2012-13 Boston College Basketball Through 10 Games
By Joe Micik
Mark L. Baer-USA TODAY Sports
Measuring “progress” can be subjective. The human analytical element is important, because your eyes will often tell you the true story of what you see. When it comes to Boston College basketball, those who have watched their first ten games know what they’ve observed, and seldom has it been without its headaches. That is not to say it also hasn’t had a few redeeming moments, but it is what it is seems fitting.
Since this site has already delved into subjective analysis of the basketball team’s development, this will focus on something more concrete and objective, namely statistics. Has this team taken any leaps forward, at least as far as the numbers can tell?
POINTS PER GAME
2011-12 full season
: 59.3
2012-13 to date
: 66.9
Change
: +7.6
FIELD GOAL PERCENTAGE
2011-12 full season
: 40.9%
2012-13 to date
: 43.5%
Change
: +2.6%
3-POINT FIELD GOAL PERCENTAGE
2011-12 full season
: 33.9%
2012-13 to date
: 30.3%
Change
: -3.6%
FREE THROW PERCENTAGE
2011-12 full season
: 67.3%
2012-13 to date
: 72.9%
Change
: +5.6%
TURNOVERS PER GAME
2011-12 full season
: 14.6
2012-13 to date
: 12.9
Change
: -1.7
POINTS ALLOWED PER GAME
2011-12 full season
: 68.5
2012-13 to date
: 68.0
Change
: -0.5
FIELD GOAL PERCENTAGE ALLOWED
2011-12 full season
: 43.6%
2012-13 to date
: 44.3%
Change
: +0.7%
Keep in mind that the 2012-13 statistics will potentially be changed drastically by the end of conference play, but there are a few things one can glean from this information.
First, they are scoring more points. We knew that, we’ve seen it, but we also know there have been a handful of games where the offense was miserable. That is not representative of an across-the-board improvement, but generally speaking, there has been one.
Next, with regards to shooting, it has improved — inside the arc, that is. Three-point shooting has not worked for BC this year, with a terrible 2-for-22 performance on Sunday dragging it down further (BC was still only 32.8% before the New Hampshire game).
They are turning the ball over a little less. Those few extra turnovers per game that they’re not making could save them a game or two along the way. Last year, the Eagles had a propensity last year to create unforced errors at the most inopportune times, and if they’re ready to cut back on those, it will help quite a lot.
Finally, and on a bit more of a sour note, the opposition is not doing badly compared to last season. Keep in mind that BC’s non-conference schedule has been mostly light and there have not been any ACC games yet. One would imagine that those defensive figures will not improve over the course of conference play – on the contrary, in fact – so the fact that they’re not a little better overall through only out-of-conference games is somewhat concerning.
The numbers say that so far, this basketball team has slightly improved. The ACC slate could dramatically skew the figures, so take this for what it is and apply your own logic where required, but perhaps the statistics telling the story of a mildly better basketball team conflicts with the general consensus that they’ve been more or less stationary so far.