The answer might surprise a little bit. Last year the Owls were 26-11. If not for that Will Cummings injury vs. Tulsa, which led directly to that home loss and then indirectly to the next game loss vs. SMU, the Owls were probably playing in the NCAAs in March.
Now, haters gonna hate hate hate and the long time anti-Dunphy contingent will come on here and trot out the same old stuff. To be fair, though, the Owls of 14-15 were probably a tournament team. At the very least, they were a team that we thought was fun and gave us a nice March run, albeit not in the tournament we wanted.
Ok, now to the point. The pitchforks are out for Dunphy (me included) this year based on Xs and Os and the offensive incompetence. However, if you look at the numbers, the KenPom Offensive Efficiency numbers are nearly identical this year to last year. In the 140s, ranking wise, and 103ish rating wise. This surprised me because of how bad the offense has looked this season. The biggest difference actually is on defense - last year the Owls ended up 18, at 93.4 rating. This year they are 91 at 98.8 rating. There are some other details around the margin, but that right there is your difference maker. Can the offense be better? Absolutely. It is painful to watch. But at least according to the numbers, the defense is the bigger problem this year.
Now, haters gonna hate hate hate and the long time anti-Dunphy contingent will come on here and trot out the same old stuff. To be fair, though, the Owls of 14-15 were probably a tournament team. At the very least, they were a team that we thought was fun and gave us a nice March run, albeit not in the tournament we wanted.
Ok, now to the point. The pitchforks are out for Dunphy (me included) this year based on Xs and Os and the offensive incompetence. However, if you look at the numbers, the KenPom Offensive Efficiency numbers are nearly identical this year to last year. In the 140s, ranking wise, and 103ish rating wise. This surprised me because of how bad the offense has looked this season. The biggest difference actually is on defense - last year the Owls ended up 18, at 93.4 rating. This year they are 91 at 98.8 rating. There are some other details around the margin, but that right there is your difference maker. Can the offense be better? Absolutely. It is painful to watch. But at least according to the numbers, the defense is the bigger problem this year.
