D - [picture of white picket fence]

[mr. synellinden]

For all the talk about the ACC's relative weakness this season, currently 5 ACC teams are ranked in the top 12 in KenPom's defensive efficiency ratings:

3. Florida St.
5. Maryland
6. Duke
7. UNC
12. Virginia Tech

I think this is good news for Duke as preparation for the NCAA tournament, because in the later rounds you rarely see very weak defensive teams and Duke is going to be well tested against some of the best defenses in the country.

[uh_no]

Not to be a spoil-sport, as I agree with you, but we must take into account the weakness of the ACC's offenses which will artificially inflate the defensive rankings

[mr. synellinden]

Not to be a spoil-sport, as I agree with you, but we must take into account the weakness of the ACC's offenses which will artificially inflate the defensive rankings

Ah - I thought about making that point as a caveat. However, my understanding is that the KenPom model takes into account the relative offensive efficiencies of opponents, so that we are essentially expected to have a better defensive performance against BC or Wake than better offensive teams, and it's efficiency relative to that expectation that factors into the ratings. So I am not sure that needs to be taken into account.

[uh_no]

Ah - I thought about making that point as a caveat. However, my understanding is that the KenPom model takes into account the relative offensive efficiencies of opponents, so that we are essentially expected to have a better defensive performance against BC or Wake than better offensive teams, and it's efficiency relative to that expectation that factors into the ratings. So I am not sure that needs to be taken into account.

Thanks for the correction! I do not pretend to be intimately familiar with how the rankings work and I wholly appreciate your making me that much more informed

[CDu]

Ah - I thought about making that point as a caveat. However, my understanding is that the KenPom model takes into account the relative offensive efficiencies of opponents, so that we are essentially expected to have a better defensive performance against BC or Wake than better offensive teams, and it's efficiency relative to that expectation that factors into the ratings. So I am not sure that needs to be taken into account.

I agree with your overall point, but feel compelled to note that BC is a bad choice for an example of a team against which defensive rating might be artificially inflated. Pomeroy has BC as the #5 offense in the nation. BC is terrible defensively, but very good offensively.

[mr. synellinden]

I agree with your overall point, but feel compelled to note that BC is a bad choice for an example of a team against which defensive rating might be artificially inflated. Pomeroy has BC as the #5 offense in the nation. BC is terrible defensively, but very good offensively.

Sorry - you're right. I knew they were highly ranked on one side and low on the other and I mixed them up. Horrible example.