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Taking A Look At Some Iowa State Basketball Stats

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With no game until Sunday this week, and not any kind of Cyclone drama to discuss (thank goodness!), I thought I'd just do a quick post, looking at some of the statistics from the players. It's still early, but something kind of fun to look at when teams are on kind of a layoff during finals. We're not at the halfway point of the season, but in a way it kind of feels like that. Anyhow, just wanted to throw some things out there and see what you guys think:

  • Diante Garrett is 2nd in the Big 12 in Assists Per Game (5.7), 4th in Steals Per Game (2.1), and 9th in Points Per Game (16.3).
  • Melvin Ejim is 4th in the Big 12 in Field Goal Percentage (61.1%), and 11th in Rebounds Per Game (6.9)
  • Jake Anderson is 6th in the Big 12 in Rebounds Per Game (8.5)
  • Scott Christopherson is 1st in the Big 12 in 3 Point Attempts (71), 3 Point Made (39), and 3 Point Percentage (54.9%). Additionally DG is 2nd in the Big 12 in 3P Attempts (66), but is 38th in the conference in 3P%. Christopherson is also 6th in the Big 12 in Points Per Game (16.5), and 3rd nationally in fewest fouls committed per 40 minutes (0.8).
  • Jamie Vanderbeken is 2nd in the Big 12 in Blocked Shots Per Game (2.0)

When looking at offensive ratings (points per 100 individual possessions) by significant contributor for ISU, they are in the following order:

Christopherson (121.4), Vanderbeken (119.8), Ejim (119.7), Godfrey (111.4), Anderson (111.3), DG (104.4), Bubu (96.4)

When looking at the % of shots taken (when they are on the court) are:

DG (29.7%), Christopherson (23.3%), Vanderbeken (21.1%), Anderson (18.8%), Ejim (18.3%), Bubu (14.1%), Godfrey (8.3%)

Now, I'm willing to admit that Godfrey's ratings may be skewed a little as he doesn't play many minutes, and his scoring comes from putbacks so I'm fine with that discrepency right now. But from how the early stats are shaking out, it seems like the team needs to find ways to get Ejim to take some of DG's shots. I also know that DG is taking so many shots is because he's been left wide open.

Now DG has improved at least in the early going, as its his highest offensive rating (it has improved every year from 79.8, 90.6, 98.9, and now 104.4), and I think he should be looking to score more than he has in the past. At the same time, I don't think he should take 30% of the team's total shots when he's on the floor.  Hopefully the team can find ways to get DG scoring opportunities where he's able to do well, and hopefully they can also draw something up, to give Ejim more opportunities to score.

I'm also intrigued to see how Christopherson's 3 point shooting holds up through the entire season, especially when he's playing as many minutes as he current is, and also how Jake Anderson's rebounding fares when we get into Big 12 play. I think those two storylines are going to determine how well this team does in Big 12 play (along with my dream that Ejim can be a 16 and 8 guy this year, ha ha!).