2012 Final Four Stats: Player Performance In The NCAA Tournament
- 0 comments - NCAA Basketball, NCAA Tournament - posted by David Hess on March 29, 2012
Here’s a quick stat pack to get you through the next two days, until the action starts.
First, we’ll go over the top scorers, rebounders, shot blockers, and other ‘bests’ in the tournament from among the Final Four squads.
Then, we’ll give you the tournament stats from every player on all four Final Four teams. You’ll be able to see just how amazingly balanced Kentucky has been, how few minutes Ohio State’s bench has played, how crazy important Elijah Johnson’s outside touch has been for Kansas, and how much Louisville relies on the distribution of Peyton Siva.
Here are the top Final Four players in several key categories, based on only their NCAA tournament performance this year.
Top 2012 NCAA Tournament Scorers
| Team | Player | G | Min | Pts/G | Pts/40 | Pts/100 | %Shots | eFG% | TS% |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Ohio St | Deshaun Thomas | 4 | 38.3 | 21.8 | 22.7 | 31.4 | 32.1% | 57.5% | 59.8% |
| Ohio St | Jared Sullinger | 4 | 30.3 | 18.0 | 23.8 | 26.0 | 27.3% | 50.0% | 59.3% |
| Kentucky | Doron Lamb | 4 | 29.8 | 16.8 | 22.5 | 23.4 | 22.7% | 68.9% | 70.6% |
| Kansas | Thomas Robinson | 4 | 31.5 | 15.8 | 20.0 | 23.1 | 30.8% | 38.8% | 44.5% |
| Louisville | Chane Behanan | 4 | 32.0 | 14.0 | 17.5 | 21.8 | 20.9% | 65.3% | 64.2% |
| Louisville | Russ Smith | 4 | 20.5 | 13.3 | 25.9 | 20.7 | 38.1% | 44.0% | 51.5% |
| Kentucky | Anthony Davis | 4 | 33.3 | 14.5 | 17.4 | 20.2 | 17.0% | 54.8% | 63.4% |
| Kentucky | Marquis Teague | 4 | 33.3 | 14.5 | 17.4 | 20.2 | 21.4% | 51.3% | 58.1% |
| Kansas | Elijah Johnson | 4 | 33.3 | 13.5 | 16.2 | 19.8 | 20.6% | 62.2% | 60.9% |
| Kentucky | Terrence Jones | 4 | 32.5 | 13.5 | 16.6 | 18.8 | 21.4% | 55.3% | 56.3% |
Pts/40 is points per 40 minutes of playing time. Pts/100 is points per 100 team possessions (This factors in bench time, so players that sit a lot won’t do well. The idea here is to account for tempo). %Shots is an estimate of the fraction of his teams shots a player takes while he is in the game. eFG% is effective field goal percentage, which is like regular field goal percentage, but gives a bonus for three pointers. TS% is true shooting percentage, which is like eFG%, but also takes into account trips to the free throw line.
- DeShaun Thomas has been the scoring king among the Final Four players, thanks both to en efficient performance and a boatload of playing time.
- Russ Smith is taking an absolutely huge fraction of his team’s shots. For comparison, his %Shots is exactly the same as Jimmer Fredette’s was last season.
- Thomas Robinson has been the least efficient of the volume scorers to this point. It’s difficult to imagine Kansas winning the title if he continues his inefficient play.
- At the other end of the spectrum, Doron Lamb has hit 9 of 15 three pointers to drive his True Shooting Percentage over 70%.
Top 2012 NCAA Tournament Rebounders
| Team | Player | G | Min | OR% | DR% | Reb/G | Reb/40 | Oreb/G | Dreb/G |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Kansas | Thomas Robinson | 4 | 31.5 | 13.7% | 27.8% | 12.5 | 15.9 | 3.8 | 8.8 |
| Ohio St | Amir Williams | 2 | 6.5 | 11.0% | 30.8% | 2.0 | 12.3 | 0.5 | 1.5 |
| Kansas | Kevin Young | 4 | 16.5 | 20.9% | 13.6% | 5.3 | 12.7 | 3.0 | 2.3 |
| Kentucky | Anthony Davis | 4 | 33.3 | 11.2% | 28.0% | 11.0 | 13.2 | 2.8 | 8.3 |
| Ohio St | Jared Sullinger | 4 | 30.3 | 14.4% | 21.2% | 8.3 | 10.9 | 3.3 | 5.0 |
| Kentucky | Terrence Jones | 4 | 32.5 | 11.5% | 20.8% | 8.8 | 10.8 | 2.8 | 6.0 |
- Anthony Davis (28.0%), Thomas Robinson (27.8%), and Gorgui Deng (26.1%) have been the top high-minute defensive rebounders so far, with Jared Sullinger (21.2%) a distant fourth.
