When I was covering the awful Baltimore Orioles this summer, it was fun to play with numbers just to see how bad that team really was. Funny thing, inside the numbers, the O's were middle-of-the-pack when it came to hitting, but dead last in the Majors in team ERA.
I've always liked comparative statistics and rankings. Let's say your team is shooting 40% from three. Pretty good, right? Well in this hypothetical situation, maybe the league average is an impressive 45%, suddenly 40% isn't so great.
So I've looked at some statistics that don't require algorithms (sorry stats nerds) and looked at 1) IU's performance in these categories during Big Ten play, 2)where those numbers rank in the 12-team conference, 3)how those numbers compare to IU's mark in all games this season, both conference and non-conference and 4) I've bolded which numbers should make you punch a hole in the wall. Follow the jump below.
Points per game: 3rd at 72.8 (80.8 overall)
Points allowed: 12th at 76.7 (65.4 overall)
Free throw percentage: 7th at 72.9% (73.8% overall)
Field goal percentage: 4th at 46.5% (49.7% overall)
Field goal percentage defense: 12th at 49.4% (42.1% overall)
3-point field goal percentage: 2nd at 43.3%, although the No.1 team, Michigan State, has attempted 21 less threes.
3-point field goal defense: 8th at 35.9% (32.6% overall)
Rebounding margin: 7th at -1.0 (+2.7 overall)
Blocked shots: 3rd at 23 (65 overall)
Assists: 8th at 11 per game (14.6 per game overall)
Steals: 11th at 5.2 per game (8 per game overall)
Turnover margin: 12th at -3.17 (+2.39 overall)
Assist/Turnover ratio: 10th at .7 (1.1 overall)
Tom Crean and company preached defense, defense, defense during Big Ten Media Day and throughout the preseason. Weird, because IU's team defense, as you can see above, is THE WORST IN THE BIG TEN. And I'm not sure if I buy the universally-agreed upon principle that the Hoosiers defense creates offense. Really? Then how come the worst defense in conference play is scoring the third-most points in conference play. Riddle me that.
Feel free to tell me I'm wrong through commenting, email or tweeting at me.
