Monday, March 31, 2014

Sean Miller

Sean Miller is obviously a great coach. His Xavier teams were great, and he has rebuilt Arizona into a national power. He will almost certainly win a championship there.

But I was equally impressed with his post-game comments, which were beyond classy. Both in the immediate post-game interview, in which he expressed how happy he was for Bo Ryan, and in the post-game press conference. He's frankly made me into an Arizona fan, and I'll be rooting for them next year—until they play the Badgers in the Final Four.

Friday, March 28, 2014

Friday Facts: Tourney edition

Here's the efficiency data for every team in the tournament. So far, the Badgers are outscoring their opponents at a clip of .35 points per possession, best in the tournament. They also lead in my "adjusted" efficiency margins, which accounts for the quality of opponents. Of course, this is a small sample of just three games, so the 40-point destruction of American takes on an out-sized influence no matter what. Still, no team has been more impressive than the Badgers so far.

Another notable fact is that Michigan and Tennessee are tied for second in efficiency margin. They play each other tonight, so something has to give.

Team AdjEM O.E. D.E. Raw EM
Wisconsin 0.15    123.8      88.6 0.35
Michigan 0.07    120.4      92.9 0.27
Tennessee 0.12    128.6    101.6 0.27
Virginia 0.05    118.4      95.2 0.23
Florida 0.10    110.7      89.8 0.21
Wichita St. 0.06    114.8      94.3 0.20
Arizona 0.09    118.1      97.9 0.20
Syracuse 0.05    106.6      88.5 0.18
Louisville 0.05      99.3      83.3 0.16
Michigan St. 0.05    121.8    106.3 0.15
Baylor 0.10    111.1      96.8 0.14
Iowa St. 0.06    126.2    112.1 0.14
Connecticut 0.06    116.1    102.1 0.14
UCLA 0.08    111.1      99.5 0.12
Pittsburgh 0.05    105.2      94.0 0.11
San Diego St. 0.08    108.7      99.5 0.09
North Carolina St. 0.04    108.5    100.0 0.08
Oregon 0.05    119.7    111.7 0.08
Kentucky 0.05    108.9    101.6 0.07
Dayton 0.07    101.0      94.4 0.07
Kansas 0.03    104.6      98.5 0.06
Villanova 0.03      98.6      92.9 0.06
North Carolina 0.03    113.3    113.3 0.00
Stanford 0.05      95.0      96.0 -0.01
Ohio St. 0.01      89.4      90.9 -0.02
Harvard 0.03    103.9    106.2 -0.02
VCU 0.01    107.1    110.0 -0.03
Arizona St. 0.01    121.4    124.3 -0.03
Providence 0.01    118.5    121.5 -0.03
Albany 0.02    100.0    104.0 -0.04
New Mexico St. 0.01      94.5    100.0 -0.05
Cincinnati 0.01      95.0    101.7 -0.07
Oklahoma 0.00    104.2    111.1 -0.07
New Mexico 0.01      85.5      93.5 -0.08
Saint Louis 0.02      90.5      98.6 -0.08
George Washington 0.00    110.0    118.3 -0.08
Texas 0.01    119.7    129.1 -0.09
Gonzaga 0.02      98.0    108.1 -0.10
Oklahoma St. 0.01      98.7    109.0 -0.10
Manhattan 0.02      94.1    104.4 -0.10
Memphis 0.02    104.0    114.3 -0.10
Mercer 0.02    117.5    128.3 -0.11
Mount St. Mary's -0.01    100.0    110.9 -0.11
Duke 0.00    110.9    121.9 -0.11
North Dakota St. 0.01      98.4    109.5 -0.11
Saint Joseph's 0.01    112.5    123.6 -0.11
Stephen F. Austin 0.01    103.8    115.2 -0.11
Kansas St. 0.01      80.3      91.8 -0.11
Cal Poly -0.01      96.7    109.0 -0.12
Weber St. 0.01      98.3    113.3 -0.15
Louisiana Lafayette 0.00    101.5    116.9 -0.15
Creighton -0.01    104.8    120.8 -0.16
Eastern Kentucky 0.00    107.8    125.0 -0.17
Coastal Carolina 0.01    100.0    118.6 -0.19
Texas Southern -0.02    111.3    130.6 -0.19
Iowa 0.00    100.0    120.0 -0.20
Delaware 0.00    106.8    127.4 -0.21
Nebraska 0.00      88.2    108.8 -0.21
Xavier -0.01      92.2    115.6 -0.23
Tulsa -0.01      88.1    113.4 -0.25
BYU -0.01      94.4    120.8 -0.26
Massachusetts 0.00      94.4    121.1 -0.27
North Carolina Central -0.01    119.0    147.6 -0.29
Milwaukee -0.01      76.8    105.8 -0.29
Wofford -0.01      71.4    101.8 -0.30
Western Michigan -0.02      82.8    120.3 -0.38
Colorado -0.03      78.7    126.2 -0.48
American -0.05      60.3    129.3 -0.69