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TOP NBA POINT GUARDS OF 2011-2012 (complete regular season)
Each year QFTR publishes Real Player Ratings for every player in the NBA who has played at least 300 minutes. Real Player Ratings are comprehensive player ratings that are very carefully designed and quality controlled. Starting in 2012, the Ratings are supplemented by seven per 36 minutes charts which show player performance in seven of the very most important performance measures, all of which are components of Real Player Ratings (but there are other components that go into Real Player Ratings). These charts are stationed on the home page at all times. This is most likely the only place on the Internet where this key player information is shown in this optimal way.

Here we have the leading point guards of the NBA in 2011-2012 ranked according to number of plays made per 36 minutes playing time. This is "AST" in the chart. The assists and all other items shown in the chart other than the percentages and the minutes played are per 36 minutes, which is much smarter to use than per game numbers.

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Here now are how the best point guards in the NBA in 2011-2012 rated and ranked:
Player               Tm   MP   FG  FGA  3P 3PA  FT FTA ORB DRB  AST STL BLK TOV  PF  PTS  FG%  3P%  FT%
Steve Nash PHO 1961 5.4 10.2 1.0 2.6 2.3 2.6 0.5 2.9 12.2 0.7 0.1 4.2 1.0 14.2 .532 .390 .894
Rajon Rondo BOS 1957 4.7 10.5 0.2 0.8 2.0 3.3 1.1 3.6 11.4 1.7 0.1 3.6 1.8 11.6 .448 .238 .597
Jose Calderon TOR 1799 4.4 9.5 1.2 3.2 1.2 1.4 0.4 2.8 9.4 0.9 0.1 2.1 1.9 11.1 .457 .371 .882
Chris Paul LAC 2181 7.0 14.7 1.3 3.5 4.3 5.0 0.7 2.8 9.0 2.5 0.1 2.0 2.3 19.6 .478 .371 .861
Andre Miller DEN 1809 4.8 11.0 0.4 1.7 2.7 3.4 1.1 3.3 8.8 1.3 0.2 3.5 2.6 12.7 .438 .217 .811
Tony Parker SAS 1923 8.0 16.7 0.3 1.1 4.2 5.3 0.4 2.8 8.7 1.1 0.1 2.9 1.4 20.5 .480 .230 .799
Jamaal Tinsley UTA 507 4.0 10.0 0.7 2.6 0.9 1.2 0.4 2.8 8.7 1.2 0.6 3.7 3.3 9.7 .404 .270 .765
Deron Williams NJN 1999 7.0 17.3 2.1 6.2 4.6 5.5 0.4 2.9 8.7 1.2 0.4 3.9 2.2 20.8 .407 .336 .843
Ricky Rubio MIN 1404 3.6 10.0 0.8 2.4 3.2 4.0 0.5 3.8 8.6 2.3 0.2 3.4 2.5 11.2 .357 .340 .803
Jonny Flynn TOT 416 4.0 11.3 0.9 2.9 2.5 3.4 0.7 2.7 8.3 0.5 0.2 3.1 2.0 11.3 .351 .294 .744
Jeremy Lin NYK 940 6.5 14.7 0.9 2.9 5.6 7.0 0.7 3.4 8.3 2.1 0.3 4.8 3.0 19.6 .446 .320 .798
Baron Davis NYK 595 4.1 11.1 1.6 5.1 1.0 1.5 0.8 2.6 8.2 2.1 0.2 4.6 3.7 10.8 .370 .306 .667
Jose Barea MIN 1032 5.8 14.6 1.8 5.0 2.7 3.4 0.5 3.5 8.1 0.7 0.0 3.6 2.1 16.2 .400 .371 .776
Derrick Rose CHI 1375 7.9 18.2 1.4 4.5 5.1 6.3 0.7 2.7 8.0 0.9 0.7 3.1 1.4 22.3 .435 .312 .812
John Wall WAS 2386 5.7 13.5 0.0 0.6 4.8 6.1 0.7 3.8 8.0 1.4 0.9 3.8 2.1 16.2 .423 .071 .789
D.J. Augustin CHA 1408 4.7 12.5 1.6 4.6 2.7 3.1 0.6 2.2 7.8 0.9 0.0 2.8 1.7 13.6 .376 .341 .875
Beno Udrih MIL 1080 4.9 11.1 0.6 2.0 1.3 1.8 0.9 2.5 7.6 1.2 0.0 2.6 2.3 11.6 .440 .288 .709
Greivis Vasquez NOH 1706 4.7 11.0 0.9 2.8 2.0 2.5 0.5 3.2 7.6 1.3 0.2 3.1 2.7 12.4 .430 .319 .821
Earl Watson UTA 1033 1.9 5.6 0.3 1.8 1.1 1.6 1.0 3.2 7.6 1.9 0.8 3.0 3.7 5.2 .338 .192 .674
Ramon Sessions TOT 1707 5.1 11.9 0.9 2.0 4.1 5.2 0.7 3.8 7.5 0.9 0.1 3.0 2.1 15.2 .428 .443 .782
Player Tm MP FG FGA 3P 3PA FT FTA ORB DRB AST STL BLK TOV PF PTS FG% 3P% FT%
Raymond Felton POR 1906 4.9 12.1 1.2 3.8 1.9 2.3 0.5 2.3 7.4 1.5 0.2 3.2 2.3 12.9 .407 .305 .806
Kyle Lowry HOU 1510 5.0 12.2 1.9 5.0 4.1 4.7 0.9 4.2 7.4 1.7 0.3 3.1 3.2 16.0 .409 .374 .864
Goran Dragic HOU 1752 5.7 12.3 1.4 4.2 3.1 3.9 1.1 2.4 7.2 1.7 0.2 3.2 3.4 15.9 .462 .337 .805
Nate Robinson GSW 1192 6.2 14.6 2.0 5.5 2.8 3.4 0.5 2.6 7.0 1.8 0.1 2.3 3.6 17.2 .424 .365 .832
Manu Ginobili SAS 792 6.8 13.0 2.4 5.7 4.0 4.6 0.8 4.5 6.9 1.1 0.5 2.9 2.5 20.0 .526 .413 .871
Charles Jenkins GSW 893 5.2 11.7 0.1 0.8 1.4 1.6 0.3 2.4 6.9 1.3 0.2 2.4 3.4 12.0 .447 .150 .872
Jason Kidd DAL 1379 2.6 7.1 2.1 5.8 0.6 0.7 0.4 4.8 6.9 2.1 0.3 2.4 2.2 7.8 .363 .354 .786
Jameer Nelson ORL 1706 5.5 12.8 1.8 4.9 1.5 1.9 0.6 3.2 6.9 0.8 0.1 2.8 2.7 14.3 .427 .377 .807
Stephen Curry GSW 732 7.1 14.6 2.7 6.0 1.9 2.3 0.7 3.6 6.8 1.9 0.4 3.2 3.0 18.8 .490 .455 .809
Ty Lawson DEN 2124 6.3 13.0 1.2 3.4 3.0 3.7 0.9 2.9 6.8 1.4 0.1 2.5 1.6 16.9 .488 .365 .824
Mike Conley MEM 2174 4.9 11.3 1.0 2.6 2.3 2.6 0.4 2.2 6.7 2.3 0.2 2.1 2.2 13.0 .433 .377 .861
Jarrett Jack NOH 1530 6.3 13.7 0.9 2.6 3.0 3.5 0.5 3.6 6.7 0.7 0.2 2.5 2.2 16.5 .456 .348 .872
Devin Harris UTA 1741 5.0 11.2 1.6 4.4 3.2 4.3 0.2 2.1 6.5 1.3 0.3 2.5 2.8 14.8 .445 .362 .746
Kyrie Irving CLE 1558 8.1 17.3 1.7 4.2 4.0 4.5 1.0 3.4 6.4 1.2 0.5 3.7 2.5 21.8 .469 .399 .872
C.J. Watson CHI 1159 5.0 13.6 2.1 5.4 2.6 3.2 0.7 2.6 6.2 1.4 0.2 3.0 3.2 14.7 .368 .393 .808
Shelvin Mack WAS 779 4.1 10.2 0.6 1.9 1.9 2.7 0.6 3.7 6.1 1.3 0.1 2.2 2.3 10.6 .400 .286 .712
Jerryd Bayless TOR 705 6.0 14.1 2.2 5.3 3.8 4.5 0.4 3.0 6.0 1.2 0.2 2.7 3.6 18.0 .424 .423 .852
LeBron James MIA 2326 9.6 18.1 0.8 2.3 6.0 7.8 1.5 6.2 6.0 1.8 0.8 3.3 1.5 26.0 .531 .362 .771



Friday, March 21, 2008

Special Report: Allen Iverson: What Could Have Been Part 3

ALLEN IVERSON WHAT COULD HAVE BEEN: PART 3
Allen Ezail Iverson was born in Hampton, Virginia, on June 7, 1975 to a 15-year old single woman, Ann Iverson. His father, Allen Broughton, skipped out on the family and he and his sister Brandy, born 1979, were left in the care of their mother Ann. In 1991, Allen Iverson, Brandy and their mother welcomed a new addition to the family, Leisha, who was very ill, which added to the family bills. By the time Leisha was born, Iverson at the age of 16 was often responsible for taking care of his younger sisters, which was especially difficult with Leisha, who suffered frequent seizures. Mounting medical bills pushed the family further in debt. Iverson had an extremely poor childhood, one often without the basic necessities like electricity, heat or water.

Iverson went to Bethel High in Hampton from 1990-1994. In Part 2, we looked closely at Iverson’s junior and senior years at this school. Now you know that while he was running the basketball and the football teams during those two years, and winning State Championships in both sports in the process, he was also teaming up with his Mom to take care of his two sisters, one of them with frequent seizures. The house that Iverson grew up in lay on top of the city’s sewer pipes. Whenever they burst, Allen’s floor would be coated with sewage.

Iverson’s biological father remained in Connecticut where the family lived before Allen was born. He never played a role in his life, and he was in jail from time to time, including from a jail sentence for stabbing a former girlfriend. Shortly after Allen’s birth his maternal grandmother passed away. The family was continuously broke to one extent or another. Due to unpaid bills, the house was often without electricity and even sometimes water. Iverson once hinted that his Mother sometimes engaged in black market activities to earn badly needed money.

It wasn’t just Ann, Allen, Brandy, and Leisha though; there was another member of the household. Ann’s boyfriend and Iverson’s de facto father, Michael Freeman, had been in and out of jail for most of his life. After a car accident made Freeman unemployed in 1991, a desperate for money Freeman was caught and convicted for drug possession with intent to distribute. Freeman never bought bling; he paid family bills with his black market income. Iverson has remained proud of Freeman through the years. "He never robbed nobody," said Iverson once. "He was just tryin’ to feed his family. It would kill him to come from jail and find out how his family was living. One time he came home and just sat down and cried."

Did you ever wonder who the first person was who taught a young Allen Iverson basketball? To tell him that basketball was his best bet rather than football? To give him the confidence needed to get him to work hard and to excel at basketball? Was it a hot shot agent or well off basketball camp entrepreneur? Was it someone who later got a huge money book deal or movie deal? Was it a famous retired coach or former player?

No, it was none of these. Both Carmelo Anthony and Allen Iverson come from serious ghettos, the kind where there is a truly large amount of violent crime and black market drug dealing. Because a serious ghetto is where Iverson comes from, it was a ghetto person who started Iverson’s basketball career. It was Michael Freeman, a felon but a striving and meaning well Iverson family benefactor in the time of need. Iverson’s mother enrolled him in a little league type basketball practice program, but the young Allen Iverson was more of a football fan. It was Michael Freeman who pushed Iverson away from football and to basketball.

On Valentines Day 1993, Iverson was connected with a fracas at the Spare Times Bowling Center in the city of Hampton, Virginia. He had a few weeks earlier finished leading the Bethel High football team to the State Championship and he was in the process of leading the basketball squad to the State Championship. Everyone knew Iverson, some were jealous, and a few wanted to ruin the reputation of the young sports hero who came from the wrong neighborhood, the neighborhood where you can buy illegal drugs, and the neighborhood where no sane person would walk down the street at night. I guess they thought there was something unjust about someone who came from such a terrible neighborhood being such a school hero. Surely someone from a good neighborhood should be the hero, right? Or so they thought.

So Iverson and a group of his black teammates went to the bowling ally to unwind from basketball, and to celebrate the recent historical football win. They were loud and were asked to quiet down several times. Eventually, Iverson’s group and another group of white youths started shouting at each other. Not long into the shouting, a big fight erupted, pitting the black youths against the white youths. There has never been agreement about many of the specifics of the fight, especially specifics on what role if any Allen Iverson played. At one extreme, the prosecutors claimed that Iverson was fully involved and that he threw a chair at a girl and another chair at an employee. At the other extreme, others including Iverson claim Iverson was not involved at all.

PROSECUTOR’S ACCOUNT
Prosecutors ironically used a Civil War-era statute designed to protect blacks from lynchings to charge a group of black teens with mob violence. Seventeen-year-old Iverson was tried as an adult, convicted of “maiming by mob,” and sentenced to five years for throwing a chair at a girl. The judge, who was friends with one of the victim’s family, first denied them bail and then sentenced all four to 5 years in prison

Witnesses unaligned with either of the two groups testified that Iverson threw the chair at the girl. But at least according to prosecutors, no one heard Allen Iverson being called a nigger. Kristi Alligood, one of the witnesses, testified: "During a break in the fight, the girl went up to one of the black guys and said ‘Why do you have to make this racial?’ He [Iverson] just pressed two fingers against her face and pushed her away."

A bowling center employee testified that Iverson used a different chair to hit him in the head as well.

The prosecutor, a life-long NAACP member, pointed out that none of the blacks in the fight wanted to pursue charges, and that there were several black witnesses joining white witnesses identifying Iverson as the main culprit.

IVERSON AND HIS SUPPORTERS ACCOUNT
Iverson and his supporters maintain his innocence to this day. They claim that he left the alley as soon as the trouble began. Evidence against Iverson at trial was limited to witness statements only. Iverson could not be seen on an amateur video tape of the incident, and he claims he left the alley as soon as the trouble began. "For me to be in a bowling alley where everybody in the whole place know who I am and me be crackin’ people upside the head with chairs and think nothin’ gonna happen?" asked Iverson not long after the incident. "That’s crazy! And what kind of a man would I be to hit a girl in the head with a damn chair? I wish at least they’d said I hit some damn man."

Allen’s supporters were enraged that only four people were charged after the fight, all of them black. They were upset with the media’s allegedly biased coverage of the incident. And they claim the whole thing started when one of the white boys called Iverson a "nigger". "It’s strange enough that police waded through a huge mob of fighting people and came out with only blacks, and the one black that everybody knew," said Golden Frinks, crisis coordinator for the National Association for Advancement of Colored People. "But people thought they’d get a slap on the wrist and that would be the end of it." But the little fight in the bowling ally resulted in large 5-year prison sentences.

I remember at the time cracking jokes to myself about how Virginia is the kind of state where you might get a year in the slammer for littering, or two years for allowing your dog to take a dump in a park, or three years for driving with a suspended registration, but with a valid license and insurance. You get the idea; Virginia was a state you wouldn’t want to live in if you thought there was even a 1 in 100 chance that you would make a mistake that would constitute breaking a law. Live anywhere but Virginia. Virginia is not for lovers; it’s for jailers.

But this strange story gets stranger. Virginia’s first black Governor, Doug Wilder, granted Iverson a conditional release from the long sentence after four months behind bars because he became convinced that Iverson had been treated unfairly. While granting clemency, Wilder told Iverson to stay off the courts and to concentrate on receiving his high school diploma. Some time after this clemency nullified the sentence, the conviction itself was overturned on appeal. Therefore, what happened at the Spare Times Bowling Center in Hampton Virginia on Valentine’s Day 1993 remains both factually and legally uncertain to this day.

Iverson was supposed to have been a Kentucky Wildcat, but due to his incarceration, Iverson missed out on a scholarship to Kentucky University.

He studied while in jail, and after 5 months behind bars, Iverson was set free. In the meantime, Ann Iverson went to Georgetown University to convince Coach John Thompson to be her son's guardian, to be both his coach and a father figure. Once Thompson saw Iverson's talent, he accepted, and Iverson was offered a full scholarship to Georgetown University, which of course Iverson accepted.

But no matter what happened after the Valentine’s Day incident, Iverson was now destined to be trapped permanently in a no-man’s land between fully integrated into and accepted by society at large, and being an untouchable outcast. If you are a convicted felon, your pro sports career is pretty much over whether or not it has ever gotten underway. Iverson was a convicted felon, but then he was not one. So he was still technically qualified to become a basketball star, but he would never be fully accepted by basketball fans, including fans of his own teams. Fans in Philadelphia often yelled out nasty slurs when Iverson was near the sideline close to them. For example, they would yell out “Get a haircut,” or “How are the crack sales going?”

Do not forget these details of what happened when Allen Iverson was young. We will return to these things in later parts. For example, this series will explain how Iverson’s upbringing in general and the 1993 Valentine’s Day incident and what resulted from it in particular helped start a fire in 1997 that resulted in Iverson’s course through the NBA to be substantially different from what should have and could have been. The Denver Nuggets, their fans, and to some extent Allen Iverson himself are all still damaged from what the 1993 Valentine’s Day incident played a huge role in causing. In future parts, we will explore the chain of events that began with that stupid incident in the bowling center in Hampton, Virginia and that end with the present day Nuggets playing an offense that is clearly inferior to those of the top teams of the West.

The Denver Nuggets Lose in Philadelphia to the 76'ers 115-113 and Allen Iverson: What Could Have Been, Part 1

The Nuggets, despite being on the ropes with respect to making the playoffs, could not survive serious offensive droughts in the 2nd half and could not step it up to win a winnable game; the Philadelphia 76’ers defeated the underperforming Nuggets 115-113. The Sixers had all three of the known outside factor advantages. They were the home team, the Nuggets were playing on back to back nights while the 76’ers were rested, and the Nuggets were in a higher alert status than were the Sixers due mostly to coaching errors and the Nene illness. An estimate of the advantage the Sixers had due to all of these outside factors is 12 points, so the Nuggets made up 10 of these points, but could not make up the other 2 to at least send the game into overtime.

Are the Nuggets doing everything possible to try to make the playoffs? No, they are clearly not. Chucky Atkins and J.R. Smith played only 6 and 15 minutes respectively, while Marcus Camby played 37 minutes and had 5 points and Eduardo Najera played 20 minutes and had 0 points. Even worse than not having a center who can make a lot of power drives, post-ups, layups, and dunks, is the fact that the Nuggets almost always have at least 1 front court player who is largely left out of the offense in every game. Sometimes it’s Camby, sometimes it’s Eduardo Najera, and sometimes it’s Linas Kleiza. Sometimes Carmelo Anthony is partially left out of the offense. It used to be Kenyon Martin in certain games many weeks ago, but rarely anymore is it him. But it’s almost always someone, so the Nuggets are always playing with one front court player tied behind their backs so to speak. And because Karl gives only 2 guards a lot of playing time, Iverson and Carter, and because Carter is a low rate scorer, they are always playing with one guard tied behind their backs as well.

Are the Nuggets at least going all out effort wise to make the playoffs? Probably not; they have a coach who likes to explain away losses by talking about the tough personality of the other team, as if the opponent was a living thing with a major psychological advantage over the Nuggets, who I guess, in Karl’s world, are too unserious and psychologically wobbly to ever be a truly good basketball team. But teams are not human and they don’t have personalities except in a superficial, stylistic sense. Karl is clearly confused about what a personality really is; it’s a lot more complicated and a lot less of a factor in winning basketball games than he thinks.

Teams are a collection of players, and even the personalities of the players are almost always a relatively minor factor. What is needed to win basketball games is within the capability of every personality to produce; everyone has the ability to step it up and do well on the court, regardless of how you would describe or analyze their personalities. Everyone agrees that J.R. Smith has an immature, impulsive, and somewhat unpredictable personality, but that has not stopped him from being one of the best shooting guards in the NBA so far in 2008. Sometimes I almost feel silly discussing these things, but I have to, because this is how the Coach of the Denver Nuggets thinks.

ALLEN IVERSON: WHAT COULD HAVE BEEN, PART 1

So Allen Iverson returned to Philadelphia, but for all practical purposes he never left. Amazingly, there has not been the slightest adjustment in Iverson’s role after the move from the 76’ers to the Nuggets. He still has exactly, and I mean exactly, the same role he had in Philadelphia. He’s still playing the same old position, shooting guard, even though he started out in high school, in college, and in his rookie of the year season as a point guard, and even though he returned to that position for most of the 3 1/3 years after Coach Larry Brown left the Sixers, and even though the Nuggets are starting a player at the point, Anthony Carter, who has never been even hypothetically let alone actually regarded as a starting point guard until this year.

In 7 years prior to coming on the Nuggets, Carter never started more than 30 games in a season, never played more than 23.5 minutes a game, never made more than 4.8 assists per game, and never scored more than 6.4 points a game. This is the player that George Karl chose over Allen Iverson to be the starting point guard for the Denver Nuggets after Chucky Atkins, who has been regarded as a true starting point guard for many years, was lost for most of the season. And now as if to make everyone absolutely sure that he doesn’t know what he is doing on the point guard front, Karl has suddenly discontinued the crucial effort to get Chucky Atkins in good form for the playoff run and for the playoffs. Atkins played 3 extremely good games in a row, against the Grizzlies, the Raptors and the Sonics. Then, after he was only average in the Pistons game, he played only 6 minutes in this 76’ers game. So much for the theory that even Karl is not dumb enough to not know that getting Atkins back into good form is crucial for the Nuggets if they really want to make the playoffs, and if they really want to avoid losing a playoff series 4-0 or 4-1.

Before this season, Carter had started 102 games in an 8-year career and had played about 7,000 minutes. Before this season, Atkins had started 314 games and had played about 16,000 minutes. But in Karl’s mind, Carter needs to start the rest of the way for the Nuggets regardless of whether Atkins is back in good form or not. In fact, Karl apparently doesn’t even consider himself to be responsible to try to make sure that Atkins gets back into top form.

Lord help you if you are injured and don’t come back for awhile while playing for George Karl, because when you do come back, you might find that your entire NBA career now counts for nothing, and you are no longer considered, in Karl’s world, what you were before the injury.

I had a forum conversation with a 76’ers fan on a 76’ers forum. I am reprinting it here, because you can see what I am up against as I explain why the Nuggets have failed this year. And how it turns out that the trade of Andre Miller for Allen Iverson failed, not because it was intrinsically a bad trade, but because the Nuggets simply did not understand that using A.I. in the exact same way that Larry Brown used him would lead to the exact same result, Melo or no Melo: no playoffs or a quick early out in the playoffs. All having Carmelo Anthony and Marcus Camby on his team does for Iverson is to offset the fact that the Western Conference is far better than the Eastern Conference.

