SWC75
Bored Historian
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- Aug 26, 2011
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From January 13th, (the first Boston College game) through February 14, (the second Boston College game), we were riding high, winning 8 out of 9 games. From February 17, (the Louisville game) through March 9 (the third Pittsburgh game), we slumped to 1-5. It’s easy to imagine the 8-1 team making a serious run in the NCAA tournament. It’s hard to see the 1-5 team going very far at all. I decided to compare the team and individual statistics form those runs to see where we need to improve to play like the 8-1 team. I realize that one this that helped us go 8-1 was that that was the (relatively) weak part of the conference schedule and that the opposition, on the whole was better during the 1-5 stretch – and that the opposition in the NCAA tournament will more resemble the teams we played in the 1-5 stretch. But we played Virginia and beat Duke in the 8-1 run and beat the same Florida State team that later beat us. They were all ACC teams. Even Wake Forest (9-4 outside the conference) and Boston College (7-7) were probably mediocre teams playing in a tough conference. Besides I’m just looking for what we need to do to win and the comparison should show us that.
Team stats in the 8-1 run:
Two point field goals: We hit 139 of 297 (.468). They hit 127 of 264 (.481)
We averaged 33 two point field goal attempts to 29
Three points field goals: We 81/202 (.401). They: 65/202 (.322)
We averaged 22 three point field goal attempts to 22. We hit 9 treys per game to 7.
Free Throws: We 122/175 (.697) They: 97/157 (.618) We scored 14 points per game from the line vs. 11.
We averaged 19 free throw attempts to 17.
We had 114 offensive rebounds and 214 defensive rebounds. They had 110-195.
Comparing one team’s O-Rebs to the other team’s D-Rebs, we rebounded 36.9% of our misses and they rebounded 34.0% of theirs.
We assisted on 123 of 220 field goals (.559). They assisted on 126/192 (.656)
We had 107 turnovers of which 54 were their steals and 53 were our own miscues.
They had 121 turnovers of which 62 were our steals and 59 were their mistakes.
That’s 12 turnovers a game for us to 12 for them.
We had 449 manufactured possessions, (our rebounds + their turnovers) and they had 412 so we were +37 (4 per game).
We blocked 28 shots to their 23.
We had 246 points in the paint (27 per game) to 234 (26)
We had 275 points outside the paint (not from the paint or foul line), 31 per game, to 215 (24)
We scored 32 points from the “Twilight Zone” between the paint and the arc, (points outside the paint minus points form three pointers). They scored 20.
We had 165 points off turnovers and 1.4 points per turnover. They had 99 and 0.9.
We had 50 fast break points, (6 per game) to 22, (2 per game). We gave up none for the first 6 games in a row.
We had 534 starter’s points and 109 off the bench. They had 392 and 154.
We had 349 first chance points, (discounting second chance points, fast break points and made free throws). They had 279.
We had 122 second chance points and they had 148. Divide by offensive rebounds and we averaged 1.07 points per offensive rebound. They averaged 1.35.
We were whistled for fouls 142 times, ((16 per game) to 161 ((18)
There were 1161 possessions in these games, an average of 129.
Team stats in the 1-5 run:
Two point field goals: We hit 889 of 175 (.503). They hit 121 of 229 (.528)
We averaged 29 two point field goal attempts to 38
Three points field goals: We 50/147 (.340). They: 40/132 (.303)
We averaged 24.5 three point field goal attempts to 22. We hit 8 treys per game to 7.
Free Throws: We 73/107 (.682) They: 67/97 (.690) We scored 12 points per game from the line vs. 11.
We averaged 18 free throw attempts to 16.
We had 47 offensive rebounds and 133 defensive rebounds. They had 81/214.
Comparing one team’s O-Rebs to the other team’s D-Rebs, we rebounded 23.4% of our misses and they rebounded 37.9% of theirs.
We assisted on 97 of 128 field goals (.758). They assisted on 97/188 (.516)
We had 80 turnovers of which 49 were their steals and 31 were our own miscues.
They had 83 turnovers of which 49 were our steals and 34 were their mistakes.
That’s 13 turnovers a game for us to 14 for them.
We had 263 manufactured possessions, (our rebounds + their turnovers) and they had 315 so we were +52 (-9 per game).
We blocked 19 shots to their 16.
We had 160 points in the paint (27 per game) to 188 (31)
We had 166 points outside the paint (not from the paint or foul line), 28 per game, to 184 (31)
We scored 16 points from the “Twilight Zone” between the paint and the arc, (points outside the paint minus points form three pointers). They scored 64.
