Gophers lead country in blocks per game and blocks per personal foul

[die hard gopher]

Haven't seen anybody mention this yet. 7.1 BPG, Oregon is second at 6.77.

Also 0.42 blocks per PF which is #1 in the country as well. Very impressive stat.

Reggie is also now #1 in BPG in the country among major conferences and #2 overall.

http://www.espn.com/mens-college-basketball/statistics/team/_/stat/blocks

 

[MadtownGopher]

Too bad we didn't get Chris Boucher out of JUCO (now at Oregon), then we'd really be a shot blocking machine!

 

[KillmeNow]

Too bad we didn't get Chris Boucher out of JUCO (now at Oregon), then we'd really be a shot blocking machine!

As much as that makes sense and would have been interesting to see, I have no regrets whatsoever about this team, the chemistry and balance is great. Getting Boucher would have meant one less spot for who? Who on our current roster wouldn't be on the team? And even if Pitino was able to figure out a way to get him on the team without losing a current player, would we have the great chemistry we have now? Would Curry have been redshirted or gotten fewer minutes and hence not developed the way he has?

Not knocking your thought, it is fun sometimes to think of what could have been, but I'm just loving this current team so much, I couldn't imagine any other lineup or configuration right now.

 

[die hard gopher]

Too bad we didn't get Chris Boucher out of JUCO (now at Oregon), then we'd really be a shot blocking machine!

I thought about that as well. It'd be virtually impossible to score in the paint on us with those two and the level of rim protection would rival the 2011-12 Kentucky team with Davis.

 

[mcal24]

It really can't be overstated how big Reggie Lynch has been to this team (and we get him for another year!). I would guess blocks result in more than 50% change of possession, so we probably get 5 extra "turnovers" just due to blocks. Plus, the way Lynch blocks shots, we have the opportunity to run in transition. I would guess our 7 blocks per game translates to an extra 7 points per game at the least. That's crazy.

Steals and blocks are something that aren't easily replaced in basketball. You can substitute an elite rebounder - 15 rebounds per game for someone who will probably get 10-12 pretty easily (look at a lot of defensive rebounds, they aren't contested). You can't replace a blocks guy.

Looked up some stats - NBA defensive rebound percentage is about 57% on blocked shots. Hard to imagine we get less than that on defensive rebounds. So that's 4.1 extra possessions at the very least (with 57% d rebounds, I would guess we're higher). Last year, we had 3.6 blocks per game (2.1 extra possessions if you go by 57% defensive rebounds).