Most unselfish Husky team ever? | The Boneyard

Most unselfish Husky team ever?

oldude

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There are a number of ways to determine if a team is unselfish. IMO, the best measure of an unselfish team is the assist/field goal ratio. By that measure, this year’s team is the most unselfish Husky team ever, assisting on a staggering 70.2% of all field goals to date.

Prior to this season, the all-time high for a Husky team was achieved during the 2003-2004 season with a 68.2% A/FG ratio. During the last 4 national championship seasons, the best A/FG ratio was achieved during the 2013-2014 season at 67.9%.

It might be suggested that this year’s team is obsessed with passing the ball. I think it started with Gabby, and it’s infected everyone else on the team. Kia was always a good passer. Saniya is leading the nation in A/TO ratio. Pheesa & Lou have clearly upped their game when it comes to assists. Even the bench players can’t wait to get into the game so they can pass the ball. Molly clearly prefers to pass over shooting the ball. Kyla has several nice assists and Nat has been a revelation with her passing ability this season.
 

oldude

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For all of us stat geeks, here's a comparison of just how the Husky 70.2% A/FG ratio stacks up against some other WBB programs:
  • Baylor - 66.3%
  • Notre Dame - 61.3%
  • Maryland - 59.1%
  • South Carolina - 55.2%
  • Mississippi State - 54%
  • Tennessee - 53.5%
  • Washington - 48.7%
  • Ohio State - 47.3%
Credit to Kim Mulkey and Baylor. SC will need to be a lot better than 55.2% in order to win on Feb 13. No surprise that Tenn, Wash & OSU are at the back of the pack, too much 1 on 1 ball.
 

UcMiami

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Nice OP!
Of course the contrarian in me wants to point out that really good offensive rebounding teams end up with a lower assist to basket ratio because the rebounder is scoring without getting an assist! This team is not a bad offensive rebounding team, but their rebounding margin is probably the lowest of the last decade (since Tina arrived) and because we are offensive rebounding with height challenged players (or Natalie who is not a great 'put back' rebounder) they are more likely to pass out than go right back up. Stewart for example probably converted her offensive rebounds into immediate baskets at a much higher rate than either Gabby or Napheesa - same true for Kiah who scored most of her points off her rebounds. :rolleyes:
 

oldude

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really good offensive rebounding teams end up with a lower assist to basket ratio because the rebounder is scoring without getting an assist!
OK, let's play contrarian. Last season, UConn's A/FG ratio was 63.2%, a full 7% less than this season. Last year's team averaged 12.6 offensive rebounds per game. This year's team averages 11.6 offensive rebounds per game. I don't think that one additional offensive rebound per game, assuming they were all putbacks/scores, account for the difference in A/FG ratio.
 

ochoopsfan

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For the west coast teams, not mentioned but with good records:
Oregon State is 66%
ASU is 59%
UCLA is 56%
Stanford is 55%
 

oldude

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For the west coast teams, not mentioned but with good records:
Oregon State is 66%
ASU is 59%
UCLA is 56%
Stanford is 55%
Thanks for the additional stats. I've said before that if Scott Rueck can persuade some big time talent to come to Corvallis, he can win a national championship. Surprised to see Stanford at only 55%.
 

meyers7

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Nice OP!
Of course the contrarian in me wants to point out that really good offensive rebounding teams end up with a lower assist to basket ratio because the rebounder is scoring without getting an assist! This team is not a bad offensive rebounding team, but their rebounding margin is probably the lowest of the last decade (since Tina arrived) and because we are offensive rebounding with height challenged players (or Natalie who is not a great 'put back' rebounder) they are more likely to pass out than go right back up. Stewart for example probably converted her offensive rebounds into immediate baskets at a much higher rate than either Gabby or Napheesa - same true for Kiah who scored most of her points off her rebounds. :rolleyes:
That and add in steals are down this year. 9.8 pg presently vs last year (for instance) 11.7 pg. Which leads to less steals into baskets, i.e. unassisted baskets.
 

