Goodman's "Top 50 Shooters"

[REM08]

Yesterday Goodman released his list of the top 50 shooters in college basketball. Obviously lists like this are just made up for internet hits and to get people debating. I figured that makes it worth posting on a message board.

http://www.cbssports.com/collegebasketball/story/20751921


Erik Murphy
6-10 | PF | SR | Florida

I've seen him for years and you won't find a better shooting big man. He's 6-foot-10 and drilled 42 percent of his trifectas this past season.

Erik Murphy shows up at spot number 31 - and is the only Gator who made the cut. Kenny Boynton took upbrage at this and tweeted his thoughts about Jeff Goodman

K.B ‏@K_Boynton1

@AlligatorArmy @GoodmanCBS jeff goodman a joke


Brockway (I know I know) and Goodman have been talking about this on twitter today, with Brockway agreeing that Kenny shouldn't have made the list. Both writers mention him being the 3rd best shooter on the team behind Murphy and Rosario.

I don't have a specific question about this really, but thought it was interesting enough to pass along. I like that Kenny voiced his displeasure though.

[your_perfect_enemy]

haha Rosario is a better shooter than Boynton, that's a good one. Now you see why everyone thinks brockway is a joke

[jmac83]

If you haven't been able to get on the court for any significant minutes as a Gator, who really gives a damn if you were the best gunner on your high school team (Rosario)? Shooting potential without team contribution = Meaningless

[tampajack1]

KB reverted to his old form and shot poorly during the latter part of last season.

[VTGator]

I'd prefer Kenny to show his displeasure on the court rather than on Twitter. What matters is how he ranks at the end of the season, not at the beginning.

[InstiGATOR1]

Nice topic in my view. Let me chime in a few things:

1. The mention of Boynton being 3rd best on the team this year put him behind Murphy and Wilbekin based on stats UF kept this preseason.

2. I will bet almost that EVERY SINGLE PLAYER IN THE COUNTRY SHOOT THREES BETTER NONCONFERENCE THAN IN THE CONFERENCE. Certainly the vast majority of power conference players do. The defense is better. The pressure is much more. Players play more minutes and take more shots when not rested. The fact that someone looked that up for Boynton means nothing to me.

3. The case for Boynton is that he is among the top 30 or 40 returning 3 point shooters in terms for percentage. His percentage is based on a large sample size. He plays in a conference where he faced good defense much of the time. I read the number today and I do not remember it exactly, he has something like 12 or 14 four point plays. The case against him on that list is that he was not so good his first two years and Goodman used multiple year data to support some on the list, but then he put a true frosh pretty high on that list. I think Butler true frosh?

[themistocles]

Boynton was not the best shooter in the Universe during his Frosh and Soph seasons. However, as a Junior, he improved substantially, and it is not at all unusual for players who are asked to take heavy defensive tasks as well as offensive, like Boynton, to drop a bit offensively as the season wears on.

Last year, the Gators were one of the nation's best 3-point shooting teams. This year, they might not be quite as good, however, if Wilbekin lives up to his potential, and one or two of the excellent incoming Frosh shooters contributes notably, they may well be better this year.

As jmac noted, it is your total contribution to the team that matters, not merely whether you score or not, and there, Boynton is simply outstanding.

As was noted, to focus on one single aspect of a player's or team's game, and not consider the totality is a really shallow form of analysis. This is much like saying that Will Yeguete is far and away the best Gator player because he averages considerably more rebounds per minute played than almost anyone else in the Universe.

[ThePlayer]

I'd prefer Kenny to show his displeasure on the court rather than on Twitter. What matters is how he ranks at the end of the season, not at the beginning.

True dis.
Don't shoot the messenger...send a better message.

[tupacbiff]

We all know goodman is sweedish for moron. Just sayin.

[akaGatorhoops]

I havent looked over the list, so I don't have opinion on KB being excluded.
But credibility is lost for both Brock and the writer if the suggestion is that Rosario is a better shooter.

[dalwood13]

Brockway is an ass for taking to twitter to defend Goodman like that, throwing Kenny under the bus. If I were Billy, I would limit his access to the program.

[InstiGATOR1]

KB reverted to his old form and shot poorly during the latter part of last season.

For example the number 2 guy on Goodman's list, Brady Heslip of Baylor, shot 49.4% from the arc in nonconference games and 39.5% during the Big 12 season.

[madgator]

Without looking at the list, I have a hard time believing that KB wouldn't be on it.

As for Rosario being a better shooter than KB.....that's absolutely absurd. KB shot almost 41% from deep last year and 33% the year before.

the highest that Rosario ever shot was 32% and that was with a similar number of per game attempts as KB. Now, that doesn't mean that Rosario can't best KB, but based on the sample to date, the question I don't even see as debatable.

oh well

[madgator]

after going through the list KB most certainly should've been included.

41% on 270 attempts????


I can argue with statistical credibility that he should be ranked as high as the mid-teen's however to say that he shouldn't be included at least in the 35-42 range is pure asinine stupidity.

[jeffphillips21]

I agree. Pure b.s. if Boynton is not on the list. His % and # of makes vs overall quality of his opponents (which has to rank in top 10 of any team) should at least put him on the list...and to argue for Rosario is nuts. I think KB had every right to go after him, but yes show/prove it on the court - not Twitter.

[tupacbiff]

So the bottom line is a moron of the industry makes a list with faulty reasoning and a total lack of research. Seems like a pretty lazy job. Surprise, brockway agrees with him. So two moronic and lazy journalist agree with each other.

[gatorbogey]

my default position is - who cares about the pre-season list. KB can hit the shots, is streaky, and has hit some big time shots in crunch time. need more of it. especially come tourney time.

i like the list included players from smaller colleges. diverse list.

i don't knock brockway. from the non-expert/layman's eye of a fan for gator hoops, i appreciate his work. give me more stories - any stories on gator hoops, on billy D,...i appreciate it.

[InstiGATOR1]

So the bottom line is a moron of the industry makes a list with faulty reasoning and a total lack of research. Seems like a pretty lazy job. Surprise, brockway agrees with him. So two moronic and lazy journalist agree with each other.

Actually, I listened to the cbs bb podcasts this week and apparently Goodman is infamous for making decision based on looking at the play only and avoiding the actual numbers. That can work for some things, but shooters not so much.

[AlBGator1947]

KB is #9 in the ESPN list of top 10 shooters.

9. Kenny Boynton, Florida: Among the handful of players who shot as many 3s in 2011-12 as Boynton, only Vanderbilt guard John Jenkins was a fellow member of a power-six conference. Boynton fired from downtown 270 times last season. If we were talking about his freshman or sophomore seasons -- in which Boynton was similarly free of conscience but far inferior as a shooter -- that would not necessarily be a good things. But because Boynton hit 40.7 percent of his 3s, he was a major reason why Florida’s offense was so difficult to stop. He can handle it and get into the lane, too, but his 3-point attempts dwarf his 2s, and as long as he’s making them at a 40-percent or higher rate, he’s very dangerous to opposing defenses.

[int1974]

Boynton
Murphy
Frazier
Wilberkin
Graham
Braxton will all shot 38% or better from 3 this year. Rebounding will be the key for us.

[madgator]

Boynton
Murphy
Frazier
Wilberkin
Graham
Braxton will all shot 38% or better from 3 this year. Rebounding will be the key for us.


no way. maybe 2 of those guys will hit that kind of a percentage for the season.