DeRozans boffo free throw production is invalua

This is the time of year when teams fighting for spots in the College Football Playoff might be tempted to run up big margins in hopes of impressing the selection committee.Whether that strategy actually makes a difference is up for debate.Texas Tech athletic director Kirby Hocutt, who chairs the College Football Playoff committee, says the committee doesnt take margin of victory into account.We talk about how that team has performed each and every week, Hocutt said. We talk about `Was that a convincing win? ... I believe, in certain games a convincing win can be a 14-0 score, and in other games it can be a 35-7 score. I think in the game of college football, a convincing win can vary. But in no way do we incent margin of victory.Yet that didnt stop Louisville coach Bobby Petrino from bringing up margin of victory recently when he complained about his teams position in the rankings. Maybe I made a mistake, looking back at it, he said. (Against) Florida State, we shouldve kept all the starters in and scored 80 points and done that.Louisville beat Florida State 63-20 on Sept. 17, though the Cardinals playoff hopes suffered a major blow Thursday night when they fell 36-10 at Houston.Of course, scoring 80 against Florida State technically shouldnt have mattered to the committee if it isnt taking margin of victory into account. But how do the committee members not pay attention to the actual scores of games?I think they do to some degree, Oklahoma coach Bob Stoops said. Thats probably the best way to say it. I think they take all of it into consideration. But its a very bright group that, in some cases, it probably doesnt matter too much to them, and in some cases it does.Jeff Sagarin, who has his own rating system to rank teams, says common sense shows that the playoff committee does factor in the scores of each game. Sagarin cited the 2014 season, when eventual national champion Ohio State leapfrogged TCU to earn the fourth playoff spot after trouncing Wisconsin 59-0 in the Big Ten championship game.Their problem is if they ever verbalize, `Oh, we look at scores, then people will castigate them for encouraging teams to run up the score, so they have to pretend they dont, Sagarin said.Sagarin says his own ratings are based on who did you play, where did you play and what was the score. His rankings at the start of this week were virtually identical to the CFP rankings, with one notable exception.The CFP rankings had Clemson fourth and Louisville fifth, while Sagarins ratings reversed the order of those two Atlantic Coast Conference teams. Those rankings were done before Louisvilles loss to Houston. Both the CFP and Sagarin had Alabama first, Ohio State second, Michigan third and Washington sixth.You get better accuracy predicting future games when you use the score, Sagarin said. Thats all I can say about it. If people want to ignore the scores, thats their business, but the committee, I dont think they do (ignore the scores).Alabama coach Nick Saban, whose team has appeared in each of the first two playoffs, says he doesnt believe margin of victory should be factored into the CFP rankings.I dont think that beating another team by an embarrassing score really should be something that (should be rewarded) from a sportsmanship standpoint or a common respect standpoint for the other team and their players and their families, Saban said. Thats not really something that should be a part of the game.But Hocutt acknowledged the committee discusses what constitutes a convincing win. How often has the eye test come up as a way to judge a team during the playoff era? Sagarin notes the frequent references to style points.Florida State coach Jimbo Fisher recalls the example of his 2014 team that went undefeated in the regular season but only earned a No. 3 seed in the playoff behind Alabama and Oregon, who had each lost a game. Florida State played several close games that year, and committee members often referred to the Seminoles lack of game control without specifically mentioning scores.We were undefeated, hadnt lost in two years, but game control, Fisher said this week. I havent heard `game control anymore. Did that one go out of the equation?Ohio State coach Urban Meyer says he doesnt mind a scenario in which the committee considers how well a team played without specifically analyzing the victory margin. Meyer was concerned that if the victory margin becomes an ultimate measuring stick, teams might start acting ...I guess the term is very unsportsmanlike.Im hoping the committee -- I have great confidence there -- just looks at the body of work, the strength of schedule and how they played, Meyer said.The dilemma in that approach is determining how a team played without considering victory margin. That backs up Sagarins notion that scores are taken into consideration, whether or not the committee says so.Its not something evil, Sagarin said. Scores reflect what happened in the game. Thats all.