Mid-season shooting stats review
Ten rounds into one of the best NBL seasons in recent memory and it’s time for a shooting stats review to see who has been dominating each part of the court on offense. Given the short season (compared with the 82 game NBA), there’s obviously a little bit of ‘noise’ involved in these stats. For those who watch plenty of the league though, you’ll be able to quickly identify what you see as sustainable (you can also check out past season numbers at crunchtimeshots.com).
AJ Ogilvy has been an MVP calibre player in his return to the league thanks to his two way monster play. He gets deep catches inside, is a menace on the offensive boards and also runs hard in transition allowing him to amass a whopping 128 points at the rim already. Jordair Jett came to Townsville out of shape, and whilst he has had some inconsistent stretches of the season, he clearly knows how to use his size to work his way inside and finish strong (and with nice touch).
Tom Abercrombie has been sensational from mid-range this season with his one or two dribble pull ups just below the free throw line (note that he is tied for points with Kirk Penney and Ogilvy from the left side, but he has a superior FG% so gets the nod in the picture). Jerome Randle is an absolute menace out of the pick and roll and has been deadly when attacking the paint, whilst he is also effective when he pulls up for the long two.
Stephen Holt and Clint Steindl shoot over half of their FGA from beyond the three point line (and with good reason) whilst Kirk Penney is still one of the best shooters in the league even in his mid-thirties. Damian Martin missing extended time, as well as some selective and somewhat unexpected (and unsustainable) efficient shooting, sees Jarrod Kenny leading a corner three category. With Martin back and edging closer to his regular allotment of minutes, we may see someone such as Todd Blanchfield finish the season as number one from that spot.
The following table shows the top FG% by each main area of the floor as well as the worst player from each spot through ten rounds: Min. 25 FGA Min. 10 FGA Restricted Area Non RA Mid-Range Above the Corner 3 Corner 3 Chris Goulding 86.7 Markel Starks 62.2 Tom Abercrombie 49.2 Everard Bartlett 50.0 Casey Prather 62.5 Cam Gliddon 77.8 Anthony Petrie 55.3 Kevin Lisch 48.8 Daniel Kickert 45.1 Kirk Penney 58.8 Hakim Warrick 77.4 Tom Garlepp 53.6 AJ Ogilvy 47.7 Stephen Holt 44.1 Jarrod Kenny 57.1 Todd Blanchfield 76.0 Jordair Jett 52.5 Julian Khazzouh 46.4 Oscar Forman 42.6 Oscar Forman 50.0 Charles Jackson 75.0 Cam Tragardh 52.2 Corey Webster 46.3 Jarrad Weeks 42.3 Todd Blanchfield 44.4 AJ Ogilvy 74.4 Kevin Lisch 52.0 Stephen Weigh 45.2 Shawn Redhage 41.9 Stephen Weigh 42.9 Casey Prather 74.2 Daniel Kickert 51.4 Markel Starks 44.8 Kevin Lisch 41.3 Clint Steindl 41.2 Julian Khazzouh 73.0 Jerome Randle 47.9 Chris Goulding 44.7 Kirk Penney 40.7 Jermaine Beal 40.0 Jerome Randle 71.0 Nicholas Kay 47.8 Jerome Randle 44.4 Jarrod Kenny 40.7 Torrey Craig 37.5 Daniel Johnson 70.5 Julian Khazzouh 45.5 Hakim Warrick 44.4 Jesse Wagstaff 40.7 Jesse Wagstaff 33.3 Shawn Redhage 41.4 Casey Prather 29.2 Brian Conklin 24.2 Cedric Jackson 20.4 Stephen Holt 18.2 Noteworthy:
Chris Goulding has been a mid-seventy percent finisher in the restricted over the previous two Melbourne seasons that I have numbers for.
Markel Starks is the third best finisher inside the paint (min. 25 combined restricted and non-restricted area FGA) behind Goulding and Charles Jackson.
Despite his size, Jerome Randle is one of the best finishers inside the paint from both areas.
Casey Prather has been great at the rim, and on limited 3PA, but he is the worst non RA finisher and was also one attempt off qualifying as the worst mid-range shooter.
Shooting the lights out when you’re on the court helps turn a part time playing contract into a full time one, as Everard Bartlett and Jarrad Weeks know, or in Brian Conklin’s case, losing your shot when you’re on the big dollars can quickly get you cut.
Some venues seem to plot corner three point attempts better than others so it’s extra small sample size theatre with those.
Detailed player and team shot chart numbers can be viewed at crunchtimeshots.com
Any questions? Find me on twitter @crunchtimeshots