Iverson has ended up in the exact same situation he was in Philadelphia. Iverson in Denver, like Iverson in Philadelphia, continues to be asked to do too much and not enough at the same time. As in Philadelphia, Iverson in Denver is asked to play both guard positions at once and he is asked to be at the same time the number one playmaker and the number one scorer among guards for the Nuggets. But he is not asked to adjust his game a little, so that the number of easy to defend isolation plays he runs is reduced and the number of hard to defend passing plays he runs is increased.

By reading the following interesting interchange, you can see how even a major 76’ers and Iverson fan has fallen into the trap of thinking too narrowly about Iverson and what he can do. There is a logical fallacy, or optical illusion if you prefer, involved with thinking that Iverson can not be a good point guard. And there is more of interest, so read on.

NUGGETS 1:
Well, I don't think Iverson is a perfect PG, and he is obviously a much more aggressive scorer than most PGs, but I think it is going too far to say he is a poor PG. Just a few quick reasons off the top of my head:

1. Iverson was the PG in his 2 years at Georgetown University and heavily dominated in assists for his team.
2. As you confirm, Iverson was the PG in his rookie of the year first year in the NBA.
3. As you confirm, Iverson returned mostly to the PG position after Larry Brown was gone. It turns out that although Iverson has played more years at SG than at PG, more coaches have preferred Iverson at PG over SG.
4. The NBA front office has always considered Iverson to be a PG at least as much as a SG, since his position at the all-star games has been PG, not SG.
5. Everyone agrees that Iverson can play either position, and he frequently plays both positions at once at the same time. So if he were truly a poor PG, wouldn't he have evolved over the years to limit himself to the SG role, with or without having to be told to do that by coaches? In other words, if he is much better in the SG role than in the PG role, than why can he still be seen today often running the point, and why is he 7th in the NBA in assists per game, ahead of most of the actual point guards?
6. The Nuggets, once Chucky Atkins went out for most of the season, were left with the choice of playing Iverson at the point or playing Anthony Carter at the point. Carter is someone who never averaged more than 23.5 minutes per game and 4.8 assists per game before he was befriended by George Karl, who likes his personality and conservative playmaking style. So even a good number of those who don't think Iverson is all that great a point guard would have to agree that the Nuggets should have played him at the position in the emergency they found themselves in when Atkins was lost for most of the season. In other words, Karl made a mistake regardless of exactly how great a PG Iverson really is.

76’ERS FAN:
These are because of his height. Iverson's height makes him a defensive liability at SG, and tall, effective points are a rarity.

Most of his coaches have preferred him at SG, I'll show you

PG: Davis, O'Brien, Thompson
SG: Brown, Ayers, Ford, Cheeks, Karl

Cheeks didn't have another point option, so he was forced to play AI there, but he hated it. He even played Iguadala there in the 06-07 season over Iverson.

NUGGETS 1:
Cheeks can’t be counted as just SG, because it was both, so he should be 1/2 point for each. Ayers and Ford can only count as 1/2 each, because they coached in the same season, and it is even rarer for one of the best players in the NBA to have his position changed during the season than it would be for him to have his position changed from one year to the next. So it is really 3 1/2 coaches each. But I bet if I went back to high school, it would be PG again!

76’ERS FAN:
The same is true in the all-star game. He gets point by virtue of being shorter.

NUGGETS 1
Well if he’s too short to play the SG position in the all-star game, then he is definitely too short to play the SG position in ordinary games. One or the other is wrong; either the NBA front office is wrong for listing him as a PG for all-star voting, or Larry Brown and George Karl are wrong for designating him as a SG.

76’ERS FAN:
Assists do not equal being a good point guard. Iverson gets most of his assists as bail outs - last resorts after his scoring options are exhausted. He doesn't set up the offense, and he holds the ball for too long to be an effective point. When he runs it, the other players feel alienated from the game, and it leads to inconsistency from the team. His numbers will look great, but the overall offense becomes stagnant. It's why the Nuggets traded for Blake.

NUGGETS 1:
There is some truth in your observations, but you can’t use those observations to prove that Iverson is a poor PG, because the SG position has different priorities than the PG position does, and any player moved from PG to SG would have to change his game or be a failure at SG. In other words, there is a lack of logic in saying: “Look, there’s Iverson running another isolation dribble and fade away again. See, he would be a bad PG. But he’s doing what shooting guards are allowed and frequently encouraged to do, so it is an invalid observation.

It's not really much different from saying that Ray Allen, Rashad McCants, or Jason Richardson would not be good point guards based on how they are playing right now. It's true, but it isn't a valid or logical observation.

76’ERS FAN:
The nuggets are visibly more energetic and better on offense with Carter in the game. He's not as explosive as Iverson, but he's solid and consistent, which denver really needs. Keeping blake would've done them better, but they didn't want to pay the luxury tax.

NUGGETS 1:
I think the Nuggets are more energetic and better on offense with the Iverson / J.R. Smith backcourt than they are with the Iverson / Carter offense. Adjusted for pace, and you have to adjust to get the real truth, the Nuggets are about the 5th best team in the NBA on defense, but only about the 15th best team in the NBA on offense.

76’ERS FAN:
Playing carter has really helped the nuggets' turnovers, as Iverson turns the ball over way to much as a point, he's never had even a 2 to 1 assist to TO ratio while playing that position.

NUGGETS 1:
The Nuggets are still a high turnover team even with Carter. Iverson is still handling the ball extensively even while being designated the SG. In every game, Iverson runs the point to one extent or another. The more Iverson runs the point, the less value Carter has in games. J.R. Smith offsets his turnovers with steals and explosive scoring, so the Iverson PG / J.R. Smith SG backcourt would not be worse than the Carter PG / Iverson SG backcourt in terms of net damage from turnovers. George Karl simply decided that he couldn’t stomach the number of turnovers you would get with the Iverson / Smith backcourt; he never made a reasonable estimation of all costs and all benefits.

76’ERS FAN:
Don't get me wrong. I'm as big an Iverson fan as there is, and I've watch nearly every Nuggets game since he was traded. But I'd like to see him appreciated for what he is. Classifying him as a point exposes his weaknesses at that position. He's an incredibly versatile shooting guard who can fill in there when needed.

NUGGETS 1:
Well the Nuggets lost their starting PG for most of the season, so if AI wasn’t needed then at the position, then when would he be needed? Never, because Karl will go through all kinds of contortions to avoid playing AI at the point, because Karl buys into the myth that AI is a poor PG, or at least because he thinks that AI has been spoiled as a PG by playing SG for so many years.

Iverson briefly started at PG last year for the Nuggets, and did reasonably well. But ever since Karl grew to detest J.R. Smith about a year ago, starting AI at the point has been out of the question, because he would have to start J.R. Smith at 2-guard if he did that and he will not start J.R. Smith under any circumstances. Smith has been one of the best shooting guards in the NBA since 2008 began, but all it has gotten him is about half a dozen more minutes per game. Karl still refuses to even consider starting him and would rather miss the playoffs than start J.R. Smith.

76’ERS FAN:
By the way, the reason the Nuggets are struggling is inconsistent effort, especially on the defensive end, and a lack of ball movement. Combining two isolation players in Iverson and Anthony was never a good idea. They don't, and can't work off of each other, so they end up taking turns scoring, with one of them holding the ball 5-10 seconds on most possessions. It effectively limits both of their explosiveness.

And by not involving the players enough, it takes their heads out of the game, which leads to long stretches where they barely play any defense. Carmelo is the worst at that, but Iverson isn't much better, and his height hurts things.

NUGGETS 1:
Ok, you have done extremely well describing some of the big problems the Nuggets have with Iverson at SG, unaccountable for how many isolation plays he runs at that position. If Iverson is designated the PG and you tell him: “A.I., I want 10-12 assists per game and 18-20 points per game instead of 7 assists per game and 25 points per game,” and as long as all the years he has played the wrong position for Brown and Karl have not made him unable to adjust, which I greatly doubt, you have gone a long way to solving the big problems that you described.

You see what is going on here? Iverson is faulted for not being a good point guard while he is assigned to the shooting guard position, by people who swear he is not a good enough point guard to be designated as a point guard. This is both a circular and an illogical argument. Most of the Iverson critics are trying to have it both ways. They are criticizing Iverson for not being what he has not been instructed to be, on account of an assumption that he can’t be that. They are watching Iverson playing the SG position and saying “Look, there’s Iverson running all of those isolation plays. You see, he can’t be a good point guard.” To which I respond: you have no point and you are not making any sense.

The bottom line is that the Nuggets clearly should have moved AI to PG after Chucky Atkins went out for most of the season at the beginning of the season. That is what all the basketball sites were expecting at the beginning of the year; all of the depth charts were showing Iverson starting at PG and Smith starting at SG. But George Karl dislikes J.R. Smith with a passion and has overestimated his negatives by far. Almost every decision Karl makes in relation to the guards has the same common denominator: Smith's playing time is reduced from what it would be if a different decision were made.

Now we will never know for sure if the Iverson / Smith back court would have gotten the Nuggets a decent seed in the playoffs, but I would be extremely surprised if it would not have. I think the Nuggets would have been 3rd, 4th, or 5th seed in the West had the Nuggets realized who really was their best point guard, and their best back court.

PROJECTIONS

Nuggets 1 Current odds, to the nearest 5%, of the Nuggets making the playoffs: 40%
Nuggets 1 Current odds, to the nearest 5%, that the Nuggets and their suffering fans will be stuck with George Karl for next season: 75%

The current odds of the Nuggets making the playoffs, according to Hollinger at ESPN’s excellent team analysis system, are 44%. However, at the same time the Nuggets are projected to most likely be the 9th seed in the Western Conference, and there is no 9th playoff seed. By far the main way the Nuggets can make the playoffs is by beating out the Golden State Warriors for the 8th and final seed in the West. If the Nuggets and the Warriors finish with identical records though, the Warriors will most likely be the team that makes the playoffs, not the Nuggets. This is because the tie breaker, assuming the two split their season series 2-2, will be who has the better Western Conference record, and the Warriors are 2 games ahead in the loss column on that right now.

So it seems right now that the Warriors and the Nuggets will be battling it out for the last playoff spot in the West. Both of them are considered likely to make the playoffs in statistical terms, but most likely one of them will fail to make the playoffs. Nuggets 1 agrees with Hollinger’s system, which is saying that the Warriors are favored over the Nuggets to get the 8th spot.

The Suns made a poor trade, but they have been on a winning streak lately, and they have won several key games, which means they may not be in a lot of danger of falling out of the playoffs after all. Key recent Suns’ victories include a win over the Spurs on March 9 and a win over the Warriors on March 13. But it is way too early to claim that the trade was not a mistake after all and that Shaquille O’Neal will work out for the Suns.

The Hollinger odds don’t take into account that Nene is not going to be available in top form for the Nuggets for the stretch run. Also, there may not be enough time for Atkins to get back to full speed, especially since George Karl is notorious for taking forever to work a player he is not sold on back into the rotation following an injury. So it’s still unknown whether Atkins is ready to rescue the Nuggets from not making the playoffs, and whether Karl will give him enough minutes if he is ready. If the Hollinger system adjusted for the Atkins and the Nene situations, it would show a lower percentage chance than 44% for the Nuggets to make the playoffs.

In summary, the Lakers, the Rockets, the Hornets, the Spurs, the Jazz, and the Mavericks are currently considered locks to make the playoffs, the Suns are virtual locks, and the Warriors are favored over the Nuggets for the final, 8th spot. The Rockets have become total locks now, despite the loss of Yao Ming for the season, thanks to their 22-game winning streak. The Suns are still in some trouble, due to their poor trade, which was Shawn Marion and Marcus Banks for Shaquille O’Neal, but they are in less trouble after their key early March wins at home over the Spurs and the Warriors.

PLAYOFF TEAMS PROJECTED FINAL RECORDS-HOLLINGER-ESPN
1. Lakers 58-24
2. Rockets 55-27
3. Hornets 55-27
4. Jazz 54-28
5. Suns 54-28
6. Spurs 53-29
7. Mavericks 53-29
8. Warriors 50-32

NON-PLAYOFF TEAMS PROJECTED FINAL RECORDS-HOLLINGER-ESPN
9. Nuggets 49-33

The Warriors are now 2 1/2 games ahead of the Nuggets for the last playoff spot. Golden State has a slightly more difficult schedule than the Nuggets do the rest of the way, making this race closer than it appears. However, if the Nuggets make up the 2 1/2 games, so that the Warriors and the Nuggets finish with identical records, and the season series between them ends up tied 2-2, the Warriors are likely to get the playoff spot rather than the Nuggets, because it is likely that the Warriors will finish at least 1 game ahead of the Nuggets in Conference record, which would be the tie-breaker if the Warriors and the Nuggets split their 4 head to head games. The Nuggets and Warriors have each won one game in the head to head series so far.

Now that the Nuggets are 2 1/2 games behind the Warriors, the two remaining Nuggets-Warriors games are more important than ever. If the Warriors win both games, the Nuggets are almost certainly out of the playoffs. If each team wins one game, the Warriors remain slightly more likely to make the playoffs than do the Nuggets. If the Nuggets win both games, then the Nuggets are a little more likely than the Warriors to get the last spot. The Nuggets-Warriors games are on Saturday, March 29 in Denver and on Thursday, April 10 in Oakland. Neither the Warriors nor the Nuggets will be playing on back to back nights in either of those games.

WARRIORS REMAINING SCHEDULE, All times, EDT
Fri, Mar 21 Houston 10:30 PM
Sun, Mar 23 @ LA Lakers 9:30 PM
Mon, Mar 24 LA Lakers 10:30 PM
Thu, Mar 27 Portland 10:30 PM
Sat, Mar 29 @ Denver 9:00 PM
Sun, Mar 30 Dallas 9:00 PM
Tue, Apr 1 @ San Antonio 8:30 PM
Wed, Apr 2 @ Dallas 9:30 PM
Fri, Apr 4 @ Memphis 8:00 PM
Sun, Apr 6 @ New Orleans 7:00 PM
Tue, Apr 8 Sacramento 10:30 PM
Thu, Apr 10 Denver 8:00 PM
Sat, Apr 12 LA Clippers 10:30 PM
Mon, Apr 14 @ Phoenix 10:00 PM
Wed, Apr 16 Seattle 10:30 PM

NUGGETS REMAINING SCHEDULE, All times EDT
Fri, Mar 21 @ New Jersey 7:30 PM
Sun, Mar 23 @ Toronto 3:30 PM
Mon, Mar 24 @ Memphis 8:00 PM
Thu, Mar 27 Dallas 10:30 PM
Sat, Mar 29 Golden State 9:00 PM
Mon, Mar 31 @ Phoenix 10:00 PM
Tue, Apr 1 Phoenix 9:00 PM
Sat, Apr 5 Sacramento 9:00 PM
Sun, Apr 6 @ Seattle 9:00 PM
Tue, Apr 8 @ LA Clippers 10:30 PM
Thu, Apr 10 @ Golden State 8:00 PM
Sat, Apr 12 @ Utah 9:00 PM
Sun, Apr 13 Houston 9:00 PM
Wed, Apr 16 Memphis 9:00 PM

At this point the odds for whether the Nuggets will make the playoffs are still close to 50%, creating the maximum possible drama. It is going to be a very close call. We think that the Warriors will finish with either 49 or 50 wins. The Nuggets would need to finish 10-4 to reach 50 wins. This is realistically the minimum they must do to have a decent chance of making the playoffs. 9-5 will probably not be good enough and 8-6 will definitely not be good enough. To be almost guaranteed a playoff spot, the Nuggets must go 11-3 in their last 14 games.

If you win a division you get into the playoffs regardless of how poor your record is. For the Nuggets, winning the Northwest Division is extremely unlikely at this point; the odds on that are at 3%. The odds that the Utah Jazz will win the Northwest are 97% right now. The Nuggets would have to beat the Jazz in their remaining game against them and they would also have to hope that the Jazz stumble down the stretch.

NUGGETS INJURY REPORT FOR PLAYERS WHO PLAYED IN THIS GAME
Allen Iverson: suffered a non-displaced fracture on the end of his right ring finger vs. San Antonio on 3/7. X-rays were negative, and he remains probable for the Nets game on March 21.

PLAYERS WHO WERE NOT AVAILABLE
NUGGETS PLAYERS WHO WERE NOT AVAILABLE
Nene: He underwent successful surgery to remove a testicular tumor on Jan. 14. A timeline for his return is still unknown. He has now missed 32 straight games. He is out until at least April, but could easily be out for the entire rest of the season. CBS Sportsline says Nene is most likely out for the rest of the season.

76’ERS PLAYERS WHO WERE NOT AVAILABLE
Herbert Hill: knee injury and surgery, and he could be out for the rest of the season.

ALERT STATUS PROBLEMS
As of March 20, 2008

The Nuggets are under a GREEN ALERT, on account of the following problems.

NUGGETS INJURIES, ILLNESSES, SUSPENSIONS, AND PERSONAL LEAVES
1. Nene illness 14 points

SEVERE AND UNEXPECTED CRUCIAL PLAYER SLUMPS
None.

BAD OR INADEQUATE COACHING
NOTICE: THIS SECTION NEW AND IMPROVED as of March 19, 2008
EXTREME PLAYING TIME DECISIONS CONSTITUTING AN ERROR
At any given time, Karl may be doing one or more of the following:

1. He may be imposing a draconian penalty by completely benching a player who should not be benched unless the Nuggets want to shoot themselves in the foot or the head.
2. He may be severely under playing a player, either due to an excessive penalty for some mistake the player has made, a miscalculation of the benefits and costs of that player, or due to subjective factors up to and including extreme dislike of a player and a desire to make sure that the player is removed from the team in the off-season.
3. He may be over playing and over relying on one or more very experienced and talented veterans.

The new system we will use will employ the ranges of playing time minutes that are considered reasonable for the Nuggets. These are plenty large enough ranges to allow for plenty of coaching discretion, but if the playing time is outside of these ranges, it is clearly a coaching error:

Allen Iverson: 32-42
Carmelo Anthony: 30-42
Marcus Camby: 28-38
Kenyon Martin: 24-34
J.R. Smith: 22-34
Linas Kleiza: 16-28
Eduardo Najera: 16-24
Chucky Atkins: 14-22
Anthony Carter: 12-20
Yakhouba Diawara: 0-14
Taurean Green: 0-10
Steven Hunter: 0-10

Playing times lower than the minimum or higher than the maximum are coaching errors, and are usually charged at the rate of 1 alert system point for each 2 minutes of error. If a player is injured or sick to any extent, then this rule does not apply. Nor will the rule apply in games in which there is garbage time, except in the case of players who are playing below their minimum minutes on a repeated basis.

EXTREME PLAYING TIMES CONSTITUTING COACHING ERROR FOR THIS GAME:

J.R. Smith: Underplayed, 4 points
Chucky Atkins: Underplayed, 4 points
Kenyon Martin: Overplayed, 2 points
Anthony Carter: Overplayed, 1 point
Allen Iverson: Overplayed, 1 point

If you think this is really bad, think again. This current toll of playing time errors is actually a little light by Karl’s standards.

4. The Nuggets have extreme offensive inconsistency and an excessive number of turnovers because they have neither a system nor even a good partial system on offense. They over rely on fast pace and on isolation plays, especially isolation plays by Anthony and Iverson. The damage caused by this would be up to 20 points, except that Iverson’s intelligence in recognizing different situations in different games, and responding appropriately, usually reduces the damage. But Iverson does not control everything of course, and the lack of any real consistency in how the offense is run leads to damaging problems that can appear at any time. But these problems are much more likely to appear just when the Nuggets can least afford them, when they are playing one of the best teams in the NBA.

At one time earlier this season, Iverson and Carter were marginalizing Carmelo Anthony to some extent and Anthony, one of the top two scorers on the team, was not getting the ball enough. That problem went away when Anthony ramped up his rebounding. But the problem has shown signs of coming back again lately. If that problem appears when the Nuggets are playing an elite team, the Nuggets’ chances of winning the game go down substantially. The problem recently appeared in the March 18 Pistons game, and it helped to cause the Nuggets to lose.

Another big problem has developed due to a combination of the unstructured offense and the Karl lineup, and it is not going to go away anytime soon. That would be the double point guard problem. The Nuggets don’t know in advance who is going to be the main playmaker in the game: Iverson, Carter, Atkins, or some combination. More importantly, it is foolish to have two point guards in the game for more than a small number of minutes. If Iverson has decided to run the point, as he always does to one extent or another, he counts as a point guard whether he is labeled one by the coaching staff or not.

In general, and as always in the Karl era, the Nuggets lack enough tried and tested offensive plays that they can run game after game, perfecting them as they go, and having everyone automatically on the same page for those plays. True, they have plays they commonly run on the fly, but the players obviously don’t know about them in advance; they happen randomly. The offense is pretty much an unscripted, recreation department pick-up game style of offense.

How good your defense is is determined more by effort and skill than by strategy. For defense, strategy and tactics are less important than on offense. But they are still important, especially in a close game versus a good team. One thing that determines how well a team can defend is whether it has matched up the best and most appropriate players to guard the various offensive threats of the other team. On defense, the main strategic decision is whether you are playing zone or man to man defense. The correct choice usually will vary during each game. The decision is frequently made on a gut feeling of the coach and/or the defensive floor leader as to which is better at a particular point in the game, and with a particular opposing lineup on the court. But despite the fact that strategy and tactics are relatively important, the most important things with respect to defending is overall effort, hustle, anticipation of where the play is going, skill in avoiding unnecessary fouls, and ability to rotate off screens and picks.

This games’ toll due to the lack of an adequate number of offensive plays and patterns: 5

INTENSITY, HUSTLE, AND HEART
The Nugget’s intensity, hustle and heart are lacking: 4 Points.

TOTAL PROBLEM POINTS: 35, which constitutes GREY ALERT.

GREY ALERT (30-39): There are relatively minor problems leading to a small threat against the success of the entire season. It is still possible to beat quality teams, but it will be more unusual to beat a quality team, because about 1/4 of what would have been wins against good teams will now be losses. There should be no impact with respect to medium and poor teams..

IMPORTANT NOTE ABOUT ALERT STATUS
The description of the alert status the Nuggets are in is a worst case scenario one; it assumes that the other team is in GREEN or NO alert. All teams, of course, have an alert status, and the key thing that can swing games is not so much the actual status of the two teams, but the difference in the two statuses. The difference in the alert status is a third outside factor that impacts a game, joining home court advantage and extra rest advantage, if any. We use 15 alert status points as constituting a difference.

OBSERVATIONS ON NUGGETS STATUS
George Karl has been doing better than usual with the rotations lately; no one is benched who should not be, and the offense has been in super drive against poor and average defensive teams. All of these things have helped to push the alert status down to GREEN Alert.

Atkins has been removed from the unusual player slump designation. The best news of the month for the Nuggets is that Atkins has, in effect, finally arrived in Denver. This might give the Nuggets just enough 3-point shooting firepower to keep up with the Warriors in the race for the final playoff spot, as long as Atkins gets playing time.

