Tuesday, January 22, 2013
Air Force an offensive force?
By Matt Giles
Heading into their Mountain West tilt against Boise State, Air Force was only scoring .95 points per conference possession. However, after scoring 91 points versus Boise State, that offensive efficiency rate has since been boosted to 1.02 PPP. Michael Lyons' 37 points helped in the effort, but Air Force used just 72 possessions and scored a whopping 1.26 PPP. As noted during the Mountain West conference call earlier this week, this was the first time Air Force has ever scored more than 90 points during a conference game.
It will be interesting if Air Force can continue to roll offensively in the coming weeks. Fresno State is not a guaranteed win, and the Falcons also must have a juggernaut of Wyoming, San Diego State, and New Mexico. One aspect that has fueled Air Force's offense, though, is their ability to generate points from the free throw stripe. The Falcons' free throw rate against Boise State was 40 percent, a significant improvement from the 30 percent posted during their initial three games. While the sample size is still too small to draw any meaningful conclusions, Air Force needs to continue to put pressure on opposing defenses and rack up free throws -- per Ken Pomeroy, Air Force converts 87 percent of their freebies.
