Key Individual Stats Tracker

[Q-is-here]

I will keep this updated every 10-12 games or so....

PER - Very much individual box-score driven and rewards volume more than efficiency. Doesn't really account for defense. This tends to reward higher usage offensive players and guys that get lots of counting stats.
WS/48 - Combines individual box-score stats with team performance; tends to reward efficiency as much as volume; tries to apportion team performance to individual players, so a great team defense for example tends to lift all boats (or weight them down if the defense is poor).
VORP - Value over Replacement Player (see more below). I know Carlos likes this one!
Net Rating - Team points per 100 possessions minus opponent points per 100 possessions while player is on the floor.

Player - PER/WS48/VORP/Net Rating
Ant - 19.7/.127/.5/+10.9
KAT - 19.1/.161/.5/+8.0
Rudy - 17.0/.171/.2/+4.3
Conley - 15.5/.197/.4/+5.1
SloMo - 13.4/.120/.3/+7.0
Jaden - 11.3/.123/0.0/+9.3
Naz - 19.0/.191/.3/+4.9
NAW - 9.7/.080/.1/-4.8
Shake - 7.5/.038/-.2/+.4

[Q-is-here]

VORP - takes Box Score Plus Minus and converts it to an estimate of each player's overall contribution to the team versus what a replacement level player would provide. A replacement level player is generally defined as someone on a minimum salary or not a regular part of the rotation.

I believe this stat accumulates as the season goes on, so it will keep growing throughout the season for those players that are above average. For example, Ant ended last season with a 2.1 VORP and the season before with a 2.0 VORP.

Box Score Plus Minus - Since VORP is calculated from BPM, I might as well give a brief definition of this stat as well. I think of it as a slightly more sophisticated version of PER. It relies mostly on the traditional box score stats, but then also accounts for team performance and the player's position.

To give a sense of the scale:

+10.0 is an all-time season (think peak Jordan or LeBron)
+8.0 is an MVP season (think peak Dirk or peak Shaq)
+6.0 is an all-NBA season
+4.0 is in all-star consideration
+2.0 is a good starter
+0.0 is a decent starter or solid 6th man
-2.0 is a bench player (this is also defined as "replacement level")
Below -2.0 are many end-of-bench players

I didn't include the BPM stat above since VORP derives from it, but Naz is currently highest at 3.5, followed by Mike Conley and Ant. The reason why Ant has a higher VORP than Naz and Conley is simply because he plays more minutes. But on a per minute basis, BPM says that Naz is our most effective player. This is why we use multiple stats!

[Q-is-here]

Now for some general observations on where we're at through 12-games....

- Cleary this is not a star-driven team right now, as KAT and Ant's individual stats are quite pedestrian if you compare them to other all-star caliber players on other teams (don't look at Haliburton's equivalent stats, as they will put Ant's to absolute shame; same goes for Jokic versus KAT).

- A combination of elite team defense and "good enough" offense driven by two gifted scorers in Ant and KAT has driven our success so far. But there is no one individual player that is dominant.

- I love the fact that the two guys with the highest net rating are Ant and Jaden. That's our future!

- Shake and NAW have been mediocre at best. We may need to make a move at the trade deadline to get another dynamic bench guard on the roster. I don't know who or how, but there just isn't enough firepower between these two. I think of NAW as more of a situational player for defensive purposes vs. a legit backup ball handler.

Thoughts?

[Carlos Danger]

I love this. Good point on this team not being "star driven" up to this point. I think that's good. It's a team. And we have guys like Edwards, Towns, Naz who can take over a game. But more importantly, Rudy and Finch have done what guys like Butler, and Thibs couldn't do...get EVERYONE to buy into playing defense.

I'll be commenting on the "Lip was right thread" shortly. But, after years of watching Offense only Wolves teams led by K. Love and KAT and Russell, I'm happy to see a gritty defensive squad. How that translates into the playoffs obviously remains to be seen.

[Lipoli390]

Now for some general observations on where we're at through 12-games....

- Cleary this is not a star-driven team right now, as KAT and Ant's individual stats are quite pedestrian if you compare them to other all-star caliber players on other teams (don't look at Haliburton's equivalent stats, as they will put Ant's to absolute shame; same goes for Jokic versus KAT).

- A combination of elite team defense and "good enough" offense driven by two gifted scorers in Ant and KAT has driven our success so far. But there is no one individual player that is dominant.

- I love the fact that the two guys with the highest net rating are Ant and Jaden. That's our future!

- Shake and NAW have been mediocre at best. We may need to make a move at the trade deadline to get another dynamic bench guard on the roster. I don't know who or how, but there just isn't enough firepower between these two. I think of NAW as more of a situational player for defensive purposes vs. a legit backup ball handler.

Thoughts?

Great thread, Q. I think your take on why the Wolves have been successful so far this season is spot on. And I agree this team needs more firepower off the bench. As I mentioned in another thread, I believe this team is overly dependent on two players for offensive production - Ant and KAT. There’s perhaps enough additional scoring from Conley and Jaden in the starting lineup, but Naz is the only really good offensive player off the bench. I remain worried about this team’s lack of depth, especially the lack of scoring punch on the roster.

[Coolbreeze44]

This is really good information Q. I tend to like VORP and net rating, and you do a great job of explaining the differences of all the metrics. Well done.

[Q-is-here]

This is really good information Q. I tend to like VORP and net rating, and you do a great job of explaining the differences of all the metrics. Well done.

Thank you. It's interesting stuff to me.

[Carlos Danger]

KAT is now the team leader in VORP after last night. I'm not sure if that's good or bad. Part of me thinks Edwards needs to step up more. But I'm happy to see KAT playing well and squashing the "he can't play with Rudy" mantra.

[Q-is-here]

KAT is now the team leader in VORP after last night. I'm not sure if that's good or bad. Part of me thinks Edwards needs to step up more. But I'm happy to see KAT playing well and squashing the "he can't play with Rudy" mantra.

I agree it's both good and bad. KAT has always been a really good player, but he's not going to be the best player on a contending team. It's good to see him return to form and, even more important, come up big in the bright lights versus spazzing and flailing himself out of the game mentally and physically.

But we need Ant to take the leap we all thought he'd make this year. I like that he's stepped up his assists and rebounds. Now he simply has to be more efficient. Too many sloppy turnovers and not enough free throws. He'll never be a sharpshooter, so he has to get to the line more to drive his TS% up to the level of other stars. He's one of the least efficient high scorers in the league.

[AbeVigodaLive]

Wow.

Just looking at PER... not a single guy above 19... and only five guys above 15.0 (generally regarded as the mean).

Defense? Timberwolves? WHAT THE FUCK!?!?!?!