Defensive stops are where everything starts for the Wildcats.
Weber State's surge to the front of the line in the Big Sky Conference has been fueled by a defense that keeps nearly every league foe from picking up much steam.
In the chase to host the league tournament in March, WSU (14-7, 11-2 Big Sky) has marched out to a three-game lead over Northern Colorado by limiting opponents to 65.0 points per game, 4.1 ppg fewer than the next best defensive squad in the league.
Three road games in the next five days will test Weber State's defensive strength and stamina, starting tonight against border rival Idaho State at
"(Our defense is) not where it needs to be, but it's been better," Weber State coach Randy Rahe said. "We knew with a little bit of a younger team that we were going to have some nights offensively where we were going to be a little bit up and down. We don't have quite the same personnel that we've had the last couple of years, so we knew we needed to get these guys to believe that what's going to give us a chance every night out is defending and rebounding. That's got to be our strength."
Shutting down opposing offenses is turning up the Wildcats' momentum right now. Only three league teams have scored as many as 70 points against the 'Cats; one of them, Sacramento State, needed overtime to get there.
"We've still got a lot of holes in the dike to fill," Rahe said. "It seems like something pops up every game, but for the most part I like the mentality of our team, knowing that's where everything starts: on the defensive end."
Weber State's coaching staff continues to emphasize a defensive strategy it revamped prior to the 2012-13 season, with input from basketball statistics expert Ken Pomeroy.
"That's our philosophy: We try not to give up 3s, we try not to allow (opposing players) to drive the ball toward the middle of the court -- we try to push them to the baseline --- and we try not to give up any layups," Rahe said. "Those are our three non-negotiable deals we try to do. The nights we do it pretty well, we're a pretty good defensive team."
The Wildcats' best area so far is ball-screen defense, but they've been inconsistent at times at not allowing 3s and not allowing middle penetration, Rahe said.
"We're doing OK," Rahe said. "I just don't want to give them up. When we go into a game we have guys that we call 'no-3 guys.' Over the course of the league, we've been pretty consistent at not allowing the no-3 guys to get going, but we do have some slipups."
Among the 'no-3 guys' is Idaho State sharpshooter Chris Hansen, who hit 5 of 10 treys against the Wildcats in WSU's 65-59 win on Jan. 20. Another test will come from Thursday's opponent, Montana, which did the most damage yet from beyond the arc against WSU, going 9 of 18 from deep.
Weber State has the best field goal percentage defense (.410) and 3-point percentage defense (.337) in the league and also leads the league in blocked shots (4.3 per game), thanks to rim-protectors like senior center Kyle Tresnak, sophomore forward Joel Bolomboy and redshirt freshman Kyndahl Hill. Tresnak leads the conference with 2.0 blocks per game.
Rahe says his coaching staff is committed to not just preaching about defense but dedicating practice time to working on weaknesses.
Assistant coach Phil Beckner is in charge of coordinating the defense.
"Right now our strength is that our guys have a commitment to keep getting better at it," Beckner said. "We give them a couple of things to solve each week and they've really taken it to heart, applying it in practice and applying it in games."
Rahe says he's never satisfied with WSU's defensive strength.
"That's what wins, that's what gives you a chance to be successful," he said. "Then if you've got a pretty good offensive team and the strength is defense and rebounding, then you've got something cooking."
Defensive stops translate into better offensive opportunities.
The Wildcats are among the most athletic teams in the Big Sky, so "when we can run fast in transition, we're hard to guard offensively," Beckner said. "When we're stopping teams and we're getting out in the open court, it really frees us up offensively."
That's exactly what Rahe wants to see.
"What we talk about with our guys all the time, we need to be worried and urgent on the defensive end," Rahe said. "We want our guys to be worried defensively and play freer and easier offensively. ... I want them worried they're going to get scored on, I want them urgent that we're not going to allow us to get scored on and then offensively, we're just going to flow. Our focus is on defense and rebounding; let's go play offense and let 'er rip."
