Pac-12 Basketball: Which players shoot too much/not enough?

I'm sure there have been times when you're watching a game on the couch thinking, "What if [insert player] would stop shooting so much?" There have also been a number of instances where certain players are more efficient than the free-wheeling shooters on a team but don't get the opportunities to score nearly as often.

Using a very simple but informative data set, I have created a graph based on two factors: percentage of shots taken when a given player is on the floor and effective field goal percentage, in order to determine which players shot too much or not enough last season in the Pac-12. All data used in this article are courtesy of KenPom.com.

There are a lot of data points below, so feel free to open this graph in another tab and zoom in on the player names.

The red line through the graph is the best-fit trend line, meaning that players that are below the red line can be considered players that shoot too much given their effective field goal percentage. Ideally, the most efficient shooters will be attempting more field goals than any other players on a given team.

For players such as Malik Dime and Kameron Rooks, however, both players attempt less than 13 percent of their given team's shot attempts when on the floor, despite recording effective field goal percentages of 59% or better.

Post players Jakob Poeltl (Utah) and Josh Hawkinson (Washington State) maximized their shooting effectiveness by attempting a large sum of their respective team's field goal attempts when on the floor.

What does this mean as far as projecting this season? Here are a few previews:

Markelle Fultz, Washington

Enter one of the biggest recruiting names in Washington basketball since Brandon Roy and Martell Webster. Fultz, by the way of DeMatha Catholic in Maryland (Mike Brey, Victor Oladipo and Jerai, Jerian and Jerami Grant also attended), is a consensus five-star recruit and is pegged to be selected first overall in next year's NBA Draft. In Lorenzo Romar's up-tempo system, which ranked second in possessions per game last season, Fultz is expected to put up tremendous numbers and guide the Huskies to a tournament push. Andrew Andrews (24.5 Shot%), Dejounte Murray (26.1 Shot%), and Marquese Chriss (24.5 Shot%) have all moved on to the next level, which leaves the door wide open for Fultz to display his offensive tenacity in Seattle.

Bryce Alford, UCLA

I'm interested to see what UCLA is able to accomplish in Bryce Alford's final season on campus. The coach's son helped the Bruins to two Sweet 16's in his first two seasons, but couldn't prevent last year's 15-win debacle. UCLA is one of the toughest head coaching jobs in the country, and the seat will be scorching for Steve Alford if 2016-17 is anything like last season. It's not all doom and gloom, though. Alford scooped up a tremendous recruiting class which includes Lonzo Ball - already a household name that fits in the same talent tier as Washington's Markelle Fultz. As displayed above, Alford needs to be more effective with the basketball than he was last season, given his large sum of attempted shots. With the addition of Ball and continued development of guards Isaac Hamilton and Aaron Holiday, this offensive-minded pass-first squad could morph into one of the nation's best offenses, and Alford will likely lead the way in his final collegiate season.

Dillon Brooks, Oregon

Dillon Brooks ranked third in the conference last season in percentage of team's shots taken at 27.1% as a sophomore. In his junior season, the Ducks will continue to rely on Brooks' leadership and scoring ability. You won't hear many pundits disagree that Oregon has all of the pieces for a Final Four run this season, and Brooks will be the key cog in the system. Brooks is still below the trend line, as Dana Altman will hope to see his shooting effectiveness improve this season. Oregon center Chris Boucher was a far more efficient scoring option last year with a significantly higher offensive efficiency rating (123.9 to Brooks' 113.2) and effective field goal percentage (60.1 to 51.5). If Brooks can increase his scoring numbers a notch higher this season, Oregon will contend for a national title.

Lorenzo Bonam, Utah

Here's the player that will help keep the sinking ship above water in Salt Lake City. There are few teams whose rosters were eradicated this offseason quite as much as Utah's, leaving Lorenzo Bonam as the most important player for Larry Kristkowiak's squad. Bonam finished with a 20.7 Shot%/ 54.9 eFG% last season (data point next to Jordan McLaughlin), but his percentage of shots taken could be as high as 25% this year with the losses of Jakob Poeltl, Brandon Taylor, Jordan Loveridge and others. Kyle Kuzma (24.5%/54.6%) pairs with Bonam in the Ute starting five.

Allonzo Trier, Arizona

The highly-touted Seattle recruit was impressive in his freshman season and decided to return for a second year in hopes of "competing for championships" as well as "becoming a more complete player." Arizona also faces its share of attrition with Ryan Anderson, Gabe York and Kaleb Tarczewski having moved on. I'm looking for Trier to utilize the wing screens even more effectively this season, which should raise his scoring efficiency. With a hefty recruiting class coming in, Arizona is talented yet again, but Trier carries the torch for the Wildcats.

Ivan Rabb, California

Pac-12 coaches not named Cuonzo Martin shuddered in late April when the news broke that potential NBA lottery pick Ivan Rabb would be returning to Cal. Rabb was one of the most efficient players in the league last season offensively, racking up an effective field goal percentage of 61.6%. Rabb is a legitimate contender for Naismith player of the year this season, and should easily attempt more than a quarter of Cal's field goal attempts while on the floor. The Oakland native could very well duplicate Jakob Poeltl's offensive output from last year.