When is 18 greater than 39? When you’re a stat stuffer like Florida State’s Bernard James.
Two Monday night games demonstrated the importance of evaluating a player’s total contribution to his team, especially for defensive-minded squads like coach Leonard Hamilton’s Seminoles. Florida State has emerged as one of the toughest teams to score against these days, and James is the centerpiece of that defense.
In Florida State’s 73-50 win against Central Florida, James finished with 18 points, 11 rebounds — five at the offensive end — and three blocks. Those numbers are solid, but they don’t pop out as much as those of Central Connecticut State’s Kyle Vinales. The freshman guard put up 39 points in the Blue Demons’ high-scoring 102-93 overtime loss to Niagara. That’s going to get you noticed, especially when you’re a freshman.
However, how does Vinales’ scoring outburst compare to the total package that James delivered for Florida State?
In short, James’ impact was about seven points greater than Vinales’. By running the players’ stats through the Total Impact Quotient, we find that James finished with 31.4 points compared to 24.3 for Vinales. The TIQ adjusts for tempo, which is critical because Vinales did his work in a game with 91 possessions, leading to slightly bloated stats. In addition, Vinales put up a ton of points but not much else. He finished with five turnovers, three rebounds and one assist. James had fewer turnovers and more production in pretty much every other category. Plus he did it in Florida State’s 70 possessions.
When projecting the players’ stats over 40 minutes, they both would be on pace to contribute about 42 points to their team’s effort. James had a higher tally for the game because he was able to stay on the court for a higher percentage of minutes. In addition to playing at a break-neck pace for 45 minutes, Central Connecticut State was fighting through a melee in which they picked up 35 fouls and four out of five starters, including Vinales, fouled out.
