Returning Patriot League Scorers: Many hoops previews emphasize the stats of returning players. This is useful to a point, but it can sometimes be misleading since a player's raw statistics are very dependent on playing time. Stats are also dependent to a lesser degree on a team's style of play. Players on a team that races up and down the court, shoots quickly, and also gives up fast shots at the defensive end should have more points, more rebounds, and more assists. Yet that does not necessarily make these guys better than players on the more methodical teams.

To evaluate the returning talent on this year's Patriot League teams in a slightly different light, here's a look at the scoring stats (PL only, for consistency) for everyone who played at least 8 mpg last season. The list shows points per 40 minutes adjusted for an average pace of play (using Ken Pomeroy's formula) so as to not penalize the teams that play a more methodical offense and/or tough defense.

Scoring per 40 Minutes for Returning Players

(shows PL minutes played, followed by pts per 40 minutes)

1 Brown, Jarell....... Army / 370 / 22.9
2 Olivero,Jose....... Lehigh / 442 / 22.6
3 Simmons, Keith...... HC / 448 / 19.9
4 Eitutavicius, A..... Amer / 309 / 18.0
5 Sprink, Greg.......... Navy / 463 / 17.7
6 McNaughton, Chris.. Buck / 364 / 17.0
7 Vegotsky, Jason..... Buck / 156 / 16.8
8 Cummins, Paul....... Laf / 239 / 16.5
9 Clifford, Tim............ HC / 336 / 16.1
10 Chones, Kendall..... Colg / 309 / 15.4
11 Bell, Matt............. Army / 427 / 15.2
12 Ingram, Andre...... Amer / 468 / 15.2
13 Kina, Kaleo........... Navy / 342 / 15.2
14 Brown, Donald...... Buck / 326 / 14.6
15 Neptune, Kyle...... Lehigh / 392 / 14.6
16 Roemer, Kyle......... Colg / 310 / 14.5
17 Simon, Jon............. Colg / 407 / 14.1
18 Joneliunas, Paulius. Amer / 302 / 14.0
19 Billbe, Brayden..... Amer / 319 / 13.5
20 Thomas, Torey....... HC / 510 / 12.9
21 Doherty prev yr....... HC / 296 / 12.8
22 Abdullah, Bilal........ Laf / 374 / 12.3
23 Lekavicius, Linas.. Amer / 287 / 12.2
24 Teague, Adam........ Navy / 179 / 11.9
25 Griffin, John......... Buck / 213 / 11.9
26 Brown, Andrew....... Laf / 428 / 11.8
27 Gentile, Dan........... Colg / 248 / 11.3
28 Brigham, Bryce..... Navy / 220 / 10.8
29 Chones, Kyle.......... Colg / 305 / 10.8
30 Badmus, Abe......... Buck / 403 / 10.6
31 Mercer, Derrick..... Amer / 497 / 10.5
32 Mgebroff, Jason..... Lehigh / 140 / 10.5
33 White, Bryan........ Lehigh / 323 / 10.2
34 Sinning, Cory........ Army / 378 / 9.8
35 Bates, Corban........ Army / 356 / 9.7
36 Schmidt, Everest...... Laf / 252 / 9.3
37 Betley, Matt............... Laf / 291 / 9.3
38 Nichols, Jordan...... Amer / 239 / 9.3
39 Mastropaolo, Darren. Buck / 246 / 9.1
40 Cunningham, Colin... HC / 162 / 9.0
41 Johnson, Corey...... Navy / 472 / 8.3
42 Vander Baan Alex... HC / 398 / 8.2
43 Gilmore, Brian...... Amer / 148 / 8.1
44 Daniels, Marc....... Colg / 288 / 7.3
45 Lay, Travis........... Amer / 118 / 7.3
46 Dixon, Lawrence...... HC / 141 / 7.0
47 Brewer, Kenny....... Army / 127 / 6.8
48 Checovich, Todd..... Colg / 244 / 6.6
49 Hilliard, Jamaal....... Laf / 226 / 6.3
50 Sewell, Jimmy....... Army / 123 / 6.2
51 Detmer, Ted.............. Laf / 234 / 5.8
52 Jackson, Marshall... Army / 301 / 5.3
53 Gourlay, John....... Lehigh / 98 / 4.0

I wonder how many observers of the Patriot League would have guessed Jarrell Brown to be the most prolific returning scorer? Maybe this explains why Charles Lee thought Brown was the second toughest PL player that he had to guard (after Kevin Hamilton). Two instant offense subs - Eitutavicius and Vegotsky - are also high on the list, as is the underrated Tim Clifford and up-and-coming Greg Sprink.

Of course, the numbers for certain players with high production/low minutes may merely be a statistical fluke and/or may be unsustainable if the player gets full-time minutes. That's why they play the games.

There are three other players with noteworthy productivity, albeit in very limited minutes:

Carr, Garrison......Amer / 95 / 19.3
Moonshower, John....Army / 77 / 11.3
Thomas, Rob.........Buck / 48 / 10.1

Carr's 19.3 pts per 40 minutes would be right up there with the big boys if he could sustain that pace over full-time minutes. That may be one of Jeff Jones' challenges - how to balance the minutes between guards Mercer, Carr, Ingram, Eitutavicius, and Lekavicius. To add to the puzzle, the players with the most points per minute may also be the ones who give up the most points per minute. To further complicate matters, it will get even harder to find minutes for all five if Jones follows through on his talk about using the three-guard offense less frequently this year. With all of the returning talent, it will be interesting to see what kind of a job Jones can do coaching it.

Finally, here's the list of the players who are gone, again sorted by points per 40 minutes:

1 Capusan, Andrei..... Laf / 360 / 20.8
2 Hamilton, Kevin..... HC / 512 / 20.2
3 Knight, Joe......... Lehigh / 400 / 17.6
4 Lee, Charles........ Buck / 461 / 17.0
5 Bettencourt, Kevin.. Buck / 440 / 15.1
6 Reed, Alvin......... Colg / 355 / 13.0
7 Reed, Casey......... Navy / 175 / 12.7
8 Betley, Pat......... Laf / 339 / 11.6
9 Fannin, Matt........ Navy / 301 / 10.7
10 Baldwin, Carlton.... Navy / 155 / 10.7
11 Borcherdt, Dan...... Army / 109 / 10.6
12 Foss, Jon........... Colg / 173 / 10.2
13 Gilfillan, Mitch.... Lehigh / 384 / 9.2
14 Fischman, Mike...... Lehigh / 330 / 8.8
15 Anderson, James..... Lehigh / 214 / 7.8
16 Hooper, David....... Navy / 141 / 7.8
17 Harris, Colin....... Army / 103 / 6.9
18 Green, Leonard...... Navy / 213 / 6.2
19 Knight, Simon....... Colg / 87 / 6.1
20 Hyland, Kevin....... HC / 230 / 5.7

Interesting that Capusan scored more per minute than Hamilton, Knight, or Lee. Of course Lafayette desperately needed the scoring. Bucknell and Lehigh lost the most in terms of points per minute, which should come as no great surprise to anyone. Navy also quietly lost some non-senior talent, with the transfer of freshman Casey Reed and the departure of oft-injured Carlton Baldwin from the Academy.

By the way, the Patriot League teams with the most methodical pace of play last year were Bucknell and Colgate, followed by Army and Lehigh. Navy had the fastest pace of play, with Lafayette fairly close behind.

Coming Soon - Rankings per minute for other categories