Who Will Replace David Padgett?

The talent and success of this year’s Card basketball team

coupled with the talent returning

and the abundant promise inherent in a Top 5 recruiting class

has Card fans justifiably euphoric about the possibilities for next season.

But a question continues to nag at my happiness….

Who will replace David Padgett?

I see little worry or discussion on this point out in Card Land. Many fans see the blazing raw talent coming in and figure it can replace a slow white center’s 11points and meager 4 boards a game. Yeah, we all know David was a leader too, but someone will step forward.

After all… how much can his leadership really have been worth?

But …. remember how badly we struggled last year–with all our talent–when David was out for those several games?

How could that have happened? Is it some aberration we need not be concerned about?

So we must ask again… just how much was David’s leadership truly worth?

I’ll show you how much.

The chart below comes courtesy of the newest blogger in the Card universe– Cards Hoops. He’s a Card die hard that lives in Chicago. Ck out his web site –I have added his link above and here for your convenience. http://cardshoops.wordpress.com/

The chart shows the floor percentages of the top eight players who logged in the most minutes over the course of last season.

Floor percentage is the ratio of scoring possessions to total possessions. In other words, it represents the percentage of offensive possessions that result in any kind of score when the player of interest is on the floor.

See the red line that streaks across the top of the graph, far above everyone else’s?   That is Padgett’s.

My gut has always told me of David’s importance, but now, thanks to Card Hoops, my brain has finally received verification.

Leadership, court awareness, facilitation of the offense — supreme unselfishness.

And the old school courage to fight through any injury, any pain…. anything.

I believe the burning question now for a big run next year is this:

Who will step forward?

Who will be our next

David Padgett?