Each year the ACC Sports Journal uses its unique Efficient Production Index to provide a different way of evaluating players other than just the traditional media voting for all-conference teams.
Here’s what the numbers told us the league’s players this season.
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You can also check out the rankings of the 100 most efficient ACC players last season.
Moving Up League Ladder
Here are a few of the big movers:
Erick Green, VT (from 107 to 34): It would have been difficult for Green to be worse, after he posted the 17th-worst season in the history of the EPI rankings (since 1996). As a freshman, he missed 36 of the 41 shots he took in ACC play. This year, he almost tripled his minutes played, and he responded with 12.2 points per game, 40 percent shooting and 2.9 assists per game.
Tyler Zeller, UNC (from 57 to 6): His sophomore season last year was cut short by injury, but in his six ACC games he shot only 38.5 percent from the floor. Zeller blossomed into the team’s second-leading scorer and rebounder. He improved his shooting to 58 percent.
Biko Paris, BC (from 95 to 45): Paris, who was No. 58 two years ago, recovered from his disastrous 2010 season. He had 48 assists and 41 turnovers last year, and he improved that to 55 and 24 this season. He shot 18 percent from three-point range in 2010, and he improved that to 39 percent.
Mason Plumlee, Duke (from 78 to 30): He led Duke in rebounding (jumping from 3.3 to 9.7) and blocked shots, and he improved his field goal percentage from 45 to 57. Only his free throw shooting (42 percent) held him back from a bigger jump.
Dino Gregory, Md. (from 84 to 40): Gregory finally moved from a role player to a key starter as a senior. He more than doubled his scoring (4.4 to 9.9), shot 50.4 percent from the floor, and tied for the team lead in blocks.
Assane Sene, UVa (from 106 to 63): This is truly one of the most amazing changes in EPI history. As a freshman, Sene ranked No. 104, then actually fell two spots as a sophomore. In his first two seasons combined, he shot 33 percent on 57 shots. He shot 60 percent on 75 shots this year. He improved his career scoring average from 1.5 to 7.0 and his rebounding average from 3.8 to 6.8.
This Elevator Going Down
Here are a few of the biggest drops:
Ari Stewart, WF (from 69 to 93): Last year, as a freshman, Stewart was often instant offense in short bursts off the bench. He shot 36 percent from three-point range and scored a point every 2.7 minutes played. This year, he missed 29 of his 36 three-pointers (making only 19 percent) and dropped to a point every 3.7 minutes. He was suspended from the ACC Tournament for academic reasons and transferred to Southern Cal after the season.
Julian Gamble, Miami (from 59 to 79): He played slightly more minutes this year than last, but he scored 13 fewer points. His free throw shooting percentage fell from 61 to 39.
Dexter Strickland, UNC (from 62 to 80): Although his rebounds and assist-to-turnover ratio improved, his shooting percentages plummeted: from 46.3 to 37.4 on field goals, from 26.7 to 14.3 on three-pointers, and from 71.4 to 62.2 on free throws.
Sean Mosley, Md. (from 38 to 55): His minutes fell from 27.4 to 23.9 per game, and his shooting percentages fell, too: from 41.8 to 37.3 on field goals, from 42.9 to 25 on three-pointers, and from 83 to 77.8 on free throws.
Javier Gonzalez, NCSU (from 44 to 61): For the third straight year, Gonzalez dropped in the rankings. He was No. 27 as a sophomore, then 44 last year and 61 this year. He played the fewest minutes per game of his career, and while his assist-to-turnover ratio finally recovered from the problems of the last two years, his shooting went from a career percentage of 42 to 32.5 this year.