Although VCU and GT play solid defense they are not good teams. This is the concern I have going into league play. Will we be able to sustain our offensive efficiency during BE play against better teams? That is what Mullin is staking his success on, not defense, not offensive rebounding, offense. We needed Ponds to be all world to beat VCU and GT, if we play like that in BE play we’ll be lucky to finish .500.
You make a good point about Mullin focusing on offense. This is a team and hopefully a program built in his image - one that can score.
Are they saving energy on defense by taking plays off? Maybe so. When you play 6/7 guys, and all of them are being asked to play bigger than they are, they’re gonna be working hard to keep up the intensity for the duration of the game. I remember seeing how exhausted Ponds was during the VCU game. And to that point, VCU is absolutely a good team, and that is absolutely a strong W on our resume. As far as Tech goes, the jury is out, but they’re not clearly a bad team or a clearly a good one right now. They could still have a good year because their non conference wasn’t so far off from respectable.