Sports Staturday: NCAA Most Minutes W/Out A 2-Point Make List, Tari Eason Ends Sad Three-Point Streak, And Jonathan Kuminga's Record That Will Never Be Broken
Saturday morning. There's nothing like it. The weekend already started the night before yet is also still ahead of you. You deserve a few minutes to scroll through some fun sports stats from the past week. Whether you're still laying in bed recovering from 96-hours of screen time in the last 48-hours (yes we credit you on each box of that four-screen window), or if you've been adventurous enough at this point to get yourself a nice steaming cup of coffee. A few crazy things happened in sports this past week. And it's time to have a little fun diving into them.
This is Sports Staturday.
Let's start with the main draw. Madness is fully back after taking the first couple rounds off last year. This is what this tournament is all about. And to be honest - the fact that last year's opening weekend went super chalky is what makes the crazy games that eventually come all the greater. At least for some.
Chase Johnston stamped his name on being the marquee player of the opening round with his dazzling performance from behind the arc for High Point vs the favored Wisconsin Badgers. And while he has chosen to only score three-pointers for every game this season, he decided he was finally ready to make one after 39:50 seconds of the game.
Dude needs to have a Dos Equis commercial while this is fresh. "I don't always make twos, but when I do, it's a last second game winner in the NCAA Tournament." Here's a quick frame of reference for how weird this stat is. I tallied up every player this season who has not made a two point shot in order of how many minutes they've played. The data is all pre-tournament, so while Johnston is wildly in the lead with 406, he would go on to add another 39 full minutes to that before finally dipping his toes in.
You'll notice this isn't really a stat players on good teams would have. And looking at most of them on here - it checks out. But there is Cade Kelderman from Iowa State. Added a couple more minutes to the log Friday to put him past Pasha Shemirani. Pretty much just wanted to type Pasha. Kind of love that name.
Anyway - good for Chase Johnston. I'd say you can't script that ending, but when you think about it, it's exactly what Hollywood would draw up.
Couple notable NBA things. And by the way - I fully realize Luka Doncic, the player I despise the most, is on an absolute heater. Good for him. Maybe dive into some of that this week if he keeps it up. But for today - I had to run some lookups for one happy three-point stat and one sad three-point stat.
Which one do you want first? Happy? Or sad?
Fine. We'll go sad. But it has a happy ending! Tari Eason of the Houston Rockets has been on a brutal slump from three-point land as well as, pretty much any land. He entered Friday's matchup 0 for his last 21-threes, but I am happy to report he finally made one to end the streak!
Advertisement
Here's where he stood in the record books according to my data. Probably more players with a greater cold spell than you'd think. Including a LeBron 24-clanker.
Tough list for names that start with Z here. But Zaza might have a case for a spot in the sad stat pantheon because not only does he lead in this particular statistical category, but he never made a three in his 16-year career. Playoffs included.
I guess this stat didn't have a happy ending after all. That was too sad. We need a happy three-point stat.
Happy Three-Point Stat
Let's talk about about records that will never be broken. Wilt's 100-point game is all the sudden a little shaky, but there's still rock solid bets like Cy Young's 511 wins, Cal Ripkin's consecutive games played streak, and of course, Georgia Tech beating Cumberland in 1916 222-0 in college football. Many others too, I'm sure. And this week we include a new member to this list of greats. Make some room Young, Ripkin, Gretzky, Henderson, Nolan Ryan, Michael Phelps, Jerry Rice. And we now welcome…
Jonathan Kuminga.
"How do you do, fellow sports greats?"
That's right. Kuminga did something so absurd it probably won't ever happen again due to the hilarity of the circumstance. He made a 74-ft three-point shot (just to clarify) while leaving time remaining in the quarter. While we see full-court ish shots made pretty much every year, there's a reason for it. Buzzer about to do it's thing. To be fair, Kuminga was running out of time. And what makes this even more awesome is it appears he wasn't trying to make the shot either. Maybe a little note he can keep for next time.
I took a stab at querying this out in the play-by-play that goes back to the late 90s. It's a tough process because it's hard to tell exactly which made shots ended a quarter. The time provided is unreliable. So, while I was able to eliminate a bunch of buzzer beaters, there is likely still some in this list.
Advertisement
Even so - no one is in the same zip code as our guy, Jonathan Kuminga.
Some notes from this list. I can't find a clip of this Bradley Beal shot. But, I do have the Kyrie shot which was at least predicated on the shot clock winding down.
Any other shot here with a time of one second should give you pause on it's legitimacy. It's likely these were last second heaves and the data is just not quite right. Either way - I'm ready to die on this hill that this is a record that will never be broken. Thatta boy Jonathan Kuminga! A record that will never be broken.
Enjoy another 96 hours of screens to finish off the weekend.
@Stathole