Gani Lawal's and Zach Peacock's development over the years
by Winfield Featherston on Jan 21, 2010 7:30 AM EST
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PrintOne of the biggest forces this year during basketball season has seemed to be Gani Lawal and Zach Peacock. We all expected to see Gani work his magic this year but who really knew what to think about Zach coming into the season? Would you ever have believed that I, a Hewitt doubter, would say that we've had players develop positively over the past few seasons?
In typical Bird fashion, I had to check the numbers to see if my thoughts were validated. I specifically wanted to see 2008/2009 numbers compared to 2009/2010 numbers because the play by both Lawal and Peacock are sticking in my mind this season. I took a look at yearly points scored, free throw percentage and rebounds for both players. I also checked out minutes played, but we must remember that Derrick Favors took Peacock’s starting role this year so I expected some fluctuation. For the 2009-2010 year, I projected out yearly totals so those numbers should be interpreted with some discernment.
Total points in a year
Gani's shot up in his 2nd year (2008-2009), while Peacock has steadily gotten better (development?). An interesting thing to note (and you will soon see a trend in this) is how Gani is slightly under his yearly numbers from last year at this point. Who would have believed that?
Free-Throw Percentage
Both Zach and Gani struggled at the line their freshman year but both have improved rather well. Zach is now up to an 82% shooter and Gani, oh Gani, is now up to 67.5%. Still pretty low, but moving upward...
Rebounds per year
This graph illustrates Gani coming into his own last year. 294 freaking rebounds in 2008-2009! Zach is more or less right at where he was last year.
Minutes per game
It makes sense to see Zach's numbers go down because of the playing time Derrick Favors has received. Lawal's minutes have decreased because we no longer need or depend on him to carry the team. Him running into late foul trouble would also decrease his minutes this year.
Development? Maybe so after all. These charts also reveal that Zach Peacock has become our 6th Man, the dependable non-starter who handles the minutes and knows his role and contributes in areas where others cannot (FREE THROWS!)
Thoughts? Were these graphs just dumb? Let me hear your thoughts.
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Zach
Whenever I get a chance to ask CPH questions at an alumni function it goes something like this:
1. Who is your leader in the locker room whenever the coaches are outside and it is player’s only?
2. Who is your “Bruce Dalrymple”? Lunch pail, blue collar, hits the floor for the ball, uses his energy to play beyond his skills, Defense Defense Defense? (You can tell I’m an ’80’s guy)
3. Who is your Defensive Spark Plug?
For #3 I think we all imagined Bell this year as the D stopper, and possibly #2 also.
This season proves to me that Zach is probably the answer to #1, #2 (more on the Offensive side), and it seems that #3 rotates between who ever is ready to be “in your face” for the game (I’d vote Rice and Oliver in two different games).
CPH must sleep better at night knowing he’s got Zach on the bench ready to bring the lunch pail at any time.
Unfortunately, I see his minutes declining as DF grows into his role and skills, but come Tourney Time, look for Zach to take on the other teams big guy for the frustration/foul’em out factor and let DF start his All Star weekends early.
What an asset as a 6th man. Sort of like having a Dave Cowens pre-Player/Coach.
BTW, GL has UP’s. Those “R Cubes” (Rim Rocking Rebounds) against Dook and Clemins show that he is gaining the strength and attitude he needs at the next level-I’m glad he stayed and I’d bet he’d agree.
by DressHerInWhiteAndGold on Jan 21, 2010 8:55 AM EST reply actions
Defense wins ball games
I think the most encouraging thing about this team is that they play good defense. Opposing teams are shooting a mere 37% against Tech this year. That is lowest in the Paul Hewitt era and good enough for 7th best in the country. Only once before has a Hewitt team held opponents to less than 41%—the 2003-04 Final Four team. They registered a 38.8% field goal percentage defense. I think this is a good indicator that this team might do some special things, and make a deep run into the playoffs.
You might argue that this number is sure to go up since we are just now starting ACC play. More than likely it will slightly. In ACC play we are holding opponents to a 40.68% with our last two games Clemson and UNC being 36.9% and 37.9%, respectively. However, if we continue on this recent trend, I like our chances.
Year Def-FG% Rank
01-02 44.9% 233
02-03 42.5% 107
03-04 38.8% 6
04-05 45.2% 88
05-06 44.1% 191
06-07 43.8% 162
07-08 45.2% 249
08-09 41.6% 81
09-10 37.0% 7
+1000...I couldn't agree more
You have to give credit to Hewitt for the defense, that is all coaching. Your stats slobb209 correlate directly to W-L over the past 4 seasons where Hewitt is getting bashed. Those teams couldn’t play D at all, so i wonder if Hewitt is focusing on that to a degree even in his recruiting. This team not only defends the paint well with their size but defends the perimeter just as well. Love it!
