When trying to get a sense of which stats matter in a game, one always has to weigh and balance competing tensions.
In basketball, a small number of rebounds isn’t necessarily bad. A team could shoot 55 percent from the field, which reduces the number of rebounds available. Rebounding matters little in that particular circumstance.
A small number of assists can reveal deficient ball movement and substandard passing in a halfcourt offense, but if players are missing open shots for much of a game, good passes don’t translate into assists. That reality has to be kept in mind when evaluating assists in particular and assist-turnover ratios or differentials on a larger scale.
Wednesday night in Minneapolis, Wisconsin got blown out by Minnesota, losing 70-52. In a blowout, several statistics are likely to jump out. Shooting percentage is one. Wisconsin’s 19-of-67 shooting line, with a 7-of-29 mark from 3-point range, is hard to miss. Minnesota going 9 of 22 on threes (41 percent) is also eye-catching.
The 16-9 assist differential — plus-seven for the Gophers — might seem significant, but as explained above, Wisconsin players missed so many shots that UW’s passing wasn’t necessarily that much worse than Minnesota’s.
The statistics above are relevant to varying degrees, but they can’t match this next one. This is the statistic which most centrally defined Wisconsin’s decisive loss: The Badgers forced only five Minnesota turnovers. FIVE!
That tally was ONE turnover at the half, and given that the second half was never close, there were plenty of garbage-time minutes late in regulation. Wisconsin barely forced any turnovers when this game’s outcome was still in doubt.
Understand this point about good offense versus good defense in basketball: Sometimes good defense is defeated by better offense. Andre Iguodala plays great defense, but LeBron James hits the clutch jumper anyway. However, good defense always makes good offense WORK HARD for its points. A great scorer or a good offense might have a superb night when everything is clicking, but the good defense made the offense work for its points, so that at the other end of the floor, the elite scorer can’t cruise on defense. He has to put in equal energy. Over the course of a full game, that can take a toll on an elite scorer.
Wisconsin did not challenge or bother Minnesota in the first half. The Gophers’ shooting percentages and scoring rates dropped precipitously in the second half and in garbage time, but it didn’t matter. The total no-show by the defense in the first half created a game in which Minnesota players were very fresh at the defensive end. Minnesota met so little resistance on offense that it was able to conserve energy for defense, and hold Wisconsin under 30-percent shooting from the floor.
Make the opponent earn a victory. Every competitor strives to achieve that. If you can’t win, at least know you did everything you could to make it happen.
Wisconsin didn’t do that. The Badgers weren’t just bad; they were toothless.