Was just checking out SIU's stats through the end of the regular season: https://www.espn.com/mens-college-basketball/team/stats/_/id/79
A few below that surprised me a bit, or at least would have surprised me going into the season (both good and bad). Will ignore very obvious ones that we've talked about all year (like Lance's 3-point percentage or Marcus' FT shooting).
Good: XJ 3-point percentage, 41 percent. He doesn't shoot a bunch of them but he's been a better perimeter shooter than I expected.
Good: D'Amico's shooting touch has improved ... shooting 83 percent from the FT line and 36 percent from 3. Going forward, they need him to attack more consistently and get to the line more often.
Good: Rupert shooting a team-best 65 percent from the floor, best among anyone who sees regular minutes. He's efficient around the basket.
Bad: The other end of the Rupert spectrum ... shooting a miserable 38 percent from the FT line ... sadly, not that much better than Muila, even if his misses aren't as epic.
Bad: XJ only averaging 2.7 assists per game. Compare that to 4.6 apg last year at George Mason. What does that say about Southern's offense?
Bad: Newton averaging 5.7 ppg. Thought he'd be closer to the 8-10 ppg range. He was the most likely option to be that third scorer, and one has not really materialized on a consistent basis.
Losing Coupet and Verplancken and not replacing their scoring will be the story of this season.
SIU was able to improve from 100th in the country in defense to 65th this year but the offense went from 189th to 242nd.
It’s tough for some people to see the criticism because SIU won 6 more overall games and 5 more Valley games but the Valley was way down compared to last year and SIU was able to swing a few of their close games from last year. This season will end up looking similar to Barry’s 4th season where they went 22-10 (11-7) and finished #133 in KenPom if SIU can’t make a run this weekend.
Losing Coupet and Verplancken and not replacing their scoring will be the story of this season.
SIU was able to improve from 100th in the country in defense to 65th this year but the offense went from 189th to 242nd.
It’s tough for some people to see the criticism because SIU won 6 more overall games and 5 more Valley games but the Valley was way down compared to last year and SIU was able to swing a few of their close games from last year. This season will end up looking similar to Barry’s 4th season where they went 22-10 (11-7) and finished #133 in KenPom if SIU can’t make a run this weekend.
SIU's offense was 189th with Coupet and Verplancken, so while somewhat helpful, they were not difference-makers. Offense has been a problem on a yearly basis.
If Brown and Wonders (who obviously didn't get much opportunity) could have provided some timely 3-point shooting off the bench like they did at UIC on Sunday on a more consistent basis, Southern likely would have a few more wins right now. But being a team that shoots a ton of 3s and doesn't make a lot of them has been a major issue ... pretty impressive that they've been as successful as they have, considering.
I would add Newton, Banks and most importantly Jones to that list of who could have shot better this year (all 3 shot worse than FW and TB). When you shoot as many 3's as Jones does (31% of team total), you're going to have a big impact one way or another. It just so happens he really struggled this year from 3. But I would not be surprised one bit if he made a run here, when it counts most, and helped lead this team to a surprising finish.
I would add Newton, Banks and most importantly Jones to that list of who could have shot better this year (all 3 shot worse than FW and TB). When you shoot as many 3's as Jones does (31% of team total), you're going to have a big impact one way or another. It just so happens he really struggled this year from 3. But I would not be surprised one bit if he made a run here, when it counts most, and helped lead this team to a surprising finish.
Didn't mention Jones' shooting because I feel like that is beating a dead horse at this point, and neither Newton or Banks have been good 3-point shooters in the past, so I didn't expect that from them this year, whereas I was hoping Wonders and Brown would do more sniping than they have.
As for your last comment, let's hope! The way the team is set up, both Marcus and Lance have to do a lot for this team to perform at a high level/make a run this weekend, and that would definitely include some 3s falling for Lance (while balancing that out with effective drives to the rim).
Newton and Johnson are terrific on ball defenders and both good rebounders. Verplancken was not good at either of those things. We are better defensively this year because of Muila, Newton, Johnson and Banks improved defense. Verplancken is scoring more with Weber State this year and I liked him, but I would still take Newton over Verplancken for his overall game.
