In my 35-plus years of watching Idaho State basketball, I can't recall such a dramatic change in style and approach from one year to the next by the same head coach as what we're witnessing with this year's Bengals. I know it's still ridiculously early in the season to be drawing any conclusions, but so far Bill Evans has led this year's version of ISU men's basketball about 180 degrees away from last year's.
The results haven't been great, but one thing is for sure: watching this year's team is a whole lot more fun than last year's. Whether the results will be any better (last year's team finished 7-23) remains to be seen. But let's look at some of the more remarkable changes in style from the 2014-15 team and this years:
Adjusted tempo (how fast the Bengals are playing):
Last year: 64.0 (218th in the country)
This year: 72.9 (74th in the country)
Average possession length (how long ISU holds the ball before shooting)
Last year: 17.7 seconds (97th in the country)
This year: 15.5 seconds (48th in the country)
Point Distribution (how ISU scores)
Last year: 22 percent of points come from three pointers (310th in the country)
This year: 40 percent of points come from three pointers (24 in the country)
So you could say that Bill and his staff got the memo about how college basketball is changing: it's a mad, mad, mad three-point shooting, gap driving, uptempo world.
And the Bengals are, bless their hearts, trying hard to adapt. The fact that they are 0-3 vs. D-I opponents illustrates, however, that this is not going to be an overnight process. What we're seeing is that, while Wild Bill's Boys are cranking up treys and pushing the pace, they are not necessarily being more efficient. And their defense....oh my, it's been bad.
ISU's effective field goal percentage is down from 48.1 percent (214 in the country) last year, to 45.9 (259) this year. (This against D-1 competition only). This is largely a product of the fact the Bengals are shooting only 38 percent (341st in the nation) from two-point range.
The Bengal turnover percentage is up from 18.7 (142) last year, to 21.4 (298) this year. ISU is allowing opponents to grab offensive rebounds at a 38.4 percent rate (328) this year, up from 32.2 (229) last year. And the Bengals are allowing opponents to shoot an effective field goal percentage of 63.6 percent (that ranks 348th! in the nation -- there are only 351 D-1 teams), vs. 52 percent (289) last year.
The Bengals' three D-1 opponents are shooting 65.6 percent from two-point range (349) and 40 percent from 3 (314). That, my friends, is some bad defense.
Of course, all of these numbers only apply to ISU's three D-1 opponents (Wazzu, Denver and Utah), and KenPom ranks that as the eighth toughest schedule in the country. The Bengals have a chance to get well on Saturday night, when they face a 2-3 Lamar team that is rated 300 in the country ( ISU is 330). The Cardinals rank in the bottom third of the nation in both offensive and defensive efficiency, and they are in the bottom half of the nation in three-point and two-point shooting. They could give ISU issues on the offensive glass, where they rank 19th in the country, grabbing almost 40 percent of available O boards.
In any event, the evolution of this year's Bengals, whose average experience (1.63 years) rates 205th in the nation, continues and it is a rather dramatic one. Can the Bengals find an identity (an effective one) on defense this year? Can they become more efficient offensively by taking -- and making -- more two-point shots, instead of being so dependent on the trey? And can they do a better job of keeping opponents off the offensive glass? More answers to come on Saturday from Beaumont, Texas.
The results haven't been great, but one thing is for sure: watching this year's team is a whole lot more fun than last year's. Whether the results will be any better (last year's team finished 7-23) remains to be seen. But let's look at some of the more remarkable changes in style from the 2014-15 team and this years:
Adjusted tempo (how fast the Bengals are playing):
Last year: 64.0 (218th in the country)
This year: 72.9 (74th in the country)
Average possession length (how long ISU holds the ball before shooting)
Last year: 17.7 seconds (97th in the country)
This year: 15.5 seconds (48th in the country)
Point Distribution (how ISU scores)
Last year: 22 percent of points come from three pointers (310th in the country)
This year: 40 percent of points come from three pointers (24 in the country)
So you could say that Bill and his staff got the memo about how college basketball is changing: it's a mad, mad, mad three-point shooting, gap driving, uptempo world.
And the Bengals are, bless their hearts, trying hard to adapt. The fact that they are 0-3 vs. D-I opponents illustrates, however, that this is not going to be an overnight process. What we're seeing is that, while Wild Bill's Boys are cranking up treys and pushing the pace, they are not necessarily being more efficient. And their defense....oh my, it's been bad.
ISU's effective field goal percentage is down from 48.1 percent (214 in the country) last year, to 45.9 (259) this year. (This against D-1 competition only). This is largely a product of the fact the Bengals are shooting only 38 percent (341st in the nation) from two-point range.
The Bengal turnover percentage is up from 18.7 (142) last year, to 21.4 (298) this year. ISU is allowing opponents to grab offensive rebounds at a 38.4 percent rate (328) this year, up from 32.2 (229) last year. And the Bengals are allowing opponents to shoot an effective field goal percentage of 63.6 percent (that ranks 348th! in the nation -- there are only 351 D-1 teams), vs. 52 percent (289) last year.
The Bengals' three D-1 opponents are shooting 65.6 percent from two-point range (349) and 40 percent from 3 (314). That, my friends, is some bad defense.
Of course, all of these numbers only apply to ISU's three D-1 opponents (Wazzu, Denver and Utah), and KenPom ranks that as the eighth toughest schedule in the country. The Bengals have a chance to get well on Saturday night, when they face a 2-3 Lamar team that is rated 300 in the country ( ISU is 330). The Cardinals rank in the bottom third of the nation in both offensive and defensive efficiency, and they are in the bottom half of the nation in three-point and two-point shooting. They could give ISU issues on the offensive glass, where they rank 19th in the country, grabbing almost 40 percent of available O boards.
In any event, the evolution of this year's Bengals, whose average experience (1.63 years) rates 205th in the nation, continues and it is a rather dramatic one. Can the Bengals find an identity (an effective one) on defense this year? Can they become more efficient offensively by taking -- and making -- more two-point shots, instead of being so dependent on the trey? And can they do a better job of keeping opponents off the offensive glass? More answers to come on Saturday from Beaumont, Texas.