CleanHOUSE said:GrizBall said:As I pointed out with Steadman, sometimes people’s perceptions are not supported by the actual numbers.
Here are some stats on Parker:
16th in D-1 basketball and 1st in the Big Sky with a 38% Assist Rate - meaning when he is on the floor he assists on 38% of the team’s made field goals during that span (KenPom website).
The only player in D-1 basketball shooting 48%+FG/48%+3PG and averaging 4.7+apg. (Basketball Reference website).
Leads the Big Sky in assists per game, total assists and is 2nd in A/TO ratio. (Gogriz and Bigskyconf websites).
I think the fact he is a very unorthodox player, jumps on way too many passes and will occasionally throw a pass that seem to make little sense skews the perception of him.
Some of the defensive comments are on point. The numbers show that Parker has some improving to do on the defensive end. Also often times teams that play at a slower tempo get credit for being better defensive teams than they actually are due to the fact the slower tempo creates less scoring opportunities for opponents and disrupts the flow of the game.
I also don’t believe “Defense wins championships.” This is an ancient statement and has been widely debunked. It no long holds true with the :30 clock and 3pt line. Plus kids are too skilled offensively now. You have 6’8-6’9 kids stepping out and hitting 3’s. It no surprise that the Big Sky’s 3 best offensive teams are 1-2-3 in conference with only Weber being as high as 3rd in defense (all according to KenPom).
The new winning formula is being good on defense and very good to elite on offense. Clearly you want to be as good as you can on defense, but regardless of how good you are defensively, you can’t be a top team without at least a very good offense.
Thoughts are well supported by data so my perception is probably a little off, and I didn't say he was bad passer, its just he can make really bad passes and strong more athletic kids can put him on his back foot and bully him at times into weak passes. But I would still say if has any elite skills its getting to the rim and finishing with patience and control. I will also say that his passing has improved a lot over the season, Parker as he is right now is someone I trust a lot more with the ball than say the first 10 games or so.
100% agree with this.