Gary Ablett.....

[SirJimi05]

Stats and Gazza.

I know that i will most likely get shut down for what i have to say but BigFooty is not a popularity contest as far as i'm concerned.

I have been paying extra special attention to watching Gazza at work this season and as a result have been asking myself the following question - Is Gazza a stats whore?

Firstly, i should go on record by saying that i reckon Ablett is the best player in the competition and i often marvel at the things he can do on a footy field but this does not mean that i can't be critical of certain aspects of his game.

It seems to me like he actually plays for stats sometimes. We all know that Gaz is the king of getting the easy ball but sometimes he gives the old 1, 2 or 1,2,3 when there is absolutely no need to do so. Why do 1 or 2 little 1m handballs and then get it out to the free guy out wide when 1 direct handball can be given straight away? I have noticed this happen very frequently with Ablett. He has the option of handballing long to a free player but he will give a little give and go first and then give it to the guy out on his own that he could have hit up straight away. Shouldn't he be trying to move the ball as quickly and directly as possible?

I would be interested to know the stat for his metres gained per disposal as i think it would make interesting reading. He is such a damaging player when he plays direct footy so i would like to see him doing more of that. I actually think a 35 possesion game from Gazza should be regarded as a 25 possesion game by normal standards due to the amount of possesion sharing he does.

Having said all of this i would like to once again point out that i rate him very very highly and if anyone is entitled to get so much easy ball it is him because he does get a fair bit of contested ball also (although i would argue that the stats are questionable to say the least in regards to the amount of hard ball gets he scores).

I am probably going to cop as much flak for this as when when i stated that J.Brown is very overrated but as i said earlier i don't post on this forum for popularity.

Thoughts.

 

[Ricketts]

Re: Stats and Gazza.

More handballs draws more opponents away from whoever/wherever they're standing.

= creating free space/teammates

 

[Mitchell Madness]

Re: Stats and Gazza.

its the statistic age. it doesnt matter how good the player is, if they dont have the stats to back it up, the are "crap"

its the reason so many players with superb skills who dont get above 20 touches arent rated

 

[Ricketts]

Re: Stats and Gazza.

its the statistic age. it doesnt matter how good the player is, if they dont have the stats to back it up, the are "crap"

its the reason so many players with superb skills who dont get above 20 touches arent rated

You put forward that point of view in this thread... but over in the Max Rooke thread you'll probably claim he's rubbish because he runs around bumping and tackling but hardly ever gets the ball.

You guys are a fickle bunch sometimes.

 

[silky-smooth]

Re: Stats and Gazza.

I see your point and have noticed it myself, but I'd still take a 25 possession game from Gazza over most others.

I don't think he does it near as much as it may be obvious. A 1-2 can be considered smart play by disorientating the opposition, drawing players, etc.

 

[crownie]

Re: Stats and Gazza.

i thought Selwoods disposal was more damaging then Abletts last night.

 

[SirJimi05]

Re: Stats and Gazza.

I see your point and have noticed it myself, but I'd still take a 25 possession game from Gazza over most others.

I don't think he does it near as much as it may be obvious. A 1-2 can be considered smart play by disorientating the opposition, drawing players, etc.

Hmmm in this situation i would consider it to be the smart play. Hold onto the ball, draw your team mates opponent then offload the handball. But this is not what i am refering to. Often Gazza has uncontested possession then he gives a 1,2 to a mate who is standing flat footed and free before finally dishing it off to the link player who is an a position to create an attacking opportunity. If anything it is delaying a forward thrust and possibly giving an opportunity to the oppostion to get to the link up target. In todays football every second is vital wouldn't you say?

 

[rose jam]

Re: Stats and Gazza.

the way Ablett and Geelong play in general, he needs 35 disposals to have a reasonable effect on the game. It's like Mark Thompsons created a game style around having 22 Scott Wests in his side. Stats are ever more useless no matter how much the media like to tell you otherwise

 

[potatomasher]

Re: Stats and Gazza.

Stats are just an indicator as to how well a player has played, they never tell the whole story. I've seen Ablett play much better games with less disposals.

 

[CAS79]

Re: Stats and Gazza.

Cant agree with the OP here.

Ablett wasn't his best game last night but was still top notch.

His handballs often opened up other players as Bulldogs players were fixated on him in the contest. I don't see Ablett racking up any more useless stats than other players who chalk up bags of them.

Selwood was a better user last night but Ablett was still very good, first game back from an injury lay off too.

There's nothing wrong with what Ablett does with the ball.

 

[conodie05]

Re: Stats and Gazza.

The thing is, he might have 35 posessions and give the old 1-2 but at least 90% of those posessions lead to a Geelong advantage. Compare that o Carrazo of a couple of years back where he would have averaged the same number yet turned the ball over constantly. Theres the difference.

Gablett might be a stat hog, but most of them are quality whether a 2 metre give n go or a penetrating 55 metre kick into the forward 50.

Gun. Give him Chas now.

 

[scooterb]

Re: Stats and Gazza.

Ablett had 38 touches and wasn't even in the top 5 for metres gained.

