It's early in the season, but there are a few crazy things in the stat totals for the first four games.

1. Krutwig has only missed two out of 25 field goal attempts for a 92% field goal percentage.
2. Krutwig has 8 blocks already in just four games. He had 27 total for all last year in 38 games.
3. Agunanne is currently averaging 16.7 rebounds per 40 minutes played, which is otherworldly.
4. Problems with 3's. As a team, Loyola is shooting only 29.9% on threes. We need to be around 34% at minimum, 36% or so is what most good teams shoot. Last year we shot 39.6% for the season as a team. If you take out Kaifes, we're currently shooting 24.2% from three. Take out Kaifes and Custer, and it's 20%. Some players might want to be discouraged from shooting threes for right now (Uguak and Skokna are a combined 2-for-19).
5. No problems with 2's. As a team, Loyola is shooting 61.7% on two point shots. That's crazy good-- 55% would be considered excellent, and 52% is very good. Belmont led all of college basketball last season with 61.7% on two-point shots, and the next two teams were Dayton at 59.5 and national champion Villanova at 59.0%. Loyola was 12th last year at 56.6%.
6. What's up with free throws? Certainly, I don't expect the team to be perfect, but 60% as a team is awful. The 10 missed free throws in the team's only loss (by two points) was certainly a factor, and if not for that loss, Loyola might be ranked headed into Ft. Myers. We're currently 300th in free throw percentage, and last year only one of the 351 teams in college basketball shot worse than what we're doing right now. We shot 72.6% on free throws last year, 130th in D1. The 12.4% difference between what we're shooting from the line now vs. what we shot last season adds up to an average of 2.85 points per game. That's also the margin between a perfect season and 3-1 so far, and would have been the margin between a one-and-done NCAA appearance and a Final Four applied to last season.
7. Kaifes started the season going 5-of-7 on threes against UMKC, but he's been a bit gun-shy since. He's only 2-of-4 on threes since, and has passed up a lot of shots.
8. Lucas Williamson has filled up the stat sheet, averaging 8.5 rebounds per game to lead the team. He's also third on the team in assists, third in steals, tied for second in blocks, and has a 3.3 assist to turnover ratio.
9. Nobody is averaging more than 29.0 minutes per game (Custer) so far, which may help us down the line. Fifteen players from other MVC teams are averaging over 30 minutes as of now, including four players averaging over 35.

Lots of fun stats like this. One thing I would say though is I’m not sure Kaifes is gun shy as much as trying to play within the offense. He’s passed up a few good shots for better shots. And has dribbled inside and passed out a few times as well.

While selfishly I’d love him to shoot every time; I like that he’s showing he can do other things that will prevent teams from only keying in on his 3 point looks. If nothing else i’d rather have a freshman who’s told to shoot more than one who’s told to shoot less. Especially when he’s proven he can make the looks. Gotta say he looked a lot better on defense last night as well; still growing but trending in the right direction!