Inside the numbers is a series here on A10 Talk that takes a look at some of the most interesting stats regarding teams in the Atlantic 10 conference. Our site uses Kenpom in order to dive into all of the intricacies of the league. Today, we’ll be looking at the Richmond Spiders, a team that just pulled off a huge win over George Washington in double overtime on Thursday night.
1. Terry Allen
What makes Terry Allen such an impressive player is his ability to score the basketball at such a high-level. To put this into perspective, Terry Allen has not scored in single digits all season long. In fact, the last time he finished with less than 10 points was February 14th, 2015 against George Mason. The bottom line is that the senior has been a monster scorer for the Spiders. Perhaps most impressive was Allen’s perfect 6-6 from the field in Richmond’s double overtime win against George Washington. While he went for just 15 points, he fouled out near the end of regulation and was unable to compete in the extra sessions.
Terry Allen is considered a go-to-guy by Kenpom; he ranks third in the league in percentage of possessions used in at 28.0% in conference play. In addition, he takes 27.6% of his team’s shots while he’s on the floor, good enough to rank 8th in the Atlantic 10. While Richmond has found an array of weapons in guys like T.J. Cline and ShawnDre’ Jones, to name a few, Terry Allen has emerged as the go-to-guy when the Spiders need a bucket. He was a huge reason that Richmond held off George Washington’s late game run, managing to force overtime and eventually win. Richmond really has itself a special player in Terry Allen.
2. ShawnDre’ Jones
Speaking of special players, it’s hard to overstate the value that ShawnDre’ Jones has had to this Richmond team. For one, the junior led all scores against George Washington with 29. He was great from the charity stripe, knocking down 12-14 to help the Spiders seal the deal late. But if you look at Jones’ progression this season, you’ll see that he’s been a machine in conference play. With the exception of one bad game against Rhode Island, ShawnDre’ Jones has scored 16 or more points in all of Richmond’s Atlantic 10 conference games. In addition, he’s scored 25 points or more 3 times in this stretch of games.
ShawnDre’ Jones scored 16 or more only 4 times in the non-conference portion of the season; he’s already accomplished that feat 6 times in the conference slate. In addition, he hadn’t scored 25 or more until he hit Atlantic 10 play. Jones’ progression is the epitome of what a coach wants to see in a player. He started off the season strong, and he’s only been getting better as time progresses. Though Richmond still seems like a team that’s far from reaching the NCAA Tournament, it could undoubtedly get hot come March, and ShawnDre’ Jones could be a big reason why.
3. Richmond’s most promising stat
Believe it or not, Richmond’s most promising stat is it’s 2 point field goal percentage. While the Spiders manage to get hot from three every now and then (they were 11-19 against George Washington), it’s been the inside of the arc that’s given them so much success. The Spiders rank 6th in the nation in 2P% at 57.0%. That’s an incredible stat, and what’s even more impressive is the fact that they’re doing even better in conference play: Richmond leads the Atlantic 10 at 59.5%.
So what does this mean? Richmond tends to find a lot of success when it doesn’t settle for the three. While the Spiders do shoot the ball very well from behind the three point line, it’s obvious that they’re playing their best basketball when they’re driving the lane and finding shots closer to the basket. Take their recent loss to Davidson as an example. Richmond went 0-15 from downtown, but it was able to go 27-48 (56.2%) from 2 point range. When that’s your bread and butter, you’ve got to roll with it. Richmond’s shooting hasn’t really been the issue this year; the Spiders will need to sharpen up from the free throw line and on the defensive end of the floor if they want to find success moving forward.
