Forum › Forum › Lehigh Sports › Lehigh Men’s Basketball › Bucknell › Reply To: Bucknell
toddcudd,
This is only my opinion but possessions is only one small part of the pace of the game. Tempo is the biggest component. If you put constant pressure on the ball, it forces the opposition to get rid of it quickly and perhaps take less time off the clock since there may not be a shot available when the clock expires. Our “tempo” seems to ebb and flow throughout games but that may be because we are not incredibly deep. Next year however may be a different story.
Rebounding is interesting to me.We have a 1.5 r/g edge on our opponents as compared to a 3.6 rpg deficit last year with essentially the same cast of characters. That 1.5 margin leads the Patriot League which leads me to believe that the PL, as a whole, is not a good rebounding league. Attitude etc. absolutely has a role in that turnaround but our defense may be the biggest contributor. We have, by a good margin, the best best defensive FG % in the PL, holding our opponents under 40%. The next lowest is about 44%. That leads to more defensive rebounding opportunities (our specialty).
