Some Tidbits While We await TipOff

Of course you who know me know I have a proclivity for stats. It is not everyone's baliwick but it this is a sport and numbers matter. Well, some numbers matter. Other numbers are truly without much meaning although still interesting. These fall into that category.

One man band: In 1951 Clyde Lovellette scored 41.2% of KU's points. Wilt was No. 2 and 3 in his 2 seasons. If anyone is around that recalls Clude and Wilt, they saw truly dominant players. Clydes other 2 seasons came in 5th and 6th with Howard Engleman in 1941 in 4th. In my years I remember Bud Stallworth but his electric 1972 was good for 8th at 35.5% of the points. The best Danny Manning did was 11th in 1988 when he scored 32.9% of the points. Frank Mason's amazing 2017 season was good for 25.1% of the team's points.

Lonely 3 point shooter? Kevin Pritchard in 1987 made 59% of KU's 3 point shots. Mark Turgeon shot 21%. Kevin truly was our real lone 3 point threat that season. Bill Self has created a far more equal 3 point shooting environment. Sherron Collins was the 1st Self recruit to make the list at 18th making 35.5% of the teams 3pFG's. The top 17 were Williams recruits.

Lonely Dimer -- Aaron Miles is the all-time assists leader at KU by a good amount. But Jacque Vaughn in 1995 had to carry a bigger load percentage wise. Tat season Vaughn dished out 45% of the teams assists. Miles comes in 2nd, 4th and 5th on the list with Devonte' Graham last season coming in 3rd. Last season Devonte' dished 43.5% of the team's assists. Incidentally, the 1988 NC team was the most universally generous team. Everybody liked passing to Danny. Pritchard led the team in assists but only dished 16.8% of the total. 8 players dished out at least 8.5% of the total team assists. How is this for a dynamic small lineup?

Kevin Pritchard
Otis Livingston
Scooter Barry
Lincoln Minor
Jeff Gueldner
Milt Newton

Board Eater - No surprise here. Thomas Robinson in 2012 grabbed 34% of the total rebounds for the team. No one is really even close. ****NEWS FLASH*** Some guy named Wilt Chamberlain played at KU back in the 1950's. Rumor has it that he garnered about 36.3% of the teams rebounds in his 2 seasons. But Thomas Robinson's numbers lead the mere mortals. Cole Aldrich had a respectable 30.5%.

Lonely Thief -- Again, no surprise here. I was at KU for Darnell's first 2 seasons. He was crazy good. In 1981 he garnered 36.4% of the team's steals. Darnell's 4 seasons rank 1st, 2nd, 5th and 6th. Mario Chalmers three seasons rank 7th, 8th and 9th. Not surprisingly Danny Manning ranks 3rd. Who has that mystery 4th spot? Alonzo Jamison.

It's My Line -- Who got to the line for the highest percentage of the teams FT's? No surprise here at all. Wilt the Stilt in 1 and 2 in his 2 seasons. He shot 45% of the teams FT's in those two seasons. In modern times, the standard was Devonte' Graham last season. Last year Devonte' made 37% of the teams FT's.