Welcome to the second weekly installment of The Stats Don’t Lie. A weekly write up of all things statistical in Super League.
Today we will be focusing on team statistics whilst next week we will be looking at who has been the early draft steal for each round of the draft as well as my thoughts on who has been the overall draft steal after 3 rounds.
But before we start delving into team stats let’s just quickly reflect on last weeks worst shooting category.
One week at a time
What a difference a week makes! Last week we highlighted some poor individual shooting performances by a few players. It was great to see many of those players turn it around this week.
J.Begg went from 0 points last week to top scorer for his team this week, shooting at 45% including 3 out of 6 three pointers.
J.Nativo meanwhile knocked down 16 points shooting at 44% from downtown.
Benji Coco also shot 5 three pointers at over 40%. Fantastic comeback from all 3 players and credit to them all for turning their season around so quickly.
Speaking of turning things around - what happened to the Penguins this week? They went from the leagues highest scoring team last week with 61 points to this weeks lowest scoring with just 27!
Bacon award
The Bacon Award will be given to the player who spends the most time on court during the season. This player is the king of court time hogs, who will find any excuse to stay out on the court for as long as possible at the expense of their teammates.
The time on court stats is not showing correctly this week on the super-league website but I do notice early bacon award leader Starkey did sub off for 3 minutes during the 3rd quarter this week.
More on the bacon award leader board next week.
Team statistics
This week I am taking the focus off individuals, instead delving into team statistics. Basketball is a team game after all. With just 2 matches under our belts the sample size is still small and no doubt trends will become a more accurate reflection of team performances over the next few weeks.
Easiest team to score against
The following list shows the average points per game the team allows the opposition to score.
Team / Pts Agt per game
Emerald Bears / 62
Cranbourne Bucks / 58.5
Hampton Park Blazers / 53.5
This Bears average of 62 points against per game is very surprising when you consider only 4 teams have scored above 60 and the highest score this season to date is only 64. Incidentally scored by the Crocs against the Bears.
Most prolific offence
It is no surprise the team with the highest score so far this season also has the highest average points per game.
Team / Pts per game
Cardinia Crocs / 58.5
Hampton Park Blazers / 55.5
Harkaway Toucans / 51.5
N.Spezza is leading the charge for the Crocs averaging just shy of 20 points a game himself. Whilst for the Blazers and Toucans it is the Nagel brothers and L.Mills respectively.
Worst overall shooting teams
Somewhat surprisingly the Bulldogs currently have the leagues worst shooting % at only 29%. I say surprisingly because the Bulldogs roster includes the GOAT of Super-League - Sir Jeff Reid.
Team / FG%
Nar Nar Goon Bulldogs / 29%
Cora Lynn Camels / 29.2%
Tynong Tornadoes / 29.2%
Best Overall Shooting Teams
At the opposite end of the spectrum the Crocs are shooting at a 37.2% and lead all comers.
Team / FG%
Cardinia Crocs / 37.2%
Belgrave Mambas / 37%
Koo Wee Rup Koalas / 35.6%
3 Point Kings and Jokers
After 2 rounds the team that likes to shoot the 3 ball the most is the Bayside Reapers. The Reapers have been jacking up at least 2 long range shot attempts every 3 minutes for a total of 56 attempts in their first 2 matches.
At the opposite end of the scale is the Tynong Tornadoes who have only shot 25 three point attempts.
Putting up attempts is all very good and well but the big question is does your team need to closely guard teams like the Reapers? Are they getting their attempts in? The answer is YES! The Reapers are 3rd in the league for 3pt % shooting as a team at 26.8%. This however is not even close to Super-Leagues most deadly 3 point team, who shoot at almost 40% as a team. Staggering!
Team / 3 Point %
Koo Wee Rup Koalas / 38.2%
Philly Island Penguins / 32.4%
Bayside Reapers / 26.8%
At the opposite end of the spectrum here is a list of the teams for which you can lay out the red carpet when they want to take a 3 point shot attempt.
Team / 3 Point %
Nar Nar Goon Bulldogs / 12.8%
Pakenham Upper Unicorns / 15%
Tooradin Kraken / 15.2%
Turnover VS Steals Comparison
I realise T.Blackney won’t be happy with the following analysis but here we are looking at a teams total turnovers per game adjusted by the amount of steals the team generates per game. This is calculated by subtracting a teams steals per game from their total turnovers per game.
Why do I do this? In my not so humble opinion, it provides a better reflection of a team’s overall performance. Interestingly only 2 out of the 16 teams in the league are currently generating more steals than turnovers. Considering how easy it is to turn the ball over versus creating a steal this is impressive by these 2 teams.
Team / Turnovers Less Steals Per Game
Drouin Dragons / 8.5
Bayside Reapers / 8
Dandenong Ducks / 8
Koo Wee Rup Koalas / 7
Philly Island Penguins / 6.5
Harkaway Toucans / 5
Tynong Tornadoes / 4.5
Cardinia Crocs / 4
Emerald Bears / 4
Cora Lynn Camels / 3.5
Hampton Park Blazers / 3.5
Tooradin Kraken / 3
Belgrave Mambas / 2.5
Pakenham Upper Unicorns / 2
Nar Nar Goon Bulldogs / -1.5
Cranbourne Bucks / -1.5
Mad Minute
Despite not doing much for the rest of the game I personally had a 60 second blitz where I scored 3 buckets for a total of 6 points. This got me thinking. What is the most points a player is able to score in any 60 second period in a game? I don’t have time to trawl through every play by play, so I will leave it up to readers to let me know. The rules are simple: all the points have to be scored within a 60 second block. Let me know if anyone beats 6 points. Be interested to learn what the record is by the end of the season.
Complaints
Finally, I would like to tongue-in-cheek recognise the players who are leading the league in complaining about this weekly write up. I certainly appreciate your constructive criticism and for you taking the time to read the article and display your passion.
Player / Complaints
A.Olczyk / 3
T.Blackney / 1
G.John / 1