I was listening to the UT pregame show last night and Pearl was being interviewed by Bob Kesling. Kesling asked him about the PG play thus far (Maze and Goins). Pearl said he was pleased with their defense, but not their offense. He then made the following profound statements. He said that his guys who statistically are shooting the ball well need to shoot the ball more, and he said they had several above 50%. His guys who are not shooting it well need to shoot less, or start shooting better.
Remarkably simple, right?
Here's UT's stats through six games.
Hopson, Scotty...... 40-76 .526
Smith, Tyler........ 33-55 .600
Chism, Wayne........ 33-62 .532
Tatum, Cameron...... 27-43 .628
Maze, Bobby......... 20-50 .400
Williams, Brian..... 19-33 .576
Goins, Melvin....... 15-38 .395
McBee, Skylar....... 10-25 .400
Prince, J.P......... 9-26 .346
Their top three shot takers are three of their better shooters. Throw Tatum in there and it's 4 of the top 5. Maze and Goins need to shoot less (or shoot better) to get more shots for Hopson, T Smith, and Chism. Tatum and Williams should shoot more too it appears, but with Williams it is probably a function of minutes. JP Prince knows he can't shoot, so he doesn't.
Now look at ours.
<table style="border-collapse: collapse; width: 232pt;" border="0" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" width="310"> <col style="width: 145pt;" width="193"> <col style="width: 20pt;" span="2" width="27"> <col style="width: 47pt;" width="63"> <tbody> <tr style="height: 15.75pt;"> <td class="xl63" style="height: 15.75pt; width: 145pt;" height="21" width="193">Jarvis Varnado......</td> <td class="xl64" style="width: 20pt;" width="27">32</td> <td class="xl64" style="width: 20pt;" width="27">48</td> <td class="xl65" style="width: 47pt;" width="63">66.70%</td> </tr> <tr style="height: 15.75pt;"> <td class="xl63" style="height: 15.75pt;" height="21">Ravern Johnson......</td> <td class="xl64">27</td> <td class="xl64">59</td> <td class="xl65">45.80%</td> </tr> <tr style="height: 15.75pt;"> <td class="xl63" style="height: 15.75pt;" height="21">Romero Osby.........</td> <td class="xl64">10</td> <td class="xl64">22</td> <td class="xl65">45.50%</td> </tr> <tr style="height: 15.75pt;"> <td class="xl63" style="height: 15.75pt;" height="21">Wendell Lewis.......</td> <td class="xl64">5</td> <td class="xl64">11</td> <td class="xl65">45.50%</td> </tr> <tr style="height: 15.75pt;"> <td class="xl63" style="height: 15.75pt;" height="21">Kodi Augustus.......</td> <td class="xl64">11</td> <td class="xl64">27</td> <td class="xl65">40.70%</td> </tr> <tr style="height: 15.75pt;"> <td class="xl63" style="height: 15.75pt;" height="21">Dee Bost............</td> <td class="xl64">21</td> <td class="xl64">53</td> <td class="xl65">39.60%</td> </tr> <tr style="height: 15.75pt;"> <td class="xl63" style="height: 15.75pt;" height="21">Phil Turner.........</td> <td class="xl64">15</td> <td class="xl64">40</td> <td class="xl65">37.50%</td> </tr> <tr style="height: 15.75pt;"> <td class="xl63" style="height: 15.75pt;" height="21">Barry Stewart.......</td> <td class="xl64">21</td> <td class="xl64">57</td> <td class="xl65">36.80%</td> </tr> <tr style="height: 15.75pt;"> <td class="xl63" style="height: 15.75pt;" height="21">Riley Benock........</td> <td class="xl64">3</td> <td class="xl64">12</td> <td class="xl65">25.00%</td> </tr> </tbody> </col></col></col></table>
Three of our top five shot takers (Stewart, Bost and Turner) are three of our worst shooters. Cold streak to start the year? OK, here are last year's numbers...
Varnado - 54.9%
Stewart - 36.7%
Ravern 43.1%
Bost 35.2%
Turner 45.9%
Kodi - 48.1%
Osby 43.2%
Benock 38.8%
With the exception of JV, Turner and Kodi, the rest are remarkably similar.
For all the hate Barry/Randy gets on this board, he's not that much worst than Bost, who gets constant praise. Ravern gets killed on this board, rightfully so, for his defense, his handle and his lack of strength, but at least he's somewhat consistent shooting the ball over the last year +6 games. Clearly we need to try get more shots for Jarvis. No way should he be fourth on the team in shots with the accuracy he has shown.
