Mizzou-Illinois: Statistical Masochism

EqPts = a take-off of the Net Equivalent Points idea discussed last week. Taking points, assists, rebounds (offensive & defensive), steals, blocks, turnovers and fouls into account, the team's points are re-distributed to figure out who had the biggest impact on the game itself, instead of just how many balls a player put through a basket. I can go into detail on the formula if anybody asks, but for now just know that that was the intent.

• Aside from making an outlet pass to the guy at the scorer's table waiting to check into the game, Leo Lyons really did play alright. The main problem with Leo's game creeped in when DeMarre went out with a twisted ankle in the first half and Leo had to defend at the top of the key. That resulted in quite a few open shots...further signifying the importance of DeMarre to this team. Next time #1 goes out, let's try Keith Ramsey or Laurence Bowers up there, shall we?
• Zaire Taylor and Miguel Paul: 1 combined assist. That really tests the strength of the "This is a great passing team" theorem. Granted, passing wasn't a major problem last night (random passes to the scorer's table aside), but it wasn't exactly a strength.
• I think Marcus Denmon was the biggest victim of the whole lid-on-the-rim experiment in the first half. Every time he releases a shot, I assume it's going in (which is saying something considering his season FG% isn't too hot), and he had a couple rattle out at a time when Mizzou really needed a basket.
• Keith Ramsey continues to be the "little things" leader...filling up the box score despite only two points. One request, though: no more 3-pointers.

Mizzou versus Real Teams*

Yeah, needless to say, the "correction" was felt hardest here. These "real team" numbers looked great thanks to a) the small sample size and b) the Cal massacre, but Illinois straightened that out a bit. The Assist/Steal/Turnover numbers still look great overall.

Mizzou is shooting 25% from 3-point range against "real" teams. Matt Lawrence is contributing nothing in these games. Less than nothing, actually. Kim English shot too much last night, but I'm still leaning toward starting him over M-Law.

• Not sure why I want to point this out, but in 5.0 MPG, Laurence Bowers is producing more than Matt Lawrence is in 19.5 MPG. And while Kimmie's 0.25 EqPts/Minute is lacking, it's still just a wee bit better than Lawrence's 0.14. He can't shoot quite as well as The Grey Goose, but he can create his own shot about 15x better, and that's worth quite a bit.
• I'm also ready to see Bowers get some meaningful minutes against real teams. Not saying he'll do any better than Safford, but let's find out.
• If you looked up "Growing Pains" in the dictionary, next to the picture of Kirk Cameron would be a picture of Miguel Paul. But that doesn't mean we should give him the nickname of Boner.

Season to Date

The next game is in three days. Thank goodness. Then again, if a game takes place in front of nobody, did it really happen?