KSRBEvans

This is something I've been thinking about since I saw the pre-season all-conference and all-American teams come out and saw what is in my opinion an under-representation of UK players on these lists. So I just decided to do what is probably a too-long, very geeky article and get it out once and for all.

A few years back I bought into the idea of tempo-free stats as espoused by Dean Oliver, Ken Pomeroy and others being a preferable method of gauging performance than raw numbers. ...

In many ways, Kentucky and Texas are mirror images of one another, with UK a little better in most areas.

Although John Calipari discussed Texas' team speed earlier in the week, neither UK nor Texas have played fast so far. UK is averaging 65.2 possessions/game, good for 232nd nationally in adjusted tempo. Texas is playing even slower, averaging 64.4 possessions/game (263rd nationally in adjusted tempo).

With both teams, the slow pace is largely due to their opponents ...

Not sure any of this matters at this point, because Aaron Harrison. But here are some quick tempo-free thoughts on the tourney so far for UK, and tomorrow night's game.

--UConn's calling card is defense: they're 10th nationally in Defensive Efficiency. But from a Defensive Efficiency standpoint, this will be only the 2nd-best defense UK plays in the tourney. U of L ranks 4th nationally in DE, and UK scored 1.16 points/possession in defeating the Cardinals. Also, Wichita State ranks ...

So who are these other Wildcats from Manhattan, KS UK will be facing tonight? In many ways, they're the polar opposite of Kentucky--and that can be a good thing for the Wildcats from Lexington.

Kansas State's Tempo:
The other Wildcats don't play fast. Their average possession length is about 19 seconds, which ranks 246th in the country. KState's average game had 65 possessions, which ranks 228th nationally.

Generally, KSU doesn't do as well if the game gets ...

This game should be a fast-paced affair. Both teams like to play quickly; UK's average possession length is 15.7 seconds, 35th nationally, and UNC's is 15.9 seconds, 45th in the country. Transition D will be a key for both teams.

This will be a game between 2 of the nation's tallest teams. UK is 4th nationally in Effective Height, or average height weighted by minutes played. UNC is 15th in Effective Height.

North Carolina on Offense:
--UNC is 16th nationally ...