Weber State's surge to the front of the line in the Big Sky Conference has been fueled by a defense that keeps nearly every league foe from picking up much steam.
In the chase to host the league tournament in March, WSU (14-7, 11-2 Big Sky) has marched out to a three-game lead over Northern Colorado by limiting opponents to 65.0 points per game, 4.1 ppg fewer than the next best defensive squad in the league.
Three road games in the next five days will test Weber State's defensive strength and stamina, starting tonight against border rival Idaho State at
"(Our defense is) not where it needs to be, but it's been better," Weber State coach Randy Rahe said. "We knew with a little bit of a younger team that we were going to have some nights offensively where we were going to be a little bit up and down. We don't have quite the same personnel that we've had the last couple of years, so we knew we needed to get these guys to believe that what's going to give us a chance every night out is defending and rebounding. That's got to be our strength."
Shutting down opposing offenses is turning up the Wildcats' momentum right now. Only three league teams have scored as many as 70 points against the 'Cats; one of them, Sacramento State, needed overtime to get there.
"We've still got a lot of holes in the dike to fill," Rahe said. "It seems like something pops up every game, but for the most part I like the mentality of our team, knowing that's where everything starts: on the defensive end."
Weber State's coaching staff continues to emphasize a defensive strategy it revamped prior to the 2012-13 season, with input from basketball statistics expert Ken Pomeroy.
"That's our philosophy: We try not to give up 3s, we try not to allow (opposing players) to drive the ball toward the middle of the court -- we try to push them to the baseline --- and we try not to give up any layups," Rahe said. "Those are our three non-negotiable deals we try to do. The nights we do it pretty well, we're a pretty good defensive team."
The Wildcats' best area so far is ball-screen defense, but they've been inconsistent at times at not allowing 3s and not allowing middle penetration, Rahe said.
"We're doing OK," Rahe said. "I just don't want to give them up. When we go into a game we have guys that we call 'no-3 guys.' Over the course of the league, we've been pretty consistent at not allowing the no-3 guys to get going, but we do have some slipups."
Among the 'no-3 guys' is Idaho State sharpshooter Chris Hansen, who hit 5 of 10 treys against the Wildcats in WSU's 65-59 win on Jan. 20. Another test will come from Thursday's opponent, Montana, which did the most damage yet from beyond the arc against WSU, going 9 of 18 from deep.
Weber State has the best field goal percentage defense (.410) and 3-point percentage defense (.337) in the league and also leads the league in blocked shots (4.3 per game), thanks to rim-protectors like senior center Kyle Tresnak, sophomore forward Joel Bolomboy and redshirt freshman Kyndahl Hill. Tresnak leads the conference with 2.0 blocks per game.
Rahe says his coaching staff is committed to not just preaching about defense but dedicating practice time to working on weaknesses.
Assistant coach Phil Beckner is in charge of coordinating the defense.
"Right now our strength is that our guys have a commitment to keep getting better at it," Beckner said. "We give them a couple of things to solve each week and they've really taken it to heart, applying it in practice and applying it in games."
Rahe says he's never satisfied with WSU's defensive strength.
"That's what wins, that's what gives you a chance to be successful," he said. "Then if you've got a pretty good offensive team and the strength is defense and rebounding, then you've got something cooking."
Defensive stops translate into better offensive opportunities.
The Wildcats are among the most athletic teams in the Big Sky, so "when we can run fast in transition, we're hard to guard offensively," Beckner said. "When we're stopping teams and we're getting out in the open court, it really frees us up offensively."
That's exactly what Rahe wants to see.
"What we talk about with our guys all the time, we need to be worried and urgent on the defensive end," Rahe said. "We want our guys to be worried defensively and play freer and easier offensively. ... I want them worried they're going to get scored on, I want them urgent that we're not going to allow us to get scored on and then offensively, we're just going to flow. Our focus is on defense and rebounding; let's go play offense and let 'er rip."
