gw67
12-26-2008, 10:26 AM
It is about a week before ACC play begins in earnest and Jumbo provides his thoughts on Phase III of the Devils’ season. As both a Duke and ACC fan, I thought that I would provide some thoughts on the play of conference teams to date.
· I expected the ACC to be stronger this year and, so far, it has been. ACC teams are 107-23 and are the top rated conference in RPI, Sagarin and Pomeroy. The RPI needs to shake out when conference play begins but it is the one used by the NCAAT selection folks and currently, 8 ACC teams are in the top 32.
· The surprise teams have been Florida State and Maryland, and, to some extent, Clemson. If either the Noles or Terps finishes in the top half of the conference and makes the NCAAT, their coach deserves COY in ACC. The Tigers were expected to be good but not this good after losing two key players. The disappointments have been Virginia Tech and Miami. Based on the end of last year, they looked like they were ready to battle for third place in the conference. Miami looks like a 5th or 6th place team and Tech will be lucky to make the NCAAT.
· The top players appear to be Lawson, Hansbrough, Singler, Teague and Lawal. The first three should wind up as first team All ACC while Teague and Lawal will need to play at a high level in ACC play to ward off Rice, Rivers, Vasquez, McClinton, Douglas, Scheyer, Vassallo, Booker and a host of others.
· The 08 freshmen class was thought to be ordinary and, so far, that appears to be the case in the ACC. Landesberg and Zeglinski are nice players and are having good years on a weak Virginia team. I suspect that Williams of Duke would start at Virginia and score in double figures. Aminu of Wake is probably the most talented of the freshmen and he is averaging 12.5 ppg and 9.0 rpg on a strong Wake team. Shumpert of Georgia Tech appears to have some potential and is among conference leaders in assists and is averaging in double figures for a very thin team. There are no other freshmen averaging in double figures although Singleton of the Noles is starting and playing well and Davis of UNC is playing well in a backup role. Zeller of UNC appeared to be a very good player before he was injured.
· The most unsung player in the conference is McFarland of Wake. Not only has he held off two highly rated freshmen to continue to start but he is averaging 10.4 ppg and 6.7 rpg on a very good team. Aminu of Georgia Tech is having a good senior season.
Some surprising stats:
· The Heels are considered a good shooting team and so far they are shooting 51%. Wake and Clemson are not considered good shooting teams by many but they are shooting 52% and 50%, respectively.
· Don’t foul the Terps! Maryland is the worst team in the ACC shooting from the field; however, they lead the ACC in foul shooting at 80%. The worst foul shooter in their starting line-up is shooting 79%.
· The Devils are not thought of as a strong rebounding team but they are outrebounding the opposition by nearly 10 a game which ranks second in the ACC.
· The Heels are often put down as a defensive team but they are averaging over 11 steals a game to lead the conference.
· Lawson leads the ACC in assists per game but, more importantly has an assist/turnover ratio of nearly 5 which is amazing in their high tempo offense.
gw67
· I expected the ACC to be stronger this year and, so far, it has been. ACC teams are 107-23 and are the top rated conference in RPI, Sagarin and Pomeroy. The RPI needs to shake out when conference play begins but it is the one used by the NCAAT selection folks and currently, 8 ACC teams are in the top 32.
· The surprise teams have been Florida State and Maryland, and, to some extent, Clemson. If either the Noles or Terps finishes in the top half of the conference and makes the NCAAT, their coach deserves COY in ACC. The Tigers were expected to be good but not this good after losing two key players. The disappointments have been Virginia Tech and Miami. Based on the end of last year, they looked like they were ready to battle for third place in the conference. Miami looks like a 5th or 6th place team and Tech will be lucky to make the NCAAT.
· The top players appear to be Lawson, Hansbrough, Singler, Teague and Lawal. The first three should wind up as first team All ACC while Teague and Lawal will need to play at a high level in ACC play to ward off Rice, Rivers, Vasquez, McClinton, Douglas, Scheyer, Vassallo, Booker and a host of others.
· The 08 freshmen class was thought to be ordinary and, so far, that appears to be the case in the ACC. Landesberg and Zeglinski are nice players and are having good years on a weak Virginia team. I suspect that Williams of Duke would start at Virginia and score in double figures. Aminu of Wake is probably the most talented of the freshmen and he is averaging 12.5 ppg and 9.0 rpg on a strong Wake team. Shumpert of Georgia Tech appears to have some potential and is among conference leaders in assists and is averaging in double figures for a very thin team. There are no other freshmen averaging in double figures although Singleton of the Noles is starting and playing well and Davis of UNC is playing well in a backup role. Zeller of UNC appeared to be a very good player before he was injured.
· The most unsung player in the conference is McFarland of Wake. Not only has he held off two highly rated freshmen to continue to start but he is averaging 10.4 ppg and 6.7 rpg on a very good team. Aminu of Georgia Tech is having a good senior season.
Some surprising stats:
· The Heels are considered a good shooting team and so far they are shooting 51%. Wake and Clemson are not considered good shooting teams by many but they are shooting 52% and 50%, respectively.
· Don’t foul the Terps! Maryland is the worst team in the ACC shooting from the field; however, they lead the ACC in foul shooting at 80%. The worst foul shooter in their starting line-up is shooting 79%.
· The Devils are not thought of as a strong rebounding team but they are outrebounding the opposition by nearly 10 a game which ranks second in the ACC.
· The Heels are often put down as a defensive team but they are averaging over 11 steals a game to lead the conference.
· Lawson leads the ACC in assists per game but, more importantly has an assist/turnover ratio of nearly 5 which is amazing in their high tempo offense.
gw67