Fewer Turnovers?

[94Warrior]

Will Smart choose to hang his hat on defense and ball security? 

With the departure of Theo, Koby, Jamal and DJ (arguably our 4 most turnover-prone players), things might look vastly different from Day 1.

Although I badly wanted DJ to be a part of next year's team, I have to wonder if the mind-numbing turnover differential, which paralyzed this team throughout Wojo's tenure, is a thing of the past.

[Jay Bee]

MU & Texas had nearly identical turnover rates last season.

[TAMU, Knower of Ball]

With the departure of Theo, Koby, Jamal and DJ (arguably our 4 most turnover-prone players), things might look vastly different from Day 1.

As Jay Bee said, Texas and MU were pretty similar in TO Rate. Also, Jamal doesn't belong on that list. He had the lowest turnover rate of the entire team last season. However, we have gotten rid of most of the worst offenders:

Akanno: 45.2%!!!!
Oso: 31.1%
Symir: 24.9%
Theo: 24.6%
Carton: 23.9%
Koby: 21.5%
Elliott: 19.9%
Jose: 17.5%
Lewis: 16.2%
Dawson: 14.6%
Jamal: 13.2%

Defense is another matter. Should be much better under Shaka.

[brewcity77]

Texas' turnover rate was similar last year, but that's an abnormality for Smart's career. His teams have been top-100 nationally in 9 of his 12 seasons as a head coach.

Bizarrely, in the other three, he was sub-250 each time 

[Daniel]

Hopefully he has figured out the turnover battle and Marquette performs well 8n that area.    Would be tough to see again, but we will have lots of freshmen..... and as Al used to say.....

[94Warrior]

As Jay Bee said, Texas and MU were pretty similar in TO Rate. Also, Jamal doesn't belong on that list. He had the lowest turnover rate of the entire team last season. However, we have gotten rid of most of the worst offenders:

Akanno: 45.2%!!!!
Oso: 31.1%
Symir: 24.9%
Theo: 24.6%
Carton: 23.9%
Koby: 21.5%
Elliott: 19.9%
Jose: 17.5%
Lewis: 16.2%
Dawson: 14.6%
Jamal: 13.2%

Defense is another matter. Should be much better under Shaka.

Thank you for providing this list.  Although I knew Jamal had improved, I am shocked to see him at the bottom of the list.  Another takeaway is we really, really need Dawson to return.  With a year of experience, and added strength, I believe he is on track to be first-team All Big East as a soph.

[D'Lo Brown]

From watching the team last season & most before it under the prior coach, I always felt like the lack of forced turnovers was more glaring than the amount coughed up.

The last 3 seasons MU ranked 297th, 345th, & 324th in defensive turnover rate.

[MU82]

From watching the team last season & most before it under the prior coach, I always felt like the lack of forced turnovers was more glaring than the amount coughed up.

The last 3 seasons MU ranked 297th, 345th, & 324th in defensive turnover rate.

I don't know whether I thought it was worse, but yes, we so rarely got easy buckets off of forced turnovers. Always made it necessary to work so hard on offense.

And now we've lost the only player we had who hunted steals and could turn them into dunks.

On the flip side, I'd bet that several of the players Shaka has brought in have the quickness and instincts to force turnovers, and hopefully to capitalize on them. I wanted to see DJ in his defensive system, but maybe the newcomers will be better.

[oldwarrior81]

Thank you for providing this list.  Although I knew Jamal had improved, I am shocked to see him at the bottom of the list.  Another takeaway is we really, really need Dawson to return.  With a year of experience, and added strength, I believe he is on track to be first-team All Big East as a soph.

Also shows that numbers don't tell the entire story.  Anyone watching the games the past few seasons knew if Jamal put the ball on the floor, there was a solid chance the other team would end up with it.  My guess is maybe around 30% of the time he dribbled inside, he turned it over.

The TO% is skewed as Jamal was more of a catch and shot guy.

[Badgerhater]

From watching the team last season & most before it under the prior coach, I always felt like the lack of forced turnovers was more glaring than the amount coughed up.

The last 3 seasons MU ranked 297th, 345th, & 324th in defensive turnover rate.

Opponents got very comfortable on offense against MU.

[MU82]

Also shows that numbers don't tell the entire story.  Anyone watching the games the past few seasons knew if Jamal put the ball on the floor, there was a solid chance the other team would end up with it.  My guess is maybe around 30% of the time he dribbled inside, he turned it over.

The TO% is skewed as Jamal was more of a catch and shot guy.

Agree with this. Whether it was something Cain realized himself, or was something the coaching staff got through to him, he rarely tried dribbling through traffic this past season.

As you say, he mostly became a catch-and-shoot guy. (Unfortunately, down the stretch, he became mostly a catch-and-miss guy -- shot .143 on four 3-point attempts per game our last 7 games.)

[TAMU, Knower of Ball]

Also shows that numbers don't tell the entire story.  Anyone watching the games the past few seasons knew if Jamal put the ball on the floor, there was a solid chance the other team would end up with it.  My guess is maybe around 30% of the time he dribbled inside, he turned it over.

The TO% is skewed as Jamal was more of a catch and shot guy.

Oh absolutely. Jamal improved his TO% massively his senior year (13.2% as a SR vs. 24.4%, 32.2%, and 20.6% as a FR/SO/JR) not because he suddenly became a ballhandling wizard, but because he learned to play within himself, which is an important part of taking care of the ball. I do want to give him some credit because I think his handle did improve some. He was usually able to do the dribble to the top of the key for a pull up jumper without turning it over. But the majority of it was him learning and committing to his role.

[MikeDeanesDarkGlasses]

Texas' turnover rate was similar last year, but that's an abnormality for Smart's career. His teams have been top-100 nationally in 9 of his 12 seasons as a head coach.

Bizarrely, in the other three, he was sub-250 each time 

And to fully extrapolate the data, you have to see the age of each player.  A younger team is always going to be more turnover prone vs. a team that's rife with upperclassmen.

[blue and gold]

And to fully extrapolate the data, you have to see the age of each player.  A younger team is always going to be more turnover prone vs. a team that's rife with upperclassmen.

Except if the team with upperclassmen is coached by Wojo.

[MarquetteMike1977]

From Al McGuire's Wit, Wisdom And Warriors
"We were looked at as a wild team.  Yet we were actually one of the most disciplined teams in America.  We never ran the ball.  We walked the ball up the court.  Every possession was gold.  Turnovers were a mortal sin.  As I got to thinking about that, we're a classy team.  That led to the tuxes." 

--- Kevin Byrne, former Sports Information Director

[MikeDeanesDarkGlasses]

Except if the team with upperclassmen is coached by Wojo.

Ball Don't Lie