Air Force focusing on defending 3s better this year

After last season, the Air Force men's basketball team had to change its defensive approach.

The Falcons don’t have the offensive force to outscore teams. They can stay in games by getting stops on the other end, but that rarely happened last season. Air Force ranked 270th in the nation in field-goal percentage defense, and 200th in 3-point field-goal percentage allowed.

“Teams shot the ball too well on us last year,” coach Jeff Reynolds said. “For us to be competitive, we’ve got to become a better defensive team.”

The focus this season is on extending the defense to pressure 3-point shots.

Air Force gave up 225 3-pointers, a high number considering the Falcons’ slow pace. And opponents were invited to shoot. According to the statistics website kenpom.com, 44.2 percent of Air Force opponents’ field-goal attempts were from behind the arc. Among all Division I teams, only North Dakota, Samford and Chattanooga faced a higher percentage last season. For a team that allowed 34.7 percent of those attempts to go in, the Falcons couldn’t allow teams to keep shooting so often.  

“We want everyone to at least take a dribble and take a shot, because that’s so much harder than taking an open 3,” guard Todd Fletcher said. “I think we gave up way too many.”

Last year, the Falcons wanted to keep players in front of them. This year, with a team that is more experienced and athletic, they can put pressure on the ball and play help defense when a man is beat off the dribble.

“Defensively we’re making sure we’re making guys put the ball on the ground and we’re going to be there to help,” forward Tom Fow said.

Air Force will have a challenge lowering the opponents’ field-goal percentage without much depth inside. Injuries have left the Falcons very thin on the frontcourt, so teams could pound it inside. But the Falcons should be faster with smaller lineups, so that might be a benefit.

“I think we’re a lot quicker this year and our big guys are mobile,” Fletcher said. “Our new mentality of putting ball pressure on and helping guys out, it should be a lot better.”