 

[Eastern Rangers]

Re: Stats and Gazza.

Ablett had 38 touches and wasn't even in the top 5 for metres gained.

Yeah. He does create space and is hard to tackle but i think J.Selwood is their best player at the moment and i think he has been since round 1.

 

[conodie05]

Re: Stats and Gazza.

Ablett had 38 touches and wasn't even in the top 5 for metres gained.

Probably because the 26 handballs he gave off resulted in that player gaining meterage.

 

[CAS79]

Re: Stats and Gazza.

Ablett had 38 touches and wasn't even in the top 5 for metres gained.

Ablett wins the ball under pressure gives fast handball to Kelly who goes for a run in the open.

His observation is as much as brilliant and his metres gained are his giveaways to his teammates. Stats combined are the balance of a good team. Ablett does what he does for the team brilliantly.

 

[Beckers]

Re: Stats and Gazza.

i thought Selwoods disposal was more damaging then Abletts last night.

Thought the same thing. SirJimi05 is right, Ablett is getting a reputation as the king of the easy give and get when there is absolutely no need to.

Its like he is captain of his own dream team and just racks up cheap stats for the sake of it

 

[catswhiskers2007]

Re: Stats and Gazza.

I agree, not Ablett's best game of all time...BUT...Thompson has shown sheer genius in creating a game plan around the way he, Selwood and co. constantly back themselves and each other to work hard and play their way into a better option...like being part of a perfect game of chess.

Heck, I'd have him in my team any day....AWWWW...he IS in my team!!!!!!! Go GAZ!!

 

[Judd 05]

Re: Stats and Gazza.

Yes he is a stat whore who thrives off handball receives, but being so damaging he has a licence to do so.

 

[rose jam]

Re: Stats and Gazza.

I agree, not Ablett's best game of all time...BUT...Thompson has shown sheer genius in creating a game plan around the way he, Selwood and co. constantly back themselves and each other to work hard and play their way into a better option/quote]


Do you think Thompson created that or the players did by default and Thompson just turns up to training and matches eating foccacia's and drinking diet coke

 

[Skerret]

Re: Stats and Gazza.

Ablett wins the ball under pressure gives fast handball to Kelly who goes for a run in the open.

His observation is as much as brilliant and his metres gained are his giveaways to his teammates. Stats combined are the balance of a good team. Ablett does what he does for the team brilliantly.

Eeeeexactly. Everyone has a role, and Ablett's is to hang on to the ball, draw a few players, create some space then manufacture a way through to a free player. As was menioned previously (I think), if you added up the metres gained by the man Ablett puts into space by doing the above, I suspect the total would be significant. Rarely do you see Ablett give the ball to a man who is under fierce pressure, unless that man can immediately give it back or move it on quickly to a third player.

Because Ablett has drawn so much attention for his red hot form of recent years, he has modified his game to let others burst into space and deliver, a la Kelly. If teams slacken off on Ablett because they think he's not as dangerous, he'll simply become a finisher again rather than a distributor.

 

[Ricketts]

Re: Stats and Gazza.

Ablett had 38 touches and wasn't even in the top 5 for metres gained.

Can't gain metres if you don't have the ball. I wonder who was in the top 5 for winning the ball?

 

[The Passenger]

Re: Stats and Gazza.

this hasn't got anything to do with gary ablett in particular but just general thoughts on stats in todays game.

more than ever now you need to actually watch a game to get a true understanding of who were truly the best players out on the field.

up until about 3 years ago, you could get a pretty fair idea of who had the most influenced based on who get the most ball and then your own percieved thoughts of a players performances with said amount of ball.

for instance, in 2005 if i didn't see a game and Judd got 23 touches, 4 marks, 1 goal, 2 clangers and Cousins got 30 touches, 5 marks, 0 goals, 3 clangers... (fair typical games from the two at the time) i'd probably be thinking both had about the same amount of influence on the game.

obviously it's not 100% and it's definetaly not foolproof.

but just looking at the stats of a game today is just not even near giving you an idea of who had on influence on the actual contest because of the amount of 1-2 back kicks, handpasses and milking of the clock in the dying stages of games.

 

[skipper kelly]

Re: Stats and Gazza.

19 contested possessions last night suggest there is some serious snorkeling happen in this thread. Yeah king of the easy ball.

 

[carmi99]

Re: Stats and Gazza.

19 contested possessions last night suggest there is some serious snorkeling happen in this thread. Yeah king of the easy ball.

But in the OP the guy acknowledged that Ablett gets heaps of hard ball.

I think you should read it before you post.

And anyway you cant deny he gets shitloads of easy ball. Have alook at the leaderboard for uncontested possesions.

 

[The Casey Cat]

Re: Stats and Gazza.

But in the OP the guy acknowledged that Ablett gets heaps of hard ball.

I think you should read it before you post.

And anyway you cant deny he gets shitloads of easy ball. Have alook at the leaderboard for uncontested possesions.

As well as being just about king of the hard ball as well. He just works his but off and is highly effective inside and out. The criticism here is completely laughable at times.