The Nuggets have been unable to issue any prediction about when or whether Nene is going to return to the court. There was a rumor recently that he was going to return by mid-March, but there is no sign that that will become a reality. CBS Sportsline is saying that, most likely, Nene will not return to the court at all this season, including for the playoffs. However, since all other injuries are history, and since J.R. Smith has played so well that he is neither benched nor severely shortchanged of minutes these days, the Nuggets might be able to stay in the NO alert to GREY alert range, avoiding being disadvantaged to all but the lucky and perfectly managed elite teams.

The mid January losses to the Bobcats and the Hawks, and the close calls at home against the Wolves and the Hawks in January, in games that should have and probably would have been relatively easy wins had the alert status been green, grey, or even yellow, illustrate the usefulness and accuracy of the alert system. When you reach ORANGE ALERT and especially RED ALERT, you start losing a substantial number of games that you would normally win. It’s that simple, and there is little anyone can do

EXPLANATION OF OUTSIDE FACTORS
The alert status system is still relatively new, but a preliminary estimate of what the game points advantage will be for each 15 points of alert status points difference has been made, and that estimate is 3-5 points. For now we will use 4 points for each 15 alert status points. The Home court advantage has also been estimated to be 3-5 points and we use 4 points for it. The extra rest advantage is very uncertain, and would differ a little from team to team, but it must be at least as much as the home court advantage. For now, until we can study it more, we will use 4 points for the extra rest advantage. In summary, we are using 4 points for each of the three outside factors.

IMPACT OF OUTSIDE FACTORS, INCLUDING ALERT STATUS, ON THIS GAME
The 76’ers had no important players unavailable, and a rough estimate of their alert status is that they are in GREEN alert. They roughly had a 15 points or 1 level advantage over the Nuggets in alert status, which translates into a 4 point advantage. The 76’ers were home. The Nuggets were playing on back to back nights. In summary, the 76’ers had a 12 point edge over the Nuggets due to outside factors. Since the 76’ers won by only 2 points, we can confidently say that the Nuggets would have won this game were it not for the outside factors.

RESERVE WATCH
Number of Players Who Played at Least 6 Minutes: Nuggets 9 76’ers 9
Number of Players Who Played at Least 10 Minutes: Nuggets 8 76’ers 9

Nuggets Non-Starters Points: 16
76’ers Non-Starters Points: 30

Nuggets Non-Starters Rebounds: 17
76’ers Non-Starters Rebounds: 15

Nuggets Non-Starters Assists: 6
76’ers Non-Starters Assists: 0

THE NON-STARTERS IN THIS GAME
There was no garbage time. Each coach played 9 players for at least 6 minutes, but one of the Nuggets, Chucky Atkins, did not play 10 minutes or more while all of the 76’ers played 10 minutes or more. Atkins was denied the courtesy of even 10 minutes of playing time despite the fact that he has played extremely well lately.

It is very unusual for Karl to play 9 players for 10 or more minutes. Right now he is forced to, because pushing J.R. Smith below 10 minutes is out of the question the way he is playing, and there is a huge mess at PG which requires Karl to play 2 official point guards for much more than 10 minutes each. Anthony Carter took over the PG position for the bulk of the season when Chucky Atkins went out for 2 months with hernia surgery and when Karl refused to name Iverson as the official point guard. Atkins was poor in limited games before he went out. Carter has been better than expected, but apparently Karl agrees with most fans that Atkins will be eaten alive if the Nuggets make the playoffs. So Atkins, who has far more experience, including playoff experience, may be the Nuggets’ only hope at the position in the playoffs and in the stretch run to make the playoffs for that matter. So Karl has to give Atkins playing time in a last chance desperate bid to get Atkins up to speed. But since Atkins is inconsistent so far, Atkins minutes have to be limited, and so Carter still has to play a lot of minutes also.

In scoring, the 76’ers non-starters almost doubled up the Nuggets’ non-starters, 30-16. In rebounding though, the Nuggets’ non-starters were slightly better, 17-15. Due to the overwhelming dominance of Andre Miller as a playmaker in this game, the 76’ers non-starters made no assists. The Nuggets’ non-starters made 6 assists.

STARTERS
Points: Nuggets 97 76’ers 85
Rebounds: 76’ers 42 Nuggets 27
Assists: Nuggets 22 76’ers 22

The Nuggets starters defeated the 76’ers starters 97-85. But the 76’ers starters out rebounded the Nuggets starters 42-27. Each starting five made 22 assists.

I hope to develop the reserve watch feature further in the future, because I want to try to expand what I already have in terms of a game coaching evaluation system. But the complications involved explain why there are no formal statistics anywhere on the internet on the subject of how much non-starters contribute to different teams, and also why coaches are not compared statistically the way players are. There are a lot of variables that come into the use of reserves that interfere with the objective of judging their use. Statisticians call this “statistical noise,” and if you have a substantial amount of it, then what you are trying to do with your statistics becomes very difficult or next to impossible.

GEORGE KARL CONFIDENCE IN HIS TEAM RATING (Scale of 0 to 10)
3: He's hiding under his seat on the sidelines

PLAYER RATINGS EXPLAINED
You can tell how well every player played at a glance. Of the advanced statistics I have seen on the internet, this one seems to have the best balance between offense and defense. While some are biased in favor of offensive players, such as the efficiency measure at the NBA site, many other advanced statistics are biased in favor of good defenders, and do not reflect the heavy importance of offense in basketball. Here is the formula for the ESPN rating of a player, which I think is a very good balance between offense and defense:

Points + Rebounds + 1.4*Assists + Steals + 1.4*Blocks - .7*Turnovers + # of Field Goals Made +1/2*# of 3-pointers Made - .8*# of Missed Field Goals - .8*# of Missed Free Throws + .25 *# of Free Throws Made

All players on each team who played at least 5 minutes are shown. The number after “game,” is how well the player did in this game, whereas the number after “season” is that player’s overall average for the entire season.

NUGGETS-76’ERS PLAYER RATINGS
Ratings of 50+ indicate superstar power performers.
Ratings of 40-49 indicate star power performers
Ratings of 30-39 indicate power performers.
Ratings of 20-29 indicate key role player performers.
Ratings of 10-19 indicate ordinary role player performers.
Ratings of 0-9 indicate unimportant players

NUGGETS PLAYER RATINGS
Allen Iverson: Game 51.7 Season 41.1
Kenyon Martin: Game 41.1 Season 23.1
Carmelo Anthony: Game 35.0 Season 39.0
Anthony Carter: Game 23.8 Season 20.0
Linas Kleiza: Game 20.1 Season 18.4
Marcus Camby: Game 17.7 Season 32.7
J.R. Smith: Game 10.3 Season 16.6
Eduardo Najera: Game 5.6 Season 13.3
Chucky Atkins: Game 1.6 Season 10.4

Nene: Did Not Play-Illness

Yakhouba Diawara: Did Not Play-Coach’s Decision
Taurean Green: Did Not Play-Coach’s Decision
Steven Hunter: Did Not Play-Coach’s Decision

76’ERS PLAYER RATINGS
Andre Miller: Game 50.3 Season 31.4
Andre Igoudala: Game 38.6 Season 33.4
Samuel Dalembert: Game 33.4 Season 25.0
Willie Green: Game 25.3 Season 18.9
Rodney Carney: Game 14.6 Season 9.2
Thaddeus Young: Game 14.5 Season 14.3
Reggie Evans: Game 11.7 Season 13.7
Jason Smith: Game 11.5 Season 9.1
Louis Williams: Game 9.0 Season 17.4

NOTE 1: these stats do not correct for the big differences in playing times. Players with small minutes would get a higher rating if they had more minutes.
NOTE 2: This performance measure does NOT include the quality and quantity of each player’s defending, including the number of shots that the player prevented from going in the basket. The best Nuggets defenders, which are the ones who consistently make the extra effort and have the strength and defensive talent to make that effort pay off, are Camby, Martin, Nene, Najera, and Diawara.

OBSERVATIONS ON THE PLAYER RATINGS:
Allen Iverson was the most productive player on the court and was a superstar power performer. Andre Miller was slightly behind Iverson and was also a superstar power performer. Kenyon Martin for the Nuggets was a star power performer.

Anthony was a power performer for the Nuggets while Igoudala and Dalembert were power performers for the 76’ers.

Among players who were power performers or better, each team had 3.

For the Nuggets, Iverson and Martin gave the most to try to win this game: Martin was about 75% more productive than usual and Iverson was about 1/5 more productive than usual, and he is the 5th most productive player in the NBA on average. The only 4 players who are more productive than Iverson are LeBron James, Chris Paul, Kobe Bryant, and Amare Stoudemire.

Carter was about 1/5 above normal and Kleiza was about 1/10 above normal and these two were key role players in this game

Carmelo Anthony was 90% as productive as usual.

The major down Nuggets were Camby and Najera. By far the biggest disappointment for the Nuggets was Marcus Camby, who was only about 60% as productive as usual. He dropped from being a star power performer to being an ordinary role player. Najera was also a big disappointment, as he was only about 40% as productive as usual, with normal playing time

In the case of 2 other Nuggets who were below normal, reduced playing time was involved. J.R. Smith was about 60% as productive as usual, but this was partly due to minutes below his seasonal average, Atkins was extremely unproductive, but this was almost entirely due to lack of playing time.

PG Andre Miller was by far the biggest upside for the 76’ers, with a 2/3 more productive performance, up to superstar power performer from ordinary power performer

C Dalembert, SG Green, and SF Carney all did damage to the Nuggets’ chances, as all 3 were a solid 1/3 above normal. Each one of these moved up one level from normal. Dalembert, for example, moved up from being a key role player to a power performer. SF Igoudala was even more of a power performer than usual, 15% above the normal.

The biggest disappoint for the 76’ers was PG Williams, who was only about half as productive as usual on 80% of the usual minutes.

Among other less important players, PF Jason Smith was about 1/4 more productive than usual while PF Young was exactly normal. Former Nugget PF Reggie Evans was about 85% as productive as usual.

In summary, the 76’ers had only 1 player who played substantially below normal, while the Nuggets had 4, one of which was a huge loss, Camby, and 2 of which who were affected by reduced playing time.

REAL PLAYER RATINGS EXPLAINED
The Real Player Rating reflects reality better than the gross player rating, since it washes out differences in playing times among the players. The straight up player rankings are obviously heavily affected by how many playing minutes the various players get. With many teams, you can rely on the coach to give his various players roughly the playing time that makes the most sense for his team. Unfortunately, some coaches bring other factors besides actual performance into their rotation decisions. Therefore, it makes good sense to introduce a new and extremely important statistic that Nuggets 1 calls the Real per Minute Player Rating. As the name implies, this is the gross ESPN player rating divided by the number of minutes. The statistic is called Real Player Rating for short.

This statistic allows anyone to see whether or not players who play only a small number of minutes are doing better than their low gross rating will indicate. You can spot diamond in the rough players who are not getting all the respect and playing time due to them. At the same time, it will allow anyone to see whether players with a lot of minutes are playing worse than, as well as, or better than their gross rating shows.

In summary, the Real Player Rating allows the reader, at a glance, to see exactly how well each player is doing without regard to playing time, which is subject to coaching error and subjective and less important factors such as a player's personality. The Real Player Rating provides the real truth-pure knowledge not available anywhere else.

SCALE FOR THE REAL PLAYER RATINGS
1.80 More Amazing Happens, but only certain players can ever fly this high
1.60 1.80 Superstar Plus-Above Normal Even For Michael Jordan
1.40 1.60 Superstar Performance-A Michael Jordan Type Game
1.20 1.40 Star Plus-Spectacular Performance
1.05 1.20 Star Performance
0.90 1.05 Outstanding Game
0.80 0.90 Very Good Game
0.70 0.80 Good Game
0.60 0.70 Mediocre Game
0.50 0.60 Poor Game
0.40 0.50 Very Poor Game
0.25 0.40 Extremely Poor-Near Disaster
Less 0.25 Total Disaster

NUGGETS-76’ERS REAL PLAYER RATINGS
All players who played 5 minutes or more are included. Any player who played only 5-9 minutes is noted.

1. Andre Miller, Phi 1.290
2. Allen Iverson, Den 1.202
3. Anthony Carter, Den 1.133
4. Kenyon Martin, Den 1.082
5. Rodney Carney, Phi 1.043
6. Willie Green, Phi 0.973
7. Linas Kleiza, Den 0.957
8. Carmelo Anthony, Den 0.946
9. Andre Iguodala, Phi 0.877
10. Samuel Dalembert, Phi 0.835
11. Jason Smith, Phi 0.719
12. Thaddeus Young, Phi 0.690
13. J.R. Smith, Den 0.687
14. Reggie Evans, Phi 0.532
15. Louis Williams, Phi 0.500
16. Marcus Camby, Den 0.478
17. Eduardo Najera, Den 0.280
18. Chucky Atkins, Den 0.267…Atkins played only 6 minutes.

OBSERVATIONS ON THE REAL PLAYER RATINGS
The best player on the court was Andre Miller, who beat out Allen Iverson; both of them were star-plus though.

Kenyon Martin and Anthony Carter were stars for Denver.

Among players who were stars or better, the Nuggets had 3 and the 76’ers had 1.

Kleiza and Anthony were outstanding for the Nuggets, while Carney and Green were outstanding for the 76’ers.

Igoudala and Dalembert were very good for the 76’ers. Jason Smith was good for the 76’ers.

Young for the 76’ers and J.R. Smith for the Nuggets were mediocre.

Evans and Williams were poor for the 76’ers. Camby was very poor for the Nuggets. Najera and Atkins on limited minutes were extremely poor for the Nuggets.

Among players who were mediocre or worse, the Nuggets had 4 while the 76’ers had 3.

NUGGET’S PLUS—MINUS
This tells you how the score changed while a player was on the court. All Nuggets who played at least 10 minutes are shown.

Carmelo Anthony: +5
Anthony Carter: +2
Kenyon Martin: +1
Allen Iverson: +0
Marcus Camby: +0
Linas Kleiza: -3
J.R. Smith: -5
Eduardo Najera: -5

NUGGETS MADE WHAT?
All Nuggets who played at least 5 minutes are shown. The order is from lowest to highest in real player rating.

Turnovers: NBA Average: 14, Nuggets’ Total 13, Team 0, Anthony 4, Atkins 0, Camby 2, Carter 0, Iverson 2, Kleiza 1, Martin 2, Najera 0, Smith 2

Personal Fouls: NBA Average: 21, Nuggets’ Total 27, Anthony 3, Atkins 1, Camby 1, Carter 3, Iverson 3, Kleiza 5, Martin 5, Najera 4, Smith 2

Chucky Atkins played 6 minutes and was 0/1 and 0/1 on 3’s for 0 points, and he made 1 assist and 1 rebound.

Eduardo Najera played 20 minutes and was 0/1 and 0/1 on 3’s for 0 points, and he made 3 rebounds, 2 assists, and 1 steal.

Marcus Camby played 37 minutes and was 2/6 and 1/2 from the line for 5 points, and he made 4 blocks, 4 rebounds, 3 assists and 2 steals.

J.R. Smith played 15 minutes and was 3/10, 2/5 on 3’s, and 1/2 from the line for 9 points, and he made 2 assists and 2 rebounds

Carmelo Anthony played 37 minutes and was 9/20, 3/4 on 3’s, and 5/6 from the line for 26 points, and he made 4 assists and 4 rebounds.

Linas Kleiza played 21 minutes and was 2/7, 1/3 on 3’s, and 2/2 from the line for 7 points, and he made 11 rebounds, 2 assists, and 1 steal.

Kenyon Martin played 38 minutes and was 10/15 and 2/4 from the line for 22 points, and he made 6 rebounds, 4 steals, and 4 assists.

Anthony Carter played 21 minutes and was 5/8 and 2/4 on 3’s for 12 points, and he made 3 assists, 3 steals, and 1 rebound.

Allen Iverson played for most of the game, 43 minutes, and was 13/24, 3/5 on 3’s, and 3/5 from the line for 32 points, and he made 8 assists, 3 steals, and 2 rebounds.

NEXT UP
The next game will be Friday, March 21 in New Jersey to play the Nets at 5:30 pm mountain time. Neither the Nuggets nor the Nets will be playing on back to back nights.

Thursday, March 20, 2008

The Pistons Beat the Nuggets at Their Own Game 136-120

The Pistons usually defeat the Nuggets by slowing the game down and by disrupting and defending the Nuggets’ on the fly offense well enough to grind out a win. This time, they played the game on what are supposedly the Nuggets’ terms, and yet the result was exactly the same: the Pistons clearly and relatively easily won, 136-120. The Nuggets needed this win to be able to make up ground against the Golden State Warriors in the race for the last playoff spot in the West. So our task is to determine why the Nuggets could not get it done even when they had the Pistons where they wanted them, in an up tempo game, and even when they needed the win more than the Pistons did, and even though they are about as talented a team in basketball skills as are the Pistons.

The first thing you should understand is that fast breaks are overrated as a strategy. Fast breaks are a medium payoff potential strategy at best, meaning that there are other possible strategies that have bigger payoffs, such as the triangle offense for example. In other words, even when you are getting a substantial number of fast breaks, you will seldom be able to win a game based just on doing well with them.

Furthermore, you have less control over fast breaks than you do over other possible offensive strategies. You never know how many fast breaks you are actually going to get in a game no matter what you do to try to get them. Obviously, the other team has some say as to how many fast breaks you are actually going to get in a game. Some teams are quick enough in terms of defensive anticipation and reaction that they will head off many possible fast breaks at the pass so to speak.

So in this up tempo game, you would have expected the Nuggets to excel in fast break scoring, but not only did they not excel, the Pistons beat them in fast break scoring, 18-11. The Pistons made the fast break strategy look silly in this game, let’s face it. They pretty much made a mockery of the Nuggets’ over emphasis on the fast break.

Now let’s look at the playmaking, or offensive identity. Generally speaking, the more your offense comes from playmaking, and the less it comes from isolation scoring, the more successful your offense is. The Nuggets are the fastest pace team in the NBA. Adjusted for pace, the Nuggets need to get at least 24 assists in a game to be able to say that they have had a decent offensive game. They need at least 29 assists in a game to be able to say that they have succeeded very well in making their offense a quality one through playmaking. In this game, the Nuggets made 31 assists, so they clearly met the gross assists requirement, or guideline if you prefer.

The Pistons are the slowest pace team in the NBA. Adjusted for pace, the Pistons on average need only 21 assists in a game to be able to say that they played a decent offensive game. They need at least 25 assists in a game to be able to say that they have succeeded very well in making their offense a quality one through playmaking. In this game, the Pistons made 41 assists, so they obviously were way above their standard for having a good offensive identity and a well run offense.

So overall the Pistons made 41 assists while the Nuggets made 31, which is exhibit A so to speak to show that the Pistons beat the Nuggets at their own game.

A second guideline you have to meet to have a good offensive identity and a well run offense is that who is doing the majority of the playmaking needs to be established, known by all the players, and be as consistent as possible from game to game. In other words, to put it simply, you need to establish who is most responsible for making plays. It sounds simple and obvious, but the truth is that the Nuggets have not done this in a clear enough and consistent enough way, and it has cost them several games, possibly including this one.

The rule of thumb I like to measure this with is to say that the second requirement is that at least half but no more than 2/3 of all assists should be made by the top two playmaking guards on the team. The number one playmaker generally needs to be a designated point guard, while the number two playmaker can be either another point guard or a shooting guard. You almost never will succeed if a forward is the second of the two playmakers, although it is theoretically possible to succeed in rare circumstances.

This Nuggets-Pistons game was a super drive game; the number of assists exploded because neither team was worrying much about defending. In games that have gone into offensive super drive, because both teams have decided to try to win the game with offense far more than with defense, such as this game, an adjustment to the guideline is needed.

In a super drive offensive game, the number of assists explodes well above normal and so the everyday playmakers are usually not going to dominate the assisting in these types of games as much as they need to dominate the playmaking in ordinary games. Instead of changing the percentage for different number of assists, and having different percentages for different games, which gets annoyingly complicated, you can simply establish a cap on the minimum and maximum number of assists that the two playmaking guards need to get to be able to say that they and the team have done a great job. Assists beyond that, in explosive games like this one, do not need to come from the playmaking guards in the same percentage as usual, because two players can only make so many assists, and because players who don’t normally get many assists will be automatically getting more than usual in a super drive type of game.

The Nuggets are the fastest pace team, and if they get 29 assists, it is beyond doubt that they have played a quality offensive game. In effect, super drive games are where both teams are playing the way the Nuggets normally try to play. So the most logical thing to do is to cap the playmaking guard requirement very close to this number of assists. Basing the requirement on 30 assists seems not only very reasonable, but is mathematically perfect, because 50% of 30 is exactly 15 and 2/3 of 30 is exactly 20. So in summary, the second rule or guideline for determining whether a team has a well run offense is that the top two playmaking guards should make between 1/2 and 2/3 of all assists. However, there is a cap: if the actual number of assists made exceeds 30, the rule is that the top two playmakers on the team should make between 15 and 20 assists.

So now that we have slogged through that, let’s get to the really good stuff; let’s see who had the better run offense. The top two Nuggets guards playmakers were Iverson and Carter. Iverson made 11 assists and Carter made 4 assists, for a total of 15 assists. So the Nuggets just barely made it into the range for a super drive game, which is 15-20. So you can’t say that the offense failed, but you can’t say that it greatly succeeded either, because it is better to be higher into the 15-20 range. It would have been better if Iverson and Carter had combined for 1-5 more assists.

Now let’s look at the Pistons. The top two playmaking guards were Billups and Stuckey. Billups made 10 assists and Stuckey made 6 assists. So the Pistons’ top two playmakers made 16 assists and met the minimum requirement in a super drive game plus one. The Pistons’ playmakers were 1 better than the Nuggets’ playmakers were. Is this a large difference? No, but the fact is that even this seemingly small difference is significant in a professional basketball game between two extremely talented teams. And once again, the Pistons were playing on the Nuggets turf so to speak, a very up tempo game, and they defeated the Nuggets at their own game by having their playmakers do a little better than the Nuggets’ playmakers did.

In other words, and this is an extremely important point, there is a mismatch between how the Nuggets want to play and what they are doing to play that way. It is the Nuggets and not the Pistons who want to play up tempo, and yet it was the Pistons who were better at running an up tempo game. They made 41 assists in total to just 31 for the Nuggets. And they were slightly better in terms of offensive identity, of getting playmaking from their established playmakers,

Finally, it has to be noted that the Nuggets had the guard positions reversed from the usual pattern. In the great majority of well run offenses, the point guard dominates the shooting guard in assisting. For the Pistons, the SG Hamilton made only 3 assists in this game, an almost insignificant number compared to Billups and Stuckey, who are both point guards. So Hamilton, along with both forwards and the center, were concentrating on scoring most of the time, and went for only obvious assists. Meanwhile, the Nuggets failed to win the game with their opposite approach. They had their shooting guard, Allen Iverson, make far more assists than their point guard, Anthony Carter, did. Carter is not an aggressive scorer, although he is a more efficient scorer this season than expected. But since you can’t possibly get the quantity of scoring you need to win a game from Carter, the Nuggets were, as usual, relying on Iverson for scoring too.

