Shabazz *Key* stats 2011...

[BLUEDOGHOUSE]

Here are the key stats from SN during the championship run:




Score before


Napier in at


Score after


+/-


DePaul (BET 1st Round)

9-4, UConn

14:06

25-14, UConn

+6


Georgetown (BET 2nd Round)

12-11, UConn

12:18

33-22, UConn

+10


Pittsburgh (BET Quarterfinals)

20-8, Pitt

13:31

33-21, Pitt

+0


Syracuse (BET Semifinals)

12-7, Syracuse

12:52

19-19

+5


Louisville (BET Final)

14-11, UConn

13:05

29-20, UConn

+6


Bucknell (NCAA 1st Round)

21-15, UConn

11:08

36-20, UConn

+10


Cincinnati (NCAA 2nd Round)

17-13, Cincinnati

12:29

26-22, UConn

+8


San Diego State (NCAA Sweet 16)

10-10

12:48

22-19, SDSU

-3


Arizona (NCAA Elite Eight)

11-6, Arizona

15:00

18-14, Arizona

+1


Kentucky (NCAA Final Four)

12-11, Kentucky

10:47

31-21, UConn

+11


Butler (NCAA Final)

13-9, UConn

12:21

19-16, UConn

-1


That's a total of plus-53 for Napier over about 80 minutes. Prior to Napier entering the games, UConn was outscored 133-124; in the exact same number of minutes after Napier entered, UConn outscored its opponents 148-95. In all but two games, UConn either added on to their lead or cut into a deficit.

 

[OkaForPrez]

Maybe the better title for this analysis is +/- after Kemba switched to the 2.

 

[BLUEDOGHOUSE]

The middle #/time indicates when Shabazz entered the game. Very impressive stats...

 

[UCHuskies08]

Nice work, says a lot

 

[BLUEDOGHOUSE]

Maybe the better title for this analysis is +/- after Kemba switched to the 2.

I agree very good point...

 

[Scot-e]

Maybe the better title for this analysis is +/- after Kemba switched to the 2.

Well said.

 

[ArizonaHusky]

Maybe the better title for this analysis is +/- after Kemba switched to the 2.

I agree, but Shabazz was running the show as well, exactly what will be expected of him this season

 

[sammydabiz]

I like the optimism, but the plus differential was directly due to Kemba playing off the ball as a 2, not saying Bazz didn't contribute but let's be honest with these stats....

 

[Burnsbros23]

Shabazz's progression is key to this team. Some days I feel very confident about him other days I worry.

 

[BLUEDOGHOUSE]

The stats were provided because I haven't been overly complimentary of Bazz with other posts made. I have essentially/well I have claimed the team would be more talented with Boatright on the floor. That is because my expectations are very high for Ryan Boatright after enjoying a great performance he put on in high school. As several posters have mentioned of course high school is not the BE. Boatright will also have to learn to get over the top of screens similar to what SN suffered with last year at times. It does look like Bazz has put on some weight and is stronger. I will stick to my original thought however and speculate that RB running the show at some point will represent the more talented team. In defense of Bazz and the provided stats it is worth noting the value of the stats is not diminished by KW moving over to the 2. The fact still remains that SN was the player that enabled this to occur. His shot was good enough to keep other teams honest and the chemistry he had with KW was conducive to KW prospering off the ball. We would not have seen the same results with Selby, Joseph or Knight. Bazz was very valuable last year and I need to remind myself of that despite being such a huge Boatright fan.

 

[Dogbreath2U]

The stats were provided because I haven't been overly complimentary of Bazz with other posts made. I have essentially/well I have claimed the team would be more talented with Boatright on the floor. That is because my expectations are very high for Ryan Boatright after enjoying a great performance he put on in high school. As several posters have mentioned of course high school is not the BE. Boatright will also have to learn to get over the top of screens similar to what SN suffered with last year at times. It does look like Bazz has put on some weight and is stronger. I will stick to my original thought however and speculate that RB running the show at some point will represent the more talented team. In defense of Bazz and the provided stats it is worth noting the value of the stats is not diminished by KW moving over to the 2. The fact still remains that SN was the player that enabled this to occur. His shot was good enough to keep other teams honest and the chemistry he had with KW was conducive to KW prospering off the ball. We would not have seen the same results with Selby, Joseph or Knight. Bazz was very valuable last year and I need to remind myself of that despite being such a huge Boatright fan.

