Assistatistics

On the biggest sports day of the year, the biggest sports story of the day (from my perspective) was Kendall Marshall’s 16 assists in UNC’s 20-point win over Florida State.

Adam Lucas put up an awesome piece detailing every single assist on the official site. One of the most telling facts from that article is that no other UNC player had ever recorded that many assists in an ACC game.

But, like most things in my life, I think this story would be better if it involved the NBA. So I painstakingly documented every game this year in which an NBA player dished out 16 or more dimes.

Keep in mind that regulation NBA games last 8 minutes longer than regulation NCAA games, and the average NBA team scores 99.3 points per game while the top 30 scoring teams in NCAA only score 80.7 PPG. (UNC is 17^th in the nation at 79.1.)

Even so, there are only 12 different players who have reached the 16-assist plateau this year in the NBA:

• Andre Iguodala: Feb. 4 vs. Knicks (16)
• Jose Calderon: Feb. 4 vs. Timberwolves (19); Jan. 5 vs. Cavs (17)
• Devin Harris: Jan. 31 vs. Nuggets (18); Jan. 29 vs. Bucks (16)
• Rajon Rondo: Jan. 30 vs. Lakers (16); Jan. 5 vs. Spurs (23); Jan. 3 vs. Timberwolves (16); Dec. 3 vs. Bulls (19); Nov. 13 vs. Grizzlies (17); Nov. 11 vs. Heat (16); Nov. 2 vs. Pistons (17); Oct. 29 vs. Knicks (24) (league high); Oct. 26 vs. Heat (17)
• Chris Paul: Jan. 26 vs. Warriors (17); Nov. 5 vs. Heat (19); Oct. 27 vs. Bucks (16)
• Steve Nash: Jan. 12 vs. Nets (16); Jan. 9 vs. Cavs (17); Dec. 23 vs. Heat (18); Dec. 15 vs. Timberwolves (19); Dec. 5 vs. Wizards (17); Dec. 2 vs. Warriors (16); Nov. 24 vs. Bulls (16)
• Hedo Turkoglu: Jan. 8 vs. Mavericks (17)
• Kyle Lowry: Dec. 17 vs. Grizzlies (18)
• Raymond Felton: Dec. 12 vs. Nuggets (17)
• Deron Williams: Dec. 1 vs. Pacers (16)
• Gilbert Arenas: Nov. 21 vs. Pistons (16)
• Jason Kidd: Oct. 27 vs. Bobcats (18)

To bring this back to the NCAA, only 24 teams are averaging 16 or more assists per game this year. The nation’s leading player (Ohio’s D.J. Cooper) is averaging less than half of that (7.7 assists per game).

All of this comes, of course, on the heels (no pun intended) of the departure of former starting PG Larry Drew II, who left the team and evidently campus on Friday. So, not a terrible time for Marshall to fully assert himself as the UNC point guard of the future.

Question of the Moment:

Most important story of Super Bowl XLV?

1. Steelers’ turnovers
2. Packers’ dropped passes
3. The commercials
4. Something else

My take: I’d say the dropped passes. If the WRs reeled in some of those drops, Aaron Rodgers could have put up some of the gaudiest QB numbers in Super Bowl history.