Ay-Ziggy-Zoomba.com

I know the Falcons haven’t won as many games as we hoped they would this year, and a lot of people are pointing to the team's record and thinking that this team has not improved at all. But if you compare the team's statistics from last year to this year, this year's team made tremendous strides in offense. It is so much more improved than last year's teams. They're losing games because of defense only.

I did some poking around on Her Hoop Stats. (https://herhoopstats.com/" target="_blank) It’s a website that compiles advanced WBB data for all NCAA schools. They have data for both this year and last year, so I checked to see what BG has improved on. Statistically, the 2018-19 team has improved TREMENDOUSLY over last year’s team in offense. In offensive statistics, BG is in the top 20% of all DI schools. Last year, we were at the bottom 20% of nearly every category.

It’s actually an incredible improvement. BG got much, much better in nearly every offensive category. Here’s some data points if you’re interested:

This year BG is 32nd in the nation in Three Point Rate, and 48th in points per scoring attempt.

Total field goal percentage is now 42.3%, up from 36.8%. In 2017-18, BG was in the bottom 15% in the nation in field goal percentage. In 2018-19 we are top 25%. Another way to look at it - we went from 298th out of 349 to 82nd out of 351 - we moved up 216 spots.

Effective field goal percentage is now 49.8%, up from 43.2%. Assists per game is now 15.1 (top 15%), up from 9.1 (bottom 2%!!!). That means the ball is being shared MUCH more than it was last year. And, BG is #10 in the country in defensive rebounds per game (up from #134).

Defense is what’s killing us – statistically there has not been much improvement and we’re still in the bottom 20% in nearly every category. Opponent scoring and rebounding are really bad, and turnovers remain abysmal. Our offensive is really good now, but we’re not really stopping our opponents either. But, I remain very optimistic that BG’s getting everything turned around. The wins aren’t there this year, but the offense is finally there, and they made quite the turnaround in just one year.

Her Hoop Stats also does statistics per player, so here’s a few interesting notes: Statistically, Kadie Hempfling is a monster. Out of all DI players in the nation, she’s in the top 4% of Total Rebounds per game (139th in the nation); top 5% of assists per game (139th in the nation); top 20% in steals per game (637th). She’s a 5’9” freshman wing yet she’s dominating all of these categories. Most of your players in the top 4% of rebounding are your 6'4 - 6'7" centers like Kristine Anigwe and Teaira McCowan. Most players in top 5% of assists and steals are going to be guards.

It doesn’t seem like she’s gotten much of a spotlight, yet she’s doing it all for this team. In the MAC, Kadie is 10th in total reb/game, 18th in offensive reb/game, 12th in defensive reb/gme, 10th in assists/game, and 19th in steals/game. She ought to make the all-freshman team even without flashy points-per-game numbers. She doesn’t score a whole lot, but she’s doing literally everything else on the court.

Also, Sydney Lambert is the 20th player in the nation in minutes per game played at 37.2 mpg. That's 20th out of 3,423 DI players. So only 19 more women in the country play more minutes than her. How many more ways can I say that she plays too much? There's a reason this team runs out of gas in the 4th quarter.

Anyway, this is a long post, but Falcon fans, don't despair. We made huge strides this year even if the win/loss record doesn't show it.

speaking of Anigwe how about that 30-30 game wow!

I agree about the above remarks about our defense. It appears that Coach Fralick insists on staying with the matchup zone defense, but that defense can bite you if you have very quick, accurate passing opponents who penetrate the lane well. For that defense to work effectively, you have to cover the perimeter well enough to prevent the three-ball, without making the inside vulnerable, and vise-versa. Our players are not quick enough, inside or out, to play that defense effectively, but is probably a better fit for our players than a matchup man-to-man defense. Someone needs to teach our post players how to defend with physicality without committing obvious fouls. Our players have NEVER experienced a winning season since being with the program, but they constantly play against players who are better than they are, and who display more athleticism. Is it because our players can’t get any better, won’t get any better, or don’t know how to get better? We need to recruit players who have the resolve to develop “the sky’s the limit” concept on skills development and improvement. We must not recruit players whose skills have maxed out at the high school level, but who have the the potential to be All-MAC players. Then our coaching staff has to inspire them to put in the work to turn them into GREAT players, instead of “good” players. To succeed at this level, excellence must first be commanded, and then achieved. Mediocrity is not a level for success. Just ask Curt Miller. I still stand behind Coach Fralick and her staff in their abilities to turn this ship around. GO FALCONS!

The biggest problem I see is turnovers. We simply kill our chances most game with TO's. TO's take away a chance for you to score and gives the opponent the chance to score...

I think we are better than last year even if it doesn't show in the standings. The MAC is damn good this year.