- Kevin Young of Kansas has far and away the best NCAA tournament offensive rebounding rate among rotation players on these Final Four teams. He has played only 16.5 minutes per game, however. Among more relied-upon players, Deshaun Thomas (15.8%) and Jared Sullinger (14.4%) top the list.
Top 2012 NCAA Tournament Distributors
| Team | Player | G | Min | Assist% | Ast/G | Ast/40 | TO/G | AST:TO |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Louisville | Peyton Siva | 4 | 29.3 | 53.3% | 7.0 | 9.6 | 3.0 | 2.3 |
| Ohio St | Aaron Craft | 4 | 37.8 | 27.9% | 5.8 | 6.1 | 3.3 | 1.8 |
| Kentucky | Marquis Teague | 4 | 33.3 | 27.1% | 5.3 | 6.3 | 2.8 | 1.9 |
| Kansas | Tyshawn Taylor | 4 | 32.8 | 25.7% | 3.8 | 4.6 | 3.3 | 1.2 |
| Kansas | Elijah Johnson | 4 | 33.3 | 16.8% | 2.5 | 3.0 | 1.8 | 1.4 |
Assist% is an estimate of the fraction of teammate field goals that the player assists on while he is on the court.
- There are basically three tiers to Assist% here. Peyton Siva is head and shoulders above everyone else. The point guards for the other three teams are, unsurprisingly, clustered in the next tier. Finally, there are eight more players with assist rates between 14% and 17%: 3 from Kansas, 2 from Kentucky, 2 from Ohio State, and 1 from Louisville.
- Peyton Siva’s performance becomes even more remarkable when you consider he has made about 21% of his team’s field goals himself. About 63% of Louisville’s baskets while he has been on the floor in this NCAA tournament have been either scored or assisted on by Siva.
Top 2012 NCAA Tournament Shot Blockers
| Team | Player | G | Min | Block% | Blk/G | Blk/40 | Blk/Foul |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Ohio St | Amir Williams | 2 | 6.5 | 26.4% | 1.5 | 9.2 | 1.5 |
| Kansas | Jeff Withey | 4 | 26.3 | 17.8% | 5.0 | 7.6 | 2.2 |
| Louisville | Gorgui Dieng | 4 | 33.8 | 11.7% | 3.3 | 3.9 | 1.2 |
| Kentucky | Anthony Davis | 4 | 33.3 | 11.5% | 4.5 | 5.4 | 2.3 |
| Ohio St | Jared Sullinger | 4 | 30.3 | 5.5% | 1.5 | 2.0 | 0.5 |
Block% is an estimate of the percent of opponent two point shots that a player blocks while he is on the floor. Blk/Foul is blocks per personal foul committed.
- Obviously we’re not trying to imply that Amir Williams has been better than any of the other players listed here (though he does have half the blocks of Jared Sullinger in only 11% of the playing time). But he’s included just so he’ll be on your radar Saturday if makes it onto the court.
- Jeff Withey of Kansas blocked 10 shots in the Sweet Sixteen against North Carolina State. That’s one shy of the NCAA record of 11, set by LSU’s Shaquille O’Neal in 1992.
- Gorgui Dieng and Anthony Davis has performed similarly. The main difference in their per-game and per-40-minutes stats comes from the fact that Louisville has played a slower tempo so far in the tournament, and their opponents have attempted more three pointers, giving him fewer chances to block shots.
Kansas NCAA Tournament Player Stats
| Player | G | Min | Pt | Reb | OReb | Ast | Stl | Blk | TO | 2PFG% | 3PFG% | FT% |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Elijah Johnson | 4 | 33.3 | 13.5 | 3.8 | 0.5 | 2.5 | 1.3 | 0.0 | 1.8 | 12-21 (57.1%) | 9-20 (45.0%) | 3-7 (42.9%) |
| Tyshawn Taylor | 4 | 32.8 | 12.0 | 5.0 | 0.0 | 3.8 | 2.8 | 0.0 | 3.3 | 21-35 (60.0%) | 0-17 (00.0%) | 6-11 (54.5%) |
| Thomas Robinson | 4 | 31.5 | 15.8 | 12.5 | 3.8 | 2.0 | 1.3 | 0.3 | 2.5 | 21-57 (36.8%) | 1-1 (100.0%) | 18-27 (66.7%) |
| Travis Releford | 4 | 30.0 | 8.3 | 4.0 | 1.8 | 0.8 | 1.5 | 0.0 | 0.8 | 10-16 (62.5%) | 2-11 (18.2%) | 7-11 (63.6%) |
| Jeff Withey | 4 | 26.3 | 8.5 | 6.0 | 1.8 | 0.8 | 0.3 | 5.0 | 0.3 | 10-18 (55.6%) | -- | 14-19 (73.7%) |
| Conner Teahan | 4 | 22.8 | 3.5 | 1.8 | 0.5 | 1.0 | 0.5 | 0.0 | 0.3 | 2-5 (40.0%) | 3-15 (20.0%) | 1-2 (50.0%) |
| Kevin Young | 4 | 16.5 | 4.0 | 5.3 | 3.0 | 1.3 | 0.0 | 0.5 | 1.0 | 4-16 (25.0%) | -- | 8-10 (80.0%) |
| Naadir Tharpe | 2 | 8.5 | 1.5 | 0.5 | 0.5 | 0.5 | 0.0 | 0.0 | 1.5 | 0-2 (00.0%) | 1-4 (25.0%) | -- |
| Justin Wesley | 4 | 2.5 | 0.8 | 0.3 | 0.3 | 0.0 | 0.0 | 0.0 | 0.0 | 1-1 (100.0%) | -- | 1-3 (33.3%) |
| Jordan Juenemann | 1 | 1.0 | 0.0 | 0.0 | 0.0 | 0.0 | 0.0 | 0.0 | 0.0 | -- | -- | -- |
- Outside of Elijah Johnson, Kansas has made only 7 of 48 three pointers, for a terrible rate of 14.6%. And that includes a 1-for-1 performance from Thomas Robinson.
