I did a game-by-game analysis of our statistical leaders (source: www.gopack.com) to see what we lost and to look for hints of what we might see this coming year. Each player got one point for leading, or tying for the lead, per game in one of the 15 categories. It will shock no one to find out that Smith and Joiner dominated almost every category.
NOTE: I'm going to ignore Kam. You KNOW that if the baby blue goats - with the help of the govenor - can't get a transfer wavier for their football player, then our guy has zero chance of seeing the court this season.
Stat: 1st Place / 2nd Place / 3rd Place - (bold: on current roster)
- Mins: JJ / TS / CM
- FG-M: TS / JJ / DB
- FG-A: TS / JJ / DB
- 3PT-M: TS / CM / JJ
- 3PT-A: TS / JJ / CM
- FT-M: TS / JJ / DB
- FT-A: TS / JJ / DB
- O-REB: DB / JC / DM
- D-REB: JC / JJ / DB
- TOT-REB: JC / DB / GG
- TOT-PTS: TS / JJ / DB
- ASST: TS / JJ / DB
- T-OVR TS / DB / JJ
- STL: TS / CM / JC
- BLK: ED / DB / ER
Takeaways:
- Thank the basketball gods that DJ & Casey are back!!! One of them is top 3 in every category, and will be again.
- Horne and Taylor both averaged about 30 mins per game last season and are prolific scorers so are the obvious candidates to fill Terq and Jarkel's roles in the minutes played, shooting, and assist statiscal categories. Horne might lead us in minutes per game because even though he'll likely start at PG, we have better depth at PG than anywhere else, and he is expected to be able to play 1, 2, and 3. So when O'Connell or Pass subs in at PG, Horne might sub elsewhere.
- Rebounding stands out as an area with question marks. I expect the new skinny DJ will improve his numbers. Hopefully one of the guards will step up, as well as Middlebrooks and Diarra. It would be nice if MJ could use that big, athletic body to be a consistent rebounder as well, a la Bryce & Dorn.
- However, the greatest potential for this team is to use the depth and therefore distribute the stats better. For example, Terq took 212 (+ 63%) and JJ 132 (+ 39%) more shots than our third place shooter, DJ. JJ averaged 35.9 minutes per game, Casey 34, and Terq 33. DJ only averaged 22 mins per game, but look at his stats. He's top 3 in almost every category including our 3rd leading scorer. A big part of the reason for DJ being so efficient is he is super talented, but also, when he was in the game they took advantage of him. We used him. That rationale could work for other players. Bring a guy in fresh, run a few plays for him.
- There is as much quality (P6) experience on this team as any we've had in a long while, and experience is money in college ball. If we can just avoid season crippling injuries (that's asking a lot, I know), this team's identity and strength could be depth.
- At the end of the day, the challenge will be trust. If, in fact, the players respond in practice as expected then KK has to use them in the games. There will probably always be his 'go to' guys for the last five minutes of a tight game (Burns, Morsell, Taylor, Horne, and ???), but if you use the depth during the other 35 minutes, those guys should be better ready for crunch time. If it works out, it'll be an adjustment for KK. Hope he can do it.
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