How Jahvon Quinerly has been better, worse for Alabama basketball than in iconic 2020-21 season
In many ways, senior guard Jahvon Quinerly doing what he has done for this Alabama basketball team wouldn't have been predicted exactly a year ago.
He wasn't even planning to be on the team for 2022-23.
Quinerly intended to test the NBA Draft process and turn professional after the 2021-22 season, coach Nate Oats said.
Then everything changed in San Diego during the first round of the NCAA Tournament.
A few minutes into the loss to Notre Dame, Quinerly fell and immediately looked to be in significant pain. Later, it was revealed he tore the ACL in his left knee.
Initially, he posted in an Instagram caption it was the last game of his college career, but Quinerly later deleted that comment. By April 23, he had announced he would be staying for another season at UA.
But how soon Quinerly would be able to play remained a major question. Plus, when he played, could he return to the same form?
Oats had repeatedly said the Crimson Tide hoped to have Quinerly back by SEC play. Then, in the third game of the season against South Alabama, Quinerly returned to the court.
He has gone on to be a key player off the bench for No. 5 Alabama (26-5), winning the first SEC sixth man of the year award in program history.
In some ways, he hasn't been as good as he was during the 2020-21 season in which he won most outstanding player for the SEC Tournament. In other ways, he's been even better.
Here's a look at how Quinerly's season stacks up with two seasons ago when he was key in the Crimson Tide reaching the Sweet 16 and winning the SEC regular season and tournament championships.
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How Quinerly has improved statistically this season
The senior hasn't had to be the leading scorer for the Crimson Tide. Quinerly has instead served as a playmaker who creates opportunities for his teammates at an elite level.
In fact, he's one of the best this season.
KenPom measures assist rate, which is calculated from assists divided by field goals by teammates while a specific player is on the court. Quinerly's assist rate is 35, which ranks 19th in the country and fourth in the SEC.
Last season, he had an assist rate of 26.5, ranked 133rd nationally. During his iconic season, Quinerly finished with an assist rate of 25.1, ranked 182nd nationally.
Oats said this is the best group of shooters Alabama has had during Quinerly's three years of playing for the Crimson Tide, taking the pressure off to be relied on to score.
"I think coupled with the fact he’s playing really aggressive and we’ve got more depth of shooting would be my answer to that," Oats said. "And he’s got some lob targets with the bigs. That first year, we didn’t have the lob targets we have this year. He finds (Charles) Bediako and (Nick) Pringle a lot at the rim. It’s not just the shooting. The shooting spreads the defense out and allows him to find the bigs at the rim and the shooters on the perimeter. So a combination of both."
Quinerly also has a higher steal percentage, 1.7%, than the past two seasons: 1.2% in 2021-22 and 1.4% in 2020-21.
His defensive rebounding percentage (7.8%) also improved from two seasons ago (6.7%).
How Quinerly has regressed statistically this season
Turnovers have been a problem at times for Quinerly, and that is reflected in the advanced statistics.
His turnover rate of 24.3%, the percentage of personal possessions used on turnovers, is the highest it has ever been, per KenPom. Two seasons ago, Quinerly had a turnover rate of 20.2%. A season ago, it was 21.3%.
He's also not shooting as well. According to KenPom, both Quinerly's effective field-goal percentage (47.5%) and true-shooting percentage (51%) are notably lower than what he did during Alabama's Sweet 16 run. That season, he finished at 56.6% and 58.3%, respectively.
It's worth noting that this season included him getting back into form after a significant knee injury. Lately, he's been one of Alabama's best players. Quinerly was crucial in the overtime win over Auburn to secure the SEC regular season championship, scoring 24 points with six assists and no turnovers.
"We're getting the March version of JQ," Oats said after the win. "He’s definitely the X-factor."
This article originally appeared on The Tuscaloosa News: Jahvon Quinerly: Alabama basketball stats compared to 2021-22 season
