EAST ORANGE, N.J. – With the regular season games set to start, thank God, it’s time for a tip-off column from a tempo free approach.
The 2007-08 season capped off a successful run for Marist under the direction of Matt Brady. When Brady left the MAAC school for James Madison, so did an appreciable amount of talent. Chucky Martin came in from Memphis and introduced the Dribble Drive Motion (DDM) offense. Martin did a great job staying positive and working hard but with one returnee of note, Ryan Fitzpatrick a double digit scoring threat, the going was tough.
The talent was not there for the Red Foxes . But a closer statistical look gives insight into what areas Marist was lacking and needs to address. A tempo-free comparison of the recent two seasons follows.
2009 2008
POSSESSIONS 71 67
OFFENSIVE EFFICIENCY 89 103
DEFENSIVE EFFICIENCY 97 99
EFFECTIVE FG pct. 47 52
TURNOVER RATE 21 20
OFFENSIVE REBOUNDING RATE 26 34
FT PRODUCTION (FTM/FGA) 22 23
WON-LOST 10-23 18-14
CONFERENCE 4-14 11-7
The pace increased in 2009 largely due to the DDM. Defensively, Marist was relatively close to the 2008 season. The glaring difference was on the offensive end. The DDM affords great looks from three, especially in transition, but you must knock them down. Effective field goal percentage (2PT FGM + .5 FGM/FGA) dropped a notable amount. Rebounding fell as well. You can argue that Marist did not have the rebounding strength it had in Brady’s last year. Another point is – and more research is needed – that the DDM with its emphasis on executing in transition, often leaves offensive rebounders in inopportune positions.
The turnover rate – percentage of possessions ending in a TO – was high (20 percent is the cutoff) but not excessive due to Marist’s system and new personnel learning it.
What does Marist need? Better players for one. But as noted, as the players are being procured, on-floor issues take priority. For Marist that means a defensive improvement. Paramount for moving up is getting better on the offensive end. The offensive efficiency of 89 (.89 points per possession) is extremely low. A second year in Martin’s system should increase that number significantly.
On a related note, the regular season games have yet to officially begin and we have a result that drew appreciable attention: Le Moyne 82 Syracuse 79.
One game does not a season make so it is not wise to read into this result too deeply in Syracuse’s case. The one thing we can ascertain is the Orange need a defensive adjustment as they yielded an astounding 116 defensive efficiency (1.16 points per possession) mark. Offensively, syracuse’s notable 111 mark should win many games.
For Le Moyne it was virtually a win for the ages. a special night to remember as they entered the Carrier Dome and emerged with a W. The Le Moyne athletic web site is even pushing selling commemorative t-shirts ($12 each with proceeds going to charity). Why not? They earned the win and the right to be proud about it. It’s also safe to assume the Le Moyne basketball office will get a fair share of calls by upcoming Syracuse opponents for game tapes.
