VCU’s JeQuan Lewis has been finding a way to get it done during conference play. After somewhat of a shaky start to the season, the junior has bounced back to lead his team to a 9 game winning streak, including 6 straight in the Atlantic 10. What’s most impressive about Lewis’ ability is that he knows how to do just about everything on the court. He can shoot, drive, rebounds, pass, and certainly defend. Let’s take a closer look at just how good he’s been for VCU in conference play.
Through the last 6 games, JeQuan Lewis is 17th in the Atlantic 10 in 2 point field goal percentage (60.7%) and 10th in 3 point field goal percentage (47.1%), according to Kenpom. He also leads the Atlantic 10 in free throw percentage (100%)- he’s yet to miss one in conference play. Perhaps one of the most impressive stats for the junior is his true shooting percentage calculated by Kenpom. This stats measures field goal percentage while factoring effectiveness from the free throw line. Essentially, it measures what kind of field goal percentage that player would need to shoot in order to score the points that he scores. Lewis has a true field goal percentage of 69.7% which is good for 3rd in the conference. His ability to not only score the ball from the floor, but also from the free throw line, has really given him an edge in conference play. Lewis had 29 points the other night against Richmond including 9-14 shooting from the floor and 8-8 from the line.
What makes a complete point guard is not just scoring, though. Lewis has proven himself able to assist his team in a number of other ways as well. For one, he’s a very underrated defender. While Doug Brooks and Melvin Johnson have the majority of the steals on the team, Lewis is a dark horse in that category. He’s got an overall steal percentage (steals per possessions played) of 3.4%, good enough for 92nd nationally. His 2.7% in conference play is good enough for 11th in the Atlantic 10. VCU continues to establish itself as capable of forcing turnovers and creating Havoc, and JeQuan Lewis is a big reason why.
Finally, JeQuan Lewis has been a great distributor as of late. His assist rate (assists divided by field goals made by teammates) is 34.4%, ranking 4th in the conference and 59th nationally. In addition, he’s had 49 assists and just 25 turnovers during VCU’s current 9 game winning streak. He had a career high 10 assists against North Florida at the end of conference play. Needless to say, he’s distributing the ball at a high-level while also making sure to limit his giveaways.
JeQuan Lewis is really starting to prove himself as a leader on this VCU team. As an upperclassmen and true point guard for the Rams, he’s been doing it all and then some. His play, especially on defense, is pivotal for VCU moving forward. If Lewis can create offense for his teammates by forcing turnovers and passing like he does, the sky is the limit for this Rams team. And if he decides to have another game where he puts up 29+ points, that certainly wouldn’t hurt either.
