Welcome to the first edition of The Stats Don’t Lie. A weekly write up of all things statistical in Super League.
With just a 1 game sampler size to review, no doubt many of the current category leaders will change as the season progresses.
Singlets
To get things underway, let’s discuss singlet numbers.
What do you think is the most requested singlet number? I personally would have thought the number 23 would be the most worn. Whilst 23 was the 3rd most popular number the singlet number worn the most was the late Kobe Bryant’s 24, worn in 62% of Super-league teams this season. Other popular numbers were number 9 and number 7.
The highest number is worn by Hazard Electrical founder Eli Evans. He wears number 92.
The first number without any representation is number 17.
Time on Court
In many teams there is often a couple of players who get limited court time. So the questions which needs to be asked is how much court time should each player receive to have a perfectly even spread amongst all players. The following table shows the court time each player should be getting in an ideal world:
Players/Minutes
5 players/40
6 players/33.3
7 players/28.6
8 players/25
As you can see with 8 players on a team each player should be getting 25 minutes court time on average per game. In reality, we know this doesn’t occur. Early draft picks seem to demand more court time, and unfit older players like to have a rest on the pine. Of course, when a team is comfortably winning in the final quarter you would expect the star players to sub themselves off to let their teammates have a run. That is why I would like to make a special shout out to Brad Starkey this week who managed to stay on the court for the entire 40 minutes despite his Penguins winning by over 20 points. Let it be a warning to all court hogs. I am watching and later in the season I will be announcing the “Bacon” award to the player who is the biggest court time hog!!
Individual Statistics.
When it comes to individual statistics those who have more court time are naturally going to get more opportunities to generate more statistics. Here at the Stats Don’t Lie however we break things down in more depth. If a player scores 20 points in 20 minutes game time we believe that is better than a player who scores 25 points in 40 minutes of game time. That is why most of our stats will be converted to a per minute basis and then multiplied by 40 minutes to get a true full game outcome.
Most Points Per Game
So - if every player played a full 40 minutes how many points would they have scored? Here is this week’s top 10 performers and their adjusted points per game score:
Minutes/Pts/Points per game
K. Nagel/34/24/28.2
L. Scott(C)/31/19/24.5
B. Starkey(C)/40/24/24.0
C. Lanting/30/18/24.0
C. Nagel(C)/35/20/22.9
L. Mills/28/15/21.4
M. Stewart/36/19/21.1
T. Walsh/36/19/21.1
J. Temby/19/10/21.1
N. Spezza/37/19/20.5
Most Assists
The ten players above get the praise on the stat sheet but behind open shots is a great pass from a teammate. This statistical category is often overlooked, and it takes a very, very, VERY, special player to make double digits in the assist category. Whilst a few players got close only 1 player managed the feat this week. He has been robbed of steal of the draft in several seasons but here he gets the recognition he deserves. Without further ado I bring you this week’s top 4 assisters:
Jordan Hendrix - 10
A. Mcmillan - 8
G. Wise(C) - 7
S. Bajgar - 7
Most Steals minus turnovers
Whilst 5 steals would be impressive on it’s own, if the same player had 20 turnovers, have they really had a good defensive game? Here at the Stats Don’t Lie we value both categories which is why we deduct any turnovers from a players steal totals to determine their true output to their team. Alex Mcmillan features in 2nd place on this list and is an underrated defensive player in my opinion. Here is this week’s best performers for the steal category after taking turnovers into account:
Player
Steals Adjusted
M. Francis - 7
A. Mcmillan - 6
D. Stow(C) - 4
P. Davey - 4
C. Lanting - 4
Speaking of turnovers, we highlight both the good and the bad in this report, so here were this weeks turnover kings. Please note: In second place is the fake J.Hendrix (not to be confused with the real one).
Turnovers Total
B. Thompson - 11
Jarryd Hendrix - 9
J. Batiste - 8
C. Rodes - 8
M. Lee - 8
S. Mcquillan - 8
Rebound Kings
I did have a go at my dear mate Brad Starkey earlier, but he did lead this weeks stat categories in both total rebounds and offensive rebounds. Here are the 3 respective lists (adjusted for time on court):
Offensive Rebounds:
Brad Starkey - 13
Brod Green - 9
Jak Morris Burney - 6
Defensive Rebounds:
Matt Aldred - 17
Mitch Ryal - 16
Riley Smith - 16
Total Rebounds:
Brad Starkey - 24
Brod Green - 24
Matt Aldred - 20
Logan Mills - 20
13 Offensive rebounds is absolutely ridiculous and is no doubt part of the reason the Penguins had 30+ more rebounds then their opponents this week.
Worst Shooters for the round
Everyone can have an off-night shooting, so I doubt we will see these names on this list again any time soon. Nevertheless, the following list is the 5 players who couldn’t hit the backside of a barn. This category hasn’t been adjusted for time on court. Special shout out to my teammate Beggy who subbed me off in the last 4 minutes so he could add to his missed shot tally. Karma’s a bitch!
Bricklayer/attempts/%
J.Begg/Zero out of 10/0%
C. Pettit/Zero out of 6/0%
B. Coco/Zero our out of 6/0%
S. Harris/1 out of 13/7%
J Nativo/1 out of 10/10%
Player fouled the most
Whilst most people look at who committed the most fouls I like to see who got fouled against the most. This is often an indication of a player’s aggressive drives to the hoop or in the case of this weeks leader an opportunity for opponents to get a cheap one in without fear of retribution.
Player/Times fouled
K. Sutherland/10
V. Tankov/10
J. Donnelly/9
L. Blacka/9
Most 3 Point Attempts
Everyone loves to shoot a 3 ball but which players jacked it up from long range the most in round 1?
Player/3 Point Attempts/Made/%
J.Donnelly/12/3/25%
J.Reid/12/4/33%
P.Kennedy/11/1/8%
S.West/10/1/8%
Free Throw Perfection
Our final statistical analysis this round is the underrated free throw. Of the players who have attempted free throws this week only 7 have a perfect 100% record.
Yet to miss a Free Throw
S. Elliott
T. Walsh
K. Sutherland
C. Pettit
C. Brumby
R. Dunn
J. Carroll
Thanks for reading. This article is tongue in cheek and all comments are for entertainment purposes only. If anyone has any complaints, please take it up with my bodyguard Mr Kiel Sutherland. Thanks.