defense wins

[clawman1]

It has been very evident in recent NCAA basketball games that the difference is not high scoring offense but the better defense.
When Kentucky stopped Notre dame and Tennessee women got back into the playoff game yesterday it was defense. Today when Duke slowed the game down and turned up the defense they pulled away from Gonzaga. Turnovers were Duke 2 Gonzaga 13
Will the Eagles be able to learn to play defense or does it take different style of players?

 

[Rafter_Reese]

I will agree that defense needs to be a priority for the Eags. That being said, we are playing much better defense than in recent years. So we've taken a step. To win in the NCAA tournament (which is what we all want) we will need to keep improving defensively. To win the Big Sky regular season and the Big Sky Tournament, we've shown that we can do it with a great offense and some timely defense when we need it.

I think what you're watching when you watch the Duke's of the world isn't just great defense, but guys with SIZE (even at the guard position). Those guys don't just put out the effort on D, but they also have the incredible physical strength to go with their effort which makes them an ACC caliber athlete. I don't think the Eags lack effort on defense, maybe just some of that ACC size. Same deal when we played Georgetown. There's just a difference in the bodies between Big East guards and Big Sky guards. No excuses though. We need to find a way to go into the NCAA tourney and impose our will defensively. That needs to be our goal.

From the Rafters....
go eags!