Yet Another Shelden Williams Post
12.29.05
I know I can’t be the only one that’s noticed that the discussion regarding player of the year has ignored defense or any other aspect besides scoring. It’s like the award has been renamed scorer of the year. And even if it was, Randy Foye deserves to be mentioned in the same breath as JJ Redick and Adam Morrison. But I have had this nagging feeling that Redick is not even the best player on his team. After looking at some things, it does appear close. I’ll let you be the judge. First, the vitals on offense.
O-Rtg %Poss MPG Redick 122.5 27.9 35.6 Williams 121.1 25.7 32.2
They are essentially equal in efficiency, although Redick uses more possessions which makes his efficiency more impressive. While Redick scores more, Williams doesn’t miss many shots himself and makes up most of the scoring difference with his offensive rebounding. I added minutes per game because that has importance in this discussion. Redick’s skills get three more minutes per game than does Williams and that can’t be ignored.
So advantage Redick on offense.
While defensive analysis is lot more subjective (and that’s part of the reason why it’s largely ignored), I think nearly everybody with a clue would say that Williams is more important defensively. He is one of the better defenders in the nation when you consider his blocks and his 23% defensive rebounding percentage. And even besides all that, Williams has more steals than does Redick (18 to 13). In fairness to Redick, Duke is 2nd nationally in three-point percentage defense, which he probably has something to do with.
So the question you have to ask yourself is: which is the bigger difference between the two, the defensive gap or the offensive gap? I think there’s a legitimate case that Williams’ advantage in defense is bigger than Redick’s advantage in offense. If it weren’t for the playing time difference, it would be a much easier case to make. But like I said, you be the judge.
Line o’ the Night
FG 3pt FT Reb
Min M-A M-A M-A O-T A F S TO BLK Pts
Chris Oliver 29 12-15 1-2 8-8 6-14 0 4 1 1 0 33
Result: Win. Radford 85, Dartmouth 78.
Roy Hibbert isn’t Shelden Williams
12.28.05
I’m working on getting some pages up with the Dean Oliver-style individual stats. In the meantime, enjoy these recent Lines o’ the Night, won’t you?
Last Friday
FG 3pt FT Reb
Min M-A M-A M-A O-T A F S TO BLK Pts
Rodney Stuckey 34 9-15 1-2 5-6 3-3 7 2 7 0 1 24
Result: Win. Eastern Washington 76, Cal Poly 62.
A busy night for one of the busiest men in the game this season.
Tuesday
FG 3pt FT Reb
Min M-A M-A M-A O-T A F S TO BLK Pts
Roy Hibbert 31 8-8 0-0 2-2 0-5 0 1 0 0 3 18
Result: Win. Georgetown 61, Colgate 45.
One of the things about this personal stats venture is that the true value for a guy like Hibbert is discovered. His per-game averages won’t get much attention because he plays 25 mpg for a tortoise-paced team. For instance, compare Hibbert’s opportunities to that of Shelden Williams. Duke plays at a pace that is 16% faster than Georgetown. Williams plays 34% more minutes per game than Hibbert. In essence, the Landlord gets 54% more possessions to put up his numbers. Give Hibbert those opportunities and his 14.4 ppg, 6.6 rpg, and 2.7 bpg become 22.2/10.2/4.2.
Hibbert, like Williams, is a rare shot blocker that isn’t foul prone. Maybe we’ll see him get more minutes during Big East battles.
Wednesday
FG 3pt FT Reb
Min M-A M-A M-A O-T A F S TO BLK Pts
Marvett McDonald 29 10-14 7-11 0-0 0-4 4 3 1 0 0 27
Result: Win. UAB 90, Oklahoma State 71.
Happy Holiday of Your Choice
12.22.05
My Christmas gift to you: A link on the stats page to a csv file containing the efficiency and tempo data for every team. Load it into Excel and go to town. It’s not Malibu Barbie, but maybe you can find a use for it. I’ll be back sometime next week.
Line o’ the Night
FG 3pt FT Reb
Min M-A M-A M-A O-T A F S TO BLK Pts
Jerell Jamison 4 0-0 0-0 2-2 0-0 0 5 0 2 0 2
Result: Win. Charlotte 85, Rutgers 82.
Paging Nehemiah Ingram. On the season, Jamison is now averaging 10.5 fouls per 40 minutes. Ingram? Only 8.8.
And if you enjoy a scoring controversy as much as I do, check out what happened in the Iowa State/Northwestern State game in the Rainbow Classic.