How has Virginia been so good at offense?
Wednesday, January 13 2010 by Ben
68, 80, 72, 72, 70 - These are the points scored on Virginia's five game winning streak. They're nice totals, but we're not exactly talking about Tennessee dropping 124 points on UNC-Asheville.
In terms of points per 100 possessions (PPP), though, Virginia has been spectacular - averaging 116 PPP during the streak. Currently, Virginia has the 3rd best offense in the ACC behind Duke and Maryland and just ahead of North Carolina.
Can't say that's a sentence I thought I'd be writing.
Some of that may have buoyed by the great performance versus Hampton (135 PPP). However, they have played very well against UAB and NC State, both of whom have decent defenses (20th and 66th in the nation in terms of PPP). So, it's not like they've been going up against all cream puffs here.
But how have they been doing it?
There are two reasons why Virginia has been so adept at putting the ball in the basket: three point shooting and turnovers.
As I've mentioned previously, the two effects are somewhat intertwined: we observe a trade off between three point FGA and turnovers; the more threes you shoot, the fewer turnovers you commit. The theory being the better you are at finding open three point shooters, the less likely you are to turn the ball over.
And yet... that hasn't happened for the Wahoos.
In fact, Virginia is shooting the exact same proportion of threes as they shot last year: 29%. So, that story just doesn't play here.
Virginia is shooting 42% from three (4th in the nation) and only turning the ball over on 17% of their possessions this year. Compare that to their decrepit 32% from last year and mediocre turnover rate of 21%. That's a huge, huge boon to the offense.
I can't attributed it all to Tony Bennett, either. As wise and sagacious as the Virginia faithful might think he is, this offense was going to get better with Dave Leitao on the sideline; Virginia had too many returning minutes for it not to.
Can this type of offense last in the long run versus top notch ACC foes?
We'll find out tonight, as the Cavs face Georgia Tech, far and away the best defensive team they've faced all year.
(Thanks to Kenpom.com for the stats)
The game tonight should certainly be interesting. I'm not necessarily looking for a win tonight so much as a competitive showing and a game that stays within reach for all 40 minutes. I know Tony doesn't want to talk about moral victories, but I'll take them.
Of course, I'd take a win too, and I'll be there cheering for one.