Photo By Austin McAfee | The Daily Mississippian
Jarvis Summers is off to a tremendous start. He’s averaging a career-high 16.6 points per game and has become the clear second scoring option behind Marshall Henderson.
“Jarvis Summers continues to be our MVP making big plays throughout the course of the game,” head coach Andy Kennedy said of Summers 25-point performance against Middle Tennessee State this past Saturday.
It was the second time this year that Summers has gone over 20 points; he didn’t score 20 once last season and did it just twice in his freshman season.
He scored 9.1 points per game last season when he was the fourth offensive option and was more concerned with facilitating his teammates.
Now as the number two scorer, Summers has become more aggressive. He is shooting 9.8 field goal attempts per game, up from 7.4 attempts last season. Most of his extra shots have been three pointers, shooting 2.3 more threes per game.
He’s been getting more shots in fewer minutes. Last season, he averaged 27 minutes per game; this year he is down to 25.9. However, his minutes will start going up as Kennedy begins to restrict the rotation.
But simply playing with more aggression and taking more shots doesn’t lead to more production. Summers has shot the ball unbelievably well.
He is shooting 53 percent from the field and even better from behind the arc at 55 percent, which is second best in the SEC. Last season, Summers shot 40 percent from the field and 34 percent on threes.
“Every shot I shoot, I feel like it is going to go in,” Summers said.
A major factor to Summers’ emergence has been getting to the free throw line. Last year, Summers got to the line 3.8 times per game. Now, he’s getting 5.7 free throws per game, and he is making his free throws at a higher rate this season shooting 73 percent compared to 70 percent from last season.
His aggression has led to these extra free throws. Instead of looking for everyone else, Summers is taking it upon himself to get to the basket, which has led to more whistles in his favor. Twenty-five percent of Summers’ possessions have resulted in free throws, per Synergy Sports.
Summers has been more aggressive and more efficient on the pick-and-roll this season, his most run play type. He is scoring 1.00 points per possession as the ball handler on pick-and-rolls. Last year, he was abysmal scoring just .53 points per possession on pick-and-rolls.
Last season, the majority of Summers’ pick-and-rolls were designed to get Murphy Holloway driving to the basket, so when Summers had to make a play, he wasn’t effective. He shot 26.8 percent and didn’t knock down a single three on a pick-and-roll. This season, he is shooting 42.1 percent on pick-and-rolls.
His ability to draw fouls is most prevalent on the pick-and-roll, as he goes to the free throw line on 32.3 percent of possessions.
As he looks to make more plays, Summers usage rate has risen to 26.8 percent from 19.1 last season. Summers is averaging slightly more turnovers and less assists per game, in fewer minutes, but that is product of having to make more plays.
Summers turnover percentage is slightly down this season (15.9 from 16.1), while his assist percentage is up (26.8 from 24.7).
It has been incredible, but when asked to make more plays for himself, Summers is turning the ball over at about the same rate and getting assists at the same rate. His sky-high shooting percentages are likely unsustainable for the whole season.
But if he can continue to get to the free throw line and shoot at a high percentage, Summers can be the team’s MVP and make a push for an All-SEC selection.
For continuing coverage of Ole Miss men’s basketball, follow @Tyler_RSR and @thedm_sports on Twitter.
— Tyler Bischoff
tfbischo@go.olemiss.edu
