Tuesday, February 26, 2013
Iowa State's reliance on the 3-pointer
By Joe Kaiser
Iowa State connected on 17 in their overtime loss to Kansas last night, and a closer look at the stats indicates that the Cyclones rely on the long-ball as much as nearly any other team in the country.
According to KenPom.com, Fred Hoiberg's team generates 37 percent of its offense via the 3-pointer, which is a greater percentage than all but 12 teams in the nation. What's more interesting is that none of the 12 teams with a greater reliance on the 3 are NCAA tournament-caliber squads.
What to make of all this?
Perhaps this: while the Cyclones are a team nobody will want to face in the tournament and a squad with shooters galore (five players have made over 30 3-pointers on the season), they are also at risk -- perhaps more than any other team -- of bowing out early if they go cold from beyond the arc.
