It is time to take one last look at the stats from the 2008-09 Mizzou basketball season, and then bid adieu and wait for spring football (followed by college football magazine season, and then two-a-days, and then the season) to nab our attention.

• This includes all cupcakes, so naturally the numbers are a hair inflated.  In all, this pretty much wraps everything into a neat little bow--this was an okay shooting team that played great perimeter defense, rebounded in a mediocre fashion...and dominated every single facet of the game when a shot wasn't in the air.
• Not only did opponents turn the ball over a lot, but they also weren't given a ton of baskets via ball movement--that's a paltry number of assists allowed.  You could take some of Mizzou's defenders 1-on-1 if you were quick enough (Tyreke Evans, Jerel McNeal, Kemba Walker, I'm looking in your direction), but aside from a game here and there, you simply could not create many open shots through ball movement and patience.

You know what would be fun?  If we could compare this Missouri team and its stats to Missouri teams of yore.

In fact, let's do just that.

Where did this team rank among Mizzou's best?

Thanks to a couple of different websites (including Ben Vollmayr-Lee's old site), I have Missouri's year-by-year team and player stats back to 1980-81 (29 seasons).  I thought it would be fun to see where this team ranked in lots of different categories, compared to preview Mizzou squads.  We'll start with per-game stats before moving to my preferred categories, the pace-independent per-possession stats.

Per Game Stats - Offense

Points Per Game

1. 1988-89 - 88.0
2. 1987-88 - 87.0
3. 1989-90 - 86.8
4. 2008-09 - 81.5
5. 1990-91 - 81.3

You're going to see this a lot--we talk about how fast-paced this Missouri team was, and they certainly were at times this year, but they could not hold a candle to those late-'80s teams.  We'll call it the Billy Tubbs Era in the Big 8.  Missouri was a plodding, methodical team in the early-'80s, and by about 1987, they played every bit as fast as Oklahoma and others in conference.  Either way, this was the highest scoring Missouri team outside of the Billy Tubbs Era.

Rebounds Per Game

1. 1990-91 - 40.0
2. 1987-88 - 39.8
3. 2002-03 - 39.4
4. 2001-02 - 39.3
5. 1988-89 - 38.8
12. 2008-09 - 36.6

Right in the middle overall.  Sounds about right.

Assists Per Game

1. 1989-90 - 20.0
2. 1988-89 - 19.1
3. 1990-91 - 18.9
4. 1987-88 - 18.4
5. 2008-09 - 18.4

The best-passing team outside the Billy Tubbs Era as well.

Turnovers Per Game

1. 2008-09 - 11.8
2. 1989-90 - 12.8
3. 1999-00 - 13.1
4. 2007-08 - 13.1
5. 2002-03 - 13.6

This team was a full turnover better than any other Missouri team in terms of turnovers.  Ridiculously good.  Combining high assists and low turnovers, you could possibly call this Missouri's best ball-handling team ever.  That's what made them so good--yeah, they created chaos on defense, but they were completely in control on offense.

Blocks Per Game

1. 2002-03 - 4.4
2. 2001-02 - 4.3
3. 1990-91 - 4.3
4. 2003-04 - 4.3
5. 2000-01 - 4.0
7. 2008-09 - 3.7

Thanks as much to Keith Ramsey as anybody else, this was actually one of the best non-Arthur Johnson teams in terms of blocked shots.

BCI

1. 2008-09 - 2.42
2. 1989-90 - 2.17
3. 2007-08 - 1.91
4. 1987-88 - 1.82
5. 1999-00 - 1.73

As one would expect with what we saw in the assist and turnover numbers, this team was by far the best BCI team in Missouri's last 30 years.  Two of the top three are Mike Anderson teams, and...we're seeing that 1989-90 team pop up quite a bit, aren't we?

Per-Game Stats - Defense

Points Per Game Allowed

1. 1981-82 - 59.7
2. 1983-84 - 62.8
3. 1982-83 - 63.4
4. 1998-99 - 63.6
5. 1980-81 - 64.9
7. 2008-09 - 67.7

As I mentioned, the early-'80s (the Stipo & Sundvold era) saw Missouri wield an extremely stifling half-court defense and ride it to three conference titles.  The top three teams on this list were from that early-'80s period.  But Mizzou's ridiculous scoring margin at home led them to being the #4 scoring offense in the last 29 years and the #7 scoring defense.  That's, uhh, a pretty good combination.

