Syracuse Statistical Breakdown

I'm a stats junkie, and by stats junkie I don't mean your normal box-score stats. Yes rebounds, assists, points, turnovers mean things, but it's the stats that represent how players get those rebounds, assists, etc... is what's more important.

I'm working with slightly out-dated stats, Ken Pomeroy's website only updates the individual player's stats once a week or so. The Orange's last game against Rutgers last night is accounted for in the individual players breakdowns, but will be included in the overall team breakdown. With all that said:

• Arinze Onuaku would statistically be one of the best offensive centers in the country if he hit his free-throws. Onuaku is relatively under used in this offense which is a problem this team needs to fix. Onuaku's effective field goal percentage is sitting at sixth in the country at 67.4%. Despite this, A.O. is just the fourth option in this offense. He takes only 19% of the team's shots on offense which is slightly inflated when you take in account he gets a lot of those shots on put backs. A.O. is also very strong on the offensive glass, as he's eighth in the Big East in the percentage of misses he rebounds on the offensive side of the ball at 13%. He also gets to the line a lot; he's 89th in the country at getting to line when compared to the amount of field goal attempts he takes. Arinze's biggest problem? Actually hitting those free throws. His overall offensive rating is third on the team at 114 which is a very strong number. It's much lower than it should be though because of his missed free throws. He shoots just 45% from the line and he has so many attempts (91)that his ability to draw fouls is probably hurting this team. Until he can get his free throw percentage up to 60% he will continue to hurt the team.
• Ken Pomeroy had an article I couldn't locate find in his archives praising his stat sheet stuffs. They were players that were in the top 500 in the country in I think it was eight of his 12 categories. Donte Green is quickly becoming one of those players. He stays out on the court longer than basically everyone in the country when the game still matters. For awhile he was in the top five in minutes played, but that number has dropped to 56 after recent games. He's also in the top 500 in offensive efficiency, shot percentage, effective field goal percentage, defensive rebounding, a low turnover rate, and block percentage. There's not too many players out there that are that well rounded. He's also very close to moving into the top 500 in possession and offensive rebounding.
• Ken Pomeroy just added a new feature to his team stats page. He added the average height of each position on the floor for every team, the amount a team uses its bench, and the average experience of each team. S.U. ranks very high in average height of its players. The average height of the players on the floor for Syracuse is 6'5'' which is 52nd in the country. By position, the average center on the floor for Syracuse is a half an inch taller than average, 108th in the country. Donte Green's 6'11'' frame makes Orange power forwards the tallest power forwards in the country. On average, the power forward on the floor for Syracuse is 2.9 inches taller than average. At small forward, Syracuse is 27th in the country with the Orange putting a small forward that is on average 1.7 inches taller than average. At shooting guard they are 97th at 0.8 inches taller than normal. At point guard, Syracuse is 146th at 0.7 inches above average. This surprised me a bit because I would have thought Jonny Flynn would have been below average for a point guard height wise, but apparently not.