Early In-Conference Numbers

Now that we're about a third of the way through conference play, let's take a look at how things are stacking up:

          Off_Eff (Rk)      Def_Eff (Rk)       Margin
Duke       109.7 (2)          78.0 (1)          31.7
UNC        110.9 (1)          97.1 (3)          13.8
Wake       105.6 (6)          97.1 (4)           8.5
FSU        100.3 (7)          96.6 (2)           3.7
Clem       100.3 (8)          97.2 (5)           3.1
VT         105.7 (4)         106.3 (8)          -0.6
BC         106.1 (3)         109.0 (10)         -2.9
Miami      105.7 (5)         112.3 (12)         -6.6
UMD         90.7 (11)         99.8 (7)          -7.8
UVA         99.3 (9)         109.7 (11)        -10.4
GT          88.1 (12)         98.5 (6)         -10.4
NCSU        94.4 (10)        108.8 (9)         -14.4

In raw terms, the Pack's defense has improved on last year's performance by five points and some change but the offense has dropped off by about the same amount, so the net is an efficiency margin very similar to 2008's. Which not surprisingly has us looking like the worst team in the ACC once again.

The offense:

       Off_Eff (Rk)   eFG% (Rk)    TO% (Rk)    OR% (Rk)    FTR (Rk)   2FG%   3FG%
2008   100.9 (10)     52.2 (4)    23.8 (12)   29.7 (12)   39.7 (4)    48.4   39.7
2009    94.4 (10)     45.7 (10)   25.4 (11)   37.0 (7)    35.6 (5)    46.6   29.1

It figures that when we finally start rebounding reasonably well at the offensive end, we start shooting the ball considerably worse. We have not shot well inside or out, but the disappearance of our three-point production is especially glaring. Courtney Fells, who is off to a 3-21 start, is killing us. And Dennis Horner, now 0-7 from three in five games, still has no idea where he left his jumper freshman year. (Yes, he checked the glove compartment.)

But this team has established a track record of good shooting, so they should come around. As for turnovers, surely it cannot get worse than this:

PGs         TO%
Degand     43.2
Mays       38.7
Gonzalez   70.3

[Bonus Macrowave note: Tracy Smith remains a huge chunk of the offense when he's on the floor, and he leads the team in FGA/40 minutes, FTA/40 minutes, Pts/40, Blks/40, and turnover percentage. He's also been the second-most productive rebounder behind McCauley.]

Defense:

       Def_Eff (Rk)   eFG% (Rk)    TO% (Rk)    OR% (Rk)    FTR (Rk)   2FG%   3FG%
2008   114.1 (12)     52.5 (11)   16.5 (11)   36.4 (10)   32.1 (2)    48.7   42.2
2009   108.8 (9)      49.5 (9)    19.1 (6)    41.2 (11)   30.1 (6)    46.3   40.0

Small improvements here and there, but I'm not ready to buy any of it yet.