Dave Sez

Blinded by points

It never ceases to amaze me how many people think that basketball production can be summed up merely by total points scored. Case in point, the headline in today's News and Observer, "Lewis leads Jackets over Seminoles." A quick look at the box score tells you why the headline writer (probably someone at the AP) picked Lewis, he scored the most points, 21 in this case. But if you look a bit further down the box score, you'll see that Jarrett Jack scored 18 points, along with 12 (!!) rebounds, 6 assists and only 1 turnover. That's a GREAT line, certainly much better than 21 points and only a couple rebounds and assists.

So, some professional sports writer (Keith Parsons, according to the byline), someone who makes his living off of his ability to analyze basketball, was blinded by points. He failed to recognize that those points were most likely the result of teammates doing all the other things that actually win basketball games - rebounding, passing, setting picks, guarding their man, diving on loose balls, fighting through screens, etc. Lots of those things don't show up in the box score, but when a point guard gets 18 points, 12 rebounds and 6 assists, against only one turnover, you know he did all the big and little things.

So, don't be like those guys. Don't just look at who scored the most points and assume that guy had the best game. But, then, you already knew that, didn't you?