I do not think that the point differential was only due to moving Kemba to the 2. The whole flow of the game changed when Bazz would come in. Often his defensive pressure caused the opposition to have more trouble getting into their offense and seemed to help speed the game up. The Huskies became a better passing team with Bazz in, even though at times he dribbled too much. He was very good at getting Kemba the ball in position to score, as well as often making the back door pass. Overall, the team played with more offensive movement and better execution when he was in. No doubt, though, that at times it also helped Kemba to get the ball in better positions to score.

 

[Dogbreath2U]

Shabazz's progression is key to this team. Some days I feel very confident about him other days I worry.

Me too. Would Kemba have been ready to effectively lead this year's team as a sophomore? He was not that good as a playmaker his soph year. Shabazz will have some brainfart moments, but I hope that he shows progress in being the one who keeps the ship steady and moving forward (not just the energizer guy). What will be will be. We should still have a very interesting and hopefully fun team next season as well (assuming that we don't have a mass exodus).

 

[DMW88]

Great stats...imo it shows Shabazz's ability to come in and get into the flow of the game quickly as well as his ability to make others on the floor better...yes, Kemba moving to the 2 freed him up to run off of screens to get open looks and make it harder for the defense to know where he was...i also think its a reflection of SN's defense...the pressure he put on the ball definitely impacted the other teams ability to run the offense...

 

[DogMania]

I do not think that the point differential was only due to moving Kemba to the 2. The whole flow of the game changed when Bazz would come in. Often his defensive pressure caused the opposition to have more trouble getting into their offense and seemed to help speed the game up. The Huskies became a better passing team with Bazz in, even though at times he dribbled too much. He was very good at getting Kemba the ball in position to score, as well as often making the back door pass. Overall, the team played with more offensive movement and better execution when he was in. No doubt, though, that at times it also helped Kemba to get the ball in better positions to score.

You can certainly attribute some of the plus to Kemba changing from distributor to scorer for the offensive +, but take a look at what the opponent did on their offensive end of the floor once Napier entered the game. I took a look at how many points UConn's opponent scored during that stretch and while UConn was putting up double digits numbers the other team was held to single digit points in 8 of those 11 games and in three games they didn't keep them under 10, they scored no more than 11 points.

I think our defense is going to be even better this coming season with Bazz playing more minutes and the addition of the 3 incoming freshman. Drummond will be a monster in the middle once he learns to play UConn's help man-top-man D, Daniels learns to use his length and Boatright learns to handle high screens...assuming they need to learn and will be able to learn.

I even think the overall scoring will be as good if not better due to the overall improvement of the returning players, plus a net gain from the new players over what the departing players did, not including Kemba's numbers. In other words, Drummond, Daniels & Boatright will out score Chuck, Jamal Coombs-McDaniel and Beverly. Add those numbers to the overall increase scoring they'll get from Bazz, Lamb, Roscoe, Alex, etc, and this team has a chance to have even better +/- numbers this upcoming season.

I'm not implying that they will win the NC again or even win more games. A critical factor in UConn's success last season was Kemba's ability to make winning-time plays. Will the sum of the parts be able to make those same types of plays? Will we also get the lucky bounces and the missed winning-time shots from the other team like we did during that 11 game stretch. Two years ago, it seemed UConn was making all the late game mistakes while the other team was knocking down big time shots. The opposite happened last season. All it takes is one play in the BET and NCAAs and your packing your bags and you're done for good.

I just hope that this team can be so dominant by the end of the year that they won't need as many late game heroics from anyone. The 2004 team was like that during most their final stretch. They did have to pull out a string of winning-time plays to come back on Dook and beat them. Maybe this team can do the same and only need one heroic moment to win it all again. I'm not saying that they will or are capable. I'm just saying that's what I'd like to see happen. Maybe they'll rise to the occasion and have many heroic moments along the way. It's going to be a fun ride with Shabazz Napier at the helm.

 

[ctchamps]

I do not think that the point differential was only due to moving Kemba to the 2. The whole flow of the game changed when Bazz would come in. Often his defensive pressure caused the opposition to have more trouble getting into their offense and seemed to help speed the game up. The Huskies became a better passing team with Bazz in, even though at times he dribbled too much. He was very good at getting Kemba the ball in position to score, as well as often making the back door pass. Overall, the team played with more offensive movement and better execution when he was in. No doubt, though, that at times it also helped Kemba to get the ball in better positions to score.

Totally agree with this assessment. A big key for this season is how much of that extra dribbling by Shabazz was due to his inability to create? My thinking is Shabazz was being extra cautious for three reasons. He was on a quick hook because JC had the luxury of Kemba. He deferred to Kemba and that meant he waited on some options longer than normal to allow Kemba time to become open. And the rest of the team had less time developing with Shabazz as their pg than Kemba in practice.

