Best Defense in the MVC next year?

[AndShock]

I believe kenpom's adjusted defense efficiency takes things like tempo into account which makes it a much better measuring tool than PPG. It is also a better measuring tool because last year WSU was ranked way better than anyone else in the Valley.

[DoubleJayAlum]

I'll go with UNI as best defensive team as they have led the conference for the last three years in a row. My second pick would WSU as they have placed second in each of the the last three years. My third pick would be Missouri State.

UNI - 3 year avg. = 59.1 points per game
WSU - 3 year avg. = 61.9 points per game
MSU - 3 year avg. = 63.8 points per game
ISUr - 3 year avg. = 64.6 points per game
ISUb - 3 year avg. = 65.2 points per game
SIU - 3 year avg. = 67.2 points per game
DU - 3 year avg. = 67.7 points per game
CU - 3 year avg. = 67.8 points per game
BU - 3 year avg. = 68.5 points per game
UE - 3 year avg. = 69.6 points per game

Defensive points per game does not mean a lot to me.

There are some teams that prefer to walk the ball up the floor and milk the clock.

I am not naming any names.

UNI does walk the ball up, but we also play a defensive style that forces most teams to use 25-30 seconds of the shot clock before they shoot as well. We also don't pick up a lot of steals or blocked shots as we tend to try and force the other team to take shots they don't really want and then deny offensive rebounds. Some teams rack up lots of steals and blocks, but also give up lots of lay-ups, put backs and free throw attempts.

We all know what kind of defense that UNI plays. We also know how their offense helps by running the shot clock all the way down every possession. It isn't a revolutionary system - SIU ran it under Lowery for a long, long time. The only difference was that in addition to everything you described about UNI's defense, SIU also caused a lot of turnovers and made a lot of steals (then again, SIU's teams were a lot more athletic).