As we all know we have lost Jodie Meeks and seven other players from last year's 15 man squad. Jodie's accomplishments have been well chronicled (most minutes played, most FG made, most FG attempted, most 3 pt. made, most 3 pt attempted, most FT made, most FT attempted, and most points scored (32% of entire team's offensive output). After looking at last year's stat sheet, I began to wonder how the other seven players contributed and what will be needed from the rest of the team fo us to have the outstanding year we all want and need.  

At first glance, it is obvious, that Coach Cal, encouraged those players with the least experience to find playing time at other schools. With the exception of Michael Porter, only Kevin Galloway averaged ten minutes per game. Everyone else played considerably less. This lack of playing time greatly influenced these players ability to contribute on the court. Given their lack of experience and productivity, it was a no brainer to give first dibs for PT to superior athletes who, though just as inexperienced, bring higher potential into each game.

It was interesting to me that when you subtract Jodie's contribution from the total team effort and look at the contribution of the remainder of the players who have left, you find that they really didn't contribute a gret deal. Remember, there are now 14 players left. Since Jodie scored 32% of the entire team's points, of the other 68% of scoring  left the 7 players who are no longer on the team only contributed 17%. If you take Jodie out of the personal foul and fouling out categories (Jodie never fouled out of a game), you find that this group was responsible for 27% of the fouls and 36% of the people who fouled out. This group did not get to the line much and didn't really help us in rebounding much either. Even though they comprised 50% of the remainder of the team (AJ = "After Jodie") they only rebounded 15% of the remaining total rebounds.

It was surprising, mainly due to Porter's contribution, how well the group who left did with three point shooting. When you take Jodie out of the equation, the other 14 players only shot .300 from beyond the arc. Those 7 who left shot .312 and made 47% of the three pointers after subtracting  Jodie's 3's. The group who has left also had a slightly higher free throw average .(729)than those who are left on the team (.718). Obviously though they did not shoot as many fouls or have the chance to miss as many FT.

What does this all mean? Well we are returning 4 players with an average of 26.3 minutes of PT.  The other 3 players average 9.2. Now I know the higher PT players skew the average, but I like to look at the group not the individuals. This expereince should help us.

As been stated before, we need more shots taken by all of the players. Last year Jodie took 29% of all of the shots. I think what is important is that this year, these shots do not have to go in, they just have to be taken. Patterson, Cousins and Orton will have to dominate the offensive and defensive boards. I believe when the stats are finally written for this coming season, Patterson and maybe one other player will average  a "double double" for the entire year. Additionally, we will have to have a couple players average at 5-7 rebounds a game. With an increase in offensive rebounds, we should see more players average in double figures in scoring for the season. I personally would like to see Patterson average over 20 points a game and 4-5 others in double figures. This team must hit their free throws for this level of scoring to happen. I would like to see Miller, Wall and Bledsoe lead the way with averages over 80%. I think it is possible that Patterson could join them on that high plateau.

I believe this team will be zoned to death. I don't think anyone will want to run with our speed team, but a few may want to  muscle with our strength team.  To keep defenses honest everyone must be ready to fire the three ball. Patterson tried only one all of last year. Stevenson, Harris and Liggins must improve. Dotson may be the savior in this department, but everyone is is going to have to shoot the three ball.

With the depth that we have, I expect Patterson and Wall to the most minutes in several positions. Maybe finding that  both these guys play over 30 min. agame. I think Miller, Bledsoe, Dotson Cousins and Orton will play in the 20 minutes.  I hope that Liggins Harrellson, Stevenson, average in the teens. Unless things change, I find it hard for Harris and Krebs to play more than 5-6 minutes a game. Turnovers may dictate how much time a person gets. If we get to run I expect to see more assists.

The bottom line is that we no longer have to rely on one player. Yes, we have Patterson, but we have so many other weapons to use against the opposition. We just need to execute, have fun, and watch the stats rack up!