In recent weeks, the Pac-10 has fallen on some tough times. The conference’s 10 teams have dropped 18 games this month, including an 0-2 record against Montana.
One cause for the recent struggles has been poor guard play. Of the six power conferences, the Pac-10’s guards already had the lowest average Total Impact Quotient of 6.2. In the past three weeks, that rating has fallen to 5.8. The Pac-10’s best guard, Trent Lockett, wouldn’t rank in the Big East’s top six.
So with conference play quickly approaching, look for the teams with the steadiest guards to have an advantage. That means Washington State could be poised to surprise some people, with Marcus Capers and Klay Thompson leading the way. The two Cougars are right behind Lockett in TIQ rankings among Pac-10 guards.
Equally important, Thompson hasn’t regressed significantly since the first Pac-10 rankings of the season. Thompson’s TIQ has remained nearly the same while several other Pac-10 guards have seen their TIQ drop by at least three points. That could be a sign of players getting off to strong starts in limited minutes or producing against weaker opponents. As players log more minutes and face tougher teams, it’s harder to maintain the same impact in production. So Thompson’s consistency is noteworthy in a conference marked by inconsistent play.
Check out a complete introduction to the Total Impact Quotient.
Pac-10 TIQ position averages:
Rankings updated for games through Dec. 18.
Centers: 12.0
Forwards: 10.2
Guards: 5.8
TIQ = Total Impact Quotient
PD% = Position differential in % difference from average
| Top 2 centers | Team | TIQ | PD% | Minutes |
| Joshua Smith | UCLA | 19.1 | 59.2 | 195 |
| Aziz N’Diaye | Washington | 15.1 | 33.6 | 80 |
| Top 5 forwards | ||||
| Derrick Wiliams | Arizona | 19.8 | 94.1 | 296 |
| Joevan Catron | Oregon | 17.7 | 73.5 | 304 |
| E.J. Singler | Oregon | 16.0 | 56.9 | 311 |
| Reeves Nelson | UCLA | 14.5 | 42.2 | 293 |
| Richard Solomon | California | 14.4 | 41.2 | 155 |
| Top 5 guards | ||||
| Trent Lockett | Arizona State | 13.8 | 137.9 | 308 |
| Marcus Capers | Washington State | 13.8 | 137.9 | 235 |
| Klay Thompson | Washington State | 11.9 | 105.2 | 258 |
| Brendan Lane | UCLA | 11.3 | 94.8 | 232 |
| C.J. Wilcox | Washington | 10.8 | 86.2 | 149 |
Player Rankings
| Position | Team/Player | TIQ | +/- Last TIQ | Minutes | PD% | Position rank |
| ARIZONA 2010-11 | ||||||
| F | Solomon Hill | 12.0 | 0.0 | 266 | 17.6 | 11 |
| F | Derrick Wiliams | 19.8 | -2.1 | 296 | 94.1 | 1 |
| G | Lamont Jones | -1.5 | 0.2 | 262 | -125.9 | 49 |