 

[ctchamps]

The middle #/time indicates when Shabazz entered the game. Very impressive stats...

Very impressive stats. Thanks for digging up the info.

 

[Dogbreath2U]

You can certainly attribute some of the plus to Kemba changing from distributor to scorer for the offensive +, but take a look at what the opponent did on their offensive end of the floor once Napier entered the game. I took a look at how many points UConn's opponent scored during that stretch and while UConn was putting up double digits numbers the other team was held to single digit points in 8 of those 11 games and in three games they didn't keep them under 10, they scored no more than 11 points.

I think our defense is going to be even better this coming season with Bazz playing more minutes and the addition of the 3 incoming freshman. Drummond will be a monster in the middle once he learns to play UConn's help man-top-man D, Daniels learns to use his length and Boatright learns to handle high screens...assuming they need to learn and will be able to learn.

I even think the overall scoring will be as good if not better due to the overall improvement of the returning players, plus a net gain from the new players over what the departing players did, not including Kemba's numbers. In other words, Drummond, Daniels & Boatright will out score Chuck, Jamal Coombs-McDaniel and Beverly. Add those numbers to the overall increase scoring they'll get from Bazz, Lamb, Roscoe, Alex, etc, and this team has a chance to have even better +/- numbers this upcoming season.

I'm not implying that they will win the NC again or even win more games. A critical factor in UConn's success last season was Kemba's ability to make winning-time plays. Will the sum of the parts be able to make those same types of plays? Will we also get the lucky bounces and the missed winning-time shots from the other team like we did during that 11 game stretch. Two years ago, it seemed UConn was making all the late game mistakes while the other team was knocking down big time shots. The opposite happened last season. All it takes is one play in the BET and NCAAs and your packing your bags and you're done for good.

I just hope that this team can be so dominant by the end of the year that they won't need as many late game heroics from anyone. The 2004 team was like that during most their final stretch. They did have to pull out a string of winning-time plays to come back on Dook and beat them. Maybe this team can do the same and only need one heroic moment to win it all again. I'm not saying that they will or are capable. I'm just saying that's what I'd like to see happen. Maybe they'll rise to the occasion and have many heroic moments along the way. It's going to be a fun ride with Shabazz Napier at the helm.

Nice stats, DM!! Any chance you could post the point differentials when Shabazz entered the game in the first half until the end of the half if you have the information still? If not, no biggie. But the under double digits stat is very impressive. The pattern that games took last year was just uncanny. Often UConn gets behind or is even in the first 10 minutes, then has a burst to take a good lead at half. Then, the other team erases or diminishes the lead within the first 5 minutes of the 2nd half, only to see UConn hold them about even until we stretched it back out and held on down the stretch.

I would like to see this team not do the start of the 2nd half give back....is that asking too much? Well, if we did the same thing and won it all again, I guess I could deal with it.

Edit: Ooops, I'm asking for the stats that bluedoghouse already provided.

 

[BLUEDOGHOUSE]

Very impressive stats. Thanks for digging up the info.

Your welcome...the stats were interesting and gave me a new appreciation of the SN factor. Apparently I underestimated his impact. My bad....

 

[DogMania]

I put the stats bluedoghouse had above into an Excel spread sheet and then filled them in. I tried pasting them in with the stats that bluedoghouse provided, but they didn't format well. Tables never do. Now I'm assuming his states were first half stats. My numbers are based on his stats. Here are the points allowed after Napier went in:

DePaul (BET 1st Round)
10
Georgetown (BET 2nd Round)
11
Pittsburgh (BET Quarterfinals)
11
Syracuse (BET Semifinals)
7
Louisville (BET Final)
9
Bucknell (NCAA 1st Round)
5
Cincinnati (NCAA 2nd Round)
5
San Diego State (NCAA Sweet 16)
9
Arizona (NCAA Elite Eight)
7
Kentucky (NCAA Final Four)
9
Butler (NCAA Final)
7

These are impressive numbers. In every case he entered the game with more that half of the time remaining in the first half. The least amount was about 11 (Bucknell) minutes remaining while the longest 15 (Zona).

FWIW, it would drive me nuts as to why JC would wait so long before bringing him in. I think his reasoning was he wanted Napier to play aggressive when out there and figured the longer he waited the better the odds of Bazz playing much of the remainder of the game with less risk of fouling out. Similarly, he waited a while before putting Chuck out there because he wanted the refs to get those quick whistles out of their system before he came in. Chuck had the habit of picking up fouls in a hurry and like Bazz, he wanted to get as many aggressive minutes out of Chuck that was possible.