- Kevin Young has one quarter of all Kansas offensive rebounds in the tournament so far.
Kentucky NCAA Tournament Player Stats
| Player | G | Min | Pt | Reb | OReb | Ast | Stl | Blk | TO | 2PFG% | 3PFG% | FT% |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Anthony Davis | 4 | 33.3 | 14.5 | 11.0 | 2.8 | 2.8 | 0.8 | 4.5 | 0.8 | 17-29 (58.6%) | 0-2 (00.0%) | 24-31 (77.4%) |
| Marquis Teague | 4 | 33.3 | 14.5 | 3.0 | 0.3 | 5.3 | 0.8 | 0.0 | 2.8 | 17-32 (53.1%) | 2-7 (28.6%) | 18-23 (78.3%) |
| Terrence Jones | 4 | 32.5 | 13.5 | 8.8 | 2.8 | 2.8 | 1.3 | 1.5 | 1.3 | 18-32 (56.3%) | 2-6 (33.3%) | 12-21 (57.1%) |
| M. Kidd-Gilchrist | 4 | 32.0 | 13.5 | 7.3 | 2.8 | 1.3 | 0.0 | 0.3 | 2.3 | 18-33 (54.5%) | 1-4 (25.0%) | 15-17 (88.2%) |
| Darius Miller | 4 | 32.0 | 13.0 | 3.3 | 1.0 | 2.3 | 0.5 | 0.3 | 0.5 | 12-19 (63.2%) | 5-10 (50.0%) | 13-14 (92.9%) |
| Doron Lamb | 4 | 29.8 | 16.8 | 2.0 | 0.3 | 0.8 | 0.8 | 0.0 | 1.8 | 12-22 (54.5%) | 9-15 (60.0%) | 16-22 (72.7%) |
| Kyle Wiltjer | 4 | 6.0 | 2.3 | 0.5 | 0.3 | 0.0 | 0.0 | 0.3 | 0.8 | 0-2 (00.0%) | 3-5 (60.0%) | -- |
| Eloy Vargas | 3 | 1.3 | 0.0 | 0.7 | 0.7 | 0.0 | 0.0 | 0.0 | 0.0 | 0-1 (00.0%) | -- | -- |
- Pick your poison. Kentucky has a ridiculous six players averaging at least 13 points per game in the NCAA tournament, shooting at least 53% from the field, and playing between 29.8 and 33.3 minutes per game.