To make this even clearer, while the Pistons were relying on Richard Hamilton for scoring and on mostly Chauncey Billups for playmaking, the Nuggets were relying mostly on Allen Iverson for scoring and on mostly Allen Iverson for playmaking. Even someone in high school can probably understand that the team that relies on two specialized players to get two jobs done has the better chance of winning over a team that relies on just one player to get the two jobs done. Although Iverson/Carter made 15 assists while Billups/Hamilton made 13, Iverson/Carter scored 25 points while Billups/Hamilton scored 38. So the Billups/Hamilton combination was better than the Iverson/Carter combination. Had the Iverson/J.R. Smith combination been the relevant comparison, the game could have turned out differently.

The bottom line is that the Pistons out managed the Nuggets at their own type of game. They made more total assists, they had a slightly better playmaking identity, and they had the guards set up in the way that is most commonly successful, whereas the Nuggets were using the more unusual and generally less successful shooting guard as playmaker approach.

PROJECTIONS

Nuggets 1 Current odds, to the nearest 5%, of the Nuggets making the playoffs: 40%
Nuggets 1 Current odds, to the nearest 5%, that the Nuggets and their suffering fans will be stuck with George Karl for next season: 75%

The current odds of the Nuggets making the playoffs, according to Hollinger at ESPN’s excellent team analysis system, are 55%. However, at the same time the Nuggets are projected to most likely be the 9th seed in the Western Conference, and there is no 9th playoff seed. By far the main way the Nuggets can make the playoffs is by beating out the Golden State Warriors for the 8th and final seed in the West. If the Nuggets and the Warriors finish with identical records though, the Warriors will most likely be the team that makes the playoffs, not the Nuggets. This is because the tie breaker, assuming the two split their season series 2-2, will be who has the better Western Conference record, and the Warriors are 3 games ahead in the loss column on that right now.

So it seems right now that the Warriors and the Nuggets will be battling it out for the last playoff spot in the West. Both of them are considered likely to make the playoffs in statistical terms, but most likely one of them will fail to make the playoffs. Nuggets 1 agrees with Hollinger’s system, which is saying that the Warriors are favored over the Nuggets to get the 8th spot. The Suns made a poor trade, but they have been on a winning streak lately, and they have won several key games, which means they may not be in a lot of danger of falling out of the playoffs after all. Key recent Suns’ victories include a win over the Spurs on March 9 and a win over the Warriors on March 13. But it is way too early to claim that the trade was not a mistake after all and that Shaquille O’Neal will work out for the Suns.

The Hollinger odds don’t take into account that Nene is not going to be available in top form for the Nuggets for the stretch run. Also, there may not be enough time for Atkins to get back to full speed, especially since George Karl is notorious for taking forever to work a player he is not sold on back into the rotation following an injury. So it’s still unknown whether Atkins is ready to rescue the Nuggets from not making the playoffs, and whether Karl will give him enough minutes if he is ready. If the Hollinger system adjusted for the Atkins and the Nene situations, it would show a lower percentage chance than 55% for the Nuggets to make the playoffs.

In summary, the Lakers, the Rockets, the Hornets, the Spurs, the Jazz, and the Mavericks are currently considered locks to make the playoffs, the Suns are near locks, and the Warriors are favored over the Nuggets for the final, 8th spot. The Rockets have become total locks now, despite the loss of Yao Ming for the season, thanks to their 22-game winning streak. The Suns are still in some trouble, due to their poor trade, which was Shawn Marion and Marcus Banks for Shaquille O’Neal, but they are in less trouble after their key early March wins at home over the Spurs and the Warriors.

PLAYOFF TEAMS PROJECTED FINAL RECORDS-HOLLINGER-ESPN
1. Lakers 57-25
2. Rockets 56-26
3. Hornets 54-28
4. Jazz 54-28
5. Spurs 53-29
6. Mavericks 53-29
7. Suns 53-29
8. Warriors 50-32

NON-PLAYOFF TEAMS PROJECTED FINAL RECORDS-HOLLINGER-ESPN
9. Nuggets 49-33

The Warriors are now 1 1/2 games ahead of the Nuggets for the last playoff spot. The schedules of the two teams are roughly equal difficulty from here on out. If the Nuggets make up the 1 1/2 games, so that the Warriors and the Nuggets finish with identical records, and the season series between them ends up tied 2-2, the Warriors are likely to get the playoff spot rather than the Nuggets, because it is likely that the Warriors will finish at least 1 game ahead of the Nuggets in Conference record, which would be the tie-breaker if the Warriors and the Nuggets split their 4 head to head games. The Nuggets and Warriors have each won one game in the head to head series so far.

Now that the Nuggets are 1 1/2 games behind the Warriors, the two remaining Nuggets-Warriors games are more important than ever. If the Warriors win both games, the Nuggets are almost certainly out of the playoffs. If each team wins one game, the Warriors remain slightly more likely to make the playoffs than do the Nuggets. If the Nuggets win both games, then the Nuggets are more likely than the Warriors to get the last spot. The Nuggets-Warriors games are on Saturday, March 29 in Denver and on Thursday, April 10 in Oakland. Neither the Warriors nor the Nuggets will be playing on back to back nights in either of those games.

WARRIORS REMAINING SCHEDULE, All times, EDT
Wed, Mar 19 @ LA Clippers 10:30 PM
Fri, Mar 21 Houston 10:30 PM
Sun, Mar 23 @ LA Lakers 9:30 PM
Mon, Mar 24 LA Lakers 10:30 PM
Thu, Mar 27 Portland 10:30 PM
Sat, Mar 29 @ Denver 9:00 PM
Sun, Mar 30 Dallas 9:00 PM
Tue, Apr 1 @ San Antonio 8:30 PM
Wed, Apr 2 @ Dallas 9:30 PM
Fri, Apr 4 @ Memphis 8:00 PM
Sun, Apr 6 @ New Orleans 7:00 PM
Tue, Apr 8 Sacramento 10:30 PM
Thu, Apr 10 Denver 8:00 PM
Sat, Apr 12 LA Clippers 10:30 PM
Mon, Apr 14 @ Phoenix 10:00 PM
Wed, Apr 16 Seattle 10:30 PM

NUGGETS REMAINING SCHEDULE, All times EDT
Wed, Mar 19 @ Philadelphia 7:00 PM
Fri, Mar 21 @ New Jersey 7:30 PM
Sun, Mar 23 @ Toronto 3:30 PM
Mon, Mar 24 @ Memphis 8:00 PM
Thu, Mar 27 Dallas 10:30 PM
Sat, Mar 29 Golden State 9:00 PM
Mon, Mar 31 @ Phoenix 10:00 PM
Tue, Apr 1 Phoenix 9:00 PM
Sat, Apr 5 Sacramento 9:00 PM
Sun, Apr 6 @ Seattle 9:00 PM
Tue, Apr 8 @ LA Clippers 10:30 PM
Thu, Apr 10 @ Golden State 8:00 PM
Sat, Apr 12 @ Utah 9:00 PM
Sun, Apr 13 Houston 9:00 PM
Wed, Apr 16 Memphis 9:00 PM

At this point the odds for whether the Nuggets will make the playoffs are still close to 50%, creating the maximum possible drama. It is going to be a very close call. We think that the Warriors will finish with either 49 or 50 wins. The Nuggets would need to finish 10-5 to reach 50 wins. This is realistically the minimum they must do to have a decent chance of making the playoffs. 9-6 will probably not be good enough and 8-7 will definitely not be good enough. To be almost guaranteed a playoff spot, the Nuggets must go 11-4 in their last 15 games.

If you win a division you get into the playoffs regardless of how poor your record is. For the Nuggets, winning the Northwest Division is extremely unlikely at this point; the odds on that are at 7%. The odds that the Utah Jazz will win the Northwest are 93% right now. The Nuggets would have to beat the Jazz in their remaining game against them and they would also have to hope that the Jazz stumble down the stretch.

NUGGETS INJURY REPORT FOR PLAYERS WHO PLAYED IN THIS GAME
Allen Iverson: suffered a non-displaced fracture on the end of his right ring finger vs. San Antonio on 3/7. X-rays were negative, and he remains probable for the 76’ers game on March 19.

PLAYERS WHO WERE NOT AVAILABLE
NUGGETS PLAYERS WHO WERE NOT AVAILABLE
Nene: He underwent successful surgery to remove a testicular tumor on Jan. 14. A timeline for his return is still unknown. He has now missed 32 straight games. He is out until at least April, but could easily be out for the entire rest of the season. CBS Sportsline says Nene is most likely out for the rest of the season.

PISTONS PLAYERS WHO WERE NOT AVAILABLE
All Pistons on the roster were available.

ALERT STATUS PROBLEMS
As of March 19, 2008

The Nuggets are under a GREEN ALERT, on account of the following problems.

NUGGETS INJURIES, ILLNESSES, SUSPENSIONS, AND PERSONAL LEAVES
1. Nene illness 14 points

SEVERE AND UNEXPECTED CRUCIAL PLAYER SLUMPS
None.

BAD OR INADEQUATE COACHING
NOTICE: THIS SECTION NEW AND IMPROVED as of March 19, 2008
EXTREME PLAYING TIME DECISIONS CONSTITUTING AN ERROR
At any given time, Karl may be doing one or more of the following:

1. He may be imposing a draconian penalty by completely benching a player who should not be benched unless the Nuggets want to shoot themselves in the foot or the head.
2. He may be severely under playing a player, either due to an excessive penalty for some mistake the player has made, a miscalculation of the benefits and costs of that player, or due to subjective factors up to and including extreme dislike of a player and a desire to make sure that the player is removed from the team in the off-season.
3. He may be over playing and over relying on one or more very experienced and talented veterans.

The new system we will use will employ the ranges of playing time minutes that are considered reasonable for the Nuggets. These are plenty large enough ranges to allow for plenty of coaching discretion, but if the playing time is outside of these ranges, it is clearly a coaching error:

Allen Iverson: 32-42
Carmelo Anthony: 30-42
Marcus Camby: 28-38
Kenyon Martin: 24-32
J.R. Smith: 22-34
Linas Kleiza: 16-28
Eduardo Najera: 16-24
Chucky Atkins: 14-22
Anthony Carter: 12-20
Yakhouba Diawara: 0-14
Taurean Green: 0-10
Steven Hunter: 0-10

Playing times lower than the minimum or higher than the maximum are coaching errors, and are usually charged at the rate of 1 alert system point for each 2 minutes of error. If a player is injured or sick to any extent, then this rule does not apply. Nor will the rule apply in games in which there is garbage time, except in the case of players who are playing below their minimum minutes on a repeated basis.

EXTREME PLAYING TIMES CONSTITUTING COACHING ERROR FOR THIS GAME:

Anthony Carter: Overplayed, 3 points
J.R. Smith: Underplayed, 4 points

If you think this is bad, think again. This current toll of playing time errors is actually light by Karl’s standards.

4. The Nuggets have extreme offensive inconsistency and an excessive number of turnovers because they have neither a system nor even a good partial system on offense. They over rely on fast pace and on isolation plays, especially isolation plays by Anthony and Iverson. The damage caused by this would be up to 20 points, except that Iverson’s intelligence in recognizing different situations in different games, and responding appropriately, usually reduces the damage. But Iverson does not control everything of course, and the lack of any real consistency in how the offense is run leads to damaging problems that can appear at any time. But these problems are much more likely to appear just when the Nuggets can least afford them, when they are playing one of the best teams in the NBA.

At one time earlier this season, Iverson and Carter were marginalizing Carmelo Anthony to some extent and Anthony, one of the top two scorers on the team, was not getting the ball enough. That problem went away when Anthony ramped up his rebounding. But the problem has shown signs of coming back again lately. If that problem appears when the Nuggets are playing an elite team, the Nuggets’ chances of winning the game go down substantially. Guess what? This problem appeared in this game, and did in fact help cause the Nuggets to lose.

Another big problem has developed due to a combination of the unstructured offense and the Karl lineup, and it is not going to go away anytime soon. That would be the double point guard problem. The Nuggets don’t know in advance who is going to be the main playmaker in the game: Iverson, Carter, Atkins, or some combination. More importantly, it is foolish to have two point guards in the game for more than a small number of minutes. If Iverson has decided to run the point, as he always does to one extent or another, he counts as a point guard whether he is labeled one by the coaching staff or not.

In general, and as always in the Karl era, the Nuggets lack enough tried and tested offensive plays that they can run game after game, perfecting them as they go, and having everyone automatically on the same page for those plays. True, they have plays they commonly run on the fly, but the players obviously don’t know about them in advance; they happen randomly. The offense is pretty much an unscripted, recreation department pick-up game style of offense.

How good your defense is is determined more by effort and skill than by strategy. For defense, strategy and tactics are less important than on offense. But they are still important, especially in a close game versus a good team. One thing that determines how well a team can defend is whether it has matched up the best and most appropriate players to guard the various offensive threats of the other team. On defense, the main strategic decision is whether you are playing zone or man to man defense. The correct choice usually will vary during each game. The decision is frequently made on a gut feeling of the coach and/or the defensive floor leader as to which is better at a particular point in the game, and with a particular opposing lineup on the court. But despite the fact that strategy and tactics are relatively important, the most important things with respect to defending is overall effort, hustle, anticipation of where the play is going, skill in avoiding unnecessary fouls, and ability to rotate off screens and picks.

This games’ toll due to the lack of an adequate number of offensive plays and patterns: 3 Points. Obviously, this didn’t hurt the Nuggets much while they scored 120 points against the Pistons, which is a good defensive team.

INTENSITY, HUSTLE, AND HEART
The Nugget’s intensity, hustle and heart are lacking: 3 Points.

TOTAL PROBLEM POINTS: 27, which constitutes GREEN ALERT.

GREEN ALERT (20-29): There are minor problems whose total impact is very small. There is very little effect on the team’s ability to win games against teams from any level.

IMPORTANT NOTE ABOUT ALERT STATUS
All teams, of course, have an alert status, and the key thing that can swing games is not so much the actual status of the two teams, but the difference in the two statuses. The difference in the alert status is a third outside factor that impacts a game, joining home court advantage and extra rest advantage, if any. We use 15 alert status points as constituting a difference.

IMPACT OF OUTSIDE FACTORS, INCLUDING ALERT STATUS, ON THIS GAME
The alert status system is still relatively new, but a preliminary estimate of what the game points advantage will be for each 15 points of alert status points difference has been made, and that estimate is 3-5 points. For now we will use 4 points for each 15 alert status points. The Home court advantage has also been estimated to be 3-5 points and we use 4 points for it. The extra rest advantage is very uncertain, and would differ a little from team to team, but it must be at least as much as the home court advantage. For now, until we can study it more, we will use 4 points for the extra rest advantage. In summary, we are using 4 points for each of the three outside factors.

OBSERVATIONS ON PISTONS STATUS
Every single player on the roster was available, and Flip Saunders is a quality coach, and the Pistons have a very nicely constructed lineup, so the best estimate is that the Pistons alert status was NO Alert, and that they were roughly 15 points or 1 level better off than the Nuggets for this game. The Pistons were home. Neither team was playing on back to back nights. In summary, the Pistons had about an 8 point edge over the Nuggets due to outside factors. They won by 16, so they still would have won even without the outside advantages.

OBSERVATIONS ON NUGGETS STATUS
George Karl has been doing well with the rotations lately; no one is benched who should not be, and the offense has been in super drive against poor and average defensive teams. All of these things have helped to push the alert status down to GREEN Alert.

Atkins has been removed from the unusual player slump designation. The best news of the month for the Nuggets is that Atkins has, in effect, finally arrived in Denver. This might give the Nuggets just enough 3-point shooting firepower to keep up with the Warriors in the race for the final playoff spot, as long as Atkins gets playing time.

The Nuggets have been unable to issue any prediction about when or whether Nene is going to return to the court. There was a rumor recently that he was going to return by mid-March, but there is no sign that that will become a reality. CBS Sportsline is saying that, most likely, Nene will not return to the court at all this season, including for the playoffs. However, since all other injuries are history, and since J.R. Smith has played so well that he is neither benched nor severely shortchanged of minutes these days, the Nuggets might be able to stay in the NO alert to GREY alert range, avoiding being disadvantaged to all but the lucky and perfectly managed elite teams.

The mid January losses to the Bobcats and the Hawks, and the close calls at home against the Wolves and the Hawks in January, in games that should have and probably would have been relatively easy wins had the alert status been green, grey, or even yellow, illustrate the usefulness and accuracy of the alert system. When you reach ORANGE ALERT and especially RED ALERT, you start losing a substantial number of games that you would normally win. It’s that simple, and there is little anyone can do about it.

RESERVE WATCH
Number of Players Who Played at Least 6 Minutes: Nuggets 9 Pistons 10
Number of Players Who Played at Least 10 Minutes: Nuggets 9 Pistons 9

Nuggets Non-Starters Points: 37
Pistons Non-Starters Points: 56

Nuggets Non-Starters Rebounds: 5
Pistons Non-Starters Rebounds: 21

Nuggets Non-Starters Assists: 5
Pistons Non-Starters Assists: 14

THE NON-STARTERS IN THIS GAME
None of the players who played 6 or minutes were garbage time only players. The Nuggets did not recognize garbage time in this game, the Pistons recognized the final 3 minutes of the game as garbage time. Coach Flip Saunders put forward one more non-starter than did George Karl, giving him an extra wild card chance to do damage to the Nuggets. It wasn’t needed.

It is very unusual for Karl to play 9 players for 10 or more minutes. Right now he is forced to, because pushing J.R. Smith below 10 minutes is out of the question the way he is playing, and there is a huge mess at PG which requires Karl to play 2 official point guards for much more than 10 minutes each. Anthony Carter took over the PG position for the bulk of the season when Chucky Atkins went out for 2 months with hernia surgery and when Karl refused to name Iverson as the official point guard. Atkins was poor in limited games before he went out. Carter has been better than expected, but apparently Karl agrees with most fans that Atkins will be eaten alive if the Nuggets make the playoffs. So Atkins, who has far more experience, including playoff experience, may be the Nuggets’ only hope at the position in the playoffs and in the stretch run to make the playoffs for that matter. So Karl has to give Atkins playing time in a last chance desperate bid to get Atkins up to speed. But since Atkins is inconsistent so far, Atkins minutes have to be limited, and so Carter still has to play a lot of minutes also.

The Pistons non-starters utterly destroyed the Nuggets’ non-starters, 56-37 in points, 21-5 in rebounds, and 14-5 in assists. This is commonly what you see when the Nuggets’ simple approach to playing basketball comes up against a team that employs strategies and tactics to a greater extent, and against a team that has integrated it’s non-starters into the overall offense better than have the Nuggets.

STARTERS
Points: Nuggets 83 Pistons 80
Rebounds: Nuggets 28 Pistons 27
Assists: Pistons 28 Nuggets 26

The Nuggets starters narrowly defeated the Pistons starters in scoring 83-80, and in rebounding, 28-27. The Pistons starters narrowly defeated the Nuggets starters in assisting, 28-26.

I hope to develop the reserve watch feature further in the future, because I want to try to expand what I already have in terms of a game coaching evaluation system. But the complications involved explain why there are no formal statistics anywhere on the internet on the subject of how much non-starters contribute to different teams, and also why coaches are not compared statistically the way players are. There are a lot of variables that come into the use of reserves that interfere with the objective of judging their use. Statisticians call this “statistical noise,” and if you have a substantial amount of it, then what you are trying to do with your statistics becomes very difficult or next to impossible.

GEORGE KARL CONFIDENCE IN HIS TEAM RATING (Scale of 0 to 10)
3: He's hiding under his seat on the sidelines

PLAYER RATINGS EXPLAINED
You can tell how well every player played at a glance. Of the advanced statistics I have seen on the internet, this one seems to have the best balance between offense and defense. While some are biased in favor of offensive players, such as the efficiency measure at the NBA site, many other advanced statistics are biased in favor of good defenders, and do not reflect the heavy importance of offense in basketball. Here is the formula for the ESPN rating of a player, which I think is a very good balance between offense and defense:

Points + Rebounds + 1.4*Assists + Steals + 1.4*Blocks - .7*Turnovers + # of Field Goals Made +1/2*# of 3-pointers Made - .8*# of Missed Field Goals - .8*# of Missed Free Throws + .25 *# of Free Throws Made

All players on each team who played at least 5 minutes are shown. The number after “game,” is how well the player did in this game, whereas the number after “season” is that player’s overall average for the entire season.

NUGGETS-PISTONS PLAYER RATINGS
Ratings above 40 indicate superstar power performers
Ratings of 30-39 indicate star power performers.
Ratings of 20-29 indicate key role player performers.
Ratings of 10-19 indicate role player performers.
Ratings of 0-9 indicate unimportant players

NUGGETS PLAYER RATINGS
Carmelo Anthony: Game 40.9 Season 39.0
Marcus Camby: Game 39.6 Season 32.7
Allen Iverson: Game 37.6 Season 41.1
Kenyon Martin: Game 25.5 Season 23.1
Eduardo Najera: Game 16.3 Season 13.2
J.R. Smith: Game 16.0 Season 16.5
Linas Kleiza: Game 15.2 Season 18.4
Chucky Atkins: Game 12.7 Season 10.4
Anthony Carter: Game 10.0 Season 20.0

Nene: Did Not Play-Illness

Yakhouba Diawara: Did Not Play-Coach’s Decision
Taurean Green: Did Not Play-Coach’s Decision
Steven Hunter: Did Not Play-Coach’s Decision

PISTONS PLAYER RATINGS
Rasheed Wallace: Game 40.5 Season 26.3
Richard Hamilton: Game 35.7 Season 28.6
Jason Maxiell: Game 34.8 Season 15.1
Jarvis Hayes: Game 31.9 Season 11.0
Chauncey Billups: Game 29.6 Season 32.2
Tayshaun Prince: Game 28.1 Season 24.0
Rodney Stuckey: Game 25.9 Season 11.4
Antonio McDyess: Game 17.4 Season 20.7
Amir Johnson: Game 10.5 Season 9.3
Juan Dixon: Game 5.8 Season 7.6

NOTE 1: these stats do not correct for the big differences in playing times. Players with small minutes would get a higher rating if they had more minutes.
NOTE 2: This performance measure does NOT include the quality and quantity of each player’s defending, including the number of shots that the player prevented from going in the basket. The best Nuggets defenders, which are the ones who consistently make the extra effort and have the strength and defensive talent to make that effort pay off, are Camby, Martin, Nene, Najera, and Diawara.

OBSERVATIONS ON THE PLAYER RATINGS:
The remarkable thing about the Nuggets in this game is that nobody was well above normal or well below normal except for Carter, who was only half as productive as usual. It was as if the Nuggets all set out to play their average game for this season so far, no better and no worse. Camby, Martin, and Najera were slightly above normal, while Iverson and Kleiza were slightly below normal. Anthony and J.R. Smith were almost exactly normal. Atkins cooled off after several hot games in a row.

The Nuggets’ power performers for the game were the same as the power performers for the season: Anthony, Camby, and Iverson. The Pistons had 4 power performers: Wallace, Hamilton, Maxiell, and Hayes.

