Conference USA has always been a little quirky. First there was the name – how could this be America’s conference when Houston was the westernmost team? Then there was the original three-division setup allowing no member of the 12-team league to have to admit they were worse than fourth.
CUSA is no less quirky under its new membership. At media day, preseason accolades were given to a player of the year, and then a list of 23 “Players to Watch” – an egalitarian club with exactly two players per team (with the exception of Southern Miss that has only one watchable player).
The two-player limit presents a problem for Memphis, where Rodney Carney and Darius Washington, Jr. made the list. Joey Dorsey was omitted and if you’re into more than sick dunks or a sweet jump shot, then Dorsey is your man. As a freshman last season, he did more, um, things, while he was on the floor than any player in the nation.
First, there’s a pretty strong case that he was the best offensive rebounder around…
Offensive Rebounds per 40 minutes
(min. 500 minutes played)
1 Louis Graham Georgia Southern Fr 6.86
2 Joey Dorsey Memphis Fr 6.61
3 Hank Rivers Stephen F. Austin Sr 6.19
4 Carlton Aaron UMKC Sr 6.15
5 Paul Millsap Louisiana Tech So 5.88
6 Sean May North Carolina Jr 5.73
7 Jason Ellis Boise St. Sr 5.70
8 Tamarr Maclin SW Missouri St. Sr 5.50
9 Jason Fraser Villanova Jr 5.46
10 James Mathis Niagara Jr 5.35
These numbers are not adjusted for pace, and Memphis was about average in the pace department, while leader Louis Graham played on the fastest paced team in the land and therefore had the benefit of more rebounding opportunities per minute than Dorsey.
As budding statistical analyst Yoni Cohen pointed out, being a good rebounder on one end of the floor does not guarantee success on the other end. But Dorsey cleaned the glass on both ends and joined Sean May as the only players in the top ten of per-minute offensive and defensive rebounders.
Defensive rebounds per 40 minutes
(min. 500 minutes played)
1 Sean May North Carolina Jr 10.28
2 Michael Harris Rice Sr 9.98
3 Andrew Bogut Utah So 9.71
4 Sean Munson Wagner Sr 9.63
5 Lance Allred Weber St. Sr 9.59
6 Nick Fazekas Nevada So 9.51
7 Lawrence Roberts Mississippi St. Sr 9.42
8 David Lee Florida Sr 9.37
9 Thomas Fairley Lamar Jr 9.36
10 Joey Dorsey Memphis Fr 9.34
When Dorsey wasn’t busy rebounding, he blocked shots in his spare time…
Blocked shots per 40 minutes
(Freshmen only, min. 500 minutes played)
1 Shawn James Northeastern Fr 8.77
2 Patrick O'Bryant Bradley Fr 4.82
3 Kyle Hines NC Greensboro Fr 4.24
4 Louis Graham Georgia Southern Fr 3.77
5 Rigoberto Sargeant Canisius Fr 3.45
6 Roy Hibbert Georgetown Fr 3.16
7 D.J. White Indiana Fr 3.14
8 Joey Dorsey Memphis Fr 3.09
If that isn’t enough, Dorsey had one other notable skill worth mentioning. This was one that no others could match…
Personal fouls per 40 minutes
(min. 500 minutes played)
1 Joey Dorsey Memphis Fr 8.1
2 Diego Aguiar Campbell So 8.0
3 Gabriel Chami James Madison Fr 7.5
4 Aldrynn Wardell McNeese State Fr 7.1
5 Jason Grant Lamar Jr 7.1
6 Andrew Preston Belmont So 7.1
7 Byron Allen Northwestern St. Jr 7.0
8 Doug Thomas Iowa Jr 7.0
9 Derrick Reid Va. Commonwealth Sr 7.0
10 Scott Morrison Portland St. Fr 6.9
This is partly attributed to playing time – by averaging just 15 minutes a game, Dorsey could afford to give more fouls than a typical starter. As Dorsey gets more playing time this season, he won’t be able to defend his fouling title.
What Dorsey gave, he also got back…
FT rate (100*FTA/FGA) (Freshmen only, min. 500 minutes played) 1 Anthony Fisher Tennessee Tech Fr 92.1 2 Will Peeples Belmont Fr 86.1 3 Abdulai Jalloh St. Joseph's Fr 82.2 4 Marcus Jones Alabama A&M Fr 80.4 5 George Tandy Eastern Illinois Fr 79.2 6 Al Horford Florida Fr 77.2 7 Joey Dorsey Memphis Fr 76.5
Dorsey was one of the the most accomplished freshmen in getting to the line. However, opponents weren’t doing him any favors. Which brings us to the final oddity of Joey Dorsey…
Difference between FT% and FG%
(min. 70 FTA)
FT% FG% Diff
1 Louis Amundson UNLV Jr 28.8 56.1 -27.3
2 Greg Dilligard Illinois St. So 31.6 58.6 -27.0
3 Bruce Brown Hampton Jr 45.6 66.2 -20.6
4 Byron Burnett Florida Int'l Sr 40.8 61.3 -20.5
5 Aaron Andrews Morgan St. Sr 42.5 62.5 -20.0
6 Andre Matthews Alabama A&M Sr 34.9 52.4 -17.5
7 C.J. Vick Quinnipiac Sr 48.6 64.9 -16.3
8 Joey Dorsey Memphis Fr 42.9 54.6 -11.7
9 Carlton Aaron UMKC Sr 48.7 58.5 -9.8
10 Larry Owens Oral Roberts Jr 45.5 55.1 -9.6
Dorsey shot just 42.9% from the line and needed a late hot streak to get that figure above 40%. Dorsey is big enough (6-9, 265) to play through the contact, so he would have preferred to call his own fouls.
When CUSA gets around to naming its all-conference teams in March, it would be a shock if Carney and Washington weren’t on the first team. But if the conference allows, a Joey Dorsey with a little less hacking and better free shooting will deserve to make it also.