Louisville NCAA Tournament Player Stats
| Player | G | Min | Pt | Reb | OReb | Ast | Stl | Blk | TO | 2PFG% | 3PFG% | FT% |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Kyle Kuric | 4 | 35.5 | 9.5 | 2.3 | 0.3 | 0.5 | 1.0 | 0.8 | 0.3 | 8-16 (50.0%) | 5-21 (23.8%) | 7-10 (70.0%) |
| Gorgui Dieng | 4 | 33.8 | 7.0 | 8.0 | 1.0 | 0.5 | 1.3 | 3.3 | 0.5 | 10-24 (41.7%) | 1-2 (50.0%) | 5-7 (71.4%) |
| Chane Behanan | 4 | 32.0 | 14.0 | 7.8 | 3.5 | 0.8 | 1.3 | 0.8 | 1.5 | 22-34 (64.7%) | 1-2 (50.0%) | 9-16 (56.3%) |
| Peyton Siva | 4 | 29.3 | 9.0 | 2.0 | 0.3 | 7.0 | 1.0 | 0.0 | 3.0 | 13-30 (43.3%) | 1-4 (25.0%) | 7-8 (87.5%) |
| Chris Smith | 4 | 26.8 | 7.3 | 3.5 | 0.3 | 0.3 | 0.8 | 0.0 | 1.0 | 3-6 (50.0%) | 6-14 (42.9%) | 5-8 (62.5%) |
| Russ Smith | 4 | 20.5 | 13.3 | 3.0 | 1.0 | 1.3 | 1.3 | 0.0 | 2.3 | 8-32 (25.0%) | 7-10 (70.0%) | 16-20 (80.0%) |
| Jared Swopshire | 4 | 12.8 | 3.0 | 2.0 | 1.3 | 0.5 | 0.5 | 0.0 | 0.0 | 2-7 (28.6%) | 2-4 (50.0%) | 2-2 (100.0%) |
| Wayne Blackshear | 4 | 5.5 | 0.8 | 1.5 | 0.3 | 0.0 | 0.3 | 0.0 | 0.3 | 1-4 (25.0%) | 0-1 (00.0%) | 1-2 (50.0%) |
| Kevin Ware | 1 | 4.0 | 0.0 | 1.0 | 1.0 | 0.0 | 0.0 | 0.0 | 0.0 | -- | 0-1 (00.0%) | -- |
| Elisha Justice | 3 | 3.3 | 0.7 | 0.0 | 0.0 | 0.0 | 0.0 | 0.0 | 0.3 | 1-2 (50.0%) | -- | 0-1 (00.0%) |
| Zach Price | 2 | 1.0 | 0.0 | 0.0 | 0.0 | 0.0 | 0.0 | 0.0 | 0.0 | 0-1 (00.0%) | -- | -- |
- All these numbers look a bit deflated thanks to Louisville’s slow pace. The Cardinals have played 30 less possessions than Kentucky, which is almost another entire half of basketball (at Louisville’s pace).
- Kyle Kuric’s voluminous yet inefficient shooting from deep is not too surprising. For the year he has averaged more than 6 three point attempts per game, yet made only 33% of them.
Ohio State NCAA Tournament Player Stats
| Player | G | Min | Pt | Reb | OReb | Ast | Stl | Blk | TO | 2PFG% | 3PFG% | FT% |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Deshaun Thomas | 4 | 38.3 | 21.8 | 8.5 | 4.5 | 0.8 | 0.3 | 1.3 | 2.0 | 28-50 (56.0%) | 7-17 (41.2%) | 10-12 (83.3%) |
| Aaron Craft | 4 | 37.8 | 10.3 | 4.0 | 0.5 | 5.8 | 3.3 | 0.0 | 3.3 | 9-13 (69.2%) | 2-8 (25.0%) | 17-21 (81.0%) |
| William Buford | 4 | 34.8 | 11.8 | 5.5 | 1.3 | 1.5 | 1.3 | 0.0 | 2.3 | 6-23 (26.1%) | 7-21 (33.3%) | 14-18 (77.8%) |
| Lenzelle Smith, Jr. | 4 | 30.8 | 11.3 | 5.5 | 0.5 | 1.0 | 0.5 | 0.3 | 1.5 | 7-11 (63.6%) | 7-15 (46.7%) | 10-14 (71.4%) |
| Jared Sullinger | 4 | 30.3 | 18.0 | 8.3 | 3.3 | 1.5 | 1.0 | 1.5 | 1.3 | 18-40 (45.0%) | 3-5 (60.0%) | 27-33 (81.8%) |
| Shannon Scott | 3 | 15.7 | 1.3 | 1.0 | 0.0 | 1.0 | 1.0 | 0.0 | 1.0 | 2-7 (28.6%) | 0-2 (00.0%) | 0-2 (00.0%) |
| Evan Ravenel | 4 | 7.0 | 1.5 | 1.3 | 0.5 | 0.0 | 0.0 | 0.3 | 1.0 | 1-1 (100.0%) | -- | 4-6 (66.7%) |
| Amir Williams | 2 | 6.5 | 1.5 | 2.0 | 0.5 | 0.5 | 0.0 | 1.5 | 1.0 | 1-2 (50.0%) | -- | 1-5 (20.0%) |
| Sam Thompson | 4 | 5.5 | 1.0 | 0.8 | 0.5 | 0.5 | 0.3 | 0.0 | 0.3 | 1-2 (50.0%) | -- | 2-2 (100.0%) |
| J.D. Weatherspoon | 1 | 3.0 | 0.0 | 0.0 | 0.0 | 0.0 | 0.0 | 0.0 | 0.0 | 0-1 (00.0%) | -- | -- |
- Jared Sullinger and Kentucky’s Terrence Jones are the only players on these Final Four teams to have averaged at least 1 point, offensive rebound, defensive rebound, assist, steal, and block per NCAA tournament game.
- Sullinger and Deshaun Thomas are the only players averaging at least 16 points and 8 rebounds so far in the tournament.