We had 74 points off turnovers and 0.9 points per turnover. They had 100 and 1.25.
We had 42 fast break points, (7 per game) to 65, (11).
We had 313 starter’s points and 86 off the bench. They had 241 and 198.
We had 235 first chance points, (discounting second chance points, fast break points and made free throws). They had 232.
We had 49 second chance points and they had 75. Divide by offensive rebounds and we averaged 1.04 points per offensive rebound. They averaged 0.9.
We were whistled for fouls 97 times, ((16 per game) to 97 ((16)
There were 815 possessions in these games, an average of 136.
Comparing these numbers the ones that jump out are:
- Our three point shooting percentage went from .401 to .340. But it was still better than our opposition: .322 and .303 and our three pointers per game only went down by one.
- We went from +4 manufactured possessions per game to -9 because of our offensive rebounding: we went from getting 36.9% of our misses to a paltry 23.4%.
- The other team shot a high percentage form the line: .618 to .690, although their points from the line remained the same, (11). Ours dropped from 14 to 12.
- We got out-shot on two pointers in both periods but both teams shot better during the 1-5 run: we were up by 35 points, they by 47. But we went from attempting 4 more two point shots per game to 9 less.
- That allowed them to get 5 more points in the paint per game, while we stayed the same.
- We went from +7 points outside the paint to -3.
- We also went from a 32-20 edge in the Twilight Zone to a 16-64 deficit. That’s a big turn-around.
- Another big turn-around was in fast break points. We remained about the same, (7 per game to 6) but they went from 2 to 11. After that 6 game run of shutting the other team out on the fast break, we gave up 83 in our last 8 games (10 per game).
- Further confirmation that assists have nothing to do with who wins: We assisted 56% of our baskets to 66% for the opposition when we went 8-1. We assisted 76% to 52% when we went 1-5.
- We’ve never been a “bench points” team but we went from (109-154=) -45 to (86-198=) -112. That’s -5 per game to -19.
- We also went from +70 first chance points (+8 per game) to +3 in 6 games.
- We went from +66 in points off turnovers and +0.5 in points per turnover to -26 and -3.5
- We stayed at -26 second chance points. The other team was those taking better advantage of extra opportunities to score, based on these last two numbers.
- The other team got whistled for 14 more fouls when we were winning. It was even when we were losing.
- The pace of the game was faster when we were losing (136 possession) than when we were winning (129).
The conclusions are not a big surprise: we need to shoot better from the arc, defend better inside of it, get more offensive rebounds. Our shots don’t need to always be from the paint or the arc. We need to go back to getting back on defense. There’s not much we can do about the depth problems at this point.
Team stats in the 8-1 run:
Two point field goals: We hit 139 of 297 (.468). They hit 127 of 264 (.481)
We averaged 33 two point field goal attempts to 29
Three points field goals: We 81/202 (.401). They: 65/202 (.322)
We averaged 22 three point field goal attempts to 22. We hit 9 treys per game to 7.
Free Throws: We 122/175 (.697) They: 97/157 (.618) We scored 14 points per game from the line vs. 11.
We averaged 19 free throw attempts to 17.
We had 114 offensive rebounds and 214 defensive rebounds. They had 110-195.
Comparing one team’s O-Rebs to the other team’s D-Rebs, we rebounded 36.9% of our misses and they rebounded 34.0% of theirs.
We assisted on 123 of 220 field goals (.559). They assisted on 126/192 (.656)
We had 107 turnovers of which 54 were their steals and 53 were our own miscues.
They had 121 turnovers of which 62 were our steals and 59 were their mistakes.
That’s 12 turnovers a game for us to 12 for them.
We had 449 manufactured possessions, (our rebounds + their turnovers) and they had 412 so we were +37 (4 per game).
We blocked 28 shots to their 23.
We had 246 points in the paint (27 per game) to 234 (26)
We had 275 points outside the paint (not from the paint or foul line), 31 per game, to 215 (24)
We scored 32 points from the “Twilight Zone” between the paint and the arc, (points outside the paint minus points form three pointers). They scored 20.
We had 165 points off turnovers and 1.4 points per turnover. They had 99 and 0.9.
We had 50 fast break points, (6 per game) to 22, (2 per game). We gave up none for the first 6 games in a row.
We had 534 starter’s points and 109 off the bench. They had 392 and 154.