Rebounds Per Game Allowed

1. 1982-83 - 27.9
2. 1983-84 - 29.2
3. 1981-82 - 29.5
4. 1984-85 - 29.9
5. 1985-86 - 31.2
22. 2008-09 - 37.1

Assists Per Game Allowed

1. 1980-81 - 10.2
2. 1981-82 - 10.5
3. 2008-09 - 11.9
4. 2007-08 - 12.3
5. 1993-94 - 12.5

It really is easy to see how opponents wore down.  They couldn't create easy buckets off of ball movement, they couldn't force any turnovers of their own...

Turnovers Forced Per Game

1. 2006-07 - 18.9
2. 2008-09 - 18.3
3. 1990-91 - 18.0
4. 1999-00 - 17.7
5. 2007-08 - 17.1

Steals Per Game

1. 1990-91 - 11.5
2. 2008-09 - 10.2
3. 2006-07 - 10.0
4. 1998-99 - 9.1
5. 1991-92 - 9.0

Blocks Per Game Allowed

1. 1982-83 - 2.0
2. 1983-84 - 2.0
3. 1986-87 - 2.1
4. 1981-82 - 2.4
5. 1988-89 - 2.4
6. 2008-09 - 2.6

BCI Allowed

1. 2008-09 - 0.99
2. 2007-08 - 1.08
3. 2006-07 - 1.08
4. 1999-00 - 1.10
5. 1993-94 - 1.14

BCI!  BCI!  BCI!

Per-Possession Stats - Offense

Possessions Per Game

1. 1990-91 - 80.9
2. 1988-89 - 80.1
3. 1987-88 - 77.9
4. 1989-90 - 77.8
5. 1993-94 - 77.4
15. 2008-09 - 72.1

This might be the most shocking stat here.  As much as we heard about how Missouri loves to push the tempo and push the tempo and push the tempo, the pace at which they played their games in the 2008-09 season was distinctly middle-of-the-road.  A lot of 2008-09 was played in the halfcourt, and Missouri was able to kill there too.

Points Per Possession

1. 2001-02 - 1.13
2. 2008-09 - 1.13
3. 1987-88 - 1.12
4. 1989-90 - 1.12
5. 1988-89 - 1.10

Second-most efficient offense of the last 29 years.

Free Throw Attempts Per Field Goal Attempts (a.k.a. how good were they at getting to the line?)

1. 1995-96 - 0.51
2. 1981-82 - 0.51
3. 1980-81 - 0.50
4. 1986-87 - 0.49
5. 1984-85 - 0.49
23. 2008-09 - 0.37

Leo Lyons was one of the best in the country at drawing contact, but the rest of the team...not so much.

3-Point Shots Per Possession (since 1986-87)

1. 1999-00 - 0.36
2. 2001-02 - 0.33
3. 2004-05 - 0.32
4. 2002-03 - 0.31
5. 2000-01 - 0.31
10. 2008-09 - 0.27

Anybody shocked to see three Clarence Gilbert teams in the top five?  Missouri wasn't particularly great at shooting the 3-ball, so it's good to see that they didn't shoot them at an exceedingly high rate.

Offensive Rebound Percentage (since 1996-97*)

1. 2001-02 - 7.9%
2. 2003-04 - 7.8%
3. 2002-03 - 7.4%
4. 2005-06 - 7.3%
5. 2000-01 - 7.2%
7. 2008-09 - 6.9%

* No offensive/defensive rebound splits until then.

Mizzou's rebounding mediocrity came on the defensive end of the ball--their offensive rebounding ability was above par.  Oh, and once again the AJ era reaped severe benefits--he and Travon Bryant were on the prowl for four of Mizzou's top five offensive rebounding seasons.

Rebounds Per Possession

1. 2002-03 - 0.58
2. 2001-02 - 0.56
3. 2003-04 - 0.55
4. 2004-05 - 0.54
5. 2001-01 - 0.53
9. 2008-09 - 0.51

Assists Per Possession

1. 1989-90 - 0.26
2. 2008-09 - 0.26
3. 1982-83 - 0.24
4. 1988-89 - 0.24
5. 1987-88 - 0.24

Even putting aside tempo, this was as good a passing team as you'll see in black and gold.  And basically the entire backcourt returns for 2009-10.

Turnovers Per Possession

1. 2008-09 - 0.16
2. 1989-90 - 0.16
3. 2007-08 - 0.18
4. 1999-00 - 0.18
5. 1987-88 - 0.19

BCI!  BCI!  BCI!

