A crucial must Winn because you know La Salle is getting ready to torpedo our season as usual on Wednesday.
Any thought of the Good Guys being too cocky about being #1 in the conference now has to go away when you look at how SLU roasted us last season. That lasting taste (thanks to the pandemic) stuck with them all offseason, so they'll be out for revenge. The key is going to be slowing down either Javonte Perkins or Jordan Goodwin. One of those guys is going to get their points, but if we can hold another one to an inefficient night, we can get by these guys.
It's a small sample size of 2 games, obviously, but worth looking at since it's SLU's last 2 games. According to that nerd KenPom (who FINALLY has us in the top 50), the Evil Bills are dead last in the conference in defensive efficiency, effective field goal %, free throw rate and three-point %. Some of those aren't even close. Again, sample size, but what does this nerd shit mean? Post-COVID pause, SLU has been an absolute tire fire on defense. You can see that as easily as the fact they allowed 76 and 82 to mediocre Dayton and La Salle teams. Even counting pre-pause stats, SLU is terrible defending the 3 (245th) and they foul a TON.
Where the Billikens can sink us is on offense. These guys can actually score a lot this season. They're top 50 in most offensive metrics. Goodwin is one of the best offensive threats in the A10 and Perkins is also great. We already know about them. Osun will have to frustrate Hasahn French because that guy can't get going on offense. If he is rebounding on offense and either putting it back or resetting their offense, it'll be another long night. We're the best defensive team they've played so far this year, but we can't let shooters like Gibson Jimerson (injured last year) and Demarius Jacobs get going.
Bottom line, if we can keep up our solid defense, we can do this damn thing tomorrow. Against top 100 teams, they've given up 82 (loss at Minnesota), 81 (beat LSU), 76 (home loss to Dayton) and 69 (beat NC State). SLU will give our shooters opportunities to get hot, it's just a matter of if Holmes, Welch or Lofton is the one to catch fire from 3. Based on recent trends, Welch is the hottest from 3. Lofton should manhandle Yuri Collins at PG. Javonte Perkins is only an inch taller than Adaway, so hopefully Jalen can hold his own.
Let's do this.