Interesting team offensive stats

[coolm]

I watched the football version all season (along with The Huddle, also taped at Rudy's), but the basketball one hasn't been showing up in my listings. I'll check again.

I listen to it on the internet.

 

[Postman77]

listened to coach Lon talk to toby rowland last night. the coaches are very pleased with the progress made my Matt Freeman. Coach says Matt may be the first player off the bench to spell McNeace in the future. He also said they just can't get Doolittle's aggressiveness to translate from practice to game. He's a shrinking violet (my words, not Lon's).

CoolM, I know you pay attention to numbers as well. How is it justified to call Doolittle a "shrinking violet", when he has the lowest usage rate on the team? Fact is, the guy rarely if ever sees the ball on most possessions. This is a scheme issue as I see it.

 

[WichitaSooner]

CoolM, I know you pay attention to numbers as well. How is it justified to call Doolittle a "shrinking violet", when he has the lowest usage rate on the team? Fact is, the guy rarely if ever sees the ball on most possessions. This is a scheme issue as I see it.

I've heard Lon say several times that the coaches desperately encourage Doo to be more aggressive on offense. He said that if anything, they would like him to be too aggressive in looking for his shot. Apparently he plays a lot more aggressively in practice, but they just can't get him to carry that into games. So I don't think it is a scheme issue. Usage rates don't reflect how often a guy has the ball in his hands, they just show how often he scores or assists. You could have the ball on every possession, but if you never do anything with it, your usage rate will be low. I think he is just struggling trying to figure out his niche offensively. He clearly has the potential to make a much bigger impact, so let's hope he finds a way to do that.

 

[coolm]

CoolM, I know you pay attention to numbers as well. How is it justified to call Doolittle a "shrinking violet", when he has the lowest usage rate on the team? Fact is, the guy rarely if ever sees the ball on most possessions. This is a scheme issue as I see it.

For any/all of you who want to tell me I am wrong then you are shooting the messenger. I am repeating exactly what coach Lon said. That is all. He also said Freeman's perhaps played himself into first sub for Jumani off the bench.

 

[Postman77]

For any/all of you who want to tell me I am wrong then you are shooting the messenger. I am repeating exactly what coach Lon said. That is all. He also said Freeman's perhaps played himself into first sub for Jumani off the bench.

I don't think I was criticizing you (easy my guy), I simply was asking a question. Doolittle is a guy who usually finds shots off action--not in creating for himself. OU is an offense that is built off creating off the bounce. Bottom line, that doesn't play well towards Doolittle's abilities.

As the other poster also noted, usage rates are not always totally indicative of how often a player touches the ball on any given possession, but I challenge someone to actually stat that number during any given game. The outcomes would be very surprising for many.