Colorado State University Athletics
Medved's Musings - Vol. 1 - A Look Back At 2019-20
3/20/2020 2:30:00 PM | Men's Basketball
Good Afternoon Rams Fans,
First and most importantly, I hope everyone is safe and healthy as our country goes through this unprecedented time. I have remained at home with my family and have instructed my staff to do the same. During my time at home, I have been thinking of ways we can connect and communicate with our great fans, and I thought this update might be of interest; I hope you enjoy it!
What a fun group of guys to be around on a daily basis! I want to take this time to thank our three seniors: Hyron Edwards, Kris Martin, and Nico Carvacho. The sacrifices they made and their team-first approach allowed our young guys to come in and grow right away. Their leadership both on and off the court set an example for the underclassmen, which will hopefully bode well for us moving forward!
Congratulations are in order for David Roddy, Isaiah Stevens, and Nico Carvacho. For David and Isaiah to receive all-conference honors as freshmen is remarkable; it is a testament to how hard they work on a daily basis. With Nico, I can hardly keep all the accolades and records straight. He should be extremely proud of what he has accomplished as a Ram and for the legacy that he is leaving behind!
One thing we put a major emphasis on last summer and into the season was improving our defense! We made a few changes to our scheme, which suited our personnel better. Below, I dive into advanced analytics that compare some of our offensive and defensive numbers (conference only) from year 1 to year 2.
It is important to point out that often times the margins in these rankings are very small - it can simply come down to executing more effectively on a few possessions on each side of the ball; however, this is easier said than done! I thought we were a more balanced offensive team this year with five players nearly averaging double figures in Mountain West play: Isaiah (13.3 ppg), David (12.9 ppg), Nico (12.3 ppg), Adam (9.9 ppg), Kendle (9.8 ppg). We were top 2 in the league at getting to the free throw line, shooting from 2, and shooting from 3. There was a stretch in the middle of the season where I thought we were struggling to shoot the ball. The staff and I decided to add another segment of shooting every day into practice, and I thought our guys gained confidence from that.
We took some steps forward defensively, but still have a ton of areas where we can improve. For the returners, this will once again be a major emphasis. We NEED to continue to get better on defense to get where we want to be, which is playing meaningful games in March!
Lastly, I know a lot of you are wondering what our schedule will look like next year. We are currently working on adding a few more games to complete our 2020-21 schedule. In my opinion, it will be the most challenging slate of games we have had thus far.
Go RAMS!
Niko Medved
First and most importantly, I hope everyone is safe and healthy as our country goes through this unprecedented time. I have remained at home with my family and have instructed my staff to do the same. During my time at home, I have been thinking of ways we can connect and communicate with our great fans, and I thought this update might be of interest; I hope you enjoy it!
What a fun group of guys to be around on a daily basis! I want to take this time to thank our three seniors: Hyron Edwards, Kris Martin, and Nico Carvacho. The sacrifices they made and their team-first approach allowed our young guys to come in and grow right away. Their leadership both on and off the court set an example for the underclassmen, which will hopefully bode well for us moving forward!
Congratulations are in order for David Roddy, Isaiah Stevens, and Nico Carvacho. For David and Isaiah to receive all-conference honors as freshmen is remarkable; it is a testament to how hard they work on a daily basis. With Nico, I can hardly keep all the accolades and records straight. He should be extremely proud of what he has accomplished as a Ram and for the legacy that he is leaving behind!
One thing we put a major emphasis on last summer and into the season was improving our defense! We made a few changes to our scheme, which suited our personnel better. Below, I dive into advanced analytics that compare some of our offensive and defensive numbers (conference only) from year 1 to year 2.
| Statistic | 2018-2019 | 2019-2020 | Comment |
| Kenpom Rank | 180th | 99th | 2nd highest in the last 5 years |
| Net Rank | 189th | 106th | Good! |
| Offensive Efficiency | 108.8 (5th) | 108.8 (3rd) | Interesting that we were the same |
| FTA/FGA | 30.0 (8th) | 38.3 (1st) | Got to the FT line a lot! |
| 3pt FG% Offense | 36.5 (5th) | 37.7 (2nd) | 37.7% from 3 as a team is great! |
| 2pt FG% Offense | 56.5 (1st) | 53.3 (2nd) | Love to be above 55% from 2 |
| Defensive Efficiency | 107.0 (9th) | 104.5 (6th) | Room to improve! |
| Defensive EFG% | 52.7 (8th) | 51.9 (7th) | Want to be below 50.0! |
| Turnover % | 16.7 (9th) | 17.2 (7th) | Need to create more TO's! |
| Defensive Reb % | 25.1 (6th) | 24.2% (6th) | |
| 3pt FG% Defense | 33.8 (3rd) | 34.4 (7th) | |
| 2pt FG% Defense | 54.1 (8th) | 52.3 (6th) | Can't allow easy 2's! |
It is important to point out that often times the margins in these rankings are very small - it can simply come down to executing more effectively on a few possessions on each side of the ball; however, this is easier said than done! I thought we were a more balanced offensive team this year with five players nearly averaging double figures in Mountain West play: Isaiah (13.3 ppg), David (12.9 ppg), Nico (12.3 ppg), Adam (9.9 ppg), Kendle (9.8 ppg). We were top 2 in the league at getting to the free throw line, shooting from 2, and shooting from 3. There was a stretch in the middle of the season where I thought we were struggling to shoot the ball. The staff and I decided to add another segment of shooting every day into practice, and I thought our guys gained confidence from that.
We took some steps forward defensively, but still have a ton of areas where we can improve. For the returners, this will once again be a major emphasis. We NEED to continue to get better on defense to get where we want to be, which is playing meaningful games in March!
Lastly, I know a lot of you are wondering what our schedule will look like next year. We are currently working on adding a few more games to complete our 2020-21 schedule. In my opinion, it will be the most challenging slate of games we have had thus far.
Go RAMS!
Niko Medved
Players Mentioned
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