ACC Point Guards

[BlueintheFace]

It's interesting to look at the assist/ turnover stats in the ACC season so far. Players like Sean Singletary and Grievous Vasquez turn the ball over too much to have good ratios despite their ability to distribute. Meanwhile, Paulus has the second best turnover average in the conference play (only 1.6 a game) and fourth best as/turnover ratio (2.1). WAY TO GO PAULUS!!

Player-Team		     Avg Assis	Avg TO	Ratio
---------------------------------------------------------------
 1.Cliff Hammonds-CU	SR	4.0	1.4	2.82
 2.Eric Hayes-MD	SO	5.4	2.1	2.60
 3.Ty Lawson-NC		SO	5.8	2.6	2.24
 4.Greg Paulus-DU	JR	3.4	1.6	2.10
 5.Hank Thorns-VT	FR	3.1	1.7	1.82
 6.Maurice Miller-GT	FR	3.0	1.7	1.78
 7.Matt Causey-GT	SR	3.8	2.2	1.71
 8.Ishmael Smith-WF	SO	4.6	2.7	1.67
 9.Tyrese Rice-BC	JR	5.1	3.2	1.58
10.Malcolm Delaney-VT	FR	3.3	2.1	1.57

[speedevil]

whats nolan smith's assist/turnover ratio?

greg's turnovers dont really bother me when he's trying to make plays or if they lead to a dead ball situation, but i hate it when he throw's those passing that lead to fastbreaks for the other team and i would like to see greg's assist climb up to the 5.0 per game.

[M B Walker]

Those numbers are for all games, not just conference games. For the conference games so far, it looks something like this:

Paulus (five games played) -- 13 assists to 5 turnovers, a ratio of 2.6.
Hammonds (six games played) -- 24 assists to 9 turnovers, 2.67 ratio
Hayes (three games played) -- 17 assists to 4 turnovers, 4.25 ratio
Lawson (five games played) -- 13 assists to 13 turnovers, 1.0 ratio

Nolan Smith, by the way, has 17 assists, 9 turnovers in ACC play, for a ratio of 1.9. However he has improved fairly dramatically over the complete season

First 9 games: 14 assists, 16 turnovers, .875 ratio
Last 9 games: 24 assists, 13 turnovers, 1.85 ratio

Also, DeMarcus Nelson has nearly as many assists as Paulus (though a poorer ratio), and John Scheyer actually has the same 2.1 ratio over the season (though of course not as many total assists).

[pamtar]

Thank you for posting this.

[shadowfax336]

Paulus' assists won't go to high on the season because of the way we're running our offense. Most of the assists are on drive and kicks (mostly done by D-Marc, Scheyer and Nolan) and on FBs (mostly Paulus, sometimes Nolan or Scheyer)

you need to see the game to see Greg's impact, the stats won't show it...
he's just not going to have any 10 assist games this year...

[phaedrus]

you need to see the game to see Greg's impact, the stats won't show it...

I'm not sure exactly what you're getting at. I don't think Greg's (relatively) low assist total is misleading in any way - he's just not that involved in the halfcourt offense once he's brought the ball up and handed off to the wings. And we're playing well that way right now, with Demarcus, Gerald, or Scheyer doing most of the ballhandling in the frontcourt. At the same time, I wonder if we could take better advantage of some of Greg's scoring punch that we saw at the end of last season.

[gw67]

Two of the best ACC point guards in recent times, Hurley and Blake, turned the ball over a bunch. Both were outstanding passers who were very agressive with the ball. Hurley averaged nearly 4 turnovers a game for his career while Blake averaged over 3 turnovers per game. Each had an a/to of just over 2.0 for their careers.

For my money, the best passers in today's group are Vasquez, Lawson, Hayes and I. Smith. Singletary is the best at driving into the lane and passing out to an open shooter and Hayes is the best at feeding the post. Lawson, Vasquez and Paulus run the break very well.

Vasquez and Lawson may be the best all around point guards (scoring, passing, rebounding and defense). All Vasquez lacks is great quickness. I still don't see Nolan Smith as a point guard. He is perfect for the offense that Coach K is now running but he is not a playmaker like most of the top point guards. He is extraordinary on fast breaks, a very good offensive player and an above average defensive player but passing appears to be an afterthought.

gw67

[riverside6]

For those interested, here is page that shows league leaders in conference games.

[elvis14]

Didn't this thread just get closed?

http://www.dukebasketballreport.com/...ead.php?t=6363

[gw67]

I didn't even read the other thread because I am weary of the Paulus/Smith debate. This thread discusses ACC point guard playmaking.

gw67

[CDu]

I'm not sure exactly what you're getting at. I don't think Greg's (relatively) low assist total is misleading in any way - he's just not that involved in the halfcourt offense once he's brought the ball up and handed off to the wings. And we're playing well that way right now, with Demarcus, Gerald, or Scheyer doing most of the ballhandling in the frontcourt. At the same time, I wonder if we could take better advantage of some of Greg's scoring punch that we saw at the end of last season.

Agree. One of the big changes from last year is the de-emphasis of the point guard in the half-court offense. This has helped in two ways: first, it's taken the pressure off Paulus to make big plays with the passes (which led to some of his turnovers), and second it has freed Paulus to set up to shoot more, which is one of his strengths. That said, Paulus has done a much better job at protecting the ball and avoiding stupid turnovers this year. He's been much better about that.

Two of the best ACC point guards in recent times, Hurley and Blake, turned the ball over a bunch. Both were outstanding passers who were very agressive with the ball. Hurley averaged nearly 4 turnovers a game for his career while Blake averaged over 3 turnovers per game. Each had an a/to of just over 2.0 for their careers.

For my money, the best passers in today's group are Vasquez, Lawson, Hayes and I. Smith. Singletary is the best at driving into the lane and passing out to an open shooter and Hayes is the best at feeding the post. Lawson, Vasquez and Paulus run the break very well.

Vasquez and Lawson may be the best all around point guards (scoring, passing, rebounding and defense). All Vasquez lacks is great quickness. I still don't see Nolan Smith as a point guard. He is perfect for the offense that Coach K is now running but he is not a playmaker like most of the top point guards. He is extraordinary on fast breaks, a very good offensive player and an above average defensive player but passing appears to be an afterthought.

gw67

Wholeheartedly agree. A/TO ratio is a nice stat, but it should be combined with total assists when measuring point guards. Vazquez and Lawson are asked to do much more as point guard than Paulus, and are thus more likely to commit turnovers. I'd say both are better point guards (right now) than Paulus. That's not meant to be a knock on Paulus - I just think those guys are terrific point guards.