Tuesday, November 11, 2008

Previewing Catawba

Roster / 2008 Stats

Catawba Offense 07-08
Four FactorsPercentNat'l Rank
eFG%49.9n/a
Turnover Rate20.9n/a
Off Reb Rate37.0n/a
FTM/FGA24.5n/a


         Poss/40   Off_Eff   Def_Eff
Catawba 76.1 103.6 103.4

The Indians were considerably more competent offensively than Ft. Valley State in 2008, and of the nine guys who got 30% or more of the minutes, seven are back. One of those departures, though a primary scorer, was a foul-prone quantity-over-quality type, so he may not be missed too much at this end.


Startery Types:

Rob Fields (6-2, 175) -- Was outstanding in 2008 as the team's third option--he shot pretty well, especially from outside where he was over 40%, and he rarely turned the ball over.

Donzell Williams (6-3, 180) -- In a limited role, he shot poorly and turned the ball over a lot. Best steal percentage among the returning players, though.

Antonio Houston (6-3, 195) -- Took more than 30% of the shots while he was on the court and led the team with nearly 18 PPG. Proved a competent outside shooter, but struggled inside the arc, as many short guys do. Meh assist rate, and he's not going to grab many rebounds.

Isaac Rose (6-5, 205) -- After an unfortunate sophomore campaign, Rose broke out as a junior last season:
        %Min   ORtg   %Poss   %Shots   eFG%   2FG%   3FG%   TO%
2008 46.9 125.5 18.1 22.5 59.8 62.0 37.6 10.8
That's a very strong line for someone taking an above-average proportion of shots, but it's also one that screams fluke.

Cliff Burns (6-8, 230) -- Shot a modest 49.5% from two last season, but he did a reasonably good job protecting the basketball and grabbing offensive boards. The team's best shot blocker.


Catawba Offense 07-08
Four FactorsPercentNat'l Rank
eFG%50.1n/a
Turnover Rate21.8n/a
Off Reb Rate37.4n/a
FTA/FGA34.6n/a


They didn't force enough turnovers to compensate for their weak interior defense and poor defensive rebounding. It's going to be an unfortunate evening for them.