Early In-Conference Numbers

Now that we're about a third of the way through conference play, let's take a look at how things are stacking up:

 Off_Eff (Rk) Def_Eff (Rk) Margin
Duke 109.7 (2) 78.0 (1) 31.7
UNC 110.9 (1) 97.1 (3) 13.8
Wake 105.6 (6) 97.1 (4) 8.5
FSU 100.3 (7) 96.6 (2) 3.7
Clem 100.3 (8) 97.2 (5) 3.1
VT 105.7 (4) 106.3 (8) -0.6
BC 106.1 (3) 109.0 (10) -2.9
Miami 105.7 (5) 112.3 (12) -6.6
UMD 90.7 (11) 99.8 (7) -7.8
UVA 99.3 (9) 109.7 (11) -10.4
GT 88.1 (12) 98.5 (6) -10.4
NCSU 94.4 (10) 108.8 (9) -14.4

In raw terms, the Pack's defense has improved on last year's performance by five points and some change but the offense has dropped off by about the same amount, so the net is an efficiency margin very similar to 2008's. Which not surprisingly has us looking like the worst team in the ACC once again.

The offense:

 Off_Eff (Rk) eFG% (Rk) TO% (Rk) OR% (Rk) FTR (Rk) 2FG% 3FG%
2008 100.9 (10) 52.2 (4) 23.8 (12) 29.7 (12) 39.7 (4) 48.4 39.7
2009 94.4 (10) 45.7 (10) 25.4 (11) 37.0 (7) 35.6 (5) 46.6 29.1

It figures that when we finally start rebounding reasonably well at the offensive end, we start shooting the ball considerably worse. We have not shot well inside or out, but the disappearance of our three-point production is especially glaring. Courtney Fells, who is off to a 3-21 start, is killing us. And Dennis Horner, now 0-7 from three in five games, still has no idea where he left his jumper freshman year. (Yes, he checked the glove compartment.)

But this team has established a track record of good shooting, so they should come around. As for turnovers, surely it cannot get worse than this:

PGs TO%
Degand 43.2
Mays 38.7
Gonzalez 70.3

[Bonus Macrowave note: Tracy Smith remains a huge chunk of the offense when he's on the floor, and he leads the team in FGA/40 minutes, FTA/40 minutes, Pts/40, Blks/40, and turnover percentage. He's also been the second-most productive rebounder behind McCauley.]

Defense:

 Def_Eff (Rk) eFG% (Rk) TO% (Rk) OR% (Rk) FTR (Rk) 2FG% 3FG%
2008 114.1 (12) 52.5 (11) 16.5 (11) 36.4 (10) 32.1 (2) 48.7 42.2
2009 108.8 (9) 49.5 (9) 19.1 (6) 41.2 (11) 30.1 (6) 46.3 40.0

Small improvements here and there, but I'm not ready to buy any of it yet.