Posted this on another thread. Probably belongs over here.
KO is a great player. The points totals are not the whole story though. Last year's 100 goal scorer proves that. I don't think anyone would argue that CM should have been in the "best player in the game" argument last year. Now KO is different. She IS one of the best players in the game. But the point totals put up against a decent, but not great, schedule, should not be the only determinant.
Here is a breakdown. and yes this matters:
Stony Brook played 22 games. 12 of the games were against weaker opponents. Many ranked well down in the rankings. In those 12 games KO had 46 goals and 57 assists = 103 points = 8.6 points/game.
In the 10 games against tough opponents (including Albany twice which is a stretch), KO had 31 goals and 29 assists. Still very, very good numbers, but the average drops to 6 points a game split evenly between goals and assists.
Now, if you compare the "tough games" by SB to a Maryland, UNC or NU schedule, for examples, the game quality still does not measure up. So there is still one more level of difficulty in schedule that KO still didn't play.
But extrapolating the 6 points a game for KO to a full schedule somewhat more representative of the #4 team in the country, KO still puts up an amazing 132 points. 68 goals and 64 assists. Fantastic numbers by anyone's account, but not record-breaking and now much more debatable relative to the Tewaaraton.
Add-in a Maryland schedule adjustment factor of say .85 to that final total to account for what is still a schedule difficulty disparity, and you end up at 112 points. 58 goals and 54 assists.
So there you have it, KO is a great player. she benefits statistically a great deal by playing a weaker schedule than top players on other teams. Fact, not opinion.
