Posted this over at IC in response to an LDII thread, thought I'd update it and see if I can get a response here, too ... stats of UNC PGs in their first season running the team. Though he was a soph, I consider McInnis the worst comparison b/c he got significant playing time as a freshman back-up.
McInnis (SO-95) 34.3 mpg, 12.4 ppg, 5.3 apg, 2.5:1.0 A/TO, .491 FG%, .343 3FG%
Cota (FR -97) 28.3 mpg, 8.0 ppg, 6.9 apg, 1.9:1.0 A/TO, .487 FG%, .313 3FG%
Felton (FR-03) 35.4 mpg, 12.9 ppg, 6.7 apg, 1.8:1.0 A/TO, .398 FG%, .358 3FG%
Frasor (FR-06) 27.5 mpg, 6.4 ppg, 4.4 apg, 1.8:1.0 A/TO, .374 FG%, .310 3FG%
Lawson (FR-07) 25.7 mpg, 10.2 ppg, 5.6 apg, 2.4:1.0 A/TO, .500 FG%, .371 3FG%
Drew* (SO-10) 27.7 mpg, 9.1 ppg, 6.1 apg, 2.0:1.0 A/TO, .441 FG%, .406 3FG%
Also, below are stats for 3 other prior UNC PGs during Final Four/National Title years (none of the below were very good as freshmen or really as sophomores)
Phelps (JR/93) 28.1 mpg, 8.1 ppg, 5.4 apg, 1.8:1.0 A/TO, .457 FG%, .313 3FG%
Rice (SR/91) 28.1 mpg, 8.2 ppg, 5.9 apg, 2.7:1.0 A/TO, .457 FG%, .413 3FG%
Black (SR/82) 34.1 mpg, 7.6 ppg, 6.3 apg, 2.5:1.0 A/TO), .513 FG%
*to date
Had you shown any of us Drew's current stat line back in October, I think we would all have been thrilled and some would have had even wilder expectations about what a great season we were going to have.
The stats are all relative. EVERY player on your list had better offensive players to play with than Drew does. What troubles me about Drew at times is his decision making and shot selection.
Bottom line is that Drew isn't to blame for Carolina's woes this season. Blame Deon's terrible hands and not "stepping up" this season, blame Zellar's injury, blame the fact that Ginyard is half the player he was prior to all his injuries, blame inexperience caused by 4 NBA defections, blame Roy's coaching/inexplicable refusal to give Strickland more playing time; *or* blame all of the above, but it's not fair to blame Drew.
Just not gonna happen this season. But still, Strick is gonna be NASHTY!
(02-15-2010 11:35 PM)fourcorners Wrote: [ -> ]The stats are all relative. EVERY player on your list had better offensive players to play with than Drew does. What troubles me about Drew at times is his decision making and shot selection.
I don't disagree about his decision making, but I think it is hampered by the short-comings of the surrounding cast. I'm not saying that if you could magically swap Cota'97 with Drew'10 that the '97 team would still go to the Final Four and this team would still struggle to stay out of the basement, but I do think that some of the issues with Drew's decision-making might be camoflaged by passing it to Jamison, Carter & Shammond. But you never know. That '03 Felton-led team may be the best comparison and the results have been sorta similar (though the Felton team had a better ACC record, at least to this point).
Anyway, in isolation, LDII is actually exceeding what I hoped to get from him this season. The overall results are another story ...
Seems it might be interesting to see what the numbers look like against only ACC competition, but that might be a hassle to compute. There's also the issue of the ACC not being too strong this year it would seem.
Interesting info, nycfan. I'm happy to be reminded that Drew is putting up some decent numbers, and I do think the mental mistakes will become fewer as he gets more comfortable running the show. It's easy to forget that he's only a sophomore with limited playing experience, and with a totally new cast of players around him who are also learning on the fly. Coupled with the huge expectations of following Lawson, it's only natural that he would struggle.
I don't have the ACC only stats for the other players above. But it was easy enough to parse out LDII's ACC-only stats.
LDII ACC Only -- 10.1 ppg, 6.0 apg, 1.9:1.0 A/TO, .402 FG%, .378 3FG%
Also, I note that in the three ACC wins, he is averaging 15.0 ppg & 7.0 apg, and in the 7 losses 8.75 ppg & 4.5 apg.
Yeah, but you could argue that 2/3 of the ACC wins weren't really against ACC-level competition. Sigh...
^Could and should probably be required to make that argument, which also makes me *sigh* though a little bit less than it makes you *sigh* I guess.
Drew only bothers me when he comes down the court and throws the ball out of bounds trying to force a pass to someone. Other than those headscratchers, he has cut down on turnovers for the most part as we've gotten later into the season. I still wish he would take the ball to the basket a little more, because sometimes he looks to pass a little too much.
I really don't think he is the problem this year - or at least the main problem. We could be pretty good with Larry Drew at the point if we had the other pieces in place.
I thought LDII wasn't the main problem and your stats bear it out.
If Strick and McDonald could actually hit a jump shot consistently, if Deon could stop taking fade-away 8 foot jumpshots, if Ed Davis (when healthy) could bang away and grab another rebound or two and make a couple more "ugly" and "pretty" baskets, if Ginyard could actually hit a freakin' layup!!!1!1, etc.
List goes on and on, but LDII is not the first, or last problem of this team.
Nice post, nycfan.
astounding stats considering who he has to try to assist
some people are going to be amazed at how much better a PG he is when he is coincidently passing ther ball to Bullock and Barnes instead of Graves and Ginyard
he also has the game to get inside and make plays to set up shots for big men, and good outside shooters will open defenses and create driving lanes for him