If you’re looking at nothing but overall productivity on the court per 40 minutes, a few big names don’t have the same impressive stats when compared to guys who aren’t receiving as much attention but are legit stat stuffers.
As mentioned in the latest TIQ stats for the ACC, Pac-12 and SEC, I’m taking a look at head-to-head comparisons from each conference. Here’s who’s on tap:
- ACC: North Carolina State’s Lorenzo Brown vs. North Carolina’s Harrison Barnes
- Pac-12: Washington’s Tony Wroten vs. Oregon State’s Jared Cunningham
- SEC: Florida’s Patric Young vs. Vanderbilt’s John Jenkins
North Carolina State’s Brown is off a phenomenal start to this season, putting up solid stats across the board for a TIQ of 36.1 points per 40 minutes. That’s especially impressive considering that Brown has played more than 80 percent of the team’s minutes this season. In other words, he’s consistently producing at a high level throughout an entire game — regardless of fatigue or opponent.
My props to Brown don’t mean to take away from North Carolina’s Harrison Barnes, who is also having a strong season. He’s got a TIQ of 30.4 points per 40 minutes, which is well above the ACC average of 21.2 points per 40 minutes. However, he’s only fifth on his team in TIQ, largely because the Tar Heels have been on fire in recent weeks. That bodes well for North Carolina, which has plenty of talent, including P.J. Hairston and Reggie Bullock on the bench, that can step into the lineup and be productive in more ways than just making shots.
Florida’s Young is simply one of the most athletic players in the SEC and a dominant presence near the hoop. He’s not scoring tons of points per game (12.1 ppg), but he grabs about seven rebounds per game, including about three at the offensive end. Young also is a good passer, averaging 1.8 apg compared to 1.5 turnovers per game. In sum, Young is the total package for the Gators, with a TIQ of 32.0 points per 40 minutes.
In contrast to Young, Jenkins is a one-trick pony for Vanderbilt. One of the top scorers in the nation, Jenkins is averaging 20.5 ppg. If your defense loses track of Jenkins, he can put up points in a hurry. But despite playing more than 33 minutes per game, he only contributes 2.6 rpg, 1.0 apg and less than one steal or block per game. That’s good for 25.8 points per 40 minutes on the TIQ rating scale.
Although Jenkins is a solid shooter, the Commodores are a poor offensive rebounding team, so the volume of his attempts and misses hurts Jenkins more than Young’s misses counts against the Gator big man. Of course, it helps that Young shoots better than 62 percent from the field and the Gators grab 37 percent of their missed shots. Florida is likely to score points at some point during a possession more than 70 percent of the time when Young takes a shot.
Oregon State’s Cunningham is one of the Pac-12’s premier players and figured to have a strong season after making a gigantic leap between his freshman and sophomore seasons, increasing his scoring from 6.2 ppg to 14.2 ppg. He’s posting strong numbers thus far at 17.0 ppg, 3.4 rpg and 2.8 apg. And he’s an excellent defensive stopper, with nearly three steals per game. That gives Cunningham a TIQ of 27.7 points per 40 minutes — nothing to sneeze at.
However, he doesn’t match the overall production of Washington’s Wroten, who’s putting up 16.8 ppg, 4.8 rpg and 3.4 apg in five fewer minutes per game than Cunningham plays. Wroten remains under the national radar as a freshman phenom for the Huskies, but that could easily change with a few standout performances on national TV in conference play. His TIQ of 32.3 points per 40 minutes is fourth in the entire Pac-12 and tops on a team that features outstanding talent, such as Terrence Ross and Abdul Gaddy.
So the lesson is that it’s not all about points. Players who do all the other things that coaches ask — sometimes in substantially fewer minutes than what star players receive — end up becoming the most productive guys out there.