DefenseBB

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OK, let's play contrarian. Last season, UConn's A/FG ratio was 63.2%, a full 7% less than this season. Last year's team averaged 12.6 offensive rebounds per game. This year's team averages 11.6 offensive rebounds per game. I don't think that one additional offensive rebound per game, assuming they were all putbacks/scores, account for the difference in A/FG ratio.
What has been our shooting percentage over the past years? Is it up so less rebounds to have gotten?
 

alexrgct

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There have been a couple seasons with four UConn players amassing more than 100 assists for the season. We look to equal that with KLS, Kia, Chong, and especially Gabby (already at 86!). Napheesa has an outside chance at 100, as would Crystal if not for injuries.
 
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Washington is at the back of the pack because of Kelsey Plum. She's an incredible passer; however, she is so good one-on-one that often she's their best option.
 

Papa33

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For all of us stat geeks, here's a comparison of just how the Husky 70.2% A/FG ratio stacks up against some other WBB programs:
  • Baylor - 66.3%
  • Notre Dame - 61.3%
  • Maryland - 59.1%
  • South Carolina - 55.2%
  • Mississippi State - 54%
  • Tennessee - 53.5%
  • Washington - 48.7%
  • Ohio State - 47.3%
Credit to Kim Mulkey and Baylor. SC will need to be a lot better than 55.2% in order to win on Feb 13. No surprise that Tenn, Wash & OSU are at the back of the pack, too much 1 on 1 ball.

This might be slightly OT, but over the years I've noticed that other upper-rank teams have praised individual players on their teams for very high assist averages, higher than any single UConn player could boast, and their coaches claimed that their point guards, for example, were therefore the best in the country. In fact, it may be truer to say that our Huskies as so conditioned to find their teammates that our high number of total assists are distributed among many players. No one player is responsible for finding open teammates. Which, btw, makes it harder for defenses to shut down the offense.
 

oldude

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What has been our shooting percentage over the past years? Is it up so less rebounds to have gotten?
Shooting % YTD is .516 vs .530 last season, although I expect this year's shooting % to increase over the course of the AAC schedule.
 

oldude

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Washington is at the back of the pack because of Kelsey Plum. She's an incredible passer; however, she is so good one-on-one that often she's their best option.
That was my thought too. Kelsey Plum is a great player, but then I considered the one UConn Husky player most like Plum. DT was probably the best 1 on 1 player ever at UConn, and yet during her senior year, the team achieved its 2nd highest A/FG ratio ever at 68.2%. DT led the team in scoring and assists. Plum leads Washington in scoring and assists, but the difference between the 2 teams A/FG ratios is almost 20% in favor of UConn. I have to believe it has a lot more to do with coaching and offensive philosophy.
 

UcMiami

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This might be slightly OT, but over the years I've noticed that other upper-rank teams have praised individual players on their teams for very high assist averages, higher than any single UConn player could boast, and their coaches claimed that their point guards, for example, were therefore the best in the country. In fact, it may be truer to say that our Huskies as so conditioned to find their teammates that our high number of total assists are distributed among many players. No one player is responsible for finding open teammates. Which, btw, makes it harder for defenses to shut down the offense.
You can see that clearly in the UConn record book vs. the NCAA record book - there isn't a single player from UConn anywhere near the top of the season or career assist numbers, and yet every year UConn is in the top five teams in assists per game.
 
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There have been a couple seasons with four UConn players amassing more than 100 assists for the season. We look to equal that with KLS, Kia, Chong, and especially Gabby (already at 86!). Napheesa has an outside chance at 100, as would Crystal if not for injuries.
The 2014 -15 team had 5 players with 100 or more assists , Moriah 191, KML 104, Nurse 108, Stewie 122 and Morgan 115. Of further interest, had Kia scored 1 more point all 5 would have had 400 pts., 100 rebs, and 100 assists.
 
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There have been a couple seasons with four UConn players amassing more than 100 assists for the season. We look to equal that with KLS, Kia, Chong, and especially Gabby (already at 86!). Napheesa has an outside chance at 100, as would Crystal if not for injuries.
There was a recent season in which FIVE players all had in excess of 100 assists. The 14/15 squad had Stewart 122, Nurse 108, Jefferson 191, KML 104, Tuck 115.
Solid passing teams are a Geno trademark.
 

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