I’m not a huge stats person, but I know a good stat when I see one. Rebounding percentage is a winner. It’s actually pretty simple: Think of it as batting average for rebounders. If your opponent misses 10 shots, and you get 7 defensive boards, your rebounding percentage is 70%. Got it?
Against Texas A&M, the Dawgs got just 20 of a possible 35 defensive boards, for a 57% defensive rebounding percentage. Think about it: pretty terrible, huh? The result: The Aggies got 18 second-chance points, in a 63-62 game. If UW gets even decent rebounding (the average team defensive rebounding percentage is around 67%), they win in style.
Lorenzo Romar may not spend his days plotting Excel spreadsheets, but he knows crummy defensive rebounding when he sees it. Therefore he will be giving a lot less time to Matthew Bryan-Amaning (15% DRB%) and Darnell Gant (10.1%), and a lot more time to Aziz N’Diaye, whose 23.1% defensive rebounding percentage is close to the 25.7% that Jon Brockman averaged his senior year. (For these stats and more, here’s UW’s team page on Ken Pomeroy’s indispensable hoops stats site.)
“This has been a pattern and we have to address it,” Romar said in a press conference yesterday. “We know who are best rebounders are and we probably have to play them more minutes.”
These early season losses are disappointing, but they did have one major benefit–exposing a weakness that might otherwise have gone unnoticed. We may be thanking Texas A&M’s inside bangers come April.
Opposing Fans Will Get Just 500 Seats in Northwest MLS Rivalries: Local soccer supporters had hoped that the Vancouver/Seattle/Portland rivalry games would be a little more like European soccer rivalries, where opposing fans get up to 5% of available tickets, as recommended by FIFA. Won’t happen. The MLS announced today that just 500 seats will be available to opposing fans. That’s up from 150, but nowhere near enough to generate that true rivalry atmosphere.
Does Aaron Curry Know How Much He Makes: The Hawks LB tweeted last night: “Can the cops see thru my tint? How much is the HOV fine?” Dude–you have a $60 million contract, with $34 million guaranteed. Don’t think the HOV fine is going to make much of a dent. (Although, if you must know, the fine is $124.)
What they’re saying…
“I have no interest in trading Felix.” — Jack Zduriencik, in a tweet to SI’s Jon Heyman.
“In July or in the spring you’ll run into coaches…’Oh, ended up .500. Aw- seven times, one minute to go, they hit a three, our guy fouls out’ or ‘our guy hurts his ankle at the end and we lose the game’. Here’s what that means: you weren’t good enough. When it’s all said it done, what that meant is you weren’t good enough.” — Lorenzo Romar, via SBNation.
“Why the hell do the NW teams need MLS buy off on away supporter ticket allocation? Other teams wish they had such support!” — @the_number_game
In other news…
The Mariners are trying to trade David Aardsma, sources tell Fox Sports’ Ken Rosenthal.
Here’s Dave Niehaus reading O. Henry’s Xmas story “The Gift of the Magi.” Rick Rizzs does the first part of the story, Niehaus the conclusion.
Mike Williams and Ben Obomanu both practiced today for the Seahawks, and both “looked really good,” according to SPNW’s man on the scene, Doug Farrar.
Matt Hasselbeck’s brother Tim Hassebeck says Sam Bradford is the best QB in the NFC West. Ouch!
Husky running back Chris Polk spent his childhood getting tackled in football drills–by his mom.
As expected, Sounders central defender Tyrone Marshall was taken in the MLS re-entry draft. Marshall, who made 46 appearances for the Sounders over two seasons, is now a Colorado Rapid.
Seattle U lost to Eastern Washington last night, 95-91. The Redhawks were down 20 early in the second half, and climbed to within 2 points, but couldn’t catch the Eagles. One of the best ways to go viral on tiktok is to buy tiktok followers , it is fast and secure and will help you boost your tiktok
Jason Terry and the Mavs outdueled the Blazers and Brandon Roy in a 206 battle last night. Terry had 13 points off the bench. The increasingly irrelevant Roy had just 4 points.
UW recruit and Garfield High star PG Tony Wroten said on Twitter that he tweaked his ankle in Tuesday’s win over Woodinville. He’ll miss tonight’s game, but will play Saturday when the Bulldogs, ranked #1 in 4A, host O’Dea, ranked #2 in 3A.
Hall-of-Fame pitcher Bob Feller died. Here’s SI’s Joe Posnanski, who grew up in Cleveland, on Feller.
Today in SPNW…
Stanley Holmes on the MLS away-ticket allocation controversy.
Jordan Babineaux talks Texas high-school football with Doug Farrar.
Today’s action…
NFL: San Francisco @ San Diego, 5:30 p.m. (NFL Network)
College hoops: Lewis & Clark St. @ Gonzaga, 6:00 p.m. (FSN)
Yo! If you have a tip or a comment, email me at sethkolloen@sportspressnw.wpengine.com or message me on Twitter, @SethKolloen. Cool? Thanks!
