This statistic is evidently being used to emphasize the importance the "D" in winning. And Rightly so. But what it was missing and was missing Friday night was "D" in the transition game. RD's high percentage, after looking how they scored, was a result mostly on points scored on transition. Lavergne simply had a good game plan initially but it fell apart when their post offense didn't work, they couldn't get the ball close, started shooting outside, got in a transition game with RD and couldn't defend it. Very little was and has been written about Barbee's dominence with Myers inside. it was a factor not expected.
The difference with Blackman is their "D" has to do more with Ball Control along with defense and they might be able to play D on transition better. While not commonly acknowledged, it is a hallmark of CH's teams and with rebounding is the reason they are successful. If RD's transition game against Blackman is as good as against Lavergne, Blackman will have a long night. If Blackman plays and is effective in its game, the game will be within 5-8 points, you name the winner. Blackman's game isn't run and gun but this year, with all of the post presence, can play it better. Blackman's pressing defense will also be a factor and will slow RD down. Lavergne waited to late to try it, did not have the well "legs" to make it work and that and rebounding was some of the factors for its defeat. One sentence that explains it, RD controlled to game and LaVergne played catchup all night. Doesn't mean that LaVergne isn't an exceptional team.
When I said we didn't really need to change anything defensively, I meant us as in "Blackman". Obviously if Riverdale had consistently hurt us in transition, I wouldn't think that. Again we just need to be more aggressive offensively. Barbee had four fouls & we didn't take advantage of that because we weren't aggressive enough.
The rest of the regular season will be even more heated than the first, I think. Now that teams have played each other, we will see which team has made the neccessary adjustments when they meet again.
Get ya popcorn ready!