---AP Sports Writers Cliff Brunt, Joe Reedy and John Zenor contributed to this report.---More AP college football: www.collegefootball.ap.org and https://twitter.com/AP-Top25---Follow Steve Megargee at www.twitter.com/stevemegargee Custom Arizona Diamondbacks Jerseys . -- Al Jefferson found a groove just in time for the Charlotte Bobcats. Diamondbacks Jerseys 2019 . Listen to the game live on TSN Radio 1050 at 7pm et. The Raptors traded Rudy Gay, Quincy Acy and Aaron Gray to the Sacramento Kings on Monday, in exchange for Greivis Vasquez, John Salmons, Patrick Patterson and Chuck Hayes. https://www.cheapdiamondbacksjerseys.us/ .com) - Yankee Stadium is the home of the Bronx Bombers, but on Sunday afternoon it will open its gates to host the latest addition of the Hudson River Rivalry. Cheap Diamondbacks Jerseys . Third-seeded Murray had the easiest path to victory on New Years Eve, barely breaking a sweat during his 6-0, 6-0 win over 2,129th-ranked Qatari wildcard recipient Mousa Shanan Zayed. Stitched Diamondbacks Jerseys . It says Pocklingtons lawyer filed the appeal Friday in a California court. CTV Edmonton also says Pocklington gave a $100,000 cash deposit as part of the conditions of his bail, and that he will be out on bail until his appeal is heard. I want to go back. Back to the summer of 2016. Life seemed...simpler.Except in the NBA, where matters were decidedly tumultuous.Free agency, fueled by television loot, became a nouveau riche drunken spending spree. The high amount of player movement shifted power across both conferences. It also reshuffled the statistical deck in fantasy.Per example? Kevin Durant to the Warriors affected production across three teams: Golden State, Oklahoma City (Russell Westbrooks usage rate accelerates over 40) and Dallas (Harrison Barnes had to land somewhere.)Al Horford, Dwyane Wade, Jeff Teague, Jeremy Lin, George Hill, Chandler Parsons and Derrick Rose decamped. Nicolas Batum, Marc Gasol and Bradley Beal stayed put. (But a player staying can have just as much fantasy impact.) Then you had teams like the Wizards who whiffed after hoarding cap space and were forced to hand more minutes to in-house options (the rise of Otto Porter).Then we logged several coaching changes.New coaches installed fantasy-friendly new systems (Luke Walton in Los Angeles) and shifted players into new roles (Mike DAntoni shifting James Harden to point guard is -- easily -- one of the biggest fantasy position switches of the past 10 years.)Speaking of Harden? All of this offseason tumult manufactured another fantasy by-product. A metric ton of statistical weight shifted to the backcourt.Peruse the ESPN Player Rater. Six point guards occupy the top 10. Four fully fantasy-qualified shooting guards sit in the top 12.NBA backcourts: decidedly en fuego.Its going to be a tough slog for any duo to top the 34.89 combined player rater points Stephen Curry and Klay Thompsons threw down in 2015-16. But all of the new combinations of rotations and systems is producing surplus of elite backcourts.Lets take the tour through fantasys highest-octane backcourt pairings.1a. Steph Curry and Klay Thompson, Golden State Warriors (27.09 points)Durants arrival mandated that Curry-Thompson was getting dented. And Thompson did require an early season swoon (lets call it a transitional period), where he hit only 3-of-28 3-pointers. But Thompson has recovered with a vengeance, including December 5ths still-shocking 60-point outburst.Despite Durants presence, Thompsons 3-point attempts have only fallen off by .3 attempts a night (8.1 to 7.8). And while it may take awhile for Thompsons 3-point percentage to fully recover from that 3-of-28, I expect it to push back toward the .400 mark within the month.By the end of December, Golden State could employ four top-25 