A tempo free look at the offense of the 1989-1990 Loyola Marymount Lions

The 1989-1990 LMU Lions is seen as the most explosive offense of all time, led by the up-tempo offense of Paul Westhead that set the record for average points scored at 122.4 per game and games with at least 100 points scored with 28 (out of 32 total games).

Let's take a look at some non-tempo free stats and revel in the marvel that was the dynamic offense before we break down how effective it was:

- Highest point total was 157 and scored 150+ points three times in 1990
- Set NCAA tournament record for points scored with 149 in win over Michigan
- Had 3 players average over 20 points per game (Kimble at 35.3, Gathers at 29 and Jeff Fryer at 22.7)
- Lowest output was 62 points in an NCAA tournament win

Just how efficient was the uptempo offense though? This team came before Ken Pom and others were crunching the tempo fee numbers so I took the liberty to calculate some of the tempo based stats that fans love today.

- Possessions per game: 103.1 (Highest in 09-10 was 84.8)
- Efficiency margin was 13.2 points (118.8 offensive efficiency and 105.6 defensive efficiency)

Four factors:

- Offensive efficiency: 118.8: (Highest raw data in 09-10 was 116.6; adjusted was 123.5)
- Effective field goal percentage: 57.1%. Their raw field goal percentage was 51.9% (Highest eFG% in 09-10 was 57.9%)
- Offensive rebound percentage: 36.99% (Highest in 09-10 was 42.1%)
- Free throw rate: 35.89% (52% was highest in 09-10)

The efficiency was actually a little higher than I thought it would be when I started this. It would have led the nation in raw efficiency but they benefited from playing some weak teams that season not only in non-conference schedule but the weak WCC that allowed them to boost their efficiency.

We see that they were solid shooters with a decent effective field goal percentage helped by a 40% 3 point field goal percentage. Couple that with the fact that they shot 23 3's per game and their eFG% shot through the roof and helped LMU make a run to the Elite 8.

From what I heard and saw of the 89-90 LMU lions, I envisioned a chaotic game with tons of turnovers, missed shots and offensive rebounds, translating into an average offense in terms of efficiency. What we see is that it actually was a highly efficient offense (at least in terms of today's offenses).

This was a very interesting exercise for me and disproved what I thought before crunching the numbers. Any thoughts on these findings?