I blog the Carolina Panthers at www.catscratchreader.com
ditto
Say what you will about coach Hewitt, he recognizes the importance of playing tough defense (I’ve read a bunch of his comments to the press over the years, and it’s always struck me how much he emphasizes playing good defense). I can’t remember the last time we had a team that did such a good job at preventing offensive rebounds, defending the paint, and denying open three point shots. This team has the tools for a good run, particularly as the freshmen get more game experience.
As for Zach, although I love the graphs, they don’t do him justice. He’s much more efficient from a statistical standpoint, and a much better ball handler than he was earlier in his career. I’m hard pressed to think of a player who has improved more over the course of his tutelage from coach Hewitt (Jarrett Jack is the only one other one that comes to mind).
by Joe Hamilton's Chauffeur on Jan 21, 2010 4:26 PM EST up reply actions
What's the source for your numbers?
Just wondering for informational purposes. I typically use Kenpom, but I like to look at other places for comparison.
So here’s what Kenpom has for eFG% & Adj Def Efficiency(w/ ranks):
04 – 43.7(5) – 85.2(3)
05 – 44.4(10) – 87.0(8)
06 – 49.4(153) – 96.7(92)
07 – 49.7(149) – 91.3(36)
08 – 51.2(231) – 97.2(96)
09 – 47.1(80) – 91.9(32)
10 – 42.5(11) – 87.0(14)
I have always liked the fact that Hewitts teams have played good defense and it clearly looks like we are in for another good year. The only thing I wish we had was a consistent offense and/or an identity on offense. 2004 and 2007 are the only years that we have had a top 50 offense in eFG% and Adj. Off Efficiency, with 2004 being the only time we have had both the offense and defense in the top 50 at the same time. If we could get the offense to really shine over the second half of this year we could see something nice happen again like in 04.
"Big Ten can have this challenge. Duke loses, we all win..."
-Marcus Ginyard, G - UNC
Nice analysis...graphs not dumb at all
I would have never guessed Peacock would be so clutch nor would I have thought he would be so confident going to the basket. The guy can handle the rock for 6-9. You will not want to a player willing to take the last shot as long as we have Peacock and Shumpert!
I blog the Carolina Panthers at www.catscratchreader.com
yeah
Gani was surprising. He’s still a force to be reckoned with but it seems as if we are distributing the production more? Either way, Gani doesn’t seem to be the one whom we have to depend on .
The college football season is so fragile. It's like a glass ball being pushed around from stadium to stadium by a rhinoceros.
by Winfield Featherston on Jan 21, 2010 3:12 PM EST up reply actions
Effiency
I think a better analysis would be a per-minute stat breakdown, especially for peacock. I think this would be able to show if he has actually improved even if his total contribution is down
by millsGT49 on Jan 21, 2010 3:07 PM EST via mobile reply actions
Give me a bit
And I’ll gladly put together something on both players using tempo-free stats. Leaving work now and will attempt to dodge hail storms and tornado’s.
"Big Ten can have this challenge. Duke loses, we all win..."
-Marcus Ginyard, G - UNC
I agree
total points, rebounds, etc. can be affected by injury or PT. A player’s effectiveness is directly related to the time he is on the court.
I think I usually look at pts/min, rbs/min. And then total minutes and shots is important because that’s who the coaches are giving the greenlight to.
Peacock… ’07, ’08, ’09, ’10
Rbs/Min: 0.153, 0.190, 0.194, 0.208
Pts/Min: 0.286, 0.480, 0.373, 0.459
Mins/Game: 19.1, 20.7, 24.7, 22.1
Shots/Game: 4.37, 7.30, 7.90, 7.53
Lawal… ’08, ’09, ’10
Rbs/Min: 0.203, 0.320, 0.350
Pts/Min: 0.413, 0.508, 0.576
Mins/Game: 17.3, 29.6, 26.5
Shots/Game: 4.94, 10.7, 9.67
I guess the atmosphere that I've tried to create here is that I'm a friend first and a boss second, and probably an entertainer third.
Pretty neat
I think it’s cool that these stats show what you talked about earlier, while Favors and company may be taking some of their playing time it is nice to see the veterans improve and play better than ever. Let’s hope they keep it up and the young guys continue to improve!
by millsGT49 on Jan 21, 2010 10:00 PM EST via mobile up reply actions
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