DEFENSE WINS CHAMPIONSHIPS

It has often been said that “Defense Wins Championships”. As a college basketball coach, I am certainly aware that there are a lot of factors that work together to contribute to a team winning a game and eventually a championship.  However, I am convinced that defense is the most prevalent common denominator when it comes to successful teams. As I recently served on the National Association of Intercollegiate Athletics (NAIA) Women’s Basketball Tournament Committee, I got a first-hand view of the importance of defense. Time after time, we saw post-season games between nationally ranked teams that were in the 50’s, 40’s and even one was in the 30’s. Many of these teams were scoring machines during the regular season. They didn’t just forget how to score when it came time to play the national tournament. Instead, the defense was amped up to another level. If you were a good defensive team during the season, you were a great defensive team during the tournament. The old adage may seem too simplistic but there is no question that defense puts your team in a position to win any game that they are in.

In the four NAIA quarterfinal games, defense got it done as the four losing teams were held under their season scoring averages by 34, 28, 25, and 19 points. In the two semi-final games, the losing teams scored 31 points and 26 points below their season scoring averages. This might only be a small sample size, but the eight teams that we are talking about were the ranked #’s 1-8 in the final NAIA Coaches Poll. They are loaded with talent and know how to win. For these established teams with elite players to be held so far under their season averages cannot be a coincidence. Most of these teams are among the highest scoring teams in the nation. They are also among the best on the defensive side of the ball. When great offenses were pitted against great defenses, the defenses won…at least in this year’s NAIA women’s national tournament.

Other interesting facts about the composition of the eight women’s basketball teams in this year’s NAIA quarterfinals: 

• The nation’s top- 4 scoring defenses made the final 8 teams.
• 6 of the top 10 scoring defenses made the final 8 teams 
• The two teams in the championship game (Lee University with coach Marty Rowe and Westmont College with coach Kirsten Moore) were ranked among the top 10 scoring defenses.

However, if you don’t want to take my word for it or the results of the NAIA women’s tournament as conclusive evidence then look no further than the men’s NCAA tournament the last few years. Sports Illustrated’s Luke Winn uses Miami (who was a #1 seed going into this year’s tournament) as an example of what defense can do for a team:

Larranaga, who coached at George Mason for 14 years and took them to the 2006 Final Four, is not solely a psychological coach. The former econ major is equally obsessed with analytics. Last April in a team meeting he wrote the numbers 9, 4, 2 and 1 on a whiteboard—they were the adjusted defensive efficiency rankings of the 2012 Final Four teams. His message to the team:   “You need to be in the top 10 to have a shot at a national championship next year.”

This season, the Hurricanes were 10th at week’s end and have certainly fooled themselves into becoming college basketball’s most surprising team.

Tony Manfred from The Business Insider reveals The One Huge Thing That All of the Final Four Teams have in Common:

Sports Illustrated's excellent college basketball writer Luke Winn has a revealing nugget that says a lot about college basketball in his Elite 8 postmortem today: Each Final Four team this year was the best defensive team in its respective region.

Using the defensive efficiency statistic provided by kenpom.com, Winn found that defense is king in the NCAA Tournament. He noted that just four of the last 40 teams to make the Final Four have been ranked outside the top 30 in defensive efficiency …

… For better or worse, defense is king.

Defense isn't only about good old-fashioned Man-to-Man defense.  Zones work just fine as Manfred further writes about after the Syracuse Orangemen just beat Marquette to advanced to the 2013 Final Four. 

Syracuse beat Marquette 55-39 to advance to the Final Four Saturday, and all the post-game conversation is focused on one thing: the Orange's suffocating defense.

Syracuse is one of the only teams that exclusively plays a 2-3 zone. They specifically recruit tall players to make that zone tough to play against, and it's paying off right now.

The Cuse has allowed 34, 60, 50 and 39 points in the tournament so far. Indiana — the best offensive team in college basketball during the regular season, according to Ken Pomeroy's stats — only mustered 50 points against them. And Marquette (ranked 19th in offensive efficiency) only scored 39 points in the regional final.

ESPN's Dana O'Neil wrote about how good defense ultimately led Duke to victory in a game that featured two offensive powers:

PHILADELPHIA – The sixth and 24th-best offensive teams in the country got together for a little round-of-32 game in the NCAA tournament on Sunday evening.

Naturally it went exactly as was expected. That is, what is to be expected from a game in the 2012-13 season -- or, as it has come to be known, the Year In Which Offense Went To Die.

Neither Duke nor Creighton could score. Neither could shoot, and two of the best scoring teams were left relying on their defense. So in an ending befitting this offensive offensive season, Duke advanced to the Sweet 16 because of a 66-50 dogfight with Creighton. That's 12 points fewer than what the Blue Devils average and 25 fewer for the Bluejays. Not to mention that it was Creighton's lowest score all season, by a lot.

Sports Illustrated's Pete Thamel says that Defense makes Louisville dangerous team as tournament nears

"We got sped up and made some poor decisions," Hopkins said. "But that's what Louisville's press does. They do a great job of playing physical and getting up in you. It's not just pressure, it's physical pressure."

There are many reasons why Louisville will be difficult to beat in the NCAA Touranment. They have a future Hall of Fame coach in Rick Pitino, a versatile roster that goes nine-deep and veteran guards who are NCAA Tournament tested.

But whatever poor No. 16 seed draws the Cardinals this week will have to deal with a press, a defense that Syracuse saw three times this season and still looked so overwhelmed that it seemed like Louisville had six defenders on the court.

"They just force you into things that you normally don't do," Carter-Williams said. "So it's hard to prepare for that."

Syracuse's other lead guard, Brandon Triche, finished with seven turnovers and said the key against Louisville is to attempt to be deliberate. He referenced a "certain anxiety level" that comes with getting the ball over halfcourt. And when Syracuse did that, it had to reset and then begin attacking Louisville's matchup zone defense.

Furthermore, as I was on the NAIA National Tournament committee and had a hand in evaluating officials. One thing that I noticed was that fewer fouls were called in nearly all of the tournament games. The good offenses were not able to run their plays and get the good open looks that have been accustomed to. Pete Thamel's above article explains further that:

Pitino's philosophy has always been to be so physical that there seems to be a foul on every play, which means that officials can't call fouls. Officials in the NCAA Tournament tend to let physical play go, which will clearly favor the Cardinals.

Jamy Bechler is the executive director of U-Leadership and a John Maxwell Certified Leadership Speaker and Coach.  Contact him at CoachBechler@CoachBechler.com to find out how you or your team can be more successful.  Click here to signup for THE ENCOURAGING NEWSLETTER