| G | Kyle Fogg | 0.6 | -4.0 | 245 | -89.7 | 45 |
| F | Jamelle Horne | 8.0 | 1.0 | 225 | -21.6 | 27 |
| F | Kevin Parrom | 13.8 | 1.8 | 195 | 35.3 | 6 |
| G | Jordin Mayes | 2.3 | -0.8 | 173 | -60.3 | 44 |
| C | Kyryl Natyazhko | 10.6 | -1.6 | 143 | -11.7 | 5 |
| F | Jesse Perry | 9.3 | -1.5 | 154 | -8.8 | 21 |
| G | Brendon Lavender | 2.9 | -3.5 | 144 | -50.0 | 42 |
| C | Alex Jacobson | N/A | N/A | N/A | N/A | N/A |
| ARIZONA STATE 2010-11 | ||||||
| G | Trent Lockett | 13.8 | -2.9 | 308 | 137.9 | 1 |
| G | Jamelle McMillan | 8.1 | -4.0 | 288 | 39.7 | 15 |
| G | Ty Abbott | 3.6 | 1.4 | 272 | -37.9 | 38 |
| F | Kyle Cain | 11.0 | 0.0 | 231 | 7.8 | 17 |
| G | Rihards Kuksiks | 6.5 | 5.9 | 241 | 12.1 | 21 |
| G | Keala King | 6.8 | -4.7 | 138 | 17.2 | 19 |
| G | Chanse Creekmur | 5.0 | 1.1 | 83 | -13.8 | 27 |
| F | Carrick Felix | 2.8 | -3.2 | 70 | -72.5 | 36 |
| C | Rusian Pateev | 1.3 | 4.7 | 91 | -89.2 | 6 |
| CALIFORNIA 2010-11 | ||||||
| G | Jorge Gutierrez | 10.7 | -3.5 | 301 | 84.5 | 6 |
| F | Harper Kamp | 10.4 | 0.5 | 301 | 2.0 | 18 |
| G | Allen Crabbe | 7.2 | -2.1 | 284 | 24.1 | 17 |
| G | Gary Franklin | -3.9 | 0.8 | 263 | -167.2 | 51 |
| C | Markhuri Sanders-Frison | 12.7 | -1.4 | 251 | 5.8 | 3 |
| G | Brandon Smith | 4.7 | -1.1 | 196 | -19.0 | 32 |
| F | Richard Solomon | 14.4 | 2.3 | 155 | 41.2 | 5 |
| G | Emerson Murray | 0.4 | -0.4 | 64 | -93.1 | 47 |
| G | Nigel Carter | 7.0 | N/A | 101 | 20.7 | 18 |
| F | Bak Bak | 5.9 | N/A | 78 | -42.2 | 34 |
| OREGON 2010-11 | ||||||
| F | Joevan Catron | 17.7 | -2.6 | 304 | 73.5 | 2 |
| F | E.J. Singler | 16.0 | 3.1 | 311 | 56.9 | 3 |
| G | Garrett Sim | 5.5 | -0.6 | 277 | -5.2 | 26 |
| G | Malcolm Armstead | 4.2 | 3.1 | 290 | -27.6 | 36 |
| G | Jay-R Strowbridge | 4.2 | 0.2 | 282 | -27.6 | 37 |
| G | Teondre Williams | 8.2 | -0.2 | 182 | 41.4 | 14 |
| G | Jonathan Loyd | 5.6 | -1.2 | 232 | -3.4 | 25 |
| F | Tyrone Nared | 6.3 | -0.1 | 156 | -38.2 | 31 |
| F | Jeremy Jacob | 6.1 | 0.3 | 91 | -40.2 | 32 |
| OREGON STATE 2010-11 | ||||||
| F | Omari Johnson | 11.5 | -4.5 | 293 | 12.7 | 13 |
| G | Jared Cunningham | 9.7 | 0.2 | 298 | 67.2 | 9 |
| G | Calvin Haynes | 8.7 | -1.9 | 286 | 50.0 | 12 |
| C | Joe Burton | 11.3 | -3.6 | 263 | -5.8 | 4 |
| G | Lathen Wallace | 6.4 | 4.0 | 227 | 10.3 | 22 |
| G | Ahmad Starks | 0.6 | -0.1 | 210 | -89.7 | 46 |
| F | Kevin McShane | 9.1 | -3.2 | 94 | -10.8 | 22 |
| F | Devon Collier | 11.1 | 1.4 | 102 | 8.8 | 16 |
| F | Angus Brandt | 6.0 | 0.5 | 105 | -41.2 | 33 |
| STANFORD 2010-11 | ||||||
| G | Jeremy Green | -0.3 | 0.2 | 266 | -105.2 | 48 |
