Interesting Stats from 2/9/10 NBA Games

• Zydrunas Ilgauskas struggled against the Nets by going 1-10 for just 2 points.  It is the tenth time this season that Big Z has scored 2 or fewer points in a game.  Before this season, Big Z had played in 705 games and scored 2 or fewer points a total of 10 times.
• Even though Shaq only scored 7 points vs. New Jersey, he was still active in other areas.  He also had 8 rebounds, 5 assists, 2 steals, and 2 blocks.  It's just the third time since 2001 that Shaq had at least 5 assists, 2 steals, and 2 blocks in a game.
• The Houston Rockets were dreadful in all facets of the game vs. Miami as they finished with just 66 points which ties a franchise low.  They also became only the second team since 1986 to have fewer than 9 assists, 3 steals, and 2 blocks in a single game.  The other was the Knicks on Dec. 23, 2007 but they managed to score 90 points in their game.
• Udonis Haslem came off the bench to pull down 14 rebounds against the Rockets, and all of them were defensive rebounds.  He is the only player this year to grab 14 defensive rebounds in a game despite not starting.
• Ty Lawson's had a fairly pedestrian night against the Mavericks with 13 points, 7 assists, and 5 rebounds.  But he did this in just 21 minutes which makes him the first player this season to record a 10-5-5 statline in 21 or fewer minutes.
• Joe Smith has never been known as a pick-pocketter in his career but this is kind of embarrassing: Smith has played 321 minutes this season and only has 1 steal!  But Jonathan Bender has a chance to catch him as he's played 212 minutes and has yet to record a steal.

Philip Rivers: King of the Long Ball

Every time I watched the Chargers play, it always amazed me how often Philip Rivers hooked up with one of his receivers for a deep pass. Lots of QBs pile up big numbers because their receivers gain YAC but it always seems that with the Chargers, most of their yardage comes from when the ball is in the air (Sproles not withstanding). Thus, I tracked down the stats of all of the playoff QBs' numbers when they throw a pass 30 or more yards.

It's important to note that these are not 30+ yard pass plays but rather only plays in which the ball was in the air for 30 or more yards. Here are the yardage results on these plays as well as the number of 30+ yard pass completions for each QB:


Rivers' efficiency in throwing the deep ball is unparalleled; in fact, McNabb and Romo were the only QBs who had more 30+ yard completions than Rivers had 40+ yard completions (7). It certainly helps to have a pair of 6'5" receivers who can go up and pull down the pass but you still have to be accurate enough to put the receiver in such a position. Much was made of Rivers' funky throwing motion when coming out of NC State, but none of that should matter for any QB as long as he can put the ball where it needs to be.

10 Things to Know before the Super Bowl

• The average number of points scored by the winning Super Bowl team is 30.1 points while the average for the losing team is 15.3 points.  However, those numbers are somewhat skewed by the assortment of rule changes that have favored the offenses.  Before the adoption of the illegal contact penalty in 1978, the average score was 23.4 to 9.6.

• Drew Brees has yet to win a playoff game outside of the Superdome.  If the Saints win the Super Bowl then Brees will become just the 8th QB to have his first career non-home playoff win come in the Super Bowl.  The last to do it was the recently retired Kurt Warner in 1999.

• By the time Super Bowl XLIV starts, it will have been exactly 400 days since the Colts lost a game in which Peyton Manning played into the 4th quarter and 504 days since they lost to a team that plays a 4-3 defense under that same condition.

• Speaking of 4-3 defenses: the Colts will finally play one in the playoffs for the first time since Super Bowl XLI against the Bears.  Indy has not lost a playoff game to a 4-3 team since January 4, 2003.

• If Adam Vinatieri plays vs. the Saints then it will be his sixth Super Bowl which will tie the most ever by a single player (Mike Lodish).  If the Colts win then Vinatieri will have five Super Bowl wins which will tie him with Charles Haley for the most all-time.

