Teams Scoring Less
February 21, 2003 05:42 PM | General
February 21, 2003
MORGANTOWN, W.Va. – In an era when teams are taking more three-point shots, college basketball is actually scoring fewer points now than it did in the late 1960s and early 1970s.
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| High scoring guard Wil Robinson played during an era when college basketball teams scored considerably more points. (WVU Sports Communications) |
Morgantown Dominion Post editor Bob Hertzel brought up this subject during West Virginia coach John Beilein’s Thursday afternoon conference call and it turns out Hertzel is right on target.
According to the 2002-03 NCAA Record Book, teams are scoring more than six points less per game today than during the peak scoring period in 1970-71 and 1971-72.
In those two years teams averaged 77.7 points per game. Last year the scoring average for a typical NCAA team was right around 71 points per game. Don’t forget, in the early 1970s there wasn’t a shot clock, a three-point shot or the two-point bonus after 10 fouls. Back then the rules were more tailored toward lower scoring games.
The trend of scoring less today also holds true for West Virginia University.
During those two peak scoring years of 1971 and 1972, West Virginia averaged 88.7 and 86.8 points per game (keep in mind both the ’71 and ‘72 WVU teams were not exceptionally talented like the Jerry West-led teams of the late 1950s). This season under Coach John Beilein, the Mountaineers are on pace to average 68.7 points per game.
There have been far fewer 100-point games too. During a 20-year period between 1950 and 1970, 62 times West Virginia scored more than 100 points in a game.
In the 32 years since then, the Mountaineers have managed just 52 100-point games. And since 2000, West Virginia has had only three 100-point games against Villanova on Feb. 20, 2001, versus Arkansas-Monticello on Dec. 1, 2001, and against Robert Morris on Dec. 15, 2001.
West Virginia has yet to score 100 points during the John Beilein era. The coach has a theory on why teams are scoring less, “I think that people study defenses more. The video tape is probably the primary reason.”
Former Mountaineer assistant coach Gary McPherson, who was a member of Sonny Moran’s staff in the early 1970s, agrees.
“Scouting was much different then,” he said. “Technology wasn’t used then like it is today. There was some film exchange, but usually you either saw the team you were about to play in person or you subscribed to a professional scouting service.”
Beilein says different coaching methods have also inhibited offenses.
“When I was first breaking into coaching there was just one way to play man-to-man defense. It was the Bobby Knight, straight man-to-man, pressure the ball, hedge on every ball screen.
“Everybody around the country did it the same way – never trail a screen, always go through a screen – all these things,” he continued. “Well today, just about every game people play you differently according to what your offense is geared to. You’d think with the three-point shot and the two-point penalty late in the game that the scores would be going up but it hasn’t. Defenses have just gotten better and better and better.”
“This doesn’t necessarily pertain to the 1970s, but in the 1950s and 1960s the only time you changed defenses was when the coach called timeout,” said MSN basketball radio analyst Jay Jacobs. “There weren’t all of these combination defenses that coaches use today back then.”
Even though the three-point shot has become an effective tool to use, Beilein thinks it also has its drawbacks.
“The mid-range game is not as good as it used to be because they either concentrate on threes or take it to the basket,” he said. “The pull-up shot was much more popular in the 1950s, 1960s and early 1970s.”
“Back then there were probably more pure shooters than there are today,” added McPherson. “If you had 12 guys on a roster just about all of them could shoot it. Today kids have become more enamored with taking it to the basket and dunking the ball.”
And because of that, fans are seeing more games today with scores in the 50s and 60s.
News and Notes
It will be just the third time since West Virginia joined the Big East in 1996 that the Mountaineers will have played on “Big Monday.”
The other two times were against Georgetown in Morgantown in 1998 and last year at Syracuse. Having the opportunity to showcase his basketball program to a national television audience is a great bonus for Coach John Beilein in his quest to develop the Mountaineers into a national power.
Schifino is currently tied with Stan Boskovich for 36th place in single-season scoring with 481 points. When he reaches 500, he will pass Tracy Shelton (498, 1990), Jerry West (498, 1958), Chris Moss (491, 2002), Lowes Moore (485, 1979) and Lloyd Sharrar (484, 1957).
However, that is not the most. In 1967, Coach Bucky Waters had three 500-point scorers in guard Ron Williams (563), forward Carl Head (553) and forward Dave Reaser (538). That feat will be hard to ever duplicate.
The two-time Pro Bowl punter is slated to make $1.47 million this season. It was the first time the Carolina Panthers have ever used that designation for a player.
After that, look for record-setting punter Todd Sauerbrun to beat both Harris and Talley in.
Guard Greg Jones, a two-year letterman in 1997 and 1998, is averaging 11.5 points in 35 games with Greenville.
Have a great weekend.