| F | Dwight Powell | 11.5 | 1.5 | 225 | 12.7 | 14 |
| F | Josh Owens | 9.1 | 0.8 | 234 | -10.8 | 23 |
| G | Jarrett Mann | 4.9 | 2.0 | 211 | -15.5 | 29 |
| F | Jack Trotter | 11.9 | 0.2 | 192 | 16.7 | 12 |
| F | Andrew Zimmerman | 8.2 | -0.3 | 156 | -19.6 | 25 |
| G | Anthony Brown | 6.8 | -0.3 | 133 | 17.2 | 20 |
| G | Aaron Bright | 6.2 | 1.1 | 125 | 6.9 | 23 |
| G | Gabriel Harris | 4.7 | -1.6 | 103 | -19.0 | 33 |
| F | Stefan Nastic | 11.2 | 0.9 | 55 | 9.8 | 15 |
| F | Josh Huestis | 7.5 | 1.9 | 76 | -26.5 | 29 |
| UCLA 2010-11 | ||||||
| F | Tyler Honeycutt | 10.1 | 2.7 | 342 | -1.0 | 19 |
| F | Reeves Nelson | 14.5 | -3.4 | 293 | 42.2 | 4 |
| G | Lazeric Jones | 3.1 | -0.4 | 273 | -46.6 | 41 |
| G | Brendan Lane | 11.3 | -1.8 | 232 | 94.8 | 4 |
| G | Tyler Lamb | -1.5 | 0.4 | 164 | -125.9 | 50 |
| G | Malcolm Lee | 4.8 | -2.8 | 255 | -17.2 | 30 |
| C | Joshua Smith | 19.1 | 4.0 | 195 | 59.2 | 1 |
| G | Jerime Anderson | 9.3 | 0.1 | 169 | 60.3 | 11 |
| F | Anthony Stover | 4.1 | -3.5 | 68 | -59.8 | 35 |
| USC 2010-11 | ||||||
| G | Maurice Jones | 3.6 | 1.2 | 421 | -37.9 | 39 |
| F | Nikola Vucevic | 13.4 | -0.2 | 396 | 31.4 | 8 |
| F | Alex Stephenson | 8.8 | 0.9 | 355 | -13.7 | 24 |
| G | Bryce Jones | 5.0 | -2.0 | 296 | -13.8 | 28 |
| G | Marcus Simmons | 5.7 | -2.1 | 279 | -1.7 | 24 |
| G | Donte Smith | 4.7 | 2.3 | 271 | -19.0 | 34 |
| F | Garrett Jackson | 9.9 | 0.9 | 126 | -2.9 | 20 |
| WASHINGTON 2010-11 | ||||||
| G | Isaiah Thomas | 9.6 | 0.1 | 271 | 65.5 | 10 |
| F | Justin Holiday | 13.7 | -1.6 | 256 | 34.3 | 7 |
| G | Abdul Gaddy | 10.3 | 0.6 | 236 | 77.6 | 8 |
| F | Matthew Bryan-Amaning | 13.2 | -1.3 | 228 | 29.4 | 9 |
| G | Venoy Overton | 10.6 | 0.0 | 214 | 82.8 | 7 |
| F | Darnell Gant | 2.7 | -0.9 | 195 | -73.5 | 37 |
| C | Aziz N’Diaye | 17.1 | -5.5 | 160 | 42.5 | 2 |
| G | Scott Suggs | 8.6 | 2.0 | 138 | 48.3 | 13 |
| G | C.J. Wilcox | 10.8 | -8.5 | 149 | 86.2 | 5 |
| G | Terrence Ross | 4.8 | -0.1 | 124 | -17.2 | 31 |
| WASHINGTON STATE 2010-11 | ||||||
| G | Klay Thompson | 11.9 | -0.1 | 258 | 105.2 | 3 |
| G | Faisal Aden | 3.2 | 0.5 | 224 | -44.8 | 40 |
| G | Marcus Capers | 13.8 | -2.5 | 235 | 137.9 | 2 |
| G | Abe Lodwick | 4.6 | 0.1 | 161 | -20.7 | 35 |
| F | Brock Motum | 12.6 | 0.0 | 152 | 23.5 | 10 |
| G | Dre Winston Jr. | 2.7 | 0.0 | 105 | -53.4 | 43 |
| F | DeAngelo Casto | 8.1 | -3.0 | 136 | -20.6 | 26 |
| F | Patrick Simon | 7.8 | 0.7 | 118 | -23.5 | 28 |
| F | Charlie Enquist | 7.0 | 4.9 | 55 | -31.4 | 30 |
| G | Reggie Moore | 8.0 | N/A | 87 | 37.9 | 16 |
