credit to Singelton who is quietly getting the job done. He has that sneaky presence. can drive to the basket, get an important rebound, plays tight defense, and fight like hell under the basket. I had questions about his play early but he has blended in nicely. But please keep working on those free throws.
Looking back at it, Ticket going down when he did may have been fortuitous. It allowed Singleton to get major minutes, giving the team and CKE the opportunity to figure out the best way to exploit his unique skill set. Then Ticket - with his tenenacious D - comes back and overnight this team is transformed, and discoveres it has an identity it can rally around and believe in.
Since the URI game we are in rarified air in terms of the company we keep, in terms of defensive efficiency, rebounding, and 3 pt defense, as well as wins above bubble (WAB). Among DI teams we are:
Effective FG Defense - 17th
3pt FG Defense - 16th
Defensive Rebounding - 33rd
WAB - 18th
And in terms of offense, here's the batshit crazy part: during this period
we are 9th in the country in free throw rate (FTR) . Of course, we're among the worst teams when it comes to free throw percentage so we negate this huge advantage we have. If we were merely an average free throw shooting team, with our ability to get to the line, we would be FORMIDABLE. Full stop.
I don't know what can be done to magically arrest our dreadful shooting from the charity stripe so I think it'll just be a burden we will have to shoulder.
Regardless, with the current level we are playing at our WAB indicates we are playing like an NCAA tourney team.
