Texas Basketball: Tyrese Hunter advanced analytical deep dive
Defensive analytics
When Hunter was locked in and engaged on the defensive end down the stretch last season, there weren’t many guards that produced at a high level when they were matched up against him on the perimeter. Hunter had eight multi-steal games last season, tied for third-most for the Longhorns. He also had three games with at least three steals.
The problem for Hunter on the defensive end of the floor last season was that he wasn’t consistently engaged. There were games when he was consistently burned on the perimeter and wasn’t getting to his spots matching up on defense.
Defensive rating: 101.3 (107.3 in Big 12 play)
Hunter’s defensive rating paints a more problematic picture than his performances on that end were in reality. The 101.3 defensive rating was dead last on the team last season. And while Hunter’s defensive rating improved in Big 12 play in comparison to the rest of the team, it still ranked last among Texas’ starters.
Hunter was +8.0 in on/off-court defensive rating last season, last on the team, and ranking in the 11th percentile among Big 12 guards.
Last season also could be a bit of an anomaly for Hunter, as he led Iowa State’s starters in defensive rating during his true freshman campaign.
Defensive box plus/minus: 1.8
This metric for Hunter follows the same trend as defensive rating, where he ranks dead last on the team. His defensive box plus/minus was cut in half year-over-year last season.
Unfortunately, Hunter’s downtrodden stretch in the middle of last season anchored down his defensive box plus/minus in a negative sense for the entire campaign.
Defensive win shares: 1.7 (0.1 in Big 12 play)
Hunter’s hot start to last season and strong play down the stretch helped him to rank fourth on the team in defensive win shares. I think this is a more accurate representation of Hunter’s overall impact on the defensive end for the Longhorns last season.
9.9 DRB%, 1.5 STL%, 0.7 BLK%
Hunter had a limited impact on the glass on both ends of the floor last season, which makes sense given that he’s a 6-foot-1 guard who didn’t take much of the primary ball-handling duties late in the campaign (at least while Carr was on the floor). But Hunter did rank in the middle of the pack for the Longhorns in steal percentage and Hakeem percentage (a combination of steal and block percentage).
Hunter’s disruptiveness improved in Big 12 play, where he ranked in the top five on the team in steal percentage (2.1).
Drawing turnovers is clearly a strength in Hunter’s game after he ranked top 15 in the Big 12 in steal percentage as a true freshman at Iowa State. It was one of the strongest parts of his game, at least when looking at the advanced metrics on defense, last season at Texas.