FOY candidate watch

[RoyalShock]

How have they done this week . . .

Dillard - 4 points (1-8, 0-2), 5 assists, 4 TOs, 2 Stls
Moran - 3 points (0-3, 0-2), 5 assists, 1 TO
Murry - 23 points (9-16, 3-6), 3 assists, 5 TOs, 1 Stl

[kcshocker11]

Gee nothing really strands out there! Course those on VT will see it differently

[ShockerFever]

Re: FOY candidate watch

How have they done this week . . .

Dillard - 4 points (1-8, 0-2), 5 assists, 4 TOs, 2 Stls
Moran - 3 points (0-3, 0-2), 5 assists, 1 TO
Murry - 23 points (9-16, 3-6), 3 assists, 5 TOs, 1 Stl*
* - Including a game-winning 3.

Fixed. Just a little added emphasis. :)

[ShockTalk]

Overall, Dillard still may have a slight edge. However, a strong finish by a Murry lead Shocker team and a collapse by SUI could make a big difference.

Weems is not in the running, but is probably #4 among the freshmen. In Valley play, 3rd in freshman scoring, 1st among freshman rebounding and 4th overall, and 1st among frosh in blocked shots.

[xazshox]

Murry

Last I heard 2 games ago, Murry was #3 in steals the MVC. He has made some big defensive plays in recent games. Two gams ago, Paul Sullentrop said he made two critical steals near the end of the game.

[RoyalShock]

Here are MVC team and individual stats for conference-only games.

http://www.mvc.org/mbb/stats/confonly.htm

[WuDrWu]

If you need a reality check, there's a good one.


Other than rebounding, we are at or near the bottom of every single statistical category....that does not bode well projecting down the road.

[xazshox]

Stats

Wu, you provide some of my favorite inputs on Shockernet. However, the stats do show that the Shocks are 3rd in Assists & 3rd in steals. With such a young team, they obviously got off to a bad start in the MVC & that undoubtedly adversely affected their stats.

When you look at the situation regarding experience, the Shocks had only Clemente, Durley & Hatch going into this season with Div 1 experience & those 3 only had 3 yrs of Div 1 experience among them. Mantas G could have provided some help, but his knee apparently hasn't been up to it. WSU has gone up against teams with several Sr's who all had 3 years of Div 1 experience going into this season. Take Mullins at SIU, for ex!

I also think the lack of Div 1 experience at guard has been a big hindrance to the Shocks this year; Their 4 guards, Hannah, Chamberlain, Murry and Kyles all had zero experience going into this season. When have we ever seen a situation like that before in recent years? They are all getting better & WSU is adding Kenny Manigault at the point next year. He is a Scouts 4 rated player & WSU hasn't recruited such a highly rated player for years!

[ShockTalk]

Dr - You're sounding more like ShockerFever. ;-)

Yup, we have a problem scoring the ball, have all year, nothin' new here.

However, it's not quite as bleek as you make it out to be.

3rd - Steals, Assists, Blocked Shots
1st - Rebounding Margin
2nd - Offensive Rebounds
4th - Scoring Defense
5th - FG%

[ShockerGorilla]

Dr - You're sounding more like ShockerFever. ;-)

Yup, we have a problem scoring the ball, have all year, nothin' new here.

However, it's not quite as bleek as you make it out to be.

3rd - Steals, Assists, Blocked Shots
1st - Rebounding Margin
2nd - Offensive Rebounds
4th - Scoring Defense
5th - FG%

That was posted in the morning. His Prozac must not have kicked in yet! :D

[WuDrWu]

I did not explain myself very clearly. And I am out of Prozac....that could explain a lot. Probably didn't need a double dose of Lithium.


Over a large enough sampling (and 78% is plenty large enough) you can get a really good picture of strengths and weaknesses based on statistics and also have a fairly reasonable expectation of future results when you are able to compare.

Some statistics have meaning, others are fluff, others are good indicators and still others can be misleading.

For instance....who leads in offensive rebounding? WSU and MSU. It is no coincidence those 2 teams are the worst shooting teams in the league and therefore have the most opportunities to garner offensive rebounds.

FG % is a better story telling stat. UNI has players that can shoot the ball effectively. They also take good shots. Good shot selection usually means really good defense or really well executed offense. It also usually means the right people are taking a majority of the shots. It also usually means that you have a superior inside (or height) advantage.

With UNI all those things are true and it is not by accident.

FG % defense tells you the exact same thing in reverse.

My point was that the stats tell you exactly where we are....near the bottom of the league but benifitting big time from 2 well timed shots that are the difference between 6-8 and 4-10.

Don't get me wrong, I am not devaluing those shots in any way, shape or form. They are as much a part of the game as anything. And more than anything, winning matters.

However, if you take those numbers, and project forward for the rest of THIS YEAR ( and this year only) it is hard to assume a lot of success. Doesn't mean we aren't going to have some success, it just means that we are going to have to perform at a much higher level to achieve that success. I believe we are capable of that....but believing we are capable and already having seen us do it are 2 polar opposites.

We are going to field a starkly different team in the next 2 years.

[WuDrWu]

Dr - You're sounding more like ShockerFever. ;-)

I take that as a personal insult, with or without the winky smiley thingy.

Yup, we have a problem scoring the ball, have all year, nothin' new here.

However, it's not quite as bleek as you make it out to be.

3rd - Steals, Assists, Blocked Shots

Steals are mildly telling. Assists less so.....blocked shots even less. Frankly, all these numbers, even in a large sampling, are so small that the differences are insignificant.


1st - Rebounding Margin

This is a stat that is important and one that we lead in. You'll get no argument from me here.

2nd - Offensive Rebounds

See my comments in the previous post. Very over rated stat.

4th - Scoring Defense

Means very little. We are patient in a patient league. Everyone knows our half court defense is average at best.

5th - FG%

Well its not the bottom....I do think we do a good job of mostly taking good shots but lately we are getting more and more easy transition baskets which is a very good thing.


The biggest stat and one I cannot account for (other than simple bad luck) is 3 point FG defense. Look at us....we are more than 4% out of 9th place!!!!!!!!!! How in the hell is that possible? I know smaller guards have at least some part in that but 4% from 10th to 9th????? That is unreal.

[shock-it-to-me]

That three point stat is mystifying. For heaven's sake, the difference from 1st to 9th is 5%! Then from 9th to 10th 4%. Unreal! I know we all feel like we are somehow jinxed, and that unexpected players always 'go off' on us from three, but lets look for some real reasons. Here's my take, are guards are small, but more importantly, do not play very good on ball defense, and we don't handle ball screens very well. The net result is that off ball defenders are too often drawn off of their perimeter defensive assignment to help out on a drive, which leads to a dish outside to that man and many, many very open looks for three.

[shocks771]

The biggest stat and one I cannot account for (other than simple bad luck) is 3 point FG defense. Look at us....we are more than 4% out of 9th place!!!!!!!!!! How in the hell is that possible? I know smaller guards have at least some part in that but 4% from 10th to 9th????? That is unreal.

It doesn't help that our last two opponents are 14-20 (Evansville 5-7 and Missouri State 9-13) from 3-point range.

[newshock1234]

I got a feeling in a couple years our 3 point defense will be vastly improved