Project Defensive Score Sheet: Kansas@Baylor

[Check out the introduction to Project Defensive Score Sheet for info on what the numbers below mean.]

Let’s start with the chart (click to enlarge).  Notes after the break.

Though not shown above, I kept separate tallies for 2PFGAs and 3PFGAs, and tried to to track how closely guarded the defender was.  Unfortunately, I realized after the game that my method of marking the 2PFGAs was ambiguous, so I had to throw those numbers out.  But here’s what I have for three-point shots:

“Semi-guarded” means a defender tried to close out on the shooter, or was in the area, but didn’t get close enough to have much effect on the shots (obviously a bit of a judgment call).

Nothing groundbreaking here – guarded threes are tougher to hit.  Duh.  But it’s interesting to see the breakdown.  Baylor seemed to do a better job of only taking the 3’s that were given to them, and not forcing any.

Other notes on the defensive data:

• For the 3rd time in 4 games, Elijah Johnson is Kansas’s worst defender.
• Baylor’s zone was effective not at stopping Kansas, but at spreading the blame for the bad defense around equally.
• Marcus Morris finally rated better than his less heralded brother, Markieff (though Markieff still led the team in Stops).
• Brady Morningstar and Tyrel Reed both had their worst performance of the 4 charted game, but both have excuses.  Morningstar shadowed LaceDarius Dunn for most of his minutes (and was the victim of a couple of very questionable foul calls).  And Reed, bizarrely, was matched up on 6’10” Anthony Jones on several possessions, which led to at least one of his fouls and allowed field goals.
• Only 5 of Kansas’s 18 forced turnovers (28%) were solo efforts, compared to 5 of Baylor’s 14 (36%), meaning Kansas once again relied mores on teamwork to force their turnovers, compared to opposition.  The one game so far where that hasn’t been the case was against Nebraska, who I thought played a phenomenal defensive game.
• The 25.5 %DPoss of Baylor’s “Team” line is the highest I’ve encountered so far.  That reflects two things. 1) Kansas was very sloppy with the ball early, committing several unforced turnovers. 2) The zone was late to rotate on a lot of plays, leading to wide open threes or dunks.
• There were, supposedly, 10 NBA general managers and 30 scouts in attendance.  Maybe that fired up Josh Selby, because he played with a ton of energy on defense, and was involved in 7 different turnovers (3 solo, 4 shared).