Among players who were key role players or better, the Pistons had 7 while the Nuggets had only 4.

SF Jarvis Hayes was more than 3 times more productive than usual, while PG Rodney Stuckey and PF Jason Maxiell were more than twice as productive as usual.

PF Wallace was half again more productive than usual, while SG Hamilton was about 1/4 more productive than usual.

SF Prince was slightly more productive than usual while PG Billups and C McDyess were slightly less productive than usual.

Among the low minutes players, neither PF Johnson nor SG Dixon were substantially better or worse than average.

REAL PLAYER RATINGS EXPLAINED
The Real Player Rating reflects reality better than the gross player rating, since it washes out differences in playing times among the players. The straight up player rankings are obviously heavily affected by how many playing minutes the various players get. With many teams, you can rely on the coach to give his various players roughly the playing time that makes the most sense for his team. Unfortunately, some coaches bring other factors besides actual performance into their rotation decisions. Therefore, it makes good sense to introduce a new and extremely important statistic that Nuggets 1 calls the Real per Minute Player Rating. As the name implies, this is the gross ESPN player rating divided by the number of minutes. The statistic is called Real Player Rating for short.

This statistic allows anyone to see whether or not players who play only a small number of minutes are doing better than their low gross rating will indicate. You can spot diamond in the rough players who are not getting all the respect and playing time due to them. At the same time, it will allow anyone to see whether players with a lot of minutes are playing worse than, as well as, or better than their gross rating shows.

In summary, the Real Player Rating allows the reader, at a glance, to see exactly how well each player is doing without regard to playing time, which is subject to coaching error and subjective and less important factors such as a player's personality. The Real Player Rating provides the real truth-pure knowledge not available anywhere else.

SCALE FOR THE REAL PLAYER RATINGS
1.80 More Amazing Happens, but only certain players can ever fly this high
1.60 1.80 Superstar Plus-Above Normal Even For Michael Jordan
1.40 1.60 Superstar Performance-A Michael Jordan Type Game
1.20 1.40 Star Plus-Spectacular Performance
1.05 1.20 Star Performance
0.90 1.05 Outstanding Game
0.80 0.90 Very Good Game
0.70 0.80 Good Game
0.60 0.70 Mediocre Game
0.50 0.60 Poor Game
0.40 0.50 Very Poor Game
0.25 0.40 Extremely Poor-Near Disaster
Less 0.25 Total Disaster

NUGGETS-PISTONS REAL PLAYER RATINGS
All players who played 5 minutes or more are included. Any player who played only 5-9 minutes is noted.

1. Jarvis Hayes, Det 1.876
2. Amir Johnson, Det 1.500…Johnson played only 7 minutes.
3. Chauncey Billups, Det 1.410
4. Rasheed Wallace, Det 1.350
5. Richard Hamilton, Det 1.322
6. Carmelo Anthony, Den 1.319
7. Marcus Camby, Den 1.238
8. Rodney Stuckey, Det 1.233
9. J.R. Smith, Den 1.143
10. Jason Maxiell, Det 1.088
11. Kenyon Martin, Den 1.063
12. Tayshaun Prince, Det 1.041
13. Allen Iverson, Den 0.940
14. Linas Kleiza, Den 0.800
15. Eduardo Najera, Den 0.776
16. Antonio McDyess, Det 0.725
17. Chucky Atkins, Den 0.706
18. Anthony Carter, Den 0.435
19. Juan Dixon, Det 0.363

OBSERVATIONS ON THE REAL PLAYER RATINGS
The best player on the court was Jarvis Hayes of the Pistons, who reached the rarely reached “amazing happens” level. There were two Pistons superstars: Billups and Johnson in limited minutes.

There were 5 star-plus players: Rasheed Wallace, Richard Hamilton, and Rodney Stuckey for the Pistons, and Carmelo Anthony and Marcus Camby for the Nuggets. Jason Maxiell for Detroit and J.R. Smith and Kenyon Martin for the Nuggets were plain old stars.

Among the 11 players who were stars or better, the Pistons had 7 and the Nuggets had 4. One of these 7 Pistons was limited minutes.

Prince was outstanding and just barely missed star. Iverson was outstanding for the Nuggets.

Kleiza for the Nuggets was very good. Najera and Atkins were good for the Nuggets, while McDyess was good for the Pistons.

Carter was very poor for the Nuggets, while Dixon was extremely poor for the Pistons. Among players who were mediocre or worse, each team had only 1.

NUGGET’S PLUS—MINUS
This tells you how the score changed while a player was on the court. All Nuggets who played at least 10 minutes are shown.

Anthony Carter: +0
Kenyon Martin: -2
Allen Iverson: -7
Chucky Atkins: -8
Carmelo Anthony: -10
J.R. Smith: -11
Marcus Camby: -12
Linas Kleiza: -13
Eduardo Najera: -17

NUGGETS MADE WHAT?
All Nuggets who played at least 5 minutes are shown. The order is from lowest to highest in real player rating.

Turnovers: NBA Average: 14, Nuggets’ Total 13, Team 0, Anthony 2, Atkins 0, Camby 3, Carter 1, Iverson 3, Kleiza 1, Martin 2, Najera 1, Smith 0

Personal Fouls: NBA Average: 21, Nuggets’ Total 19, Anthony 3, Atkins 1, Camby 3, Carter 2, Iverson 0, Kleiza 2, Martin 2, Najera 4, Smith 2

Anthony Carter played 26 minutes and was 2/5 and 1/1 on 3’s for 5 points, and he made 4 assists.

Chucky Atkins played 19 minutes and was 3/5 and 1/3 on 3’s for 7 points, and he made 1 assist, 1 steal, and 1 block.

Eduardo Najera played 21 minutes and was 4/8 and 2/5 on 3’s for 10 points, and he made 3 assists and 1 rebound.

Linas Kleiza played 21 minutes and was 3/5, 2/4 on 3’s, and 2/2 from the line for 10 points, and he made 3 rebounds.

Allen Iverson played for most of the game, 41 minutes, and was 5/11 and 10/13 from the line for 20 points, and he made 11 assists, 2 steals, and 2 rebounds.

Kenyon Martin played 30 minutes and was 7/11 and 2/3 from the line for 16 points, and he made 4 steals, 2 rebounds, and 1 block.

J.R. Smith played 15 minutes and was 4/7 and 2/4 on 3’s for 10 points, and he made 1 assist, 1 steal, and 1 rebound.

Marcus Camby played 33 minutes and was 7/9 and 1/2 from the line for 15 points, and he made 11 rebounds, 6 assists, 1 block, and 1 steal.

Carmelo Anthony played 35 minutes and was 8/15, 2/3 on 3’s, and 9/12 from the line for 27 points, and he made 5 assists, 3 steals, and 2 rebounds.

NEXT UP
The next game will be Wednesday, March 19 in Philadelphia to play the 76’ers at 5 pm mountain time. The Nuggets will be playing on back to back nights, but the 76’ers will not be, so the 76’ers will have both the home court and the extra rest advantages.

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Although there is a guaranteed minimum rate of Report production regardless of traffic, IT IS IN YOUR POWER to help increase the number of and frequency of QFTR Reports (or to in other words increase the number of production hours that go into producing QFTR).

All Quest Internet sites including QFTR are developed and produced according to both superseding criteria and site traffic. Beginning in 2011 QFTR is the only Site that Quest Internet has a guaranteed production level for, meaning that QFTR is NOT in competition with other Sites for scarce production time. (In other words, other projects are treated like garbage compared to the treatment that QFTR gets.)

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QFTR NEEDS LINKS OTHER THAN GOOGLE SEARCH LINKS
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We are getting a lot of traffic to Reports that are older and/or or not the very most important ones on the Site. And we are getting a lot of "hit and run" traffic. Many of the Site visitors QFTR is getting from Google Search are the hit and run type. But like any other site producer, QFTR values returning visitors much more than "hit and run and never come back" visitors.

Most hit and run visitors are not really looking for much to begin with, and then many of them run away so quickly that they don't even get what little they came for even though it was there in front of them. So it would appear that most hit and run visitors are wasting their time. What happens is Google Search leads them to QFTR but not exactly to the page they want. But then the hit and run losers run so fast that they don't put in the 1-5 minutes needed to locate exactly what they want at QFTR. So they leave empty handed. So again, this is the kind of traffic that is better than nothing, and we do count all traffic as traffic, but it is not exactly what we are looking for.

Given the high level and unique nature of QFTR, it is possible that the traffic we are looking for doesn't exist to any significant extent, but we can't know that for sure unless and until more links to QFTR appear in places other than at Google Search. Specifically, right now only a very small number of basketball and sports sites link to QFTR, and we are looking for more of those. Since QFTR is literally a one of a kind site, bridging various content gaps that exist, it is no surprise that we have very few other sites linking to QFTR. We want to do everything possible to change that, and this message is partly what allows us to rest easy from knowing that everything possible was done.

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You can request a link at QFTR to your site. QFTR will on request strongly consider linking to your Site if you link to QFTR. If and when we get links to QFTR and people want QFTR to link back, we will do so in a new sidebar section. We can link to a home page or we can produce links to your latest content.

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BASKETBALL FORUMS THAT ARE OPEN FOR CONTENT FROM ANYONE
Another place you can post links to QFTR Reports is at basketball forums. QFTR started out as a forum poster (and we wish we had the time to post at forums even now.)

As with everything else traffic varies widely from one forum to another. But basketball forums seem to have more staying power than basketball sites in general do.

Beware of "layered" sites. As far as we know, none of the following are layered sites, which are sites that allow contributions from the general public only in hard to find, low traffic areas, while the main areas are off limits for public input and are only for a chosen few. All of the following have at least some notable traffic, and all of them allow relatively equal and open participation. The order is from most recommended to least recommended, based on about half a dozen factors.

FORUMS THAT DO NOT USE TRADITIONAL FORUM TEMPLATES AKA OPEN POSTING SITES
Bleacher Report Open Posting Site
Armchair GM Open Posting Site

FORUMS THAT DO USE TRADITIONAL FORUM TEMPLATES
Inside Hoops NBA Forum
Real GM NBA and Team Forums
Pro Sports Daily NBA Forum
Hoops Hype NBA Forum
Sports Two NBA Forum
NBA Dimensions NBA Forum
NBA Boards NBA Forum
OTR Basketball Forums NBA Forum
Sporting News NBA Forum
KFFL NBA Forum

Notes: There may be a small number of newer forums not on this list (QFTR does not have the time for a full investigation here in 2012). Also, there were other forums when this list was first composed, but they were all very low traffic and low activity ones compared to the ones above. They may have much higher traffic now.

MESSAGE BOARDS AT HUGE COROPORATIONS
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ESPN NBA Message Board

TOP NBA SCORERS CHART 1 OF 3 >>> TOP VOLUME SCORERS in 2011-2012 (complete regular season)
Each year QFTR publishes Real Player Ratings for every player in the NBA who has played at least 300 minutes. Real Player Ratings are comprehensive player ratings that are very carefully designed and quality controlled. Starting in 2012, the Ratings are supplemented by seven per 36 minutes charts which show player performance in seven of the very most important performance measures, all of which are components of Real Player Ratings (but there are other components that go into Real Player Ratings). These charts are stationed on the home page at all times. This is most likely the only place on the Internet where this key player information is shown in this optimal way.

Here we have the top scorers of the NBA in 2011-2012 as indicated by points per 36 minutes playing time. This is "PTS" in the chart. The points and all other items shown in the chart other than the percentages and the minutes played are per 36 minutes, which is much smarter to use than per game numbers.

For this and all the other charts, a minimum of 300 minutes of playing time is required. A player must have scored at least 18 points per 36 minutes (which is 1 point every 2 minutes) to be shown here. Also, a minimum shooting percentage (field goal percentage) of .400 is required. Players with field goal (shooting) percentages of .399 or less are disqualified from being on this list of top scorers.

This is one of the seven "7/36 Charts". A short user guide for these is found in this Report.

Here now are how the top scorers in the NBA in 2011-2012 rated and ranked:

Player               Tm   MP   FG  FGA  3P 3PA  FT FTA ORB  DRB AST STL BLK TOV  PF  PTS  FG%  3P%  FT%
Kevin Durant OKC 2546 9.1 18.3 1.9 4.9 6.1 7.1 0.6 6.9 3.3 1.2 1.1 3.5 1.9 26.2 .496 .387 .860
Kobe Bryant LAL 2232 9.3 21.5 1.4 4.6 6.1 7.3 1.1 4.0 4.3 1.1 0.3 3.3 1.7 26.1 .430 .303 .845
LeBron James MIA 2326 9.6 18.1 0.8 2.3 6.0 7.8 1.5 6.2 6.0 1.8 0.8 3.3 1.5 26.0 .531 .362 .771
Russell Westbrook OKC 2331 8.9 19.6 1.0 3.0 5.3 6.4 1.5 3.2 5.6 1.7 0.3 3.7 2.3 24.1 .457 .316 .823
Kevin Love MIN 2145 8.0 17.8 1.8 4.7 6.4 7.7 3.8 8.5 1.9 0.8 0.5 2.1 2.6 24.0 .448 .372 .824
Dwyane Wade MIA 1625 9.2 18.5 0.3 1.2 5.2 6.6 1.6 3.6 5.0 1.8 1.4 2.9 2.4 24.0 .497 .268 .791
Carmelo Anthony NYK 1876 8.5 19.7 1.3 3.9 5.7 7.0 1.7 4.9 3.8 1.2 0.5 2.8 3.0 23.9 .430 .335 .804
Dirk Nowitzki DAL 2079 8.2 17.9 1.4 3.7 5.5 6.1 0.8 6.5 2.4 0.7 0.5 2.0 2.2 23.2 .457 .368 .896
Derrick Rose CHI 1375 7.9 18.2 1.4 4.5 5.1 6.3 0.7 2.7 8.0 0.9 0.7 3.1 1.4 22.3 .435 .312 .812
Kyrie Irving CLE 1558 8.1 17.3 1.7 4.2 4.0 4.5 1.0 3.4 6.4 1.2 0.5 3.7 2.5 21.8 .469 .399 .872
LaMarcus Aldridge POR 1994 8.7 17.0 0.0 0.2 4.0 4.9 2.7 5.3 2.4 0.9 0.8 2.0 2.8 21.5 .512 .182 .814
Eric Gordon NOH 310 7.3 16.3 1.2 4.6 5.7 7.5 0.2 2.7 3.6 1.5 0.5 2.8 2.3 21.5 .450 .250 .754
DeMarcus Cousins SAC 1950 8.3 18.4 0.0 0.3 4.8 6.9 4.9 8.1 1.9 1.7 1.4 3.1 4.7 21.4 .448 .143 .702
Andrea Bargnani TOR 1032 7.3 16.9 1.2 4.0 5.3 6.0 0.8 5.2 2.1 0.6 0.5 2.4 1.8 21.0 .432 .296 .873
Deron Williams NJN 1999 7.0 17.3 2.1 6.2 4.6 5.5 0.4 2.9 8.7 1.2 0.4 3.9 2.2 20.8 .407 .336 .843
Blake Griffin LAC 2392 8.4 15.4 0.0 0.2 3.7 7.0 3.3 7.5 3.2 0.8 0.7 2.3 3.3 20.6 .549 .125 .521
Tony Parker SAS 1923 8.0 16.7 0.3 1.1 4.2 5.3 0.4 2.8 8.7 1.1 0.1 2.9 1.4 20.5 .480 .230 .799
Paul Pierce BOS 2075 6.8 15.4 1.7 4.7 5.1 6.0 0.6 4.9 4.8 1.2 0.5 3.0 2.6 20.5 .443 .366 .852
Louis Williams PHI 1682 6.8 16.7 1.8 4.9 5.1 6.2 0.6 2.7 4.7 1.1 0.4 1.5 1.9 20.5 .407 .362 .812
Al Jefferson UTA 2075 9.0 18.2 0.0 0.1 2.4 3.1 2.3 7.8 2.3 0.8 1.8 1.1 2.7 20.3 .492 .250 .774
Player Tm MP FG FGA 3P 3PA FT FTA ORB DRB AST STL BLK TOV PF PTS FG% 3P% FT%
Danny Granger IND 2062 6.8 16.4 2.1 5.6 4.4 5.1 1.4 4.0 1.9 1.1 0.7 1.9 2.5 20.2 .416 .381 .873
Monta Ellis TOT 2120 7.6 17.7 1.1 3.4 3.7 4.7 0.3 3.1 5.9 1.4 0.3 3.0 2.3 20.1 .433 .308 .796
Manu Ginobili SAS 792 6.8 13.0 2.4 5.7 4.0 4.6 0.8 4.5 6.9 1.1 0.5 2.9 2.5 20.0 .526 .413 .871
Tim Duncan SAS 1634 8.0 16.1 0.0 0.1 3.8 5.5 2.4 9.0 2.9 0.8 1.9 2.1 2.2 19.7 .492 .000 .695
Jeremy Lin NYK 940 6.5 14.7 0.9 2.9 5.6 7.0 0.7 3.4 8.3 2.1 0.3 4.8 3.0 19.6 .446 .320 .798
Chris Paul LAC 2181 7.0 14.7 1.3 3.5 4.3 5.0 0.7 2.8 9.0 2.5 0.1 2.0 2.3 19.6 .478 .371 .861
Brandon Jennings MIL 2331 7.2 17.3 2.0 6.0 3.0 3.7 0.8 2.7 5.6 1.6 0.3 2.3 1.8 19.5 .418 .332 .808
David Lee GSW 2121 7.9 15.6 0.0 0.1 3.7 4.8 2.9 6.3 2.7 0.9 0.4 2.5 3.0 19.5 .503 .000 .782
Michael Redd PHO 770 6.7 16.8 2.0 6.2 4.1 5.2 0.7 2.9 1.5 0.6 0.0 1.7 1.4 19.5 .400 .318 .793
Dwight Howard ORL 2070 7.2 12.6 0.0 0.1 4.9 9.9 3.5 10.2 1.8 1.4 2.0 3.0 2.8 19.4 .573 .000 .491
Kevin Martin HOU 1264 6.3 15.3 2.2 6.4 4.6 5.1 0.4 2.6 3.1 0.8 0.1 2.0 2.0 19.4 .413 .347 .894
Jordan Crawford WAS 1753 7.2 17.9 1.6 5.6 3.3 4.2 0.9 2.5 3.9 1.2 0.1 2.9 2.3 19.3 .400 .289 .793
James Harden OKC 1946 5.7 11.6 2.1 5.4 5.8 6.8 0.6 4.1 4.2 1.1 0.3 2.5 2.8 19.3 .491 .390 .846
Marcus Thornton SAC 1780 7.1 16.2 2.2 6.3 2.9 3.3 1.7 2.1 2.0 1.4 0.2 1.7 2.2 19.3 .438 .345 .865
Josh Smith ATL 2329 7.8 17.0 0.4 1.7 3.1 5.0 2.1 7.7 4.0 1.4 1.8 2.5 2.7 19.2 .458 .257 .630
Amare Stoudemire NYK 1543 7.4 15.3 0.1 0.5 4.3 5.7 2.5 6.1 1.2 0.9 1.0 2.6 3.2 19.2 .483 .238 .765
Andrew Bynum LAL 2112 7.6 13.6 0.0 0.1 4.0 5.8 3.3 8.8 1.4 0.5 2.0 2.6 1.8 19.1 .558 .200 .692
Joe Johnson ATL 2127 7.2 15.8 2.1 5.4 2.7 3.1 0.9 2.8 3.9 0.8 0.2 2.0 1.3 19.1 .454 .388 .849
Stephen Curry GSW 732 7.1 14.6 2.7 6.0 1.9 2.3 0.7 3.6 6.8 1.9 0.4 3.2 3.0 18.8 .490 .455 .809
Drew Gooden MIL 1469 7.0 16.1 0.4 1.3 4.3 5.1 3.2 5.7 3.5 1.1 0.8 2.7 2.7 18.8 .437 .291 .846
Player Tm MP FG FGA 3P 3PA FT FTA ORB DRB AST STL BLK TOV PF PTS FG% 3P% FT%
Antawn Jamison CLE 2151 7.0 17.5 1.5 4.5 3.1 4.5 2.1 4.8 2.2 0.9 0.7 1.5 2.7 18.7 .403 .341 .683
Al Harrington DEN 1761 7.1 15.8 2.1 6.2 2.4 3.6 1.5 6.5 1.8 1.2 0.2 2.3 3.7 18.6 .446 .333 .676
Nikola Pekovic MIN 1264 7.3 12.9 0.0 0.0 4.0 5.3 5.2 4.7 0.9 0.8 0.9 2.5 2.8 18.5 .564 .743
Klay Thompson GSW 1608 7.1 16.1 2.5 6.0 1.8 2.0 0.5 3.1 3.0 1.1 0.4 2.3 3.5 18.5 .443 .414 .868
Leandro Barbosa TOT 1382 7.1 16.6 1.7 4.4 2.6 3.2 0.9 2.5 2.5 1.5 0.2 2.4 3.5 18.4 .425 .382 .815
Chris Bosh MIA 2007 7.0 14.5 0.2 0.6 4.1 5.0 1.7 6.4 1.8 0.9 0.8 2.1 2.3 18.4 .487 .286 .821
Gerald Green NJN 781 7.1 14.8 2.0 5.1 2.3 3.0 0.7 4.3 1.6 1.3 0.8 2.5 3.7 18.4 .481 .391 .754
Carl Landry NOH 999 6.6 13.0 0.0 0.1 5.3 6.6 2.8 4.9 1.4 0.5 0.4 2.3 3.2 18.4 .503 .000 .799
Carlos Boozer CHI 1948 8.3 15.6 0.0 0.0 1.8 2.5 2.1 8.3 2.3 1.2 0.4 2.1 3.1 18.3 .532 .000 .693
Kevin Garnett BOS 1864 7.6 15.0 0.1 0.2 3.1 3.7 1.3 8.3 3.4 1.1 1.2 2.1 2.7 18.3 .503 .333 .857
Rudy Gay MEM 2422 7.2 15.9 0.8 2.6 3.1 3.9 1.9 4.3 2.2 1.4 0.8 2.4 2.1 18.3 .455 .312 .791
Nick Young TOT 1729 6.6 16.3 2.1 5.9 3.0 3.5 0.6 2.1 1.2 0.9 0.4 1.7 2.9 18.3 .403 .365 .852
Paul Millsap UTA 2100 7.3 14.8 0.1 0.5 3.5 4.4 3.1 6.6 2.6 2.0 0.9 1.9 3.8 18.2 .495 .226 .792
Jerryd Bayless TOR 705 6.0 14.1 2.2 5.3 3.8 4.5 0.4 3.0 6.0 1.2 0.2 2.7 3.6 18.0 .424 .423 .852

TOP NBA SCORERS 2012 CHART 2 OF 3 >>> MOST EFFICIENT SCORERS in 2011-2012 (complete regular season)
Each year QFTR publishes Real Player Ratings for every player in the NBA who has played at least 300 minutes. Real Player Ratings are comprehensive player ratings that are very carefully designed and quality controlled. Starting in 2012, the Ratings are supplemented by seven per 36 minutes charts which show player performance in seven of the very most important performance measures, all of which are components of Real Player Ratings (but there are other components that go into Real Player Ratings). These charts are stationed on the home page at all times. This is most likely the only place on the Internet where this key player information is shown in this optimal way.