• The Colts’ current starting kicker, Matt Stover turned 42 on January 27, 2010 which means he will be the oldest player to ever play in the Super Bowl once the game comes around.

• Jim Caldwell will seek to become the 3rd rookie head coach to win a Super Bowl joining George Seifert and Don McCafferty.  Like Seifert (Walsh) and McCafferty (Shula), Caldwell is following in the footsteps of a hall of fame coach (Dungy) and all 3 coaches had the luxury of coaching a QB that can arguably be considered the greatest of all time.  (McCafferty had Unitas, Seifert had Montana, and Caldwell has Manning).

• Drew Brees has fumbled 6 times in 5 career playoff games and he has fumbled 12 times in 17 games played this season.  That’s not good news especially considering the fact that Robert Mathis leads the NFL with 31 FFs since 2004 and Dwight Freeney is 3rd over that span with 23 FFs.

• If the Saints are to win then Brees will have to overcome his history of poor performances in Miami.  In two career games at Pro Player/Dolphin Stadium, Brees has thrown 1 TD compared to 4 INTs while being sacked 8 times.

• Speaking of playing surface, Brees has struggled when playing on grass this year as compared to turf while Manning has actually played better on grass than turf despite playing his home games in a dome.  Here is how their numbers stack up when playing on grass:

Interesting Stats from 2/3/10 NBA Games

• Marcus Camby had 6 points and 20 rebounds in the Clippers' loss to the Hawks.  It was the 11th time since 2005 that Camby had at least 20 boards but fewer than 10 points in a game.  No other player has done it more than once during that timeframe.
• The Bulls lead the NBA with 6.4 blocks per game (entering Wed.) but they failed to block a single shot against 76ers.  It was the first time since November 24, 2006 that the Bulls did not block a shot in a game and on that day the Bulls also happened to be playing Philadelphia.
• The Wizards attempted just 7 free throws in their loss to the Knicks who attempted only 8 of their own.  In other words, those two teams combined to shoot as many free throws in their game as LaMarcus Aldridge (11-15 FT) did by himself against the Jazz.
• Since 2003 only 2 players have had at least 30 points, 13 assists, 5 rebounds, and 2 blocks in a game: Dwyane Wade and LeBron James.  Wade did it again on Wednesday night to give him 4 career games with those numbers which nudges him just past LeBron who has 3 such games.
• If I told you a Warrior had 46 points on just 23 FGAs, then you'd probably think it was Corey Maggette.  I know I would but it wasn't Maggette who did that vs. the Mavs, but rather his teammate Monta Ellis.  Ellis was 17-23 from the field (4-6 on 3PAs) and 8-13 from the free throw line in what was his career high scoring game.
• Utah shot 62.5% from the field and 90.6% from the line in their win over Portland.  It's only the 7th time since 2000 that a team shot at least 60% on field goals and 90% on free throws in a game.  Not surprisingly, those teams are 7-0 in those games.
• Kobe Bryant scored just 5 points in 37 minutes in the Lakers' win over the Bobcats.  It was the fewest points he's scored in a game since January 13, 2005 (when he played just 6 minutes).  But in games in which he's played at least 30 minutes (now 821 after Wednesday), Bryant's 5 points is a new career-low.

Charlie Weis has his hands full in KC

When you take a look at Matt Cassel's 2008 stats and you factor in the appointment of Charlie Weis as Chiefs' OC, you realize that Kansas City is faced with a paradox: Charlie Weis loves to employ the spread offense which frequently has at least 3, but often 4 or 5 receivers on the field at a time. But Cassel struggles in multiple receiver sets where its tougher to read defenses and throw the ball downfield. (With the stats above, receivers are counted as anyone who lines up out wide or in the slot; thus, running backs and tight ends flexed out are counted as receivers).

So what should the Chiefs do? Forcing Cassel into the spread could be like fitting a square peg into a round hole. I thought about the Chiefs possibly utilizing Cassel more in the shotgun which would give him a little more time to avoid the rush and a better look at the defensive alignment. However, that idea was put to rest once I saw these stats: