By the Numbers
Posted: Sat Dec 20, 2014 5:31 pm
Nobody on this board would question that we are a bad team right now. We knew we were taking a step back this year, and then on top of that we had the injuries. But watching game after game of getting beat badly tell's me it's worth trying to measure how bad we are, and how we can get better.
So, what number would you guys point out to highlight how bad we are, or what would be even better, how or why specifically are we so bad?
129.
That's my number to start the thread. That's the ranking of our top player in the recently released Real Plus-Minus NBA rankings. Plus-minus is an inaccurate stat in the short term, but becomes more telling over time, taking into account offense and defense over a period of time. REAL plus-minus is more accurate, taking into account the other players on the floor. This chart includes WAR, wins above replacement. Our best player on this chart is ranked 129, meaning that by this measure there are, on average, a little more than 4 players on every other team in the league who are better than our best player. Yikes.
And who is our best player by this metric? Kevin Martin. 129th in the league with a .69 WAR. And yes, he has played just 9 games so take that for what it's worth.
Who is [or rather "was"] our second best? Corey Brewer. 150th.
We do have Dieng, Young, Rubio, and Mo all falling between 150 and 200. Pek at 236. Jeff Adrien at 253 and Robbie Hummel at 277. Turiaf at 302. GRIII at 325. Bazz at 382, -.07 WAR. Wiggins at 393, -.13. Bud at 405 with -.26. Bennett at 416 with -.39. And Zach LaVine at 430 out of 430 with -1.41, which is actually a huge drop-off from the guy ranked 429. Yeesh. I see potential in the guy, but he's obviously struggled in a hard situation and the numbers bear that out.
Obviously we should take these numbers with a grain of salt. Parker and Noel are also ranked really low here and both could become very good players, and there are some head-scratchers relatively high (Jared Sullinger at 37?). But in terms of measuring how bad we are, these numbers paint a not-so-pretty picture of our team.
You can find the chart here.
http://espn.go.com/nba/statistics/rpm/_/page/1
The problem with these Real Plus-Minus, WAR numbers (besides that they'll be more accurate once we're deeper into the season) is that while they show who has been our most/least effective players, it's really more of an overview. I'd really like to see some numbers that indicate a specific area we could work on to improve as a team.
So . . . what's your number?
So, what number would you guys point out to highlight how bad we are, or what would be even better, how or why specifically are we so bad?
129.
That's my number to start the thread. That's the ranking of our top player in the recently released Real Plus-Minus NBA rankings. Plus-minus is an inaccurate stat in the short term, but becomes more telling over time, taking into account offense and defense over a period of time. REAL plus-minus is more accurate, taking into account the other players on the floor. This chart includes WAR, wins above replacement. Our best player on this chart is ranked 129, meaning that by this measure there are, on average, a little more than 4 players on every other team in the league who are better than our best player. Yikes.
And who is our best player by this metric? Kevin Martin. 129th in the league with a .69 WAR. And yes, he has played just 9 games so take that for what it's worth.
Who is [or rather "was"] our second best? Corey Brewer. 150th.
We do have Dieng, Young, Rubio, and Mo all falling between 150 and 200. Pek at 236. Jeff Adrien at 253 and Robbie Hummel at 277. Turiaf at 302. GRIII at 325. Bazz at 382, -.07 WAR. Wiggins at 393, -.13. Bud at 405 with -.26. Bennett at 416 with -.39. And Zach LaVine at 430 out of 430 with -1.41, which is actually a huge drop-off from the guy ranked 429. Yeesh. I see potential in the guy, but he's obviously struggled in a hard situation and the numbers bear that out.
Obviously we should take these numbers with a grain of salt. Parker and Noel are also ranked really low here and both could become very good players, and there are some head-scratchers relatively high (Jared Sullinger at 37?). But in terms of measuring how bad we are, these numbers paint a not-so-pretty picture of our team.
You can find the chart here.
http://espn.go.com/nba/statistics/rpm/_/page/1
The problem with these Real Plus-Minus, WAR numbers (besides that they'll be more accurate once we're deeper into the season) is that while they show who has been our most/least effective players, it's really more of an overview. I'd really like to see some numbers that indicate a specific area we could work on to improve as a team.
So . . . what's your number?