Ranking the Top Defensive Stoppers in College Basketball in 2015-16

[Dr.O1]

http://m.bleacherreport.com/article...pers-in-college-basketball-in-2015-16/page/21

I usually hate bleacher...but this is great

 

[Dominicfrank]

nice find Dr. Was not looking to see Miller as #1. I would have bet money Brimah would have been higher than Miller. This makes me a little more anxious for the season to start. I might be down playing the D and concentrating too much on offense........

 

[KhalidShockedTheWorld]

Actually with the exception of Blades all of you guys focus too much on offense (also true of many fans) which is why the national championships in 2011 and 2014 were more surprising than they really should have been. Those championships were won with great defense. The 2014 team, in addition to setting an NCAA record on FTs, played the best 6 game stretch of TEAM defense I have seen played by any UConn team ever. The 2011 team had two premium shotblockers and two premium rebounders to go with Kemba Walker. The FG defense and shotblock records achieved in the 2011 NCAA championship game were not an accident. In high pressure NCAA games, it's hard to make shots in the second half when a team is defending the hell out of you.

I have the UConn-Duke 2004 Final Four Classic on tape. Duke was up 75-67 in that game with about 4 minutes to go. They didn't make a FG in those final 4 minutes (or come close) until they hit a prayer 3 at the buzzer when it was 79-75 UConn and no longer mattered. What happened in those 4 minutes was that UConn turned up the defense on Duke and Duke shot brick after brick after brick. And that was a very good Duke team but they didn't see that type of defense where there was no easy shot going to the rim. It was all contested jumpers they were shooting. That is what happens to teams playing UConn in the NCAA tourney. They end up shooting lots of contested jumpers. Brimah and Nolan may come close to giving UConn on defense what Oriakhi and Okwandu did in 2011. The two Os played stellar post defense throughout the NCAA tournament.

Throw in Miller's rebounding and defense, and things start to look hellacious. I would also note that Purvis has shown flashes of being a very good defender. And I think Adams, due to his athleticism, will be active. This team could be something else defensively.

 

[northdakotahusky]

Forget about that...it's all about ball handling and speed

 

[Ozzie3178]

DEFENSE.... First at UCONN. If you can't or won't play D then tou don't play here!!!