Previewing Catawba

Roster / 2008 Stats

Catawba Offense 07-08Four FactorsPercentNat'l RankeFG%49.9n/aTurnover Rate20.9n/aOff Reb Rate37.0n/aFTM/FGA24.5n/a

 Poss/40 Off_Eff Def_Eff
Catawba 76.1 103.6 103.4

The Indians were considerably more competent offensively than Ft. Valley State in 2008, and of the nine guys who got 30% or more of the minutes, seven are back. One of those departures, though a primary scorer, was a foul-prone quantity-over-quality type, so he may not be missed too much at this end.


Startery Types:

Rob Fields (6-2, 175) -- Was outstanding in 2008 as the team's third option--he shot pretty well, especially from outside where he was over 40%, and he rarely turned the ball over.

Donzell Williams (6-3, 180) -- In a limited role, he shot poorly and turned the ball over a lot. Best steal percentage among the returning players, though.

Antonio Houston (6-3, 195) -- Took more than 30% of the shots while he was on the court and led the team with nearly 18 PPG. Proved a competent outside shooter, but struggled inside the arc, as many short guys do. Meh assist rate, and he's not going to grab many rebounds.

Isaac Rose (6-5, 205) -- After an unfortunate sophomore campaign, Rose broke out as a junior last season:

 %Min ORtg %Poss %Shots eFG% 2FG% 3FG% TO%
2008 46.9 125.5 18.1 22.5 59.8 62.0 37.6 10.8

That's a very strong line for someone taking an above-average proportion of shots, but it's also one that screams fluke.

Cliff Burns (6-8, 230) -- Shot a modest 49.5% from two last season, but he did a reasonably good job protecting the basketball and grabbing offensive boards. The team's best shot blocker.


Catawba Offense 07-08Four FactorsPercentNat'l RankeFG%50.1n/aTurnover Rate21.8n/aOff Reb Rate37.4n/aFTA/FGA34.6n/a

They didn't force enough turnovers to compensate for their weak interior defense and poor defensive rebounding. It's going to be an unfortunate evening for them.