Big Ten Geeks:<\/p>\n
Maybe Penn State Really Does Have Best Backcourt in the Country<\/strong><\/p>\n
A year and a half ago, Penn State coach Pat Chambers made a bold statement:<\/p>\n
\u201cCan\u2019t wait! I think we\u2019re going to have the best backcourt in the country! You heard me, in the country,\u201d he exclaimed, referring to Newbill and Frazier. \u201cThe reason is because those two together.\u201d<\/p>\n
While Chambers\u2019 excitement clearly damaged his sentence structure, it also raised eyebrows. Could Tim Frazier and D.J. Newbill, a low-usage transfer from Southern Miss, actually comprise the nation\u2019s best backcourt?<\/p>\n
It took a year longer than expected to find out, but the answer appears to be a surprising \u201cmaybe.\u201d<\/p>\n
To look at this objectively, I took KenPom\u2019s list of the\u00a0top 100 offensive ratings in the nation (minimum 24 percent usage and 40 percent minutes played \u2013 we want high usage, high efficiency starters, not great role players). \u00a0I then filtered the list down. First, since we\u2019re looking at duos, I eliminated players that did not have a teammate also in the top 100. Then, I eliminated duos that included a player that is clearly a forward and not a guard in the context of his team.<\/p>\n
We are left with this list:<\/p>\n
\n
\n \n\n \n \n <\/colgroup>\n \n Player<\/td>\n Team<\/td>\n Ortg<\/td>\n Usage<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n \n Russ Smith<\/td>\n Louisville<\/td>\n 121.6<\/td>\n 31.1<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n \n Tim Frazier<\/td>\n Penn St.<\/td>\n 120.9<\/td>\n 28.7<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n \n Jordan Adams<\/td>\n UCLA<\/td>\n 134.6<\/td>\n 28.3<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n \n D.J. Newbill<\/td>\n Penn St.<\/td>\n 120.0<\/td>\n 25.2<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n \n Kyle Anderson<\/td>\n UCLA<\/td>\n 118.3<\/td>\n 25.0<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n \n Chris Jones<\/td>\n Louisville<\/td>\n 121.2<\/td>\n 24.7<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<\/tbody>\n<\/table>\n Admittedly, this is a quick and dirty approach. Defense is not considered, nor is schedule strength. We\u2019re also only a third of the way into the regular season, so there\u2019s a lot of basketball left to be played.<\/p>\n
With those grains of salt taken, we\u2019re left with three contenders for the nation\u2019s best backcourt (so far): Russ Smith and Chris Jones at Louisville, Jordan Adams and Kyle Anderson at UCLA, and Frazier and Newbill at Penn State. An argument could be made that UCLA\u2019s 6-9 Anderson isn\u2019t really a guard, but his assist rate and lineup usage suggest otherwise.<\/p>\n
It doesn\u2019t appear that Chambers was completely insane when he made that bold statement. There\u2019s a long way to go, but Frazier\/Newbill has a chance to be the best backcourt in the country, at least on the offensive end.<\/p>\n