Steals Allowed Per Possession

1. 1999-00 - 0.08
2. 2007-08 - 0.08
3. 1993-94 - 0.09
4. 2008-09 - 0.09
5. 1982-83 - 0.09

Per-Possession Stats - Defense

Points Per Possession Allowed

1. 1981-82 - 0.88
2. 1998-99 - 0.89
3. 1990-91 - 0.90
4. 1980-81 - 0.91
5. 1991-92 - 0.91
7. 2008-09 - 0.94

Free Throw Attempts Per Field Goal Attempts (a.k.a. how good were they at preventing the opponent from getting to the line?)

1. 1981-82 - 0.29
2. 1984-85 - 0.29
3. 1991-92 - 0.30
4. 1985-86 - 0.31
5. 2002-03 - 0.31
24. 2008-09 - 0.40

Lots of shooting fouls.

3-Point Shots Per Possession Allowed

1. 1986-87 - 0.13
2. 1988-89 - 0.18
3. 1987-88 - 0.19
4. 1990-91 - 0.20
5. 1989-90 - 0.20
12. 2008-09 - 0.24

Offensive Rebound Percentage Allowed (Since 1996-97)

1. 2004-05 - 6.1%
2. 1999-00 - 6.4%
3. 2001-02 - 6.5%
4. 2003-04 - 6.6%
5. 2006-07 - 6.7%
7. 2008-09 - 6.9%

Rebounds Per Possession Allowed

1. 1984-85 - 0.42
2. 1982-83 - 0.42
3. 1985-86 - 0.42
4. 1988-89 - 0.43
5. 1981-82 - 0.43
21. 2008-09 - 0.52

Assists Per Possession Allowed

1. 1980-81 - 0.14
2. 1981-82 - 0.15
3. 1993-94 - 0.16
4. 2008-09 - 0.16
5. 2007-08 - 0.17

Turnovers Forced Per Possession

1. 2006-07 - 0.26
2. 2008-09 - 0.25
3. 1999-00 - 0.25
4. 2007-08 - 0.23
5. 1998-99 - 0.23

Steals Per Possession

1. 1990-91 - 0.14
2. 2008-09 - 0.14
3. 2006-07 - 0.14
4. 1998-99 - 0.13
5. 1999-00 - 0.12

Fouls Committed Per Possession

1. 2006-07 - 0.29
2. 2004-05 - 0.29
3. 2000-01 - 0.29
4. 1996-97 - 0.29
5. 2003-04 - 0.28
7. 2008-09 - 0.28

Shooting Stats - Offense

Points Per Shot

1. 1981-82 - 1.46
2. 1987-88 - 1.41
3. 1982-83 - 1.40
4. 1986-87 - 1.40
5. 1995-96 - 1.39
14. 2008-09 - 1.30

Average shooting team.

Field Goal %

1. 1982-83 - 54.0%
2. 1981-82 - 53.9%
3. 1988-89 - 52.4%
4. 1985-86 - 52.4%
5. 1987-88 - 52.0%
13. 2008-09 - 47.3%

Average shooting team.

3-Point FG %

1. 1987-88 - 42.0%
2. 2001-02 - 39.1%
3. 1994-95 - 38.8%
4. 1989-90 - 38.2%
5. 2000-01 - 38.0%
17. 2008-09 - 35.3%

Below average 3-point shooting team.

Free Throw %

1. 1996-97 - 75.8%
2. 1981-82 - 74.3%
3. 1984-85 - 72.9%
4. 1991-92 - 71.5%
5. 1999-00 - 71.0%
24. 2008-09 - 67.2%

Below average free throw shooting team.  But we knew that.

Shooting Stats - Defense

Points Per Shot Allowed

1. 1981-82 - 1.05
2. 1998-99 - 1.09
3. 1980-81 - 1.10
4. 1991-92 - 1.12
5. 2002-03 - 1.12
18. 2008-09 - 1.20

Field Goal % Allowed

1. 1998-99 - 39.3%
2. 1992-93 - 40.4%
3. 2002-03 - 40.8%
4. 1990-91 - 41.3%
5. 1991-92 - 41.6%
7. 2008-09 - 41.8%

3-Point FG % Allowed

1. 2008-09 - 30.3%
2. 2007-08 - 30.9%
3. 1998-99 - 31.8%
4. 2000-01 - 32.1%
5. 1999-00 - 33.0%

An interesting mix here--opponents shot horribly from long range and poorly overall, yet averaged a decent number of points per shot.  It all goes back to Mizzou allowing a lot of free throw attempts.

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Tomorrow, we look at the players, and we play some fun games with similarity scores.