Davante Gardner-- Go to guy

[downtown85]

http://kenpom.com/team.php?team=Marquette

Kenpom now has player stats for this year.  It is interesting to note that DG plays for 18% of total minutes but has been used for 30.4% offensive possessions.   Can that be right?  Seems kind of high to me?

[Dr. Blackheart]

If Gardner hadn't been hurt and missed a few games, he would be 5th nationally with his 31 points per 40 minutes.  Kemba Walker is at 33.2 points per 40, as a comparison.  The Ox is instant offense.

[w0bbie]

It seems like if you put him in for a 4 possession spurt, he'll score twice and draw a foul or something similar every time.  Instant offense indeed.

[downtown85]

Yeah, he plays like a Senior on offense.  Too bad he plays like a Freshman on defense.   If he figures out the defensive end of the court, he'll be great and get a lot more minutes.  I watched the a re-run of the Longwood game and I noticed that he didn't have too much trouble getting up and down the court.  I am not sure  the "conditioning" concern is valid anymore. 

[MarquetteDano]

Yeah, he plays like a Senior on offense.  Too bad he plays like a Freshman on defense.   If he figures out the defensive end of the court, he'll be great and get a lot more minutes.  I watched the a re-run of the Longwood game and I noticed that he didn't have too much trouble getting up and down the court.  I am not sure  the "conditioning" concern is valid anymore. 

I don't that Gardner can yet play 20+ minutes in most games, but this game may be different.  The Badgers slowing down the game is going to benefit Davante greatly.  He could very well be the key to the game if he can find a way to be effective getting defensive rebounds because we know he is going to score on UW.  It is ensuring the Badgers don't get a lot of offensive reb's when he is in the game that is going to make the difference.

[GGGG]

Conditioning is still valid. He recently sat out a couple of games. It will take another summer of work outs to get it where it needs to be.

[kmwtrucks]

With Otule slow improvement which I expect to continue and with a full year in the program for Davante I think 2011 will be the 1st year where our center position will be better than 1/2 the teams we play. We have not been able to say that in a long time.  Davante has good balance and the best hands of any Big I have ever watched at MU.  He grabbed his own O rebound on a miss that was so far to the right of him all he got was his fingertips on it and he pulled it back with one hand and but the ball in. 

[jmayer1]

http://kenpom.com/team.php?team=Marquette

Kenpom now has player stats for this year.  It is interesting to note that DG plays for 18% of total minutes but has been used for 30.4% offensive possessions.   Can that be right?  Seems kind of high to me?

I think it means he uses 30.4% of the possessions while he is in the game, not all of MU's possessions.

[Brewtown Andy]

I think it means he uses 30.4% of the possessions while he is in the game, not all of MU's possessions.

And KenPom's usage numbers don't take minutes played into account.

[Lennys Tap]

Conditioning is still valid. He recently sat out a couple of games. It will take another summer of work outs to get it where it needs to be.

This is correct. He was really struggling, gasping for air after a few minutes on the floor vs Corpus Christi.

[downtown85]

I think it means he uses 30.4% of the possessions while he is in the game, not all of MU's possessions.

Not sure you are right.  I think it means 30.4% of ALL possessions in games when he plays.  So that means he probably is looked to score on offense >50% of the time when he is on the floor.  I am not sure but I think that is how Kenpom does things.  Dr. Blackheart, do you know how this is calculated?

[Dr. Blackheart]

Math geeky stuff...but here is a clip and a resource link....flood pants rising

Possessions - Here is one place where defining a term becomes tricky, because there are two different definitions of possessions used by various analysts. (Baseball analysts, alas, are lucky enough not to have this problem. An out is an out is an out.) The most commonly-held view is that a possession is all the time a team holds the ball before the other team gets it. The defining characteristic of this definition is that an offensive rebound does not start a new possession. There are also those who view the offensive rebound as starting a new offensive possession. These people define possessions as time before an attempt to score is made or a turnover is recorded. Analysts operating on the first definition call these plays instead of possessions.
Statistically: .96 * (FGA + 0.44*FTA + TO - OR) or
FGA + 0.4 * FTA - 1.07 * (OReb/(OReb + OppDReb)) + TO Plays: FGA + 0.44*FTA + TO

Possession usage - The percentage of a team's possessions used by an individual player, also known as simply usage. On average, naturally, a player uses 20% of his team's possessions.

http://sonicscentral.com/statsite.html

[jmayer1]

Not sure you are right.  I think it means 30.4% of ALL possessions in games when he plays.  So that means he probably is looked to score on offense >50% of the time when he is on the floor.  I am not sure but I think that is how Kenpom does things.  Dr. Blackheart, do you know how this is calculated?

It is only the % of possession when he is in the game.

http://kenpom.com/blog/index.php/weblog/individual_stats/

[Canadian Dimes]

i think DG is going tobe a very very fine player.  However, right now for every point he scores he gives up 2 or three.  To say he is a bad defender is kind.  Buzz needs to be careful and i am sure he will that he does not make the mistake of allowing his offense to trick Buzz into thinking he needs to be out there more.  Right now DG is a net negative against good teams.  He was absolutely terrible in Kansas City.  Love the kid and love his potential right now he can defend and beat up the twinkies but cannot handle BCS type comp.

[Dr. Blackheart]

However, right now for every point he scores he gives up 2 or three.  To say he is a bad defender is kind.  Buzz needs to be careful and i am sure he will that he does not make the mistake of allowing his offense to trick Buzz into thinking he needs to be out there more.  Right now DG is a net negative against good teams.  He was absolutely terrible in Kansas City. 

He was a +1 against Duke and a -4 against the Zags (when he barely played due to his injury).  Coach K. even called Gardner out as a surprise to him and where they had to double down on O. He led us back vs. Duke as they had no answer...or were unprepared.  Statistics be damned as I absolutely agree with your assessment of his D. It seems like Buzz will use him situationally when MU gets down and we need some instant O. 

As an example of that strategy, he was a +22 against Bucknell and was the single reason we pulled that game out as it was slipping away until Buzz inserted the Ox and started feeding the post.

[Canadian Dimes]

Dr ... +1 or -4 u know doesnt necessarily determine whether a player is a good defender.  I will leave it at that.