Historical Tempo-Free Stats

Since it's turned into an impromptu history week around here, I figured I might as well stick to the theme. I'd actually been looking for this data for a while and discovered it'd been right there in the media guide all along. Thanks to the numbers contained therein, I was able to calculate tempo-free stats going all the way back to 1987. (Prior that that year there are no records for offensive boards, so I can't calculate possession totals.)

So if you've ever wondered about Jimmy V's offenses--and I'm sure you've wondered about State's effective field goal percentages from the late 1980s almost every day--here you go.

(Tempo = possessions per 40 minutes. V years in bold. Les's six seasons follow for comparison purposes.)

Observations:

-- Look at those low 3FGA/FGA ratios during the V years. Both NC State and State's opponents had very low (by today's standards, that is) three-point attempt rates over that span. The line was still pretty new at that point and this seems like evidence of coaches not really knowing what to do with it or how to properly adjust their styles for more optimal use of the line. It wasn't until Les took over that State began to diversify a bit and shoot threes at a rate more typical of today's game. (Last season only one I-A school shot threes less than 20% of the time.)

-- V liked to get up and down, and so did Les. By today's standards, all of those teams were up-tempo. I wonder if maybe college basketball was faster in general back then, though. Unfortunately I can't put those pace numbers into proper context.

-- The Fire and Ice era began in 1988 and ran through 1991, and it's pretty easy to tell when Corchiani took over the point, isn't it? Prior to Corch's first year, State turned the ball over 20.5 percent of the time--not bad, not good. Over the next four seasons, the Pack never turned it over more than 17.8% of the time. The year following Corchiani's graduation saw State's TO% soar well over 20%, where it would stay for several years.

-- They didn't get to the line very often, but Corchiani held down the turnover rate, they rebounded well, and of course there was Rodney Monroe to provide efficient scoring. So it's no surprise that those offenses were outstanding--especially that 1991 team. Corchiani and Monroe both shot better than 40% from three for their careers, and they were solid inside the arc as well. Corchiani made at least 50% of his twos in three of four seasons, which is pretty damn good for a short guy. Fire and Ice finished their careers with effective field goal percentages of 52.8 and 54.0, respectively.

The '91 team also had Kevin Thompson inside; he made 60.5% of his twos that year. And there was Googs, who made 60% of his twos and 40% of his threes. Tough group. Shame they didn't play any defense. (More on the D some other time.)