MoJeff and the amazing A\TO ratio in the UConn pantheon

[DobbsRover2]

From Nan's links to a Register article by Jim Fuller about Moriah Jefferson's current 2.97 assist to turnover ratio that follows up on a sophomore 2.95 average, the question might how far above the best UConn ball handlers are marks like those? The answer is very far.

MoJeff has far and away the best career A\TO average of any Husky since TO's started being counted in 1986-87 (Jill Brumbaugh looks like she has a 3.22 A\TO but no TO records were kept for her first two years, and she was probably really at about 1.40 for her career). MoJeff is at 2.45 A\TO for her career, and Bird watchers know who owns the best mark by non-active Huskies at 2.11.

Players who got at least 295 assists and were considered PGs at least some of the time they were on the court (or maybe interchangeable parts of the guard tandem) have ranged from Bird's 2.11 to 1.39, so MoJeff can be acknowledged as one who just doesn't want to mess up a pass. The list of 15 past guards and A\TO rates is:

Sue Bird 2.11, Kelly Faris 1.93, Maria Conlon 1.89, Ketia Swanier 1.87, Diana Taurasi 1.84, Amy Duran 1.78, Caroline Doty 1.70, Lorin Dixon 1.70, Jen Rizzotti 1.57, Shea Ralph 1.57, Bria Hartley 1.52, Laura Lishness 1.51, Pam Webber 1.50, Debbie Baer 1.43, Wendy Davis 1.39.

Circumstances were different for each player and some might have considered themselves more SGs, but they were guards who assisted a lot. Two others to throw in for interest factor might be Mel Thomas who had a superb 1.96 rate though she only got to 227 assists, and Maya Moore was at 1.80. Sveta also led UConn in assists one year, and her A\TO mark was 1.11, and of course there were a lot of Geno comments related to that figure.

MoJeff is also threatening to finish above the 3.0 A\TO rate this year, something no Husky has ever done. The best single season marks besides her sophomore year otherwise I can see is DT's 2.51 average in her sophomore year (her average went way down the last two years with a different cast of teammates) and Sue's 2.45 average that same year 2001-02 as a senior. That team also had Maria Conlon with a 2.07 average. However, the 2014-15 team behind MoJeff and with Kia at 2.00 and Saniya, Morgan, KML, and Stewie all above 1.50 is still well ahead of the legendary 2001-02 team at 1.67 to 1.49.

 

[MilfordHusky]

Sue is one of the smartest players ever. She knew to pass the ball to Tamika, who could finish at an insanely high rate. Assists are based on making good passes and having good finishers. Tamika was the best finisher.

 

[Sonny44]

That stat doesn't even tell the whole story. One TO should be subtracted for every steal. I'll bet the others didn't excel in steels.

 

[DobbsRover2]

That stat doesn't even tell the whole story. One TO should be subtracted for every steal. I'll bet the others didn't excel in steels.

At the rate she's going MoJeff will finish a little ahead of Jen for 2nd in career steals at maybe 360, which would be 87 behind Nykesha Sales, but Jen will have played far fewer games. Old-time UConn teams were no slouches at steals, and besides Jen among the guards, Sveta, Kelly, Debbie, Renee, and Shea all finished with 250+ steals, and Debbie and Sveta had steals per game rates equal to MoJeff's, and Jen's will likely be much better.

 

[ndmb]

That stat doesn't even tell the whole story. One TO should be subtracted for every steal. I'll bet the others didn't excel in steels.

Of course the stat doesn't tell the whole story, but there isn't a stat that does (and attempts to come up with one are usually fool-hardy, because a box score simply does not provide enough information to do that). A/TO describes a specific thing: it's an approximation of how good you are at distributing the ball in relation to how frequently you waste possessions. Steals really aren't germane to that.

 

[geneticrex]

DT gets a "pass" (a pass, get it???), since a number of her spectacular, circus like passes were unable to be handled, or completely unexpected.

She would have needed Michael Jordan on the receiving end of some of those feeds to convert them into points.

 

[DobbsRover2]

DT gets a "pass" (a pass, get it???), since a number of her spectacular, circus like passes were unable to be handled, or completely unexpected.

She would have needed Michael Jordan on the receiving end of some of those feeds to convert them into points.

If I remember correctly, DT made a pass at the crazies of Cameron back in 2003 with a "Call me" invitation.

And yes, many factors feed into A\TO ratio, and having teammates who can catch your passes and also score off of them are biggies.

 

[geneticrex]

DT's ability to see the whole floor and be able to deliver the package from anywhere is unmatched in the women's game as far as I'm concerned. Her vision, creativeness, court savvy, timing, confidence and strength put her at a different level.

 

[Wally East]

Sue is one of the smartest players ever. She knew to pass the ball to Tamika, who could finish at an insanely high rate. Assists are based on making good passes and having good finishers. Tamika was the best finisher.

Mo is a very smart player, too. She knows to pass the ball to Morgan and Breanna.

 

[j66kicker]

DT gets a "pass" (a pass, get it???), since a number of her spectacular, circus like passes were unable to be handled, or completely unexpected.

She would have needed Michael Jordan on the receiving end of some of those feeds to convert them into points.

I don't think D gets a pass because her teammates weren't good enough to handle her passes. She should know that, and know them.

But I think she gets a pass because, despite that deficiency, she delivered 3 consecutive NCs. Hey - if you do that, then I couldn't care less what your A/TO ratio is.

 

[geneticrex]

I don't think D gets a pass because her teammates weren't good enough to handle her passes. She should know that, and know them.

But I think she gets a pass because, despite that deficiency, she delivered 3 consecutive NCs. Hey - if you do that, then I couldn't care less what your A/TO ratio is.

I wouldn't say her teammates weren't good enough. I just think her ability to pass the basketball was at a level that was above where most players were, including a few guys in the NBA.

 

[j66kicker]

I wouldn't say her teammates weren't good enough. I just think her ability to pass the basketball was at a level that was above where most players were, including a few guys in the NBA.

I think the passer should get half the credit for the pass being caught or not. She knew her teammates weren't elite NBA players.

But, like I said, I'm willing to overlook this minor indiscretion and write it off as "challenging her teammates to get with the frickin' program." Overall she got PHENOMENAL results, so who am I to criticize?