The stats say it all, Denver men’s basketball (11-7, 2-1) continues to improve under head coach Jeff Wulbrun. Of the 351 DI men’s basketball programs, Denver is among the leaders in a number of key categories. That being said, there is one major area requiring improvement – defensive stops.
Remember the deliberate pace of Joe Scott’s offense that lulled opponents (and sometimes fans) to sleep? People who have followed DU hoops this season have witnessed an explosive offense, scoring 85.7 points per game, 11th in the nation. The first inclination by some may be to assign all the credit to the DU national scoring leader, Tommy Bruner (25.4 ppg.) – but the team as a whole is contributing to the scoring spree. Touko Tainamo is second on scoresheet for DU with 17.3 ppg.
Three major factors have contributed to Denver’s offensive effectiveness – shooting, turnovers and rebounding.
Denver is hitting on 46.1% of their field goal attempts, putting them at #115 while nailing 37.6% of their three-point attempts which places them 33rd in the nation. Bruner is hitting 2.4 threes per game and Isaiah Addo-Ankra is canning 2.1 trays per game. Just a few seasons ago, Denver was one of the worst three-point shooting teams in the nation.
Another area for improvement over Wulbrun’s tenure is the reduction in turnovers. The Pioneers have taken miscues to single digits (9.6) to be one of the most mistake-free teams in the country with 9.6 per game – all while running an up-tempo scoring offense. The credit goes to Tommy Bruner, freshman DeAndre Craig and Jaxson Brenchley among others who trigger a reliable backcourt. They also account for an excellent assist-to-turnover ratio which places them at #48 – a sign that Denver values possession and ball distribution. Overall, DU is in the top half of assists, #151, with 13.8 assists per game – 4.3 from Bruner and 3.2 from Brenchley.
Denver has also excelled in rebounding, particularly behind stat-stuffer Touko Tainamo. DU is #78 with 38.7 caroms per game, +2 versus their opponents. Tainamo is gathering 6.0 rebounds per game followed by Jaxson Brenchley with 4.3 per game. Tommy Bruner leads the nation in trips to the foul line, leading to #6 at the charity strip nationally.
The biggest area for improvement is in scoring defense where the team allows 78.4 points per game or #321 in the nation. 7’0″ Isaiah Carr is blocking 2 shots per game for Denver and appears to be getting more comfortable on both ends of the floor which should help. While Denver still enjoys a 7-point scoring advantage over their opponents, they can ill afford to have an off-shooting night to win most games. If we over simplify the point, if DU held opponents to the NCAA average (72.4) in scoring, they would be undefeated.
On defense, the Pioneers appear vulnerable early in games to opponent scoring opportunities and must work to improve with faster starts – better switches, interfering with entry passes to the low post, and rotating quickly to cover three-point shots. If Denver could defend just three more field goals per game, 6 points, they would move out of the bottom quartile to the scoring average of NCAA DI teams (#175) and give themselves a greater margin for error.
Overall, hard not to appreciate the strides made by DU basketball this season. If they continue to make improvements, there is no reason they can’t be a contender in the Summit League title this season. The upcoming roadtrip to North Dakota State and North Dakota Thursday and Saturday respectively will provide us with more data. A series split in the past would have been considered an excellent road trip. These improved Pioneers can get their first conference road sweep since February of 2022 when they swept Western Illinois and St Thomas but it will likely require a strong defensive effort.
Statement win over SDSU and the biggest win of the Welbrun era, and hopefully a key turning point in the fortunes of this Pioneer program. DU can play this game.
By beating the pre-season favourite SDSU by 19, DU knows for certain that it can contend when the Pios play hard and hit shots. That’s seven games in a row scoring 80 or more and that should be enough to win 80% of the games they play, but there is still plenty of work to do on defense to get them to the mid pack of conference defenses. That said, the team is jelling before our eyes and different guys are stepping up and contributing, making DU more than the Tommy Bruner show. When you score 80 PPG as DU has been doing, wins should be easy. Defensive improvement is crucial to program growth.
Great to see Tryg Myren at the game, too. Maybe he’ll tell his fellow DU board members that this team is worthy of more support from the DU admin. I know I sound like a broken record on this, but if I have learned anything in my decades on this rock, is that squeaky (and promising) wheels eventually do get greased.