Fun with Numbers: Keegan Runs the Numbers on MU

Keeganoids rejoice...Tom Keegan of the Lawrence Journal-World has graciously returned to the blog with another offering. Enjoy......!

Fun With Numbers
by Tom Keegan



Stephon Marbury represents the litmus test of Larry Brown's greatness as a coach. Can Brown turn the ultimate stat-monster of a point guard into a winner? If anybody can, Brown can. But for most of his career, Marbury has monopolized the basketball, dribbling, dribbling, dribbling, and then passing for an assist or shooting. He seldom made the play that kept the offense moving along to a point where someone else would get the assist and points.

As Marbury has shown for much of his defensively challenged career, statistics can be misleading. They can also be tons of fun and in many cases revealing. Just for fun, here are the numbers for Marquette's roster, per 40 minutes of playing time:

Rebounds per 40 minutes played

Amoroso	11.2
Grimm	9.3
Barro	9.0
Lott	7.9
Novak	7.2
Matthews	7.1
McNeal	6.3
Fitzgerald	5.5
James	5.4
Chapman	4.9
Burke	4.9
Kinsella	3.2

Points per 40 minutes played

Novak	20.4
James	17.6
McNeal	16.4
Amoroso	16.3
Matthews	14.4
Barro	14.1
Lott	12.4
Grimm	12.1
Kinsella	10.4
Burke	9.8
Chapman	9.7
Fitzgerald	9.3

Points + Rebounds per 40 minutes played

Novak	27.6
Amoroso	27.5
Barro	23.1
James	23.0
McNeal	22.7
Matthews	21.5
Grimm	21.4
Lott	20.3
Fitzgerald	14.8
Burke	14.7
Chapman	14.6
Kinsella	13.6

Thanks for your time, Tom!

There's an interesting thread on this blog over at the Ring Out Ahoya! board. Please link to it here.