Quote Originally Posted by TheSultan View Post
I will point out now that in three of the four games you mentioned, Marquette had advantages in advanced stats. (I couldn't find the LSU boxscore, but my guess is that it would be four out of four.) Including destroying Kentucky twice by around 20% in eFG%. So did they win those games because of "guts?" Or did they win those games because they shot the ball better and got to the line more often?

My guess is the latter.

1977 Championship Game: Pretty equal shooting percentage. Marquette won FT rate 53% to 32%.
1994 Tony Miller Game: MU crushed UK in eFG% 56.4% v. 38.2% and in FT rate 68% v. 12%
2003 E8 Game v. Kentucky: Once again, MU crushed UK in eFG% 65.5% v. 42.2%
Again, metric derivations of stats are simply measurements of outcomes. Butch Lee, Tony Miller and Dwyane Wade had no clue what their eFG% was or even what an eFG% was. They played well on the big stage. Call it "guts" or whatever. If some folks want to ponder and fantasize endlessly about derivative metrics of player stats, so be it. Happy New Year.