What You Should Know for UofL, Dec 27: Missing Cunnigham Just As Expected
UofL's performance against Robert Morris was eerily in line with how the team has played without Christen Cunningham on the court all season. Before I get into the details, here's the stats profile for the Robert Morris game, and the season to date:
UofL Stats Profile vs Robert Morris, Dec 21
UofL Stats Profile, Season to Date through Dec 21
What You Should Know: Against Robert Morris, UofL's adjusted scoring margin was +0.09 points per possession. This is their 3rd worst effort of the season behind the Tennessee and Nicholls State games. Against Robert Morris, the Cards were worse than their season average in points per possession, turnover rate, opponent turnover rate, and defensive rebounding percentage.
What Is Happening? The last 3 stats listed happen to be 3 stats categories in which UofL has been consistently better for the full season with Christen Cunningham in the game. Here are UofL's key stats with and without Cunningham this season (click to enlarge):
The green stats are where UofL has been better with Cunningham in the game this season, and red are where UofL has been better when a player takes Cunningham's place in the lineup. UofL was worse against Robert Morris is nearly every way you would have expected based on how they've played withou him this year. The only expect is that UofL had been scoring a bit more points per possession without Cunningham and allowing a bit fewer. This was flipped against Robert Morris, but that may reflects Robert Morris' strengths and weaknesses. The Colonials rank a relatively decent 160th in defensive efficiency but a horrid 325th in offensive efficiency.
UofL's point guard rotations without Cunningham against Robert Morris were very similar to their season-long numbers as well. For the full season without Cunningham, UofL has played:
39% of the time with just Darius Perry
35% of the time with just Khwan Fore
25% of the time with both
0% with neither one
Against Robert Morris, they played:
40% of the time with just Darius Perry
31% of the time with just Khwan Fore
29% of the time with both
0% with neither one
Just as they have for the full season, UofL was much better against Robert Morris with only one of Perry or Fore in than with both.
What Does This Mean? This is an off bit of consistency in a sport that is known for its randomness. It also seems to be evidence that Christen Cunningham is having a truly positive impact on the team this season, and UofL should look forward to getting him back. As far as Perry and Fore are concerned, Ryan McMahon's outside shooting is a nice compliment to their drive-and-kick game. When both are in, they seem to be somewhat redundant. I'd recommend UofL avoid playing Perry and Fore together, even when Cunningham is out of the game.
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