Bob Sneller: Is basketball player really that good?
Last week, I told you that I had stumbled across an amazing statistic.
If you know me well enough to call me by my first name, or worse, you know that I am a retired basketball coach.
So, it should come as no surprise that the statistic that amazed me is a basketball stat I discovered while scanning the current Sporting News College Basketball Yearbook that reviews last season and previews this one.
What jumped out of page 162 to my wondering eyes were the numbers 125 out of 126 shots that a junior college guard from Globe Institute of Technology made LAST SEASON to far, far and away lead all players in all divisions of all levels on any "globe" in field goal percentage.
Field goals were defined as any shot attempted that was not a free throw or from beyond the three-point line.
For my less sports-minded readers, 125 shots made out of 126 attempts for a season is pretty good.
The startling statistic says David Bullock missed ONE SHOT over his 25-game season last year, which is 99.2 percent shooting for the entire season.
That is hard to believe, folks. And it also puzzles me that the performance did not receive any special publicity. The magazine just printed the figures without comment, as if players make125 out of 126 all the time.
Trust me, they don't.
So I called my old trusted sidekick, The Dakota Kid (also known as Bruce Bowers), for help on researching this remarkable feat.
The Dakota Kid knows basketball and was once a shooter of considerable area renown himself.
Dakota discovered that Globe Institute of Technology is located on Broadway in New York City, where many dreams have been born.
We also learned:
1. In order to qualify for official national recognition in field goal percentage, a player must average a minimum of five field goals made per game. David made 125 field goals in 25 games, which qualified him exactly on the minimum number required. Hmmm.
2. David's 125 out of 126 figures were easily the best field goal percentage totals for any player in America last season and were easily better than any total that Dakota or I have ever seen or heard of.
3. Consider that the best Division 1 Men's field goal percentage last season was by 6-8 Mike Freeman of Hampton. His great 67.8 percentage pales next to 99.2.
4. Of the top 15 leaders in field goal percentage in Men's Division 1 last year, 14 of them were from 6-7 to 7-2 in height, suggesting a lot of dunks and layups that a guard would find hard to get. That makes guard Bullocks' numbers even more incredible!
And now, for the fun part.
Using my imagination, here are some "fantasy" interviews with young Mr. Bullock, who may just be playing a college prank with all that technology available at Globe. After all the steroid-gate and spy-gate type news, the sports landscape has become rather zany.
INTERVIEWER: Did your coach ever try to get you to shoot more often, given that you were having a 125-for-126 season?
DAVID: Not that I recall.
INTERVIEWER: Did Globe videotape your games and have reliable people keeping the shot charts?
DAVID: You sound skeptical.
INTERVIEWER: Really now, David, do you expect people to believe 125 of 126 shots made for a season?
DAVID: They printed it, didn't they?
INTERVIEWER: Were you ever aware you were missing only one shot in 25 games?
DAVID: I just shot 'em, somebody else counted them.
INTERVIEWER: How did you feel about that ONE shot you missed?
DAVID: I thought I got fouled on that shot or I could have had a perfect season.
The Dakota Kid and I were discussing this story.
ME: I suppose it IS POSSIBLE that a guy could make 125 out of 126 shots in a 25-game season.
DAKOTA: With people guarding him?
(Long pause)
IN UNISON: Nah.
Neosho Daily News