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Okay, this story line is getting old but I have to say it. The Jayhawks posted some pretty gaudy statistics again tonight against the outmanned Ichabods of Washburn. The Ichabods came in as the 7th ranked Division II team so speculation was this could actually be something more than a 40 minute practice session for the Jayhawks. As it turned out the Jayhawks buried the Ichabods before they really had a chance to get out of the gate. For starters consider a 43 point victory (99-56) even when we shot a dismal 18 of 35 from the free throw line. Had we shot a reasonable 75% from the line the margin of victory would have eclipsed 50 points. As a team we shot 58.1% from the field and 60% from the arc. We have been over 50% from the field in every game. As a matter of fact we had or poorest shooting game against UCLA with a 54.7% performance. These are enough to make a Jayhawk fan giddy. Why the better shooting percentage over the the 46.4% we had last season? There are several reasons. First of all you have to credit Kirk and Jeff. Kirk has really added a dimension with his stellar passing game this year delivering crisp passes to the guys in the middle. Jeff also has really improved his passing this year more than any other part of his game. Secondly almost to a man they are taking much smarter shots than last year. The motion on the offense has been very good this year and we have taken very few ill-advised shots. Only Boschee (44.1%) and Luke (40%) are below 50% as far as the top 8 players. Luke, of course, has just played in the Washburn game so his is a little misleading. It seems all the guys are much more patient and heads-up about when to shoot. Thirdly, our competition has been poorer with the exception of the first two games. We did, however, shoot almost 56% for those two games against strong competition. Another bright spot is our 3-point shooting. The last three games we are 18 for 30 or 60% from the 3-point line. Of course that is against weaker teams but very good nonetheless. Overall we are 49.1% for the year. Hinrich is sizzling at 64.7% (11 for 17) and Kenny is trying to make believers with a 45.5% (5 for 11) rate so far this year. Brett Ballard's 2 for 2 performance against Washburn has helped the team statistics considerably. Jeff has yet to get on track and has hit only 38.9% (7 for 18). Luke is back so our 3-point statistics could really change. Also we will probably incorporate that aspect of our game more as we face opponents with tougher inside games. So far we have pounded the ball inside against outmanned front courts. Last year 66.3% of our offense came from 2 point baskets with 16.9% from 3 pointers and 16.8% from free throws. So far this year 63.9% of our points have come from 2 pointers, 17.1% from 3-pointers and 19.0% from free throws. You can see the biggest change is free throws. Consider this, we are averaging 28.8 free throws per game so far this year compared to 20.0 last year. We are even outshooting our opponents from the free throw line so far this year 144 to 106. The bad news is we are hitting only 62.5% of our free throws so far. Sad!!! There are a couple other interesting statistics that sort of jump out at you this year. Our team A/TO (Assist to turnover ratio) is 1.33 so far this year compared to 1.11 last year. That is outstanding. Credit Jeff and Kirk for good ballhandling. Jeff has obviously worked hard on this portion of his game and can boast an A/TO of 4.17 and Kirk is back but still more than respectable at 2.44. Kirk is averaging 7.8 assists per game and Jeff is averaging 5.0. When you add in Mario's 2.25 you get a very sweet total of over 15 assists per game. That blows away last year at the point and two position. Kirk is the real deal, and Jeff seems to be flourishing in this arrangement also. My hat is definitely off to Jeff in his ball handling so far this year. I have been a pretty strong critic of Jeff but those A/TO numbers are staggering. Want some other encouraging statistics? How about 10.2 rebounds per game and 13.6 points per game for Eric. Folks he's averaging a double double. Granted, he has had a huge size advantage, but until those numbers go down it is time to cut the man some slack. He is posting the kind of numbers we need. The other beef last year was his shooting percentage which is up to a very decent 55.4% this year. I'd like to see more blocks and a few less TO's but heck, he's trying and playing his butt off. I'm sure impressed and hope he continues to improve. What's more is Eric is actually leading the team in net NEP with a very very high 32.6. That is way high and he will not be able to sustain that but he's started out of the blocks with a bullet. Kenny is just plain out of sight. 56% from the field including 45% from the 3-point line. Yah yah yah he still stinks from the free throw line but that's about the only negative. He has a whopping 8.8 rebounds per game and a 1.3:1 A/TO ratio. He leads the team in gross NEP with 124.8 and is second in net NEP with an astronomical 31.8. I don't think any KU player in the last 10 years has had a 31.8 net NEP for an entire year. Don't look now but Kirk has snuck into second in gross NEP (112.1) and third in net NEP with 29.5. Kirk's numbers are just plain gaudy at 65.5% from the field, 64.7% from the 3-point line, 81% from the free throw line and 4.8 rebounds per game. Add on 39 assists to 16 TO's and 13.2 points per game (barely behind Eric for 4th on the team) and you have the makings of an All-American year. The question is can he maintain these numbers against stiffer competition. Only time will tell. For my money Kirk is one of the top 5 point guards in the nation and may end up in the top three before it's all over. Luke opened his season up with a net NEP performance of 18.6 which should increase. Remember a starter should be above 20 and preferably above 25 if we are a final four contender. Subs should be at least 15 and preferably 18. Okay now for some fun facts. Who's most likely to shoot? Eric (once every 2.22 minutes) followed by Drew (2.29) and Kenny (2.31). Luke shoots a 3 pointer every 5.7 minutes, Jeff every 8.7 minutes and Kirk every 8.9 minutes. Drew gets to the line every 3.9 minutes compared to Carey at 4.9 and Eric at 5.2. Jeff shoots by far the fewest at once every 13 minutes. Eric is positively dominating the boards at 18.7 per 40 minutes compared to Drew at 12.6 and Carey at 12.2. Kenny edges out Nick 11.2 to 10.3. Kirk has cut his fouls in half this year at 3.7 per 40 minutes. Nick is worst at 7.1 fouls per 40 minutes and Eric isn't much better at 6.6. Everyone else on the team is below 5.0 with Kenny at a spectacular 1.3 fouls per 40 minutes played. Believe it or not Carey leads the team in blocks per 40 minutes at 6.1. Eric is second at 5.5 just ahead of Drew at 5.4. Nick is far and away the steals champ at 3.2 per 40 minutes. So far this year the team has improved in just about every offensive category and is steadily improving on the defensive side. Statistically the team has had a great year so far but the proof will be when they hit the meat of the schedule. Until then, enjoy the ride.