BTI's Rants and Ramblings: Individual Players in Wins and Losses

You would think it would be obvious to say that players play worse in losses and better in wins.  But I put that idea to the test by comparing each of the major 6 players stats in the 14 wins and 3 losses.  And what I found was pretty interesting.  In fact, 3 of the 6 players actually have increased scoring in losses than wins.  But, I have highlighted particular stats that have noticeably decreased during losses, and at the end I picked out 3 keys from these stats: BRANDON KNIGHT Wins: 19.1 ppg, 3.9 apg, 48.8 FG%, 43.8 3P% Losses: 10.3 ppg, 4.0 apg, 34.2 FG%, 16.7 3P% TERRENCE JONES Wins: 18.5 ppg, 9.5 rpg, 48.4 FG% Losses: 19.0 ppg, 6.7 rpg, 39.1 FG% DORON LAMB Wins: 12.6 ppg, 51.3 FG%, 50.0 3P% Losses: 15.7 ppg, 45.7 FG%, 50.0 3p% DARIUS MILLER Wins: 8.1 ppg, 4.8 rpg, 51.9 FG%, 45.7 3P% Losses: 11.7 ppg, 5.0 rpg, 36.4 FG%, 46.2 3P% DEANDRE LIGGINS Wins: 8.6 ppg, 3.9 rpg, 42.4 FG% Losses: 7.7 ppg, 3.3 rpg, 28.6 FG% JOSH HARRELLSON Wins: 7.6 ppg, 9.8 rpg Losses: 2.7 ppg, 8.0 rpg So, what do we take away from these stats?  3 points: 1) Brandon Knight's Scoring:It seems when Knight is clicking offensively, the offense runs much better and the wins roll in.  Whereas Jones, Lamb, and Miller actually score MORE in losses, Knight's production drops almost in half during UK's 3 defeats this year.  Last year, John Wall did not HAVE to score for that team to be successful.  It seems this year, UK needs to points from its point guard position. 2) Jones and Harrellson Rebounding:In wins, this duo grabs 19.3 rpg, while in losses they snatch 14.7 rpg.  With the lack of any other skilled rebounders on this team, Coach Cal needs these two guys to crash the glass on every shot.  Harrellson has shown a consistent ability to do this.  Jones has not yet.  3) This team revolves around shooting:It seems obvious to say, but this team has yet to show the ability to shoot the ball poorly and win.  They have shot below 40% in 4 games this season, and have lost 3 of them.  In UK's 14 wins, they have shot 48.5% and in its 3 losses they have shot 37.8%.  This actually says more about the team's defense than it does its offense.  It says that the defense is not good to enough to combat a poor shooting night.  Maybe the strong defensive performance against LSU will signal a change there.