Theft no the Rise in Minnesota
December 22, 2013
The Minnesota Golden Gophers have a steal rate of 12.6% which is 11th best in the nation through Saturday’s games. Only three teams have a rate higher than 15% (VCU at 18.2% is #1).
The Gophers also lead the Big Ten in steal rate.
Several players boast strong individual steal numbers, but what is especially impressive is that the two Gophers in the top 10 of Big Ten thieves (min 40% of available minutes played, data per KenPom.com) have also limited the amount of fouls they are called for.
Rank | Player | Team | Steal % |
1 | Shannon Scott | OSU | 5.0 |
2 | Mitch McGary | MICH | 4.6 |
3 | Roy Devyn Marble | IOWA | 4.6 |
4 | Aaron Craft | OSU | 4.5 |
5 | Bryson Scott | PUR | 4.4 |
6 | Travis Trice | MSU | 4.4 |
7 | Deandre Mathieu | MINN | 4.3 |
8 | Leslee Smith | NEB | 3.6 |
9 | Tim Frazier | PSU | 3.1 |
10 | Austin Hollins | MINN | 2.9 |
Stealing the ball is great. Fouling the other team and potentially putting them on the free throw line is not. Let’s re-sort this top 10 based on fouls committed per 40 minutes.
Rank | Player | Team | FC/40 |
1 | Roy Devyn Marble | IOWA | 1.5 |
2 | Austin Hollins | MINN | 1.9 |
3 | Travis Trice | MSU | 2.6 |
4 | Deandre Mathieu | MINN | 2.8 |
5 | Tim Frazier | PSU | 2.8 |
6 | Aaron Craft | OSU | 2.9 |
7 | Shannon Scott | OSU | 3.2 |
8 | Bryson Scott | PUR | 3.9 |
9 | Leslee Smith | NEB | 4.7 |
10 | Mitch McGary | MICH | 5.0 |
Finally, here is the group ranked by their steal % divided by FC/40 ratio. This table helps to illustrate just how impressive Devyn Marble’s numbers are. Deandre Mathieu and Austin Hollins aren’t looking too bad either.
Rank | Player | Team | Ratio |
1 | Roy Devyn Marble | IOWA | 3.03 |
2 | Travis Trice | MSU | 1.70 |
3 | Shannon Scott | OSU | 1.56 |
4 | Deandre Mathieu | MINN | 1.55 |
5 | Aaron Craft | OSU | 1.54 |
6 | Austin Hollins | MINN | 1.53 |
7 | Bryson Scott | PUR | 1.14 |
8 | Tim Frazier | PSU | 1.11 |
9 | Mitch McGary | MICH | 0.92 |
10 | Leslee Smith | NEB | 0.76 |
Minnesota wraps up its nonconference schedule next Saturday when they host Texas A&M – Corpus Christi (7:30pm CT; TV: BTN)
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