I didn’t know where to put these questions, @umhoops, so figured safest bet would be here:
I noticed in the CBB Guide preview that it says UCLA is fantastic at contesting jump shots. We often attribute three-point shooting variance to luck (I think you said this on the latest pod too), but is there something to be said for how UCLA defended Bama’s 3s - especially knowing Bama would jack ‘em up - that made Bama struggle? Or is it easier to point to the free-throw struggles and assume they had a bad shooting night?
Making it to the Elite 8 (and the Pac-12’s success) inflates UCLA’s efficiency metrics, however deservedly so. Based on the draw UCLA has had and its defensive shooting luck, however, I don’t buy for a second that program as KenPom’s 16th best. I was hoping to get a pre-tourney snapshot of the Michigan-UCLA matchup as I assume that the real UCLA belongs somewhere in the middle. But it looks like your Guide updates in real time. Do you (or does the Guide) have anything like that?
Sort of one of the million dollar questions. I know NBA analytics-verse talks about this at least. I like to look at number of catch and shooter jumpers a team allows per game (almost more than 3PA/FGA at this point) to try to gauge.
UCLA comes up kind of right in the middle of a lot of metrics shooting wise for me.
I realize now that updating the previews as they go is sort of tricky for that given how much ratings and things changed with the Pac 12’s success. I also think this might be magnified by the lack of as many non-conference games this year.