Summa Cavalier Laude.
Summa Cavalier Laude.Something occurred to me when I was watching the game last night. And no, it didn’t occur to me because Austin Carr kept preaching on and on and on about it (although he did). After a Danny Green drawn charge, a Jawad Williams cut to the basket, and the tremendous spacing the two University of North Carolina products displayed all night, I realized that the two young men from Chapel Hill are some smart basketball players.
They both know the game, understand their role in the offense, and play strong man defense every possession. They both rode the pine for the majority of the season, but when injuries struck and the team needed someone to step up, they filled in with solid play and high basketball IQ’s.
So I decided to do some digging. I wanted to know how four-year players from UNC fare in terms of turnovers per game when compared to their Tarheel teammates that went to the NBA without a diploma.
There are thirteen players from UNC that have played in at least one game with an NBA team this season. The following is a chart highlighting a player’s turnovers corresponding to how many years they stayed in school at North Carolina. However, since it wouldn’t be fair to take Danny Green’s 0.1 turnover a game in only 30 total minutes of action and compare it to a player that logs 39 minutes a night like Antawn Jamison, the number in the chart will represent turnovers per 36 minutes.
| Year | Average turnovers per 36 min |
|---|---|
| Freshmen (1) | 1.1 |
| Sophomores (2) | 3.0 |
| Juniors (6) | 2.0 |
| Seniors (4) | 1.2 |
With the exception of freshmen, turnovers per 36 minutes start to decline with each additional year of schooling. Also, the freshmen stat is skewed due to the fact that there is only one, Marvin Williams, who played in a game this season.
Ultimately, Cavs fans can sit back and enjoy the fact that two of UNC’s seniors play for Cleveland and only average a combined 2.0 turnovers per 36 minutes (1.0 per player). But just because Jawad and Danny are super seniors, don’t think I’m ready to see Jeff McInnis donning a wine and gold uniform again anytime soon.
Summa Cavalier Laude.
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action January 25th
Very interesting. I wonder if it’s a UNC thing, or across the board?
Thorpe mentioned in his chat recently that the evidence is clear that players that didn’t go to college or were one and done are superior to those that went four years. Obviously in a sense that’s true, 95% of great players will take the sure thing money if it’s offered, rather than sticking 4 years. This is the first statistical evidence I’ve seen that makes a case for staying in school. I imagine if we get better at measuring defensive ability that would just add to this argument.
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