Here we have the most efficient scorers of the NBA in 2011-2012 as indicated by shooting percentage or in other words field goal percentage. This is "FG%" in the chart. All items shown in the chart other than the percentages and the minutes played are per 36 minutes, which is much smarter to use than per game numbers.

For this and all the other charts, a minimum of 300 minutes of playing time is required. To be on this chart, players had to have a shooting percentage of .500 or higher AND they have to have scored at least 9 points per 36 minutes.

This is one of the seven "7/36 Charts". A short user guide for these is found in this Report.

Here now are how the most efficient scorers in the NBA in 2011-2012 rated and ranked:
Player               Tm   MP   FG  FGA  3P 3PA  FT FTA ORB  DRB  AST STL BLK TOV  PF  PTS  FG%  3P%  FT%
Tyson Chandler NYK 2061 4.2 6.2 0.0 0.0 3.8 5.5 3.7 7.0 1.0 1.0 1.6 1.8 3.2 12.2 .679 .000 .689
DeAndre Jordan LAC 1798 4.1 6.5 0.0 0.0 1.5 2.8 4.0 6.9 0.3 0.6 2.7 1.5 3.8 9.7 .632 .000 .525
Tiago Splitter SAS 1121 6.8 11.0 0.0 0.0 4.0 5.8 3.0 6.8 2.1 0.7 1.5 2.8 4.3 17.6 .618 .691
Brandan Wright DAL 791 6.6 10.6 0.0 0.0 2.4 3.7 2.8 5.1 0.6 1.0 2.9 1.0 2.8 15.5 .618 .000 .634
Andris Biedrins GSW 739 1.9 3.1 0.0 0.0 0.0 0.4 2.2 6.4 0.8 1.1 2.2 0.7 6.1 3.8 .609 .111
Kosta Koufos DEN 792 5.2 8.7 0.0 0.0 1.5 2.5 4.3 7.4 0.7 1.1 1.9 1.5 4.4 12.0 .599 .600
Chris Wilcox BOS 481 4.8 8.0 0.0 0.0 1.8 2.9 2.8 6.3 0.9 0.8 0.7 2.2 4.8 11.4 .598 .615
Nick Collison OKC 1307 3.3 5.5 0.0 0.0 1.2 1.7 3.3 4.3 2.3 0.9 0.8 1.7 4.2 7.8 .597 .000 .710
Kenneth Faried DEN 1037 6.3 10.7 0.0 0.0 3.8 5.7 4.9 7.3 1.2 1.2 1.6 1.9 4.0 16.4 .586 .665
Amir Johnson TOR 1553 4.5 7.9 0.0 0.1 1.3 1.9 3.5 6.0 1.8 0.8 1.6 2.2 4.8 10.5 .576 .400 .690
Dwight Howard ORL 2070 7.2 12.6 0.0 0.1 4.9 9.9 3.5 10.2 1.8 1.4 2.0 3.0 2.8 19.4 .573 .000 .491
Nikola Pekovic MIN 1264 7.3 12.9 0.0 0.0 4.0 5.3 5.2 4.7 0.9 0.8 0.9 2.5 2.8 18.5 .564 .743
Joel Anthony MIA 1349 2.3 4.1 0.0 0.0 1.3 1.9 2.7 4.0 0.2 1.0 2.2 1.2 3.4 5.8 .559 .690
Andrew Bynum LAL 2112 7.6 13.6 0.0 0.1 4.0 5.8 3.3 8.8 1.4 0.5 2.0 2.6 1.8 19.1 .558 .200 .692
JaVale McGee TOT 1535 7.2 12.9 0.0 0.0 1.8 3.9 3.8 7.4 0.7 0.8 3.1 2.0 3.9 16.2 .556 .461
Marcin Gortat PHO 2114 7.3 13.1 0.0 0.0 2.8 4.3 3.2 8.1 1.0 0.8 1.7 1.5 2.4 17.3 .555 .000 .649
Al Horford ATL 348 5.9 10.7 0.0 0.1 2.3 3.1 2.7 5.3 2.5 1.0 1.4 1.7 2.2 14.1 .553 .000 .733
Blake Griffin LAC 2392 8.4 15.4 0.0 0.2 3.7 7.0 3.3 7.5 3.2 0.8 0.7 2.3 3.3 20.6 .549 .125 .521
Ryan Hollins TOT 522 3.2 5.8 0.0 0.0 2.7 5.2 2.3 3.3 0.6 0.3 1.2 2.4 5.4 9.0 .548 .520
Chris Andersen DEN 486 4.4 8.0 0.0 0.0 3.7 6.1 3.6 7.4 0.4 1.4 3.4 1.3 3.9 12.4 .546 .610
Player Tm MP FG FGA 3P 3PA FT FTA ORB DRB AST STL BLK TOV PF PTS FG% 3P% FT%
Ian Mahinmi DAL 1139 4.1 7.5 0.0 0.0 3.0 4.6 3.4 5.7 0.4 1.2 1.0 1.6 5.6 11.2 .546 .000 .639
Greg Stiemsma BOS 766 3.1 5.7 0.0 0.0 1.4 1.9 2.3 6.1 1.3 1.7 4.0 1.6 6.8 7.6 .545 .707
Nene Hilario TOT 1110 6.8 12.7 0.0 0.1 3.7 5.4 2.0 7.4 2.6 1.4 1.2 3.1 3.1 17.4 .537 .000 .673
Jan Vesely WAS 1078 3.9 7.3 0.0 0.0 1.1 2.1 3.4 4.9 1.6 1.3 1.1 2.0 5.2 8.9 .537 .000 .532
Gustavo Ayon NOH 1088 4.6 8.6 0.0 0.0 1.3 2.1 2.8 5.9 2.4 1.8 1.5 1.5 3.9 10.6 .536 .000 .619
Serge Ibaka OKC 1792 5.3 9.8 0.0 0.1 1.6 2.4 3.9 6.1 0.6 0.7 4.8 1.6 3.6 12.1 .535 .333 .661
Jason Thompson SAC 1657 5.1 9.6 0.0 0.0 2.4 3.9 3.6 6.0 1.7 0.9 1.0 1.5 3.2 12.7 .535 .000 .602
DeJuan Blair SAS 1363 7.1 13.3 0.0 0.0 1.9 3.1 4.1 5.2 2.1 1.6 0.3 2.4 4.4 16.1 .534 .000 .613
Emeka Okafor NOH 781 5.3 9.9 0.0 0.0 1.8 3.4 3.2 6.6 1.1 0.7 1.2 1.7 3.4 12.3 .533 .514
Carlos Boozer CHI 1948 8.3 15.6 0.0 0.0 1.8 2.5 2.1 8.3 2.3 1.2 0.4 2.1 3.1 18.3 .532 .000 .693
Steve Nash PHO 1961 5.4 10.2 1.0 2.6 2.3 2.6 0.5 2.9 12.2 0.7 0.1 4.2 1.0 14.2 .532 .390 .894
Trevor Booker WAS 1261 5.2 9.7 0.0 0.1 1.6 2.7 3.4 5.9 1.1 1.4 1.2 1.7 3.9 12.0 .531 .500 .602
LeBron James MIA 2326 9.6 18.1 0.8 2.3 6.0 7.8 1.5 6.2 6.0 1.8 0.8 3.3 1.5 26.0 .531 .362 .771
Kevin Seraphin WAS 1176 6.2 11.7 0.0 0.0 1.4 2.1 3.2 5.4 1.0 0.6 2.3 2.0 4.1 13.9 .531 .000 .671
Semih Erden CLE 333 4.2 8.0 0.0 0.0 2.3 4.4 2.2 5.6 1.0 1.1 0.5 1.7 6.5 10.7 .527 .512
Manu Ginobili SAS 792 6.8 13.0 2.4 5.7 4.0 4.6 0.8 4.5 6.9 1.1 0.5 2.9 2.5 20.0 .526 .413 .871
Timofey Mozgov DEN 687 5.2 10.0 0.0 0.0 2.0 3.0 2.8 6.6 1.2 0.8 2.2 2.8 4.5 12.5 .526 .684
Greg Monroe DET 2082 7.0 13.5 0.0 0.0 3.5 4.7 4.1 6.9 2.6 1.4 0.8 2.8 3.1 17.6 .521 .000 .739
Jason Smith NOH 947 6.9 13.2 0.0 0.3 1.3 1.8 2.7 4.7 1.3 0.8 1.6 1.5 3.9 15.1 .520 .111 .702
Derrick Brown CHA 1443 5.3 10.2 0.1 0.6 2.3 3.5 2.4 3.5 1.7 1.2 0.3 1.4 2.4 13.1 .518 .250 .667
Player Tm MP FG FGA 3P 3PA FT FTA ORB DRB AST STL BLK TOV PF PTS FG% 3P% FT%
Brendan Haywood DAL 1146 3.7 7.2 0.0 0.0 1.4 3.0 4.4 5.8 0.6 0.8 1.7 1.4 3.8 8.8 .518 .469
Dante Cunningham MEM 1124 4.6 8.9 0.0 0.1 1.4 2.2 2.9 5.0 1.2 1.3 1.1 0.9 3.1 10.7 .516 .000 .652
Aaron Gray TOR 813 3.7 7.1 0.0 0.0 1.1 2.1 3.7 8.8 1.2 1.0 0.8 2.3 5.6 8.5 .516 .532
Anderson Varejao CLE 785 5.2 10.2 0.0 0.2 2.0 2.9 5.0 8.2 2.0 1.6 0.8 2.1 2.8 12.4 .514 .000 .672
Ed Davis TOR 1534 4.0 7.9 0.0 0.0 1.7 2.5 3.1 7.1 1.4 0.9 1.5 1.6 3.7 9.7 .513 .000 .670
Ivan Johnson ATL 934 5.4 10.6 0.1 0.2 2.8 3.9 2.5 6.2 1.2 1.7 0.7 2.7 4.5 13.7 .513 .333 .720
LaMarcus Aldridge POR 1994 8.7 17.0 0.0 0.2 4.0 4.9 2.7 5.3 2.4 0.9 0.8 2.0 2.8 21.5 .512 .182 .814
Luc Mbah a Moute MIL 1009 4.7 9.3 0.0 0.1 2.4 3.7 2.7 5.4 1.0 1.4 0.8 1.4 3.3 11.9 .510 .250 .641
Jon Leuer MIL 555 6.3 12.4 0.2 0.6 1.4 1.8 2.9 4.9 1.6 0.9 1.1 1.2 4.3 14.1 .508 .333 .750
Joakim Noah CHI 1945 4.6 9.1 0.0 0.0 2.9 3.8 4.5 7.2 3.0 0.8 1.7 1.7 3.0 12.1 .508 .000 .748
Jordan Williams NJN 635 4.4 8.6 0.0 0.0 2.4 3.7 3.7 5.1 0.6 1.2 0.9 1.3 3.5 11.2 .507 .652
Thaddeus Young PHI 1755 7.1 14.1 0.0 0.1 2.3 3.0 2.8 3.9 1.5 1.3 0.8 1.1 2.6 16.6 .507 .250 .771
Omer Asik CHI 971 2.9 5.8 0.0 0.0 1.7 3.8 4.7 8.3 1.2 1.1 2.5 2.5 4.5 7.6 .506 .456
Samuel Dalembert HOU 1446 5.0 9.8 0.0 0.0 2.2 2.8 3.9 7.4 0.8 0.9 2.8 2.0 4.0 12.2 .506 .000 .796
Craig Smith POR 464 4.6 9.1 0.0 0.1 2.9 4.1 2.6 6.0 1.5 1.2 0.4 1.9 4.3 12.1 .504 .000 .717
Kevin Garnett BOS 1864 7.6 15.0 0.1 0.2 3.1 3.7 1.3 8.3 3.4 1.1 1.2 2.1 2.7 18.3 .503 .333 .857
Carl Landry NOH 999 6.6 13.0 0.0 0.1 5.3 6.6 2.8 4.9 1.4 0.5 0.4 2.3 3.2 18.4 .503 .000 .799
David Lee GSW 2121 7.9 15.6 0.0 0.1 3.7 4.8 2.9 6.3 2.7 0.9 0.4 2.5 3.0 19.5 .503 .000 .782
Pau Gasol LAL 2430 6.8 13.6 0.1 0.4 3.0 3.9 2.7 7.3 3.5 0.5 1.3 2.1 1.9 16.7 .501 .259 .782
Brandon Rush GSW 1717 4.9 9.8 2.1 4.6 1.4 1.7 0.7 4.6 1.8 0.7 1.2 1.4 1.3 13.3 .501 .452 .793

TOP NBA SCORERS CHART 3 OF 3 >>> BEST THREE-POINT SCORERS in 2011-2012 (complete regular season)
Each year QFTR publishes Real Player Ratings for every player in the NBA who has played at least 300 minutes. Real Player Ratings are comprehensive player ratings that are very carefully designed and quality controlled. Starting in 2012, the Ratings are supplemented by seven per 36 minutes charts which show player performance in seven of the very most important performance measures, all of which are components of Real Player Ratings (but there are other components that go into Real Player Ratings). These charts are stationed on the home page at all times. This is most likely the only place on the Internet where this key player information is shown in this optimal way.

Here we have the best 3-point scorers of the NBA in 2011-2012 as indicated by 3-point shooting percentage. This is "3P%" in the chart. All items shown in the chart other than the percentages and the minutes played are per 36 minutes, which is much smarter to use than per game numbers.

For this and all the other charts, a minimum of 300 minutes of playing time is required. Players who make at least 2.2 three-point shots per 36 minutes and who have at least a .300 (30%) three-point shot shooting percentage are the only ones qualified to be on this list.

This is one of the seven "7/36 Charts". A short user guide for these is found in this Report.

Here now are how the best 3-point scorers in the NBA in 2011-2012 rated and ranked:

Player                 Tm   MP   FG  FGA  3P  3PA  FT FTA ORB DRB AST STL BLK TOV  PF  PTS  FG%  3P%  FT%
Steve Novak NYK 1020 5.7 11.9 4.7 10.0 0.8 0.9 0.3 3.4 0.4 0.6 0.3 0.7 2.1 16.8 .478 .472 .846
Stephen Curry GSW 732 7.1 14.6 2.7 6.0 1.9 2.3 0.7 3.6 6.8 1.9 0.4 3.2 3.0 18.8 .490 .455 .809
Ray Allen BOS 1565 5.2 11.3 2.4 5.4 2.2 2.4 0.3 2.9 2.5 1.1 0.2 1.6 1.9 15.1 .458 .453 .915
Mike Miller MIA 752 4.4 10.0 2.5 5.6 0.1 0.2 1.1 5.1 2.0 0.7 0.3 1.4 2.8 11.3 .435 .453 .400
Jordan Farmar NJN 831 6.4 13.6 2.4 5.4 2.5 2.7 0.3 2.3 5.6 1.0 0.1 2.9 2.1 17.6 .467 .440 .905
Danny Green SAS 1522 5.0 11.3 2.4 5.5 1.9 2.4 1.3 4.1 2.0 1.4 1.1 1.6 2.5 14.3 .442 .436 .790
Kyle Korver CHI 1469 4.4 10.1 2.9 6.6 1.3 1.6 0.6 3.3 2.7 0.9 0.4 1.3 2.7 13.0 .432 .435 .833
Luke Babbitt POR 537 4.8 11.6 2.9 6.7 1.1 1.3 1.1 5.3 1.1 0.7 0.3 1.8 3.1 13.5 .410 .430 .850
Jerryd Bayless TOR 705 6.0 14.1 2.2 5.3 3.8 4.5 0.4 3.0 6.0 1.2 0.2 2.7 3.6 18.0 .424 .423 .852
Matt Bonner SAS 1326 4.2 9.5 2.9 6.8 0.4 0.6 0.8 5.0 1.7 0.4 0.6 0.4 1.8 11.6 .440 .420 .762
Richard Jefferson TOT 1748 4.2 10.1 2.3 5.5 1.2 1.8 0.5 4.0 1.8 0.8 0.4 1.0 2.5 11.9 .416 .420 .694
Gary Neal SAS 1206 6.3 14.5 2.5 5.9 1.5 1.9 0.4 3.2 3.5 0.8 0.1 1.8 2.2 16.6 .436 .419 .781
J.J. Redick ORL 1765 5.1 11.9 2.3 5.5 2.9 3.2 0.4 2.7 3.3 0.6 0.1 1.4 1.9 15.3 .425 .418 .911
Klay Thompson GSW 1608 7.1 16.1 2.5 6.0 1.8 2.0 0.5 3.1 3.0 1.1 0.4 2.3 3.5 18.5 .443 .414 .868
Manu Ginobili SAS 792 6.8 13.0 2.4 5.7 4.0 4.6 0.8 4.5 6.9 1.1 0.5 2.9 2.5 20.0 .526 .413 .871
James Jones MIA 666 3.1 8.1 2.5 6.2 1.4 1.6 0.3 2.3 1.0 0.9 0.5 0.5 2.4 10.0 .380 .404 .833
Chase Budinger HOU 1298 5.8 13.1 2.4 6.1 1.5 1.9 1.1 5.0 2.1 0.8 0.2 1.5 1.8 15.5 .442 .402 .771
Ryan Anderson ORL 1964 6.1 13.9 3.0 7.7 2.7 3.1 4.1 4.5 1.0 0.9 0.5 1.0 2.7 18.0 .439 .393 .877
John Lucas CHI 726 7.1 17.8 2.7 6.9 1.4 1.6 1.1 2.7 5.4 0.9 0.0 2.1 2.1 18.3 .399 .393 .875
Mo Williams LAC 1472 6.4 14.9 2.3 5.8 1.8 2.0 0.6 1.9 3.9 1.2 0.2 2.1 2.5 16.8 .426 .389 .900
Player Tm MP FG FGA 3P 3PA FT FTA ORB DRB AST STL BLK TOV PF PTS FG% 3P% FT%
Cartier Martin WAS 391 5.4 12.3 2.7 6.9 1.0 1.7 1.1 4.2 0.9 1.0 0.2 1.2 3.2 14.5 .440 .387 .579
Randy Foye LAC 1682 5.5 13.8 2.7 7.0 1.6 1.8 0.5 2.4 3.1 1.0 0.5 1.6 2.8 15.2 .398 .386 .859
Chauncey Billups LAC 607 4.9 13.5 2.8 7.4 5.0 5.6 0.2 2.7 4.7 0.5 0.2 2.3 2.4 17.7 .364 .384 .895
Jannero Pargo ATL 671 5.6 13.6 2.8 7.4 1.0 1.1 0.5 3.4 5.2 1.1 0.1 2.6 3.4 15.1 .415 .384 .950
Roger Mason WAS 697 5.3 13.3 3.0 8.0 1.1 1.4 0.4 3.2 2.4 0.7 0.3 1.7 1.7 14.8 .399 .383 .778
Jason Terry DAL 2000 6.4 14.9 2.5 6.6 1.8 2.0 0.3 2.4 4.1 1.3 0.2 2.3 1.2 17.1 .430 .378 .883
Andrew Goudelock LAL 419 5.8 14.9 2.4 6.4 0.9 1.0 0.4 2.2 1.7 0.3 0.0 1.8 2.7 15.0 .391 .373 .917
Anthony Morrow NJN 1636 6.0 14.5 2.3 6.3 2.1 2.3 0.7 2.1 1.3 1.0 0.2 1.5 1.9 16.4 .413 .371 .933
Vladimir Radmanovic ATL 755 3.5 9.4 2.4 6.4 1.0 1.4 1.6 5.2 2.6 1.0 0.7 1.7 3.0 10.5 .376 .370 .759
Jason Richardson ORL 1591 5.5 13.5 2.3 6.3 0.9 1.6 0.8 3.6 2.4 1.2 0.5 1.4 2.1 14.2 .408 .368 .594
Jimmer Fredette SAC 1135 5.5 14.1 2.5 6.9 1.3 1.5 0.5 1.8 3.4 1.0 0.1 2.1 2.3 14.7 .386 .361 .833
Dorell Wright GSW 1650 4.8 11.5 2.3 6.4 1.7 2.1 1.3 4.8 2.1 1.3 0.6 1.1 2.1 13.7 .422 .360 .816
Kevin Martin HOU 1264 6.3 15.3 2.2 6.4 4.6 5.1 0.4 2.6 3.1 0.8 0.1 2.0 2.0 19.4 .413 .347 .894
J.R. Smith NYK 967 6.1 15.1 2.5 7.2 1.5 2.0 1.1 4.0 3.1 2.0 0.2 1.7 3.2 16.2 .407 .347 .709
Daequan Cook OKC 989 4.0 10.8 2.9 8.3 0.5 0.8 0.4 4.0 0.5 0.8 0.4 0.6 2.5 11.3 .368 .346 .636
Mickael Pietrus BOS 921 4.1 10.6 2.4 7.1 0.8 1.2 0.7 4.4 1.0 0.8 0.4 1.3 3.2 11.3 .385 .335 .645

Laugh Out Loud, George Karl: Have You Seen the News Lately?

Laugh Out Loud, George Karl: Have You Seen the News Lately?


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TOP NBA DEFENDERS CHART 1 OF 3 >>> TOP REBOUNDERS in 2011-2012 (complete regular season)
Each year QFTR publishes Real Player Ratings for every player in the NBA who has played at least 300 minutes. Real Player Ratings are comprehensive player ratings that are very carefully designed and quality controlled. Starting in 2012, the Ratings are supplemented by seven per 36 minutes charts which show player performance in seven of the very most important performance measures, all of which are components of Real Player Ratings (but there are other components that go into Real Player Ratings). These charts are stationed on the home page at all times. This is most likely the only place on the Internet where this key player information is shown in this optimal way.

Here we have the best defensive rebounders of the NBA in 2011-2012 as indicated by defensive rebounds per 36 minutes playing time. This is "DRB" in the chart. All items shown in the chart other than the percentages and the minutes played are per 36 minutes are per 36 minutes, which is much smarter to use than per game numbers.

For this and all the other charts, a minimum of 300 minutes of playing time is required. Only players who made at least 6.5 defensive rebounds per 36 minutes are shown here.

This is one of the seven "7/36 Charts". A short user guide for these is found in this Report.

