Kevin Stacom: “There Are Lies, Damned Lies, and Statistics”

Kevin Stacom: “There Are Lies, Damned Lies, and Statistics”

It was Mark Twain who was associated with the quote, “There are lies, damned lies, and statistics.”          

As Coach Kim English gathered himself at the post-game press conference after a difficult loss, he graciously thought to thank all the fans who had just lent their enthusiastic support in their unsuccessful effort to close out the game vs. St John’s.

If you had told those fans before the game that St. John’s was about to shoot an abysmal 17% from 3 (3 for 18), an awful 42% from the free throw line (11 for 26), that Providence would out rebound St John’s 43 to 39, and shoot 48% from the field and 37% from 3 (7 for 19), and a respectable 77% from the line (13 for 17), most of them, including myself, would have assumed that those statistical advantages indicated an ensuing positive outcome. It wasn’t meant to be. 

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Also, in the post-game presser, English stated that they were aware of and prepared for St John’s strengths, which are primarily forcing turnovers and offensive rebounding.   

 

Best Half of the Year       

In the first half of this game, PC probably played their best ball of the season. There was little resemblance to the earlier games vs the mid-major opponents and most of the Bahamas games, where they were relegated to compete without their best player, Bryce Hopkins. They came out aggressively on both ends of the floor, pushing the ball up quickly after rebounds, with a lot of crisp ball and player movement. They had St John’s on their heels, going on an 18 to 5 scoring run midway through the first half, resulting in a 27 to 18 advantage. PC followed that up with another 9 to 0 barrage, leading to their biggest lead of the night( 16 points), 38 to 22, with about 3 minutes left in the half. During that stretch, Providence’s defensive intensity was responsible for St John’s going scoreless for five full minutes, missing 12 of 13 field goal attempts.              

Rick Pitino, in his post-game remarks, relayed how he told his team to forget all the missed shots and free throws, to keep crashing the boards, and to force the issue on defense. That admonishment turned out to be sage advice from the experienced coach. It was exactly these 2 areas of the game that produced the most glaring disparities in 2 critical categories, allowing St John’s to overcome such a horrific shooting night from the field, the 3, and from the line. 
               

The final stat line on offensive rebounds: 18 St John’s, 7 PC

Steals:        12 St John’s, 1 PC
Turnovers:  6 St John’s, 17 PC
         

As Kim English mentioned after the game, that was what was so frustrating, and this loss was such a “tough pill to swallow.” Those combined statistics awarded St. John's 22 more possessions than PC, and to borrow a Hockey expression, allowed St John’s 21 more shots on goal (73 Field Goal attempts vs 52) than Providence, which enabled them to overcome those normally fatal shooting percentages.

English further explained how he keeps emphasizing to his players that upon driving down the lane, once it’s apparent that the finish isn’t there, the best option and next pass is not “in,” meaning a difficult one in traffic, but “out” to the perimeter for a potential 3-pointer and continued ball movement There were many bad turnovers at crucial times points resulting in 19 points off turnovers for St John’s.

 

Hopkins' Status        

Lastly, in his post-game presser, Kim English was asked the inevitable question concerning Bryce Hopkins's availability. He relayed how it's basically a “day-to-day situation.” That there was some soreness and swelling in his knee after the game vs. DePaul in Chicago, that it is something they will continue to monitor, and that it is still structurally fine

With regard to that situation, I would be remiss to not mention on how Kim English and his staff have acted in such a commendable way. We all can feel for the situation of a young player dealing with the rehabilitation of a serious injury on both the physical and psychological level. But I think we also can acknowledge the difficulties involved for coaches and the team going out every night trying to compete without your best player. There are tremendous pressures involved in competing at this level with a lot at stake for a lot of people, but through all of this, I think it’s clear that Coach English has made it clear that his number one priority has been the well-being of that young man (Bryce Hopkins)and his future. These pressures have only been accentuated by the Brave New World of the uncharted NIL realities foisted upon all concerned.             

Yes, it was a gut-wrenching loss Friday night vs St John’s after Bensley Joseph’s NBA range 3-pointer with 20 seconds tied the game at 70 all, only to be thwarted by Ejiofor of St John’s put back with under a second to go, but the effort was there, they are aware of what needs to be worked on, and Marquette(currently ranked #9) looms for a New Year’s Eve contest.
 

I’m looking forward to starting the New Year, right?