As one might say, its a good problem to have. That might be the case this season with nine, that's right nine shooters this year. That is nine players who have the ability put the ball in the hoop. Will there be enough shots to go around? Before you answer that question lets look at what we have returning. The team took 2,071 shots last season. Jamont took 20.9% of our shots last year, personally I would like to see this drop off alittle bit to around 18% and see Jamont improve his assists of 187 of last season to around 250 +this season. That would put him around 8-9 per game average for assists. Charles took 15.7 % of the shots, I think that is just about right, lets just get those rebounding numbers up Charles! Barry accounted for 11.6% and I think most agree that this number needs to increase to around 18% this season. Ben shot 8.5% of the shots and you should see this number grow to around 12% this season. Last but not least is Mr. Varnado, he only accounted for 5.6% of our total shots taken and was a eye opening 65% from the field. His shots need to increase to around 10% of the offense. I think Jarvis showed us the tip of the iceberg when it comes to his offensive skills. So if that accounts for 74% of the shots taken this season. You have to feel that 26% to spread across 4 primary players. Mop up time will account for about 1% so were left with a nice round number of 25%. You have to feel that out of Kodi, Ravern, and Phil, two will get about 5% and one is going to step up contribute in the 8% range. That leaves 7% for Elgin, Brian, and Benock. But Benock is showing signs that he doesn't plan on keeping the bench warm this season. Its the remaining 25% of the shots and how they get spread out that could make a difference this season. Well, if I have to punch the shift 5 keys for the percentage sign one more time, I might be sick. Once again, it could be a problem, but its a nice one to have. I think one of the most exciting things to come is to see who steps up and claims there share of that 25%. But, I think that it is extremely important for Jarvis's and Barry's numbers go up. Like I've said before, when Jamont drives the lane and draws the double team, he will have an array of shooters camping out on the arc licking their chops waiting to get Jamont closer to that total of 250 assists for the year. It will be fun to watch it all unfold. Go Dawgs!!
Romans 1:17 For in the gospel a righteousness from God is revealed, a righteousness that is by faith from first to last, just as it is written: "The righteous will live by faith."
6 comments:
I watched the Vanderbilt and Florida State games from last year over the weekend.
What really suprised me and refreshed my memory was what a great passer Ben Hansbrough is. Also, what a shot hog Slater WAS. Without looking at the stats, I'm pretty sure Dietric took the 2nd most shots on that team. I recall many games where he had 14 or more attempts.
I think Ben gives us a 2nd assist man in addition to Jamont. He's even better at setting up shooters though. Jamont was good in the two games I watched buy he has a bad habit of leaving his feet and committing the offensive foul in some of those opportunities. I hope he's improved in that regard.
I'll also add that Mr. Charles Rhodes had really good effort games vs Vandy and FSU. On both ends of the court. We'd better find ways to get him the ball and keep him involved. I'd really prefer that he's our leading scorer, but we'll see how it works out. ZD
Alright ZD, that is a good point you bring up about Slater and you can look at it two ways. First, he missed the first 12 games out 35 games. He took 212 shots which is 10.2% of shots, but if you run the number as if he played the full season, he only played in 66% of the games, so say 212 X 1.34 = 284 shots, thats 3rd on the team, which validates your point. 2nd - His first 8 games back he avg. 7 shots a game, his last 15 when he became a staple in the lineup, he avg. 10.4, thats right 10.4, so say 10.4 X 35 games = 364 which would have been 17.6 % of th shots taken, 2nd only to Jamont. I know its not that easy but it does prove your point. Dietric was a huge help last season, but could hurt a deep shooting team like we have now. Hope that helps.
having so many options on offense is a nice problem to have, but last year everyone was saying the same thing, and we can see what happened in the end. 4 transfers due to PT. with that PT comes opportunities to shoot and get points, so obviously that was a point of contention with the 4 of them...after all, i dont know a basketball player on earth that wants to just stand out there and not even try to contribute by scoring.
so yeah its a nice problem to have, but lets hope the staff handles it better this year, and the players accept it better this year.
one thing that i think made it difficult for the Delks last season was that they had been starters that were depended upon the previous year, and were then not needed as much or in the same fashion the next season.
hopefully the guys that arent needed as much will be the freshmen this year, so there wont be as much discontent as last season when the experienced players were the ones not needed as much.
last season, we averaged 77PPG. itd be great to up that the slightest bit to 82PPG with what is being billed as such a prolific shooting team.
what i hope to see:
Gordon- 15ppg(but with at least 6apg and a higher overall fg%)
Rhodes- 15ppg(but with 9-10rpg)
Stewart- 12ppg(increase steals and overall fg%)
Hansbrough- 9ppg(get 4apg)
Varnado- 8ppg(with around 7rpg and over 2bpg, up the FT%)
B Johonson- 8ppg(and at least 8rpg)
Augustus- 4.5ppg(grab a few boards and maybe a block/game)
Turner- 4.5ppg(3.5apg too)
Bailey- 3ppg(focus on rebounds and D)
R Johnson- 3ppg
this would, to me, be a best case scenario.
the main 5 would be increasing their production in their respective areas, and the role players would be productive and assist where needed.
as usual, i assume defense will dicated how much time each player gets on the court.
as its been said here many times over, this team certainly has the ability to score.
i really hope they all focus more on all the other parts of the game and in the end improve their stats in those other categories more. things like assists, steals, blocks, rebounds, and low turnovers. these are the parts of the game that win championships. and these are also the parts of the game that our team struggled with in different ways last season.
-mstateglfr
Glfr you raise good points. The Coaching staff handled playing time pretty good last year, I thought. I was impressed with the way that the coaches recognized the ability of Hansbrough and Stewart. The Delks just couldn't handle it.
Hopefully Turner and Benock mesh well with Gordon, Hansbrough, and Stewart. That way we could all sit and wonder where the Delks would have played. ZD
Lots of teams that Mississippi State plays have tall guys at the 3. Many of these players are 6-4, 6-5, 6-6, 6-7, ect. Lots of these guy are big time, good, capable scores, and the ability to defend these players can make or break a team/defense. Augustus and R Johnson can help defend on the perimeter. They have, height, length, and very good atheletic ability. Augustus appears to be very versatile. He's basically ready, just needs to contiue to improve/learn.
Great analyzations, guys. Can't disagree....seems as if our team is going to be one of the highest-scoring in the conference.
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