Here now are how the best defensive rebounders in the NBA in 2011-2012 rated and ranked:
Player              Tm   MP   FG  FGA  3P 3PA  FT FTA ORB  DRB AST STL BLK TOV  PF  PTS  FG%  3P%  FT%
Dwight Howard ORL 2070 7.2 12.6 0.0 0.1 4.9 9.9 3.5 10.2 1.8 1.4 2.0 3.0 2.8 19.4 .573 .000 .491
Marcus Camby TOT 1352 3.4 7.6 0.1 0.1 0.8 1.7 4.2 9.9 2.8 1.3 2.3 1.5 3.4 7.6 .446 .400 .453
Tim Duncan SAS 1634 8.0 16.1 0.0 0.1 3.8 5.5 2.4 9.0 2.9 0.8 1.9 2.1 2.2 19.7 .492 .000 .695
Andrew Bynum LAL 2112 7.6 13.6 0.0 0.1 4.0 5.8 3.3 8.8 1.4 0.5 2.0 2.6 1.8 19.1 .558 .200 .692
Aaron Gray TOR 813 3.7 7.1 0.0 0.0 1.1 2.1 3.7 8.8 1.2 1.0 0.8 2.3 5.6 8.5 .516 .532
Joel Przybilla POR 449 1.8 3.8 0.0 0.0 0.9 1.4 2.3 8.7 0.5 0.3 1.3 1.8 5.3 4.4 .458 .611
Kevin Love MIN 2145 8.0 17.8 1.8 4.7 6.4 7.7 3.8 8.5 1.9 0.8 0.5 2.1 2.6 24.0 .448 .372 .824
Jamaal Magloire TOR 374 1.6 4.3 0.0 0.0 0.7 2.6 2.4 8.5 0.6 0.4 1.0 2.1 6.4 3.9 .378 .259
Omer Asik CHI 971 2.9 5.8 0.0 0.0 1.7 3.8 4.7 8.3 1.2 1.1 2.5 2.5 4.5 7.6 .506 .456
Carlos Boozer CHI 1948 8.3 15.6 0.0 0.0 1.8 2.5 2.1 8.3 2.3 1.2 0.4 2.1 3.1 18.3 .532 .000 .693
Kevin Garnett BOS 1864 7.6 15.0 0.1 0.2 3.1 3.7 1.3 8.3 3.4 1.1 1.2 2.1 2.7 18.3 .503 .333 .857
Jordan Hill TOT 551 5.4 10.8 0.0 0.2 2.0 3.1 4.0 8.2 1.0 0.9 1.8 2.0 4.6 12.7 .497 .000 .638
Anderson Varejao CLE 785 5.2 10.2 0.0 0.2 2.0 2.9 5.0 8.2 2.0 1.6 0.8 2.1 2.8 12.4 .514 .000 .672
DeMarcus Cousins SAC 1950 8.3 18.4 0.0 0.3 4.8 6.9 4.9 8.1 1.9 1.7 1.4 3.1 4.7 21.4 .448 .143 .702
Marcin Gortat PHO 2114 7.3 13.1 0.0 0.0 2.8 4.3 3.2 8.1 1.0 0.8 1.7 1.5 2.4 17.3 .555 .000 .649
Reggie Evans LAC 771 1.6 3.4 0.0 0.0 1.7 3.3 4.7 8.0 0.8 1.4 0.3 2.1 5.5 4.9 .472 .507
Udonis Haslem MIA 1589 3.4 8.1 0.0 0.0 1.9 2.3 2.7 8.0 1.0 0.8 0.5 1.4 3.2 8.7 .423 .814
Al Jefferson UTA 2075 9.0 18.2 0.0 0.1 2.4 3.1 2.3 7.8 2.3 0.8 1.8 1.1 2.7 20.3 .492 .250 .774
Andrew Bogut MIL 364 6.0 13.5 0.0 0.1 1.4 2.3 2.2 7.7 3.1 1.2 2.4 2.4 3.6 13.5 .449 .000 .609
Josh Smith ATL 2329 7.8 17.0 0.4 1.7 3.1 5.0 2.1 7.7 4.0 1.4 1.8 2.5 2.7 19.2 .458 .257 .630
Player Tm MP FG FGA 3P 3PA FT FTA ORB DRB AST STL BLK TOV PF PTS FG% 3P% FT%
Blake Griffin LAC 2392 8.4 15.4 0.0 0.2 3.7 7.0 3.3 7.5 3.2 0.8 0.7 2.3 3.3 20.6 .549 .125 .521
Spencer Hawes PHI 920 6.1 12.5 0.1 0.5 1.6 2.2 3.1 7.5 3.8 0.6 1.9 2.2 3.9 13.9 .489 .250 .727
Kris Humphries NJN 2162 5.4 11.2 0.0 0.0 3.5 4.6 3.9 7.5 1.5 0.8 1.2 2.0 2.9 14.2 .481 .752
Chris Andersen DEN 486 4.4 8.0 0.0 0.0 3.7 6.1 3.6 7.4 0.4 1.4 3.4 1.3 3.9 12.4 .546 .610
Samuel Dalembert HOU 1446 5.0 9.8 0.0 0.0 2.2 2.8 3.9 7.4 0.8 0.9 2.8 2.0 4.0 12.2 .506 .000 .796
Nene Hilario TOT 1110 6.8 12.7 0.0 0.1 3.7 5.4 2.0 7.4 2.6 1.4 1.2 3.1 3.1 17.4 .537 .000 .673
Kosta Koufos DEN 792 5.2 8.7 0.0 0.0 1.5 2.5 4.3 7.4 0.7 1.1 1.9 1.5 4.4 12.0 .599 .600
JaVale McGee TOT 1535 7.2 12.9 0.0 0.0 1.8 3.9 3.8 7.4 0.7 0.8 3.1 2.0 3.9 16.2 .556 .461
Kenneth Faried DEN 1037 6.3 10.7 0.0 0.0 3.8 5.7 4.9 7.3 1.2 1.2 1.6 1.9 4.0 16.4 .586 .665
Pau Gasol LAL 2430 6.8 13.6 0.1 0.4 3.0 3.9 2.7 7.3 3.5 0.5 1.3 2.1 1.9 16.7 .501 .259 .782
Evan Turner PHI 1713 5.5 12.4 0.2 1.0 1.5 2.3 0.6 7.3 3.8 0.8 0.4 2.2 2.5 12.8 .446 .224 .676
Lavoy Allen PHI 624 4.6 9.6 0.0 0.0 0.6 0.8 2.7 7.2 2.0 0.7 1.0 1.2 4.2 9.7 .473 .786
Ersan Ilyasova MIL 1655 6.4 13.0 1.1 2.4 3.1 4.0 4.3 7.2 1.5 0.9 1.0 1.7 2.9 17.0 .492 .455 .781
Chris Kaman NOH 1372 7.0 15.7 0.0 0.0 2.2 2.8 2.3 7.2 2.7 0.7 2.0 3.4 2.8 16.2 .446 .785
Joakim Noah CHI 1945 4.6 9.1 0.0 0.0 2.9 3.8 4.5 7.2 3.0 0.8 1.7 1.7 3.0 12.1 .508 .000 .748
Zach Randolph MEM 735 6.5 14.0 0.1 0.4 2.8 4.3 3.8 7.2 2.4 1.0 0.2 2.0 2.8 15.9 .463 .250 .659
Ed Davis TOR 1534 4.0 7.9 0.0 0.0 1.7 2.5 3.1 7.1 1.4 0.9 1.5 1.6 3.7 9.7 .513 .000 .670
Tyson Chandler NYK 2061 4.2 6.2 0.0 0.0 3.8 5.5 3.7 7.0 1.0 1.0 1.6 1.8 3.2 12.2 .679 .000 .689
Derrick Favors UTA 1376 5.8 11.6 0.0 0.0 3.3 5.1 4.1 7.0 1.1 1.0 1.7 2.7 3.8 14.9 .499 .649
Marc Gasol MEM 2370 5.4 11.2 0.0 0.2 3.6 4.8 1.8 7.0 3.1 0.9 1.8 1.8 3.1 14.5 .482 .083 .748
Player Tm MP FG FGA 3P 3PA FT FTA ORB DRB AST STL BLK TOV PF PTS FG% 3P% FT%
Enes Kanter UTA 874 4.8 9.7 0.0 0.0 2.9 4.3 4.4 7.0 0.3 0.7 0.9 2.2 3.6 12.5 .496 .000 .667
Nikola Vucevic PHI 812 5.8 12.9 0.1 0.4 0.8 1.5 3.9 7.0 1.4 0.9 1.5 1.5 4.9 12.5 .450 .375 .529
Kevin Durant OKC 2546 9.1 18.3 1.9 4.9 6.1 7.1 0.6 6.9 3.3 1.2 1.1 3.5 1.9 26.2 .496 .387 .860
DeAndre Jordan LAC 1798 4.1 6.5 0.0 0.0 1.5 2.8 4.0 6.9 0.3 0.6 2.7 1.5 3.8 9.7 .632 .000 .525
Greg Monroe DET 2082 7.0 13.5 0.0 0.0 3.5 4.7 4.1 6.9 2.6 1.4 0.8 2.8 3.1 17.6 .521 .000 .739
Ben Wallace DET 980 1.2 3.2 0.0 0.1 0.6 1.7 3.0 6.9 1.6 1.7 1.9 1.2 2.2 3.1 .395 .250 .340
Tiago Splitter SAS 1121 6.8 11.0 0.0 0.0 4.0 5.8 3.0 6.8 2.1 0.7 1.5 2.8 4.3 17.6 .618 .691
Roy Hibbert IND 1937 6.2 12.4 0.0 0.0 3.2 4.4 4.0 6.7 2.0 0.6 2.4 2.4 3.6 15.5 .497 .000 .711
Zaza Pachulia ATL 1640 3.7 7.4 0.0 0.0 2.6 3.5 3.4 6.7 1.7 1.2 0.6 1.8 3.8 10.0 .499 .741
Kurt Thomas POR 803 3.3 7.0 0.0 0.0 0.6 0.9 1.7 6.7 2.1 1.1 1.4 1.4 5.5 7.2 .465 .700
Channing Frye PHO 1669 5.5 13.2 2.0 5.7 1.6 1.8 1.5 6.6 1.9 0.9 1.5 1.4 3.8 14.5 .416 .346 .890
Paul Millsap UTA 2100 7.3 14.8 0.1 0.5 3.5 4.4 3.1 6.6 2.6 2.0 0.9 1.9 3.8 18.2 .495 .226 .792
Timofey Mozgov DEN 687 5.2 10.0 0.0 0.0 2.0 3.0 2.8 6.6 1.2 0.8 2.2 2.8 4.5 12.5 .526 .684
Emeka Okafor NOH 781 5.3 9.9 0.0 0.0 1.8 3.4 3.2 6.6 1.1 0.7 1.2 1.7 3.4 12.3 .533 .514
Al Harrington DEN 1761 7.1 15.8 2.1 6.2 2.4 3.6 1.5 6.5 1.8 1.2 0.2 2.3 3.7 18.6 .446 .333 .676

TOP NBA DEFENDERS CHART 2 OF 3 >>> TOP BLOCKERS in 2011-2012 (complete regular season)
Each year QFTR publishes Real Player Ratings for every player in the NBA who has played at least 300 minutes. Real Player Ratings are comprehensive player ratings that are very carefully designed and quality controlled. Starting in 2012, the Ratings are supplemented by seven per 36 minutes charts which show player performance in seven of the very most important performance measures, all of which are components of Real Player Ratings (but there are other components that go into Real Player Ratings). These charts are stationed on the home page at all times. This is most likely the only place on the Internet where this key player information is shown in this optimal way.

Here we have the best (defensive) blockers of the NBA in 2011-2012 as indicated by blocks per 36 minutes playing time. This is "BLK" in the chart. All items shown in the chart other than the percentages and the minutes played are per 36 minutes, which is much smarter to use than per game numbers.

For this and all the other charts, a minimum of 300 minutes of playing time is required. Only players who made at least 1.5 blocks per 36 minutes are shown here.

This is one of the seven "7/36 Charts". A short user guide for these is found in this Report.

Here now are how the best blockers in the NBA in 2011-2012 rated and ranked:
Player              Tm   MP   FG  FGA  3P 3PA  FT FTA ORB  DRB AST STL BLK TOV  PF  PTS  FG%  3P%  FT%
Serge Ibaka OKC 1792 5.3 9.8 0.0 0.1 1.6 2.4 3.9 6.1 0.6 0.7 4.8 1.6 3.6 12.1 .535 .333 .661
Larry Sanders MIL 643 4.7 10.3 0.0 0.1 1.0 2.1 3.5 5.5 1.8 1.8 4.3 2.4 7.4 10.4 .457 .000 .474
Greg Stiemsma BOS 766 3.1 5.7 0.0 0.0 1.4 1.9 2.3 6.1 1.3 1.7 4.0 1.6 6.8 7.6 .545 .707
Chris Andersen DEN 486 4.4 8.0 0.0 0.0 3.7 6.1 3.6 7.4 0.4 1.4 3.4 1.3 3.9 12.4 .546 .610
JaVale McGee TOT 1535 7.2 12.9 0.0 0.0 1.8 3.9 3.8 7.4 0.7 0.8 3.1 2.0 3.9 16.2 .556 .461
Brandan Wright DAL 791 6.6 10.6 0.0 0.0 2.4 3.7 2.8 5.1 0.6 1.0 2.9 1.0 2.8 15.5 .618 .000 .634
Bismack Biyombo CHA 1455 3.2 6.9 0.0 0.0 1.7 3.5 2.8 6.3 0.7 0.5 2.8 1.8 3.6 8.1 .464 .483
Samuel Dalembert HOU 1446 5.0 9.8 0.0 0.0 2.2 2.8 3.9 7.4 0.8 0.9 2.8 2.0 4.0 12.2 .506 .000 .796
Ekpe Udoh TOT 1290 3.5 8.2 0.0 0.1 2.4 3.2 2.8 4.3 1.6 1.1 2.8 1.5 4.9 9.5 .431 .000 .754
DeAndre Jordan LAC 1798 4.1 6.5 0.0 0.0 1.5 2.8 4.0 6.9 0.3 0.6 2.7 1.5 3.8 9.7 .632 .000 .525
Jermaine ONeal BOS 570 3.3 7.6 0.0 0.0 1.3 2.0 2.3 6.2 0.6 0.5 2.7 1.3 5.1 7.9 .433 .677
Omer Asik CHI 971 2.9 5.8 0.0 0.0 1.7 3.8 4.7 8.3 1.2 1.1 2.5 2.5 4.5 7.6 .506 .456
Andrew Bogut MIL 364 6.0 13.5 0.0 0.1 1.4 2.3 2.2 7.7 3.1 1.2 2.4 2.4 3.6 13.5 .449 .000 .609
Roy Hibbert IND 1937 6.2 12.4 0.0 0.0 3.2 4.4 4.0 6.7 2.0 0.6 2.4 2.4 3.6 15.5 .497 .000 .711
Robin Lopez PHO 895 5.0 10.8 0.0 0.0 4.0 5.6 3.6 4.8 0.8 0.7 2.4 1.7 5.1 14.0 .461 .714
Anthony Randolph MIN 517 6.5 13.9 0.0 0.1 4.5 5.8 2.9 5.6 1.3 0.9 2.4 2.8 3.9 17.5 .470 .000 .762
Marcus Camby TOT 1352 3.4 7.6 0.1 0.1 0.8 1.7 4.2 9.9 2.8 1.3 2.3 1.5 3.4 7.6 .446 .400 .453
Taj Gibson CHI 1284 5.6 11.3 0.0 0.0 2.4 3.8 3.8 5.5 1.3 0.8 2.3 1.7 3.7 13.6 .495 .622
Kevin Seraphin WAS 1176 6.2 11.7 0.0 0.0 1.4 2.1 3.2 5.4 1.0 0.6 2.3 2.0 4.1 13.9 .531 .000 .671
Joel Anthony MIA 1349 2.3 4.1 0.0 0.0 1.3 1.9 2.7 4.0 0.2 1.0 2.2 1.2 3.4 5.8 .559 .690
Player Tm MP FG FGA 3P 3PA FT FTA ORB DRB AST STL BLK TOV PF PTS FG% 3P% FT%
Andris Biedrins GSW 739 1.9 3.1 0.0 0.0 0.0 0.4 2.2 6.4 0.8 1.1 2.2 0.7 6.1 3.8 .609 .111
Timofey Mozgov DEN 687 5.2 10.0 0.0 0.0 2.0 3.0 2.8 6.6 1.2 0.8 2.2 2.8 4.5 12.5 .526 .684
Louis Amundson IND 753 4.3 9.9 0.0 0.0 1.7 3.9 4.5 6.1 0.7 1.3 2.1 2.2 6.0 10.2 .430 .427
Earl Clark ORL 559 3.3 9.0 0.0 0.0 1.4 1.9 2.3 5.7 1.2 0.8 2.1 1.6 4.6 7.9 .367 .724
Tyrus Thomas CHA 1013 4.3 11.6 0.0 0.1 2.2 2.9 1.7 5.4 1.2 1.3 2.1 1.9 5.1 10.8 .367 .333 .759
Elton Brand PHI 1732 6.0 12.1 0.0 0.0 1.8 2.4 3.0 5.9 2.0 1.2 2.0 1.4 3.7 13.7 .494 .000 .733
Andrew Bynum LAL 2112 7.6 13.6 0.0 0.1 4.0 5.8 3.3 8.8 1.4 0.5 2.0 2.6 1.8 19.1 .558 .200 .692
Dwight Howard ORL 2070 7.2 12.6 0.0 0.1 4.9 9.9 3.5 10.2 1.8 1.4 2.0 3.0 2.8 19.4 .573 .000 .491
Chris Kaman NOH 1372 7.0 15.7 0.0 0.0 2.2 2.8 2.3 7.2 2.7 0.7 2.0 3.4 2.8 16.2 .446 .785
Tim Duncan SAS 1634 8.0 16.1 0.0 0.1 3.8 5.5 2.4 9.0 2.9 0.8 1.9 2.1 2.2 19.7 .492 .000 .695
Spencer Hawes PHI 920 6.1 12.5 0.1 0.5 1.6 2.2 3.1 7.5 3.8 0.6 1.9 2.2 3.9 13.9 .489 .250 .727
James Johnson TOR 1561 5.4 11.9 0.4 1.4 1.9 2.7 1.7 5.0 2.8 1.6 1.9 2.3 4.1 13.1 .450 .317 .704
Kosta Koufos DEN 792 5.2 8.7 0.0 0.0 1.5 2.5 4.3 7.4 0.7 1.1 1.9 1.5 4.4 12.0 .599 .600
Darko Milicic MIN 472 4.5 9.9 0.0 0.0 1.2 2.8 2.7 4.7 1.3 0.7 1.9 2.4 4.5 10.2 .454 .432
Nazr Mohammed OKC 692 4.1 8.8 0.0 0.1 0.7 1.2 3.1 5.8 0.7 1.0 1.9 1.4 5.3 8.9 .467 .000 .565
Ben Wallace DET 980 1.2 3.2 0.0 0.1 0.6 1.7 3.0 6.9 1.6 1.7 1.9 1.2 2.2 3.1 .395 .250 .340
Marc Gasol MEM 2370 5.4 11.2 0.0 0.2 3.6 4.8 1.8 7.0 3.1 0.9 1.8 1.8 3.1 14.5 .482 .083 .748
Jordan Hill TOT 551 5.4 10.8 0.0 0.2 2.0 3.1 4.0 8.2 1.0 0.9 1.8 2.0 4.6 12.7 .497 .000 .638
Al Jefferson UTA 2075 9.0 18.2 0.0 0.1 2.4 3.1 2.3 7.8 2.3 0.8 1.8 1.1 2.7 20.3 .492 .250 .774
Josh Smith ATL 2329 7.8 17.0 0.4 1.7 3.1 5.0 2.1 7.7 4.0 1.4 1.8 2.5 2.7 19.2 .458 .257 .630
Player Tm MP FG FGA 3P 3PA FT FTA ORB DRB AST STL BLK TOV PF PTS FG% 3P% FT%
Derrick Favors UTA 1376 5.8 11.6 0.0 0.0 3.3 5.1 4.1 7.0 1.1 1.0 1.7 2.7 3.8 14.9 .499 .649
Francisco Garcia SAC 798 3.9 10.3 1.7 5.9 1.1 1.4 0.5 4.0 1.4 1.6 1.7 1.0 3.3 10.6 .376 .290 .800
Marcin Gortat PHO 2114 7.3 13.1 0.0 0.0 2.8 4.3 3.2 8.1 1.0 0.8 1.7 1.5 2.4 17.3 .555 .000 .649
Brendan Haywood DAL 1146 3.7 7.2 0.0 0.0 1.4 3.0 4.4 5.8 0.6 0.8 1.7 1.4 3.8 8.8 .518 .469
Joakim Noah CHI 1945 4.6 9.1 0.0 0.0 2.9 3.8 4.5 7.2 3.0 0.8 1.7 1.7 3.0 12.1 .508 .000 .748
Tyson Chandler NYK 2061 4.2 6.2 0.0 0.0 3.8 5.5 3.7 7.0 1.0 1.0 1.6 1.8 3.2 12.2 .679 .000 .689
Kenneth Faried DEN 1037 6.3 10.7 0.0 0.0 3.8 5.7 4.9 7.3 1.2 1.2 1.6 1.9 4.0 16.4 .586 .665
Amir Johnson TOR 1553 4.5 7.9 0.0 0.1 1.3 1.9 3.5 6.0 1.8 0.8 1.6 2.2 4.8 10.5 .576 .400 .690
Kenyon Martin LAC 940 3.7 8.4 0.1 0.5 0.8 2.1 1.9 5.1 0.7 1.7 1.6 1.2 3.9 8.3 .441 .231 .370
Jason Smith NOH 947 6.9 13.2 0.0 0.3 1.3 1.8 2.7 4.7 1.3 0.8 1.6 1.5 3.9 15.1 .520 .111 .702
Tristan Thompson CLE 1424 4.9 11.2 0.0 0.1 2.7 4.9 4.7 5.1 0.7 0.7 1.6 2.0 3.4 12.5 .439 .000 .552
Gustavo Ayon NOH 1088 4.6 8.6 0.0 0.0 1.3 2.1 2.8 5.9 2.4 1.8 1.5 1.5 3.9 10.6 .536 .000 .619
Channing Frye PHO 1669 5.5 13.2 2.0 5.7 1.6 1.8 1.5 6.6 1.9 0.9 1.5 1.4 3.8 14.5 .416 .346 .890
Travis Outlaw SAC 500 4.3 12.6 1.2 4.3 2.2 3.3 1.4 3.0 1.2 1.4 1.5 1.4 2.4 12.0 .343 .267 .674
Kendrick Perkins OKC 1744 2.6 5.4 0.0 0.0 1.5 2.3 2.5 6.3 1.6 0.5 1.5 2.4 3.9 6.8 .489 .652
Tiago Splitter SAS 1121 6.8 11.0 0.0 0.0 4.0 5.8 3.0 6.8 2.1 0.7 1.5 2.8 4.3 17.6 .618 .691
Nikola Vucevic PHI 812 5.8 12.9 0.1 0.4 0.8 1.5 3.9 7.0 1.4 0.9 1.5 1.5 4.9 12.5 .450 .375 .529

TOP NBA DEFENDERS CHART 3 OF 3 >>> TOP THIEVES / FAST BREAKERS in 2011-2012 (complete regular season)
Each year QFTR publishes Real Player Ratings for every player in the NBA who has played at least 300 minutes. Real Player Ratings are comprehensive player ratings that are very carefully designed and quality controlled. Starting in 2012, the Ratings are supplemented by seven per 36 minutes charts which show player performance in seven of the very most important performance measures, all of which are components of Real Player Ratings (but there are other components that go into Real Player Ratings). These charts are stationed on the home page at all times. This is most likely the only place on the Internet where this key player information is shown in this optimal way.

