Assuming everyone on here watches all the bball games, or at least an overwhelming majority. . .
Question: Do you really needs these stats to tell you that Pullen, McGruder and Samuels have been the best players this season? Moreover, do you really need these stats to verify that Pullen is playing better lately (i.e. turning the ball over less frequently)?
IMO, this is "trust but verify" taken to the nerdiest level possible. FYI - I give that opinion a 85% probability of being accurate.
Fair points.
But I always like to see if numbers compare to the eye test, because often our eyes see what they want to see. Plus, when I look at those numbers, I immediately then look at last year's numbers and see how those guys compare. Pullen and Samuels are still down, McGruder is about the same. But then we have the absense of Kelly this year, plus his offensive numbers are way down and then we are missing Clemente and Sutton, who both had pretty good offensive ratings.
The new guys haven't offset those losses and the returners aren't at least matching what they did last year, so then its easy to see why we've dropped 50 spots (nationally) in our offensive efficiency when compared to last year while our defense remains close to the same. While last year's offense was ugly at times, it was still one of the top 20 most efficient offenses in the country to go with a top 20 defense. Now we have a top 70 offense and top 30 defense, so you can see why we went from a top tier team to a middle of the pack major conference team.
This teams off-the-court disasters have been its downfall. Hard to compare the teams YOY when half the guys aren't playing.
Further, no one has stepped up and filled the second guard spot voided by DC. Pullen is still Pullen but has had no help in the combo guard/point guard roll, which naturally affect his numbers, in addition to the added pressure to create shots. I think we all expected the roll of DC to be taken over by committee. So far the sum of the committee's efforts has been well below that of DC. I wish one of those guys (Irving, Russell, Sprads) would make a giant leap and start "getting it".
No person or computer will ever convince me that Sutton was "efficient" on offense. That guy couldn't shoot, pass, or catch a pass. He could crash the glass, but McGruder has filled that void nicely. It's nice having a 3 that can shoot and slash (just wish he'd do more slashing).
That said: Hopefully the entire front court doesn't foul out tonight.
The post play was supposed to be a strength then everyone went AWOL. I think this can (and will) still be a strength in conference play. If anyone steps up and adequately fills that other guard roll we'll be real good come tourney time.
