Pac-10 Player Ratings 5.0

Editors’ note: The Total Impact Quotient is an elaborate ratings formula for players’ performance. It takes strong consideration into a player’s performance relative to the rest of the team. For more information, check out a complete introduction to the TIQ.

No one would mistake the 9-16 Oregon State for an NCAA Tournament team. For that matter, the NIT and CBI tournament organizers won’t likely be sending an invitation to Corvallis, Ore.

However, that doesn’t mean that we should totally ignore Oregon State. That would be a major disservice to sophomore Jared Cunningham, who is putting together a remarkable season on an unremarkable team.

Cunningham is the No. 1 guard in the Pac-10 with a Total Impact Quotient of 12.1 points per 40 minutes. How is that conceivably possible? Washington has at least two guards (Isaiah Thomas and Venoy Overton) who look better at face value, and Washington State also might have two (Marcus Capers and Klay Thompson).

There’s no doubt those players are having strong years, but they’re just not as critical to their team as Cunningham is to the Beavers. The sophomore is one of the most aggressive and crafty guards in the game, at both ends of the court. He is No. 5 in the country steals, averaging 2.8 per game. And although he’s shooting an abysmal 41.4 percent from the field, he’s getting to the line nearly seven times a game, where he shoots 80 percent. That’s a player who knows his game: attack the basket, get to the line, make the easy ones.

Now consider the rest of the Beavers’ productivity. The team averages 41.5 percent shooting from the field, so Cunningham’s poor shooting is actually par for the course at Oregon State. Because the Beavers aren’t a particularly good defensive team — yielding 0.991 points per possession, according to Ken Pomeroy’s efficiency stats — all of Cunningham’s steals are huge. He’s saving the team about 2.7 points per game with all those steals. And that’s in 28.7 minutes per game. Projected over 40 minutes, his defensive contribution alone would save Oregon State 3.8 points per game.

So Cunningham’s excellent defense and smart offense make him a force for the Beavers — and the most productive guard in the Pac-10.

Here are the latest ratings for the Pac-10, through games of Saturday Feb. 19.

TIQ position averages and total number of Pac-10 players at the position:

Centers: 11.2, 6 players
Forwards: 10.0, 31 players
Guards: 5.8, 48 players
TIQ = Total Impact Quotient
PD% = Position differential in % difference from average

Player Rankings