03
14. St. John's 68.0 0.92 1.04 -0.12
15. Rutgers 66.4 0.90 1.04 -0.14
16. S. Florida 64.6 1.01 1.15 -0.14

[JDBEARCAT]

I remember when we played Vandy with Huggs teams & we destroyed them by being
physical. If Mic can only get our team to play that way, we would be able to do the
same. It should be a good game & real test to our young Cats.

[juckerrules]

Vandy plays St. Mary 1st-that should give a better clue as to how good they are

[Montrell]

As it stands right now Vandy will beat UC by 15 points. So far teams are getting way too many wide open looks against UC.

[Scheids21]

If we could pull out wins against Vandy and Maryland it would be huge for us. Not only would we have confidence and be undefeated, but those are 2 teams around the #30 range that we could be competing with for at large bids/better seedings later in the year.

[ME80]

As it stands right now Vandy will beat UC by 15 points. So far teams are getting way too many wide open looks against UC.

While I can see where you are coming from I still do not think there is enough "data" to make that call.

[levydl]

As it stands right now Vandy will beat UC by 15 points. So far teams are getting way too many wide open looks against UC.

Seen Vandy play yet this year?