Qua Grant 6'1 PG West Texas A&M (D2) a Shocker!

[Shockadaisical]

I find some humor in the posts that question if this guy can do the same thing in the AAC. Time will tell. I guess what I find humorous is how many of these same people would be drooling over a high schoolers video highlights? The competition this guy has faced is much better than what most high schoolers go up against. Personally, I like the fact that he proved about all he could at one division below and now wants to move up to prove himself against better competition. Honestly, this is the kind of player that the program has had a lot of success with.

[pogo]

I like this young man. Welcome to Shocker Nation. You will love playing in front of 10,000 Shocker fans.

[shoxlax]

We need 3-4 guys that fill roles, have no expectations about shots or minutes, and didn’t leave where they came from with a cloud of disruption or controversy hanging over them. In my opinion we have two of them.

[The Mad Hatter]

Some random observations and questions:

Looks like Grant wasn't even the leading scorer or assist man at West Texas A&M. Joel Murray averaged 23.3 ppg (0.9 more than Grant) and 4.2 assists (1 more than Grant). Grant was the more efficient shooter (.523 fg% vs .470 and .384 3fg% vs .300) and led the team in rebounds (although Murray was second at 6.2 per game, which makes an odd scenario were a 6'0" guard and a 6'1" guard are the two leading rebounders of a team by a fairly wide margin).

Given that both Grant and Murray started every game and Murray has more assists, how much point guard did Grant actually play? At a minimum he appears to have been in a combo guard role. To what degree might the same hold true at WSU, where Porter is our true pg and both Grant and Etienne may see action at both guard positions?

[Shockadaisical]

The more you doubt him, the better he plays,” said Waxahachie coach Greg Gober. “You look at him and you think, ‘This guys isn’t athletic.’ But how does he win? Why is he always beating guys? He was beating guys who were going to KU and Texas and all of these high-end recruits in high school.

“It’s really a compliment to him for sticking with it, fighting through and proving people wrong. What he did was bet on himself. He didn’t bet on somebody else doing something for him. He bet on himself and he got it done.”


Quote from Taylor Eldridge article today. Sounds a lot like a former Shocker great.

[TheShocktocles]

The more you doubt him, the better he plays,” said Waxahachie coach Greg Gober. “You look at him and you think, ‘This guys isn’t athletic.’ But how does he win? Why is he always beating guys? He was beating guys who were going to KU and Texas and all of these high-end recruits in high school.

“It’s really a compliment to him for sticking with it, fighting through and proving people wrong. What he did was bet on himself. He didn’t bet on somebody else doing something for him. He bet on himself and he got it done.”


Quote from Taylor Eldridge article today. Sounds a lot like a former Shocker great.

These quotes remind me of what was said about Fred VanVleet. The so-called experts could not figure how a small non athletic, not great shooter could keep winning games and beating 5* talent. LMAO

[wichshock65]

He looks O Qua.

[WeWillShockU]

This dude looks super strong. He won’t get bumped out of the way. I’m ready for Shocker Basketball!

[rjl]

Not sure how good the other people were on his team, but an "assist" relies on the other guy making his shot. Qua could have been serving up perfect dishes that were bricked by the recipient. Don't know.

[ShockingButTrue]

Hopefully he’ll be the best player out of Canyon Texas since Mo Cheeks!

How about the best *ever* out of Canyon?

Seriously though, this kid looks to me like a John Bagley clone, whom displayed almost preternatural offensive skill back in the day.

[shockerfan]

Everything this kid says and the path he has taken screams that he is the typical Shocker player that has thrived in our program in the past.

Can't wait to see what he can do.

[Shockm]

Not sure how good the other people were on his team, but an "assist" relies on the other guy making his shot. Qua could have been serving up perfect dishes that were bricked by the recipient. Don't know.

I don't know for sure, but there was another guard on the team with Qua who was a higher scorer than Qua so they weren't without other shooters.

[The Mad Hatter]

Not sure how good the other people were on his team, but an "assist" relies on the other guy making his shot. Qua could have been serving up perfect dishes that were bricked by the recipient. Don't know.

It is worth noting that D2 generally has more scoring and better shooting percentages than D1 (which raises legitimate questions about being able to maintain that output against D1 defenses), and this means assists should be easier to come by at the D2 level.

For West Texas A&M specifically:

As a team, they shot .479 from the field (#37 in D2) and .366 from 3 (#70 in D2). Even without Grant's contributions, the rest of the team shot .466 and .361 respectively. So they were a solid shooting team for D2, but not elite. On the other hand, those numbers would rank #23 and #51 respectively in D1. In other words, Grant was passing to good shooters overall.

In addition, West Texas A&M played at a pretty high pace, so there were a lot of possessions on which to get assists compared to slower-paced teams (also true of chances to have a turnover). They averaged 66 field goal attempts per game and 21 free throw attempts per game. Wichita State, as a counter-example, averaged 60 field goal attempts per game and 15 free throw attempts per game. One thing that might counter-balance the extra possessions is whether West Texas had a lot of fast break baskets that might not involve assist possibilities if they are straight run-outs (and West Texas did average a lot of steals per game, although Grant was their steals leader so it would more account for his shot attempts than non-assisted shots by others).

Despite more shot attempts per game and higher shooting percentages, West Texas A&M averaged fewer assists per game than Wichita State last year. While I can't know for sure without actually watching a lot of game film, this suggests to me that assist numbers reflect a team that is getting easy run-outs in transition and getting baskets off the bounce as opposed to off the pass at a pretty high rate.

[pie n eye]

I don't know for sure, but there was another guard on the team with Qua who was a higher scorer than Qua so they weren't without other shooters.

Joel Murray who also transferred this year and ended up at Long Beach State. West Texas must have been loaded because they had a lot of success the last three years. Grant and Murray look to have been a big part of that.

[Rocky Mountain Shock]

It is worth noting that D2 generally has more scoring and better shooting percentages than D1 (which raises legitimate questions about being able to maintain that output against D1 defenses), and this means assists should be easier to come by at the D2 level.

For West Texas A&M specifically:

As a team, they shot .479 from the field (#37 in D2) and .366 from 3 (#70 in D2). Even without Grant's contributions, the rest of the team shot .466 and .361 respectively. So they were a solid shooting team for D2, but not elite. On the other hand, those numbers would rank #23 and #51 respectively in D1. In other words, Grant was passing to good shooters overall.

In addition, West Texas A&M played at a pretty high pace, so there were a lot of possessions on which to get assists compared to slower-paced teams (also true of chances to have a turnover). They averaged 66 field goal attempts per game and 21 free throw attempts per game. Wichita State, as a counter-example, averaged 60 field goal attempts per game and 15 free throw attempts per game. One thing that might counter-balance the extra possessions is whether West Texas had a lot of fast break baskets that might not involve assist possibilities if they are straight run-outs (and West Texas did average a lot of steals per game, although Grant was their steals leader so it would more account for his shot attempts than non-assisted shots by others).

Despite more shot attempts per game and higher shooting percentages, West Texas A&M averaged fewer assists per game than Wichita State last year. While I can't know for sure without actually watching a lot of game film, this suggests to me that assist numbers reflect a team that is getting easy run-outs in transition and getting baskets off the bounce as opposed to off the pass at a pretty high rate.

I was really hoping you'd toss a "in four of the last five games, he averaged..." in there somewhere. But alas, I guess it was not to be. Appreciate the interesting stats anyway!