I don't know what all of this means. Maybe our guards are actually terrible across the board. Maybe they really have been in a year long slump. Maybe Ravern and Osby should become more prominent players in our offense. I do know this much....if all these numbers look the same in March, it's going to have been a long and disappointing year in Starkville.
Remarkably simple, right?
Here's UT's stats through six games.
Hopson, Scotty...... 40-76 .526
Smith, Tyler........ 33-55 .600
Chism, Wayne........ 33-62 .532
Tatum, Cameron...... 27-43 .628
Maze, Bobby......... 20-50 .400
Williams, Brian..... 19-33 .576
Goins, Melvin....... 15-38 .395
McBee, Skylar....... 10-25 .400
Prince, J.P......... 9-26 .346
Their top three shot takers are three of their better shooters. Throw Tatum in there and it's 4 of the top 5. Maze and Goins need to shoot less (or shoot better) to get more shots for Hopson, T Smith, and Chism. Tatum and Williams should shoot more too it appears, but with Williams it is probably a function of minutes. JP Prince knows he can't shoot, so he doesn't.
Now look at ours.
<table style="border-collapse: collapse; width: 232pt;" border="0" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" width="310"> <col style="width: 145pt;" width="193"> <col style="width: 20pt;" span="2" width="27"> <col style="width: 47pt;" width="63"> <tbody> <tr style="height: 15.75pt;"> <td class="xl63" style="height: 15.75pt; width: 145pt;" height="21" width="193">Jarvis Varnado......</td> <td class="xl64" style="width: 20pt;" width="27">32</td> <td class="xl64" style="width: 20pt;" width="27">48</td> <td class="xl65" style="width: 47pt;" width="63">66.70%</td> </tr> <tr style="height: 15.75pt;"> <td class="xl63" style="height: 15.75pt;" height="21">Ravern Johnson......</td> <td class="xl64">27</td> <td class="xl64">59</td> <td class="xl65">45.80%</td> </tr> <tr style="height: 15.75pt;"> <td class="xl63" style="height: 15.75pt;" height="21">Romero Osby.........</td> <td class="xl64">10</td> <td class="xl64">22</td> <td class="xl65">45.50%</td> </tr> <tr style="height: 15.75pt;"> <td class="xl63" style="height: 15.75pt;" height="21">Wendell Lewis.......</td> <td class="xl64">5</td> <td class="xl64">11</td> <td class="xl65">45.50%</td> </tr> <tr style="height: 15.75pt;"> <td class="xl63" style="height: 15.75pt;" height="21">Kodi Augustus.......</td> <td class="xl64">11</td> <td class="xl64">27</td> <td class="xl65">40.70%</td> </tr> <tr style="height: 15.75pt;"> <td class="xl63" style="height: 15.75pt;" height="21">Dee Bost............</td> <td class="xl64">21</td> <td class="xl64">53</td> <td class="xl65">39.60%</td> </tr> <tr style="height: 15.75pt;"> <td class="xl63" style="height: 15.75pt;" height="21">Phil Turner.........</td> <td class="xl64">15</td> <td class="xl64">40</td> <td class="xl65">37.50%</td> </tr> <tr style="height: 15.75pt;"> <td class="xl63" style="height: 15.75pt;" height="21">Barry Stewart.......</td> <td class="xl64">21</td> <td class="xl64">57</td> <td class="xl65">36.80%</td> </tr> <tr style="height: 15.75pt;"> <td class="xl63" style="height: 15.75pt;" height="21">Riley Benock........</td> <td class="xl64">3</td> <td class="xl64">12</td> <td class="xl65">25.00%</td> </tr> </tbody> </col></col></col></table>
Three of our top five shot takers (Stewart, Bost and Turner) are three of our worst shooters. Cold streak to start the year? OK, here are last year's numbers...
Varnado - 54.9%
Stewart - 36.7%
Ravern 43.1%
Bost 35.2%
Turner 45.9%
Kodi - 48.1%
Osby 43.2%
Benock 38.8%
With the exception of JV, Turner and Kodi, the rest are remarkably similar.
For all the hate Barry/Randy gets on this board, he's not that much worst than Bost, who gets constant praise. Ravern gets killed on this board, rightfully so, for his defense, his handle and his lack of strength, but at least he's somewhat consistent shooting the ball over the last year +6 games. Clearly we need to try get more shots for Jarvis. No way should he be fourth on the team in shots with the accuracy he has shown.
I don't know what all of this means. Maybe our guards are actually terrible across the board. Maybe they really have been in a year long slump. Maybe Ravern and Osby should become more prominent players in our offense. I do know this much....if all these numbers look the same in March, it's going to have been a long and disappointing year in Starkville.