What has made Drake so successful early on?
So, what has made Drake so successful in McCollum’s first two months? When you’re 11-0 a lot of things are going well, and they certainly are for the Bulldogs. First, they are very good on the offensive end inside the arc. Not only do they rank 39th in two-point field goal percentage at 57.3%, but they also rank in the top 64 in both effective field goal percentage and true shooting percentage. They are also one of the best teams in the country at getting to the free-throw line. The Bulldogs are 38th in free throws attempted per game, 9th in free throw rate, and the 23.9% of their points that come from the line is 21st best in the country.
Even though the three-point shot isn’t a huge part of their game, they are one of the best teams in the country at defending it. Opponents are shooting the long ball at just 28% despite attempting 18 per game. When they do miss shots, their opponents better crash the glass because Drake is also 23rd in the country in offensive rebounding percentage, grabbing 37% of their misses and allowing their opponents to snatch just 24% of their misses.
The Bulldogs also take advantage of the pace they play at, playing at one of the slowest tempos in the country with an average possession length of over 21 seconds. Playing this way helps limit possessions for opponents that commit 15 turnovers per game leading to 18 Bulldog points off those turnovers.