Coach's Derblog

The Numbers Don’t Lie

I started taking bout statistics for roller derby last season after the Bombshells played the Runaway Brides. Of the three bouts that I coached the Bombshells through that season, that bout was my favorite by far. The Bombshells were really starting to gel as a team right about that time. The Brides were an extremely technical team, armed with blinding speed. They put up a boat load of points against us, but the Bombshells scored more points in that bout than they had scored in any bout over the last 2 seasons. I was curious to see how the numbers broke down. I wanted to see where the holes were in our game, which line-ups were strong in keeping the other team from scoring points, and which of our jammers were more dependable in scoring points than the others. So I started watching tape from the bouts and keeping track. These stats also give me a great insight into the tendencies of our opponents. Not only do they tell a story of the bout, but they also help me prepare for the next one.

The league keeps their own stats, those are the official AZDD stats. The stats that I take and that I’m about to share with you are not official and are only for my own reference. However, be sure that I keep them as accurate as they can be. I’ve crunched some numbers from the bout between the Beauties and the Scrappers and they tell quite the story. In fact, they tell a slightly different story than the one I told just a few weeks ago.

The Scrappers went on a scoring binge in their debut bout logging 148 total points. That’s a solid average of 37 points per quarter. When the bout was all said and done, the teams had skated 37 jams. That means the Scrappers were averaging 4 points per jam. 4 POINTS PER JAM! Impressive. The ladies in blue plaid also dominated the lead jam position. Out of the 37 jams the Scrappers were able to acquire the Lead Jam 25 times and didn’t lose it once. In addition to that, the Scrappers had 4 different jammers that stole the lead jam from a Beauties’ jammer on 4 different occasions. The Scrappers have their offensive scheme down getting their jammer out of the pack first 67pct. of the time. Further, on the flip side of that coin the Scrapper had a curtain of plaid out there on the track that kept the Beauties’ jammers from seeing daylight for more than half the bout. They shut out the Beauties in 21 of the 37 jams. That’s some solid defense. I’d like to dub their blockers with this moniker: The Plaid Curtain. One of the more astounding facts I learned from looking at the stats was that the Scrappers had 14 different skaters step in at the jammer position. I think they only have 15 skaters on their roster so by my observation the only Scrapper that didn’t jam was their MVP, Cruella DeMille. Almost everyone got a chance to Jam. How fun is that?

When we talk about individual performances the skater whose numbers stuck out the most were Mizz Nashty’s. She jammed 6 times for her team, more than any other Scrapper, and was perfect in acquiring the Lead Jam all 6 times. She racked up some major points on a few of those jams logging jams of 9, 10, and 6 points. In the end she’s credited with scoring 32 of her teams points with a killer average of 5.3 points per jam. Mizz Nashty is no joke. I can’t go without mentioning the performances by Jenna Talls and Goody Goody Blooddrop. They did a great job in complimenting the success that Nashty was enjoying, showing that there’s more than one jammer on this team that we’re all going to have to worry about. Jenna Talls was also perfect in acquiring the lead jam on each of her 4 chances at the jammer spot. She racked up 20 point in all and when you think of how many times she showed the crowd they had NO CHANCE while she was jamming, you have to be pretty impressed with a 5 point per jam average. Goody had the highest scoring average of the bout with 6.5 points per jam, only taking 4 turns with the star on her helmet. Nice job, ladies!

In looking at the stats for the Beauties, I see one overriding concern. And I know I’m being Captain Obvious here, but they need more jammers. They ran a three jammer rotation with Tabby T. Bag, Pint Sized Punch, and Nasty Nelly. The Beauties played with a short roster for this bout and the effects of that really started to show in the last quarter. You can see that fatigue had finally gotten to the Beauties jammers in the 4th quarter as they were able to log points in only 3 of the 9 jams that quarter, 9 points in all.

Tabby T. Bag carried her team that night; a well deserved MVP. She carried much of the jamming load, jamming 13 times for the Beauties. She acquired the lead jam in 5 instances and though she had it taken from her twice she had the highest point total and scoring average for her team with 23 points and 1.7 points per jam, respectively. As the season goes forward I can only expect that she’s going to get better and continue to play a big roll in scoring points for her team.

The numbers don’t lie. The Scrappers are a well balanced team. They played solid defense and their jammers played their positions well. A 4 point per jam average screams EFFICIENCY. Almost everyone on their team had a chance to put points on the board. But I’ll say it again, jammers are nothing without their blockers, and the Plaid Curtain has proven they’re more than ready to scrap.

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Tags: Cruella DeMille, Goody Goody Blooddrop, Jenna Talls, Mizz Nashty, Nasty Nelly, Pint Sized Punch, Tabby T. Bag