fantasy players.1b. Damian Lillard and C.J. McCollum, Portland Trail Blazers (27.02 points)Damian Lillard and C.J. McCollums combined 27.02 player rater points puts them in a virtual tie with Curry-Thompson. Which means theyre on pace to become one of the great single-season one-two punches in fantasy history.Lillard-McCollum feasts on possession. Their combined usage rate is 57.8; almost equal to the rest of Portlands starting five.Lillard-McCollum is the most balanced of the pairings on this list. The other groupings mainly pair a lead alpha PG with a very good but supporting SG. But Lillard and McCollum are both top-12 players. They both supply elite production in key areas (points scored, 3-pointers). Lillards plus-assist production is balanced by McCollums plus-field goal percentage.An area that doesnt attract as much discussion? Free throw production. Both players hover right around 90 percent from the line. And theyre meeting their efficiency with volume. Lillard is averaging a ccareer-high 8.dddddddddddd0 attempts per game...a stunning average for a player that shoots so many 3s. By comparison, McCollum only averages 3.4 free throw attempts per game (although still a career high).3. James Harden and Eric Gordon, Houston Rockets (24.97 points)This should really be about the pairing of Mike DAntoni and James Harden. In previous stops, DAntoni made fantasy stars out of less heralded players like Boris Diaw and Jeremy Lin. Hes turned All-Stars like Steve Nash and Shawn Marion into fantasy superstars. But DAntoni is blasting Harden into the stratosphere.Despite the transition to point guard, Harden is still equaling or scraping his career highs in points per game, 3-pointers and free throws. Now hes supplementing those marks with 11.6 assists and 7.7 rebounds a game.Eye dropping stuff, but I really want to talk about Eric Gordon.Because to date, Gordon is doing something he hasnt done in a half-decade: hes staying on the court. Hes averaging a career high in 3-pointers (3.6 per game). Hes averaging more points (17.3) than he has at any other point since the injuries hit.And hes doing all of this season as a sixth man.Despite coming off the bench and only averaging 30.8 minutes per night, Gordon is playing his way into consideration for most improved player and sixth man of the year.Mike DAntoni: as a fantasy coach, hes the GOAT.4. Kyle Lowry and DeMar DeRozan, Toronto Raptors (22.43 points)Lowry and DeRozan are known as two of fantasys streakier producers. But so far this season, theyve succeeded at picking each other up when then other guard is in a slump.Kyle Lowry was a little slow out of the gate. His first couple weeks of the season sported Halloween-appropriate shooting lines such as 3-of-13, 5-of-16, 4-of-15, and 6-of-20. Which only set the stage for DeRozan to show off all the summertime work hed put into his midrange game.Each clunker from Lowry was supplemented by 30-point-plus clinic by DeRozan. DeRozan eclipsed 30 in eight of his first 10 games...and only hit five 3-pointers during that span. DeRozan continues to be one the most 3-point averse shooting guards in the NBA.And it doesnt matter. Because like Lillard, DeRozan is getting to the free throw line at a career clip (9.2 per game). DeRozans boffo free throw production is invaluable insurance for the periods where his jump shot isnt falling. Hes also supplementing the scoring with career highs in rebounds, steals and assists.While Lowrys production has recovered, DeRozans elevated across-the-board numbers is one of the less heralded fantasy stories of 2016-17. If DeRozan ever added a 3-point shot, hed be...Damian Lillard.5. Chris Paul and J.J. Redick, Los Angeles Clippers (21.06 points)Chris Paul continues to play at such a high level that it doesnt require more than replacement-level SG production to meld a top-5 combo.For fantasy purposes, Redick is elite in 3-pointers, and merely very good-to-average everywhere else. But his shooting efficiency, both from the 3-point line (43.8 percent) and free throw line (92.1 percent) combine to give Redick a secret fantasy weapon: true shooting percentage. His 62.9 percent clip is top 10 in the NBA.The rest of the top eight:6. Russell Westbrook and Victor Oladipo, Oklahoma City Thunder (19.59 points)7. Jimmy Butler and Dwyane Wade, Chicago Bulls (19.45 points)8. John Wall and Bradley Beal, Washington Wizards (16.68 points) ' ' '