Several thoughts/questions as a new basketball season is upon us….
Over the past few years, one common complaint is our lack of quality big men (see Tim Dixon, etc…) It seems that building a college basketball program around big men in the current environment is extremely difficult. The few big men who are skilled enough to make an immediate impact seem to be one and done- some might stay two years in college. At the same time, these posts seem to be choosing the programs (Duke and Kentucky) who have the ability to overcome the yearly loss of talent. As a result, is the only option for UGA taking big men who need time to develop? Is that the best move for the program? Thoughts?
I don’t know the answer to the above question. Just as food for thought to try to answer that question, I’ve looked at last year’s UGA/SEC team statistics…
We finished the league 6th in scoring, and 7th in FG percentage. We finished 7th in 3-point FG percentage, but only Texas A&M and Miss St attempted fewer threes than we did. As a result, we were one of the worst four teams in the conference in total 3-point FGs made.
Looking at the numbers above, I was puzzled as to how we had as good of a year as we did. The answer lies in rebounds and free throws. We were 3rd in the league in offensive rebounds and tied with Kentucky for the league lead in defensive rebounding. Marcus had a total of 226 rebounds. Nemi had 173. Mann, Gaines, JJ, and Maten all had over 100.
While our FT percentage placed us at 9th in the conference, we attempted more than anyone except Auburn and Kentucky. Charles Mann attempted 220 FTs, Marcus Thornton attempted 149 FTs, and JJ Frazier attempted 104.
Based on those numbers, some questions become obvious…. Can we replace the rebounding that we lost? Can we find someone else to get to the foul line? Do we stay with the same style of play or go smaller and shoot more threes?
I think that these topics have been discussed previously, I just had some time and added the statistics to the conversation. It’s tough for UGA basketball fans this time of year to find something to discuss…
As an aside, last season, UGA’s average home attendance was 7517, up from 6140 the previous season. That places UGA at 11th in the SEC for average attendance. For comparison, that would also rank 11th in the ACC for attendance (ahead of Georgia Tech).
Over the past few years, one common complaint is our lack of quality big men (see Tim Dixon, etc…) It seems that building a college basketball program around big men in the current environment is extremely difficult. The few big men who are skilled enough to make an immediate impact seem to be one and done- some might stay two years in college. At the same time, these posts seem to be choosing the programs (Duke and Kentucky) who have the ability to overcome the yearly loss of talent. As a result, is the only option for UGA taking big men who need time to develop? Is that the best move for the program? Thoughts?
I don’t know the answer to the above question. Just as food for thought to try to answer that question, I’ve looked at last year’s UGA/SEC team statistics…
We finished the league 6th in scoring, and 7th in FG percentage. We finished 7th in 3-point FG percentage, but only Texas A&M and Miss St attempted fewer threes than we did. As a result, we were one of the worst four teams in the conference in total 3-point FGs made.
Looking at the numbers above, I was puzzled as to how we had as good of a year as we did. The answer lies in rebounds and free throws. We were 3rd in the league in offensive rebounds and tied with Kentucky for the league lead in defensive rebounding. Marcus had a total of 226 rebounds. Nemi had 173. Mann, Gaines, JJ, and Maten all had over 100.
While our FT percentage placed us at 9th in the conference, we attempted more than anyone except Auburn and Kentucky. Charles Mann attempted 220 FTs, Marcus Thornton attempted 149 FTs, and JJ Frazier attempted 104.
Based on those numbers, some questions become obvious…. Can we replace the rebounding that we lost? Can we find someone else to get to the foul line? Do we stay with the same style of play or go smaller and shoot more threes?
I think that these topics have been discussed previously, I just had some time and added the statistics to the conversation. It’s tough for UGA basketball fans this time of year to find something to discuss…
As an aside, last season, UGA’s average home attendance was 7517, up from 6140 the previous season. That places UGA at 11th in the SEC for average attendance. For comparison, that would also rank 11th in the ACC for attendance (ahead of Georgia Tech).