We had 349 first chance points, (discounting second chance points, fast break points and made free throws). They had 279.
We had 122 second chance points and they had 148. Divide by offensive rebounds and we averaged 1.07 points per offensive rebound. They averaged 1.35.
We were whistled for fouls 142 times, ((16 per game) to 161 ((18)
There were 1161 possessions in these games, an average of 129.
Team stats in the 1-5 run:
Two point field goals: We hit 889 of 175 (.503). They hit 121 of 229 (.528)
We averaged 29 two point field goal attempts to 38
Three points field goals: We 50/147 (.340). They: 40/132 (.303)
We averaged 24.5 three point field goal attempts to 22. We hit 8 treys per game to 7.
Free Throws: We 73/107 (.682) They: 67/97 (.690) We scored 12 points per game from the line vs. 11.
We averaged 18 free throw attempts to 16.
We had 47 offensive rebounds and 133 defensive rebounds. They had 81/214.
Comparing one team’s O-Rebs to the other team’s D-Rebs, we rebounded 23.4% of our misses and they rebounded 37.9% of theirs.
We assisted on 97 of 128 field goals (.758). They assisted on 97/188 (.516)
We had 80 turnovers of which 49 were their steals and 31 were our own miscues.
They had 83 turnovers of which 49 were our steals and 34 were their mistakes.
That’s 13 turnovers a game for us to 14 for them.
We had 263 manufactured possessions, (our rebounds + their turnovers) and they had 315 so we were +52 (-9 per game).
We blocked 19 shots to their 16.
We had 160 points in the paint (27 per game) to 188 (31)
We had 166 points outside the paint (not from the paint or foul line), 28 per game, to 184 (31)
We scored 16 points from the “Twilight Zone” between the paint and the arc, (points outside the paint minus points form three pointers). They scored 64.
We had 74 points off turnovers and 0.9 points per turnover. They had 100 and 1.25.
We had 42 fast break points, (7 per game) to 65, (11).
We had 313 starter’s points and 86 off the bench. They had 241 and 198.
We had 235 first chance points, (discounting second chance points, fast break points and made free throws). They had 232.
We had 49 second chance points and they had 75. Divide by offensive rebounds and we averaged 1.04 points per offensive rebound. They averaged 0.9.
We were whistled for fouls 97 times, ((16 per game) to 97 ((16)
There were 815 possessions in these games, an average of 136.
Comparing these numbers the ones that jump out are:
- Our three point shooting percentage went from .401 to .340. But it was still better than our opposition: .322 and .303 and our three pointers per game only went down by one.
- We went from +4 manufactured possessions per game to -9 because of our offensive rebounding: we went from getting 36.9% of our misses to a paltry 23.4%.
- The other team shot a high percentage form the line: .618 to .690, although their points from the line remained the same, (11). Ours dropped from 14 to 12.
- We got out-shot on two pointers in both periods but both teams shot better during the 1-5 run: we were up by 35 points, they by 47. But we went from attempting 4 more two point shots per game to 9 less.
- That allowed them to get 5 more points in the paint per game, while we stayed the same.
- We went from +7 points outside the paint to -3.
- We also went from a 32-20 edge in the Twilight Zone to a 16-64 deficit. That’s a big turn-around.
- Another big turn-around was in fast break points. We remained about the same, (7 per game to 6) but they went from 2 to 11. After that 6 game run of shutting the other team out on the fast break, we gave up 83 in our last 8 games (10 per game).
- Further confirmation that assists have nothing to do with who wins: We assisted 56% of our baskets to 66% for the opposition when we went 8-1. We assisted 76% to 52% when we went 1-5.
- We’ve never been a “bench points” team but we went from (109-154=) -45 to (86-198=) -112. That’s -5 per game to -19.
- We also went from +70 first chance points (+8 per game) to +3 in 6 games.
- We went from +66 in points off turnovers and +0.5 in points per turnover to -26 and -3.5
- We stayed at -26 second chance points. The other team was those taking better advantage of extra opportunities to score, based on these last two numbers.
- The other team got whistled for 14 more fouls when we were winning. It was even when we were losing.
- The pace of the game was faster when we were losing (136 possession) than when we were winning (129).
The conclusions are not a big surprise: we need to shoot better from the arc, defend better inside of it, get more offensive rebounds. Our shots don’t need to always be from the paint or the arc. We need to go back to getting back on defense. There’s not much we can do about the depth problems at this point.
