Since Baylor game I've been trying to figure out where this season went wrong for SU. I had high expectations, coming off of a Sweet 16 finish & getting everyone back (plus Hughes & decent recruits).
Popular narrative around here lately has been how SU has not recruited PG & Centers well recently. So, I wanted to give that a little test - or, at least the PG part. My eyes told me it was true...that Frank Howard was not preforming well at all this season, and our offense was suffering because of it. But do the stats show this as well?
Because, on paper, PG should have been a solid position for SU in 2018-19. A returning Senior PG who had played well prior year! Talented new top 50 recruit! Well, that didn't turn out to be the case. Check it out. (Note: All stats are for games not including the NCAA Tournament.)
Frank Howard vs the Field (each team's leading assist player for every team in NCAA Tournament):
What stats do we want to focus on for a PG? Well, how about assists? That is essentially their main role - to facilitate offense & get players easy shots. Here's how Frank Howard compared:
Assists per Game:
Howard - 2.9 APG (Rank - #58th best)
NCAA Highest - 7.6 APG (C. Winston, Mich St)
NCAA Lowest - 2.5 APG (R. Duncan, Vermont)
How many better than Howard - 58 players out of 64.
Total Assists (Season):
Howard - 84 Assists (Rank - Tied for #64th best)
NCAA Highest - 311 Assists (J. Morant, Murray St)
NCAA Lowest - 84 Assists (F. Howard, SU & E. Worku, UC Irvine)
How many better than Howard - All, or 63 players of 64.
Ok, so that's not good (lol). How about Assist to Turnover ratio?
Assist to Turnover Ratio:
Howard - 1.42% (Rank - #50th best)
NCAA Highest - 3.56% (C. Winston, Mich St.)
NCAA Lowest - 1.00% (M. Howard, Marquette & D. Simonds, Georgia St.)
How many better than Howard - 50 players of 64.
Well, if a PG is not the "pass first" type, then he very well may be a scorer. How about shooting percentages?
FG %:
Howard - 365% (Rank - #65th best)
NCAA Highest - 555% (J. Tate, Northern Kentucky)
NCAA Lowest - 365% (F. Howard, SU)
How many better than Howard - ALL 64 of 64 players.
In fact, only 11 other players were below 400% FG. Next closest to FH was 374%.
3PT %:
Howard - 340% (Rank - #40th best)
NCAA Highest - 485% (S. Murphy, Woffard)
NCAA Lowest - 176% (R. Duncan, Vermont)
How many better than Howard - 39 players out of 64.
So...shooting wasn't exactly Frank's strong suit either. How about driving the lane, breaking down the defense? At the very least a PG could be causing havoc for the opposing defense by getting fouled and getting to the FT line. Or, FTAs are also indications the PG is driving and possibly dishing as well.
Free Throw Attempts per Game:
Howard - 1.4 FTA (Rank - #57th best)
NCAA Highest - 8.3 FTA (M. Howard, Marquette)
NCAA Lowest - 0.7 FTA (J. Bieniemy, Oklahoma)
How many better than Howard - 56 players out of 64.
I'm not prone to hyperbole - BUT, if I were, I would say "Syracuse LITERALLY played without a point guard this past season! OMFG!" Haha.
But, wow, look at some of these stats...they seem to back up "the eye test" to confirm that our Senior PG leader was not very good at all this year. (Sorry to pile on, FH - wish the stats could have exonerated you.)
One aspect that can absolutely (and should) get better in 2019-2020.