Here we have the best thieves / fast breakers of the NBA in 2011-2012 as indicated by steals per 36 minutes playing time. This is "STL" in the chart. All items shown in the chart other than the percentages and the minutes played are per 36 minutes, which is much smarter to use than per game numbers.

For this and all the other charts, a minimum of 300 minutes of playing time is required. Only players who made at least 1.7 steals per 36 minutes are shown here.

This is one of the seven "7/36 Charts". A short user guide for these is found in this Report.

Here now are how the best thieves / fast breakers in the NBA in 2011-2012 rated and ranked:
Player               Tm   MP   FG  FGA  3P 3PA  FT FTA ORB DRB  AST STL BLK TOV  PF  PTS  FG%  3P%  FT%
Tony Allen MEM 1525 5.0 10.6 0.2 0.6 3.3 4.1 2.3 3.2 1.9 2.5 0.8 2.2 3.4 13.4 .469 .308 .800
Sundiata Gaines NJN 793 4.6 12.3 1.3 3.7 2.7 4.4 1.2 3.7 5.7 2.5 0.1 2.4 2.6 13.2 .376 .341 .615
Chris Paul LAC 2181 7.0 14.7 1.3 3.5 4.3 5.0 0.7 2.8 9.0 2.5 0.1 2.0 2.3 19.6 .478 .371 .861
Eric Bledsoe LAC 464 3.8 9.8 0.5 2.3 2.2 3.4 1.7 3.3 5.1 2.4 1.1 3.6 4.5 10.2 .389 .200 .636
Ronnie Price PHO 517 3.4 9.1 0.9 3.1 1.4 1.7 1.3 2.6 4.7 2.4 0.2 3.2 5.0 9.1 .377 .295 .800
Mike Conley MEM 2174 4.9 11.3 1.0 2.6 2.3 2.6 0.4 2.2 6.7 2.3 0.2 2.1 2.2 13.0 .433 .377 .861
Ricky Rubio MIN 1404 3.6 10.0 0.8 2.4 3.2 4.0 0.5 3.8 8.6 2.3 0.2 3.4 2.5 11.2 .357 .340 .803
Baron Davis NYK 595 4.1 11.1 1.6 5.1 1.0 1.5 0.8 2.6 8.2 2.1 0.2 4.6 3.7 10.8 .370 .306 .667
Jason Kidd DAL 1379 2.6 7.1 2.1 5.8 0.6 0.7 0.4 4.8 6.9 2.1 0.3 2.4 2.2 7.8 .363 .354 .786
Jeremy Lin NYK 940 6.5 14.7 0.9 2.9 5.6 7.0 0.7 3.4 8.3 2.1 0.3 4.8 3.0 19.6 .446 .320 .798
Iman Shumpert NYK 1705 4.5 11.3 1.0 3.3 1.8 2.3 0.9 3.0 3.5 2.1 0.2 2.3 3.7 11.9 .401 .306 .798
Corey Brewer DEN 1287 5.6 13.0 0.9 3.6 2.5 3.6 1.2 3.0 2.5 2.0 0.5 1.6 3.2 14.7 .434 .260 .692
Paul George IND 1958 5.2 11.7 1.7 4.3 2.7 3.3 1.0 5.8 2.9 2.0 0.7 2.2 3.5 14.7 .440 .385 .802
Kawhi Leonard SAS 1534 4.7 9.5 1.0 2.6 1.6 2.1 2.4 5.2 1.6 2.0 0.6 1.0 2.1 11.9 .493 .376 .773
Paul Millsap UTA 2100 7.3 14.8 0.1 0.5 3.5 4.4 3.1 6.6 2.6 2.0 0.9 1.9 3.8 18.2 .495 .226 .792
J.R. Smith NYK 967 6.1 15.1 2.5 7.2 1.5 2.0 1.1 4.0 3.1 2.0 0.2 1.7 3.2 16.2 .407 .347 .709
Delonte West DAL 1060 5.6 12.2 0.9 2.6 2.1 2.4 0.4 3.0 4.7 2.0 0.4 2.6 2.3 14.3 .461 .355 .886
Mario Chalmers MIA 1825 4.4 9.8 2.0 5.1 1.6 2.0 0.3 3.1 4.4 1.9 0.2 2.8 3.3 12.4 .448 .388 .792
Stephen Curry GSW 732 7.1 14.6 2.7 6.0 1.9 2.3 0.7 3.6 6.8 1.9 0.4 3.2 3.0 18.8 .490 .455 .809
Carlos Delfino MIL 1537 4.3 10.6 2.0 5.6 0.9 1.1 0.5 4.4 2.9 1.9 0.2 1.5 2.3 11.4 .402 .360 .792
Player Tm MP FG FGA 3P 3PA FT FTA ORB DRB AST STL BLK TOV PF PTS FG% 3P% FT%
Earl Watson UTA 1033 1.9 5.6 0.3 1.8 1.1 1.6 1.0 3.2 7.6 1.9 0.8 3.0 3.7 5.2 .338 .192 .674
Trevor Ariza NOH 1350 4.5 10.7 0.8 2.3 2.1 2.7 1.1 4.6 3.6 1.8 0.7 2.0 1.9 11.8 .417 .333 .775
Gustavo Ayon NOH 1088 4.6 8.6 0.0 0.0 1.3 2.1 2.8 5.9 2.4 1.8 1.5 1.5 3.9 10.6 .536 .000 .619
Rodrigue Beaubois DAL 1151 5.9 13.9 1.2 4.1 1.8 2.2 0.6 4.1 4.8 1.8 0.9 2.2 3.1 14.8 .422 .288 .841
Reggie Jackson OKC 501 3.7 11.4 0.9 4.5 1.8 2.1 1.0 2.8 5.1 1.8 0.1 2.6 2.2 10.1 .321 .210 .862
LeBron James MIA 2326 9.6 18.1 0.8 2.3 6.0 7.8 1.5 6.2 6.0 1.8 0.8 3.3 1.5 26.0 .531 .362 .771
Nate Robinson GSW 1192 6.2 14.6 2.0 5.5 2.8 3.4 0.5 2.6 7.0 1.8 0.1 2.3 3.6 17.2 .424 .365 .832
Walker Russell DET 357 3.3 9.6 0.4 1.3 1.4 2.2 0.7 1.9 5.8 1.8 0.1 3.3 2.9 8.5 .347 .308 .636
Larry Sanders MIL 643 4.7 10.3 0.0 0.1 1.0 2.1 3.5 5.5 1.8 1.8 4.3 2.4 7.4 10.4 .457 .000 .474
Chris Singleton WAS 1431 2.9 7.8 1.1 3.2 0.8 1.1 1.1 4.8 1.2 1.8 0.8 1.0 4.4 7.7 .372 .346 .682
Dwyane Wade MIA 1625 9.2 18.5 0.3 1.2 5.2 6.6 1.6 3.6 5.0 1.8 1.4 2.9 2.4 24.0 .497 .268 .791
DeMarcus Cousins SAC 1950 8.3 18.4 0.0 0.3 4.8 6.9 4.9 8.1 1.9 1.7 1.4 3.1 4.7 21.4 .448 .143 .702
Goran Dragic HOU 1752 5.7 12.3 1.4 4.2 3.1 3.9 1.1 2.4 7.2 1.7 0.2 3.2 3.4 15.9 .462 .337 .805
Andre Iguodala PHI 2209 4.7 10.3 1.2 3.1 2.0 3.2 0.9 5.3 5.5 1.7 0.5 1.9 1.5 12.6 .454 .394 .617
Kyle Lowry HOU 1510 5.0 12.2 1.9 5.0 4.1 4.7 0.9 4.2 7.4 1.7 0.3 3.1 3.2 16.0 .409 .374 .864
Rajon Rondo BOS 1957 4.7 10.5 0.2 0.8 2.0 3.3 1.1 3.6 11.4 1.7 0.1 3.6 1.8 11.6 .448 .238 .597
Lance Stephenson IND 442 3.8 10.2 0.3 2.4 0.7 1.4 1.0 3.3 3.7 1.7 0.4 2.9 2.4 8.6 .376 .133 .471
Greg Stiemsma BOS 766 3.1 5.7 0.0 0.0 1.4 1.9 2.3 6.1 1.3 1.7 4.0 1.6 6.8 7.6 .545 .707
Jeff Teague ATL 2183 5.3 11.1 0.8 2.5 2.3 3.1 0.3 2.3 5.3 1.7 0.6 2.2 2.4 13.7 .476 .342 .757
Ben Wallace DET 980 1.2 3.2 0.0 0.1 0.6 1.7 3.0 6.9 1.6 1.7 1.9 1.2 2.2 3.1 .395 .250 .340
Player Tm MP FG FGA 3P 3PA FT FTA ORB DRB AST STL BLK TOV PF PTS FG% 3P% FT%
Russell Westbrook OKC 2331 8.9 19.6 1.0 3.0 5.3 6.4 1.5 3.2 5.6 1.7 0.3 3.7 2.3 24.1 .457 .316 .823

From day one we knew that QFTR would never be a hang out place, a place where people come to comment on basketball news and blogs and what not. For one thing, we knew it could never possibly be even a moderate traffic Site (let alone a high traffic Site) regardless of the quality or quantity of basketball content loaded on to it. (It took years and about 15 books worth of content just to go from zero traffic to low traffic). Although you wouldn't expect it to be all that popular, it seems that a serious and unique basketball Site has even a lower potential audience than one would expect.

For another thing, QFTR is too serious for the quick little comments that are a dime a dozen at basketball Sites and blogs around the Internet. And most people who comment like to make only short little comments.

And of course it is well known that only a tiny percentage of blogs get more than a tiny number of comments and that essentially all of the blogs that do get comments are part of blog networks and/or they are run by celebrities.

And there are other reasons but those are the main ones.

The truth though is that your QFTR producer never had the resources to moderate and / or to participate in discussions at QFTR. Before there was a QFTR we participated in forums, and for about 18 months after there was a QFTR we still posted at a couple of forums, but we had to discontinue due to lack of time and because posting at forums was useless for getting traffic to QFTR that would return for future visits. As mentioned above in "Your Ball, Take Your Best Shot, Option 3," QFTR has only roughly 1/10 of the time it would like for producing content and for getting the background work done. So we are not even close to having the time to deal with comments that would go directly onto QFTR. So actually, we are glad that there has been very little interest.

Having said that, until January 2012 there was an option for commenting on Reports etc.. There was a page called "QFTR Discussions" where all comments on all Reports would appear in one place. These were going to be more serious and lengthy comments than the ones you see around the Internet.

Along with the discussion page there was to be an "open blog" called "My Quest for the Ring". Anyone who demonstrated the ability to make important, interesting, and/or useful contributions toward explaining how playoff games are won and lost would be given the keys and would be allowed to post whatever whenever. These would be full posts and not just comments. This would be a collaboration blog.

Both Discussions and My Quest for the Ring were nice, creative ideas, but there were no takers because of some combination of the following:

--Hardly anyone is qualified to discuss basketball at a high level.
--No one who is qualified has the time.
--QFTR traffic has been too low and/or it has the wrong people visiting, so therefore those who might have posted have never seen the option.

Although all of the links to these pages are removed from the QFTR home page as of January 2012 (except for the ones just above) the pages themselves are not being taken down. So if anyone (and it can be just one single person) is interested in posting to either of these Sites, please send an email to:
thequestforthering1 @ gmail dot com
[Remove the spaces and replace "dot" with an actual (.)

If even one person is interested and posts at either of those sites, we will restore all of the links that were removed.

RICKY RUBIO, MINNESOTA TIMBERWOLVES POINT GUARD

RICKY RUBIO, MINNESOTA TIMBERWOLVES POINT GUARD

>>>I WANT TO STICK WITH THE WAY OTHER SITES PRESENT POSTS
Due to the number of, uniqueness of, and importance of the many other home page features we have, only one Report loads at a time, currently the one just above. To see the next Report (which would be the one that came out just before the one above) on this home page, click "Older Posts" that is at the very bottom of the Report showing above, just above the section header "Your Ball: Take Your Best Shot".

>>ALTERNATIVE HOME PAGES
There are three home pages, all of which have all of the Reports but which have completely different features appearing on the sidebar and below the one Report that is shown at a time. These pages have been designed so that they fully load in about 10 seconds (no more super long load times we used to be known for.)

HOME PAGE A: ALL REPORTS, READERS CONTAINING REPORTS 1-100, AND UNIQUE FEATURES
HOME PAGE B: ALL REPORTS, READERS CONTAINING REPORTS 1-100, AND UNIQUE FEATURES
HOME PAGE C: ALL REPORTS, READERS CONTAINING REPORTS 1-100, AND UNIQUE FEATURES

>>REPORT READERS: Complete freedom to rapidly choose and read what you need or want to read. The latest 40 Reports are found near the top of all three of the primary home pages (linked to just above) while Reports #41-#100 are found in three separate readers placed at various points down the page on all three primary home pages.

>>EXPRESS VERSION: Every Single Report but no Features: a Fast Loading Page: Click Here



>>FAST BREAK VERSION: The Latest 100 Reports via Report Readers Only; no Features, a Fast Loading Page: Click Here

>>QUEST ARCHIVE HOME PAGES--REPORT ARCHIVES AND A SMALL NUMBER OF CLASSIC FEATURES THAT WON'T FIT ON OTHER HOME PAGES
QUEST 4: REPORTS 101-200
QUEST 5: REPORTS 201-300
QUEST 6: REPORTS 301-400
QUEST 7: REPORTS 401-500
QUEST 8: REPORTS 501-600
QUEST 9: REPORTS 601-700
QUEST 10: REPORTS 701-800

>>FEATURES ONLY HOME PAGES: NO REPORTS, JUST FEATURES THAT WE CAN'T FIT ANYWHERE ELSE
QUEST OVERTIME
QUEST CLASSIC

>>COMPLETE TITLE INDEX: : A Complete Report Title Index, with Express Version Links to all Reports

>>LATEST 25 Reports: Direct links to the latest 25 Reports (with no truncated titles as you find with the poorly designed Google archive). This is located near the very bottom of this page.

>>GOOGLE ARCHIVE you will find this, with Reports shown by week not very far below.

>>I'M NEW AND I DON'T KNOW WHERE I WANT TO GO: Welcome to the Real Zone. Simply browse the page and see for yourself what is here. You will not be disappointed.

>>OR YOU CAN DO A CUSTOM GOOGLE SEARCH OF THE 20 BOOKS AND COUNTING CONTAINED ON THIS SITE>>>>>

SEARCH QFTR, THE EQUIVALENT OF ABOUT 20 BOOKS ABOUT BASKETBALL

Custom Search
SEARCH THE 20 BOOKS / 2.0 MILLION WORDS

TWO WAYS TO LOOK AT HOW LONG QUEST FOR THE RING HAS BEEN KEEPING IT REAL >>>

The above shows you in two different ways the exact amount of time since The Quest for the Ring began to completely explain how the Quest is won, while having as much fun as possible at the expense of basketball pretenders and player haters. The first panel shows how long it has been in each of seven units. The second panel shows how long it has been in the more usual "remainder" way.

QUEST FOR THE RING SOMETIMES GOES INTO HIATUS
Regardless of any temporary unavoidable absences, the Quest is in this project to explain in detail for the very long term--indefinitely, for many, many, many years ahead. At this writing we have the equivalent of 15 basketball books under our belt and we plan on doing dozens more. Count on us being right where basketball is at, which is here, actually.

GOOGLE ARCHIVE



QUEST FOR THE RING USER GUIDE

QUEST FOR THE RING USER GUIDE: YOU CAN QUICKLY LOCATE AND GET THE SITE INFORMATION YOU NEED OR WANT RIGHT HERE






WELCOME TO THE QUEST--THINGS ARE VERY DIFFERENT HERE

WELCOME TO THE QUEST FOR THE RING, ALSO KNOWN AS THE REAL ZONE
This is one of the most serious basketball sites on the internet, focusing on how and why playoff games and NBA Championships are won and lost. We also love to take comedy and music breaks, but not every day.

WELCOME TO THE QUEST FOR THE RING (QFTR). YOU HAVE LEFT THE HYPE ZONE AND HAVE ARRIVED IN THE REAL ZONE. Please check any rose colored glasses at the door. The Hype Zone that you most likely just came from is where you can find out about the personalities and the styles and how popular they are and what they are up to lately. The QFTR Real Zone is where we DO NOT think personalities and styles and how popular or unpopular they are things to waste time on just for ratings or traffic.

Instead of hype, here we post as much truth about how NBA playoff games and Championships are won as we can 365 days a year and at at any hour of the day or night. Please have a productive visit, and a nice trip back to the Hype Zone when your visit is over.


UNIQUE SITE DESIGN
The Quest is organized in a completely different way from what you are used to on the Internet. We have combined the best features of the blog and the conventional web site formats, the latter being the norm for large organizations. However, since we do not like the idea of using flash to "wow" visitors, we do not use flash except within video and other discrete components. So we are state of the art in terms of expanding the power of visitors to get exactly what they want very quickly, but we do not have the latest flash gadgetry just to "keep up with the Joneses".

More broadly, you will find that Quest for the Ring never seeks to keep up with the Joneses, simply because the Joneses never had the nerve and the intelligence to do what we do.

Unlike many Internet operations QFTR is never going to quit due to low traffic; we have learned over the last decade that traffic is about 95% determined by variables completely out of our control. The 5% that we do control is not enough to change traffic in any significant way. The corporate, hype, and porn sites get all the easy (and sleazy!) traffic. QFTR gets a relatively small amount of traffic but how could it possibly be otherwise? QFTR gets high quality traffic from serious, intelligent people (who are in limited supply) and that is exactly how it was inevitably going to be.

2009: A PROFESSIONAL ORGANIZATION COMES TO QUEST
The QFTR Home Page consists of numerous types of content, organized carefully into clearly labelled sections. Features can be any educational and / or entertaining basketball content you can think of, including everything from music players to videos to photos to breaking NBA news readers to top teams performance breakdown pages.

Quest for the Ring has a world class link system for easy access to many of the Worlds' most important basketball resources. (We don't give a damn that all the outbound links might hurt our placement in search results, because we are not going to cheat visitors just to get more "fly by night" visitors.) But the Quest visitor does not HAVE to hunt for links to have an intelligent and entertaining experience because QFTR is a massive resource in and of itself.

THERE MUST BE FIFTY WAYS TO READ REPORTS [AS PAUL SIMON SANG YEARS AGO, LOL]
Well, maybe not fifty, but there are close to ten ways to find out about, select, and read Quest Reports! The standard, traditional blog presentation is available as one of the many ways to choose, access, and read reports. On the Home Page, only one report loads in the traditional format in order to keep this page as quick loading as possible. See the "Total Freedom of Navigation" section not far below the main Report you have loaded for complete details about how to find, choose, and read reports.

THE QUEST USER GUIDE VERSUS THE MERE ABOUT PAGE
Other sites very often have undeveloped and limited in scope "about pages" which is usually all they have for what we call a "User Guide". The QFTR User Guide is a little blog in itself with several dozen articles explaining aspects of the Site and how you can benefit from them. This approach is a vast improvement, quantitatively and qualitatively, over a mere "about page" While many other sites don't help their visitors to make the best use of the content, we do. Also, the User Guide is chock loaded with invitations to visitors to participate in all kinds of ways, including for example advertising for free, link exchange, and getting a team site supported by Quest. You can access User Guide articles either by visiting the User Guide dedicated page or by locating the list of User Guide articles right on the primary QFTR Home Page.

SEARCH QFTR, THE EQUIVALENT OF ABOUT 20 BOOKS ABOUT BASKETBALL

Custom Search
SEARCH THE 20 BOOKS / 2.0 MILLION WORDS

RECOMMENDED SCHOOL--CLICK FOR DETAILS


QUEST FOR THE RING VIDEOS--The primary Quest video page with video juke boxes for all 30 teams

QUEST FOR THE RING VIDEOS #2--Specially chosen video juke boxes and individual videos

QUEST FOR THE RING PRIMARY HOME PAGE B--A few key video players are here

LATEST NBA.COM NBA VIDEOS
LATEST YAHOO SPORTS NBA / BASKETBALL VIDEOS
LATEST CBS SPORTSLINE NBA VIDEOS

MOST RECENT LEAGUE WIDE REAL PLAYER RATINGS

Note: This is generally a once a year, end of season Report. For many teams and players, more recent ratings are often available.

NBA REAL PLAYER RATINGS
2009-10 REGULAR SEASON


POSITION AND TEAM CODES
In the Real Player and related ratings shown for the League, two codes follow each players' name (and before his rating). The first code tells you the players' team and the second one tells you his position.

TEAM CODES
ATLA Atlanta Hawks
BOST Boston Celtics
CHAR Charlotte Bobcats
CHIC Chicago Bulls
CLEV Cleveland Cavaliers
DALL Dallas Mavericks
DENV Denver Nuggets
DETR Detroit Pistons
GOLS Golden State Warriors
HOUS Houston Rockets
INDI Indiana Pacers
LACL Los Angeles Clippers
LALK Los Angeles Lakers
MEMP Memphis Grizzlies
MIAM Miami Heat
MILW Milwaukee Bucks
MINN Minnesota Timberwolves
NJRS New Jersey Nets
NORL New Orleans Hornets
NWYR New York Knicks
OKLA Oklahoma Thunder
ORLA Orlando Magic
PHIL Philadelphia 76'ers
PHNX Phoenix Suns
PORT Portland Trailblazers
SACR Sacramento Kings
SANA San Antonio Spurs
TORO Toronto Raptors
UTAH Utah Jazz
WASH Washington Wizards

POSITION CODES
PG Point Guard
SG Shooting Guard
SF Small Forward
PF Power Forward
C Center

SCALE FOR REGULAR SEASON REAL PLAYER RATINGS
Perfect for all Practical Purposes / Major Historic Super Star 1.100 and more
Historic Super Star 1.000 1.099
Super Star 0.900 0.999
A Star Player / A well above normal starter 0.820 0.899
Very Good Player / A solid starter 0.760 0.819
Major Role Player / Good enough to start 0.700 0.759
Good Role Player / Often a good 6th man 0.640 0.699
Satisfactory Role Player / Preferably should not start 0.580 0.639
Marginal Role Player / Generally should not start 0.520 0.579
Poor Player / Should never start 0.460 0.519
Very Poor Player 0.400 0.459
Extremely Poor Player .399 and less

NBA REAL PLAYER RATINGS
2009-10 REGULAR SEASON

--Shows the real quality of players
--Includes all tracked actions and also includes untracked or hidden defending
--The average Real Player Rating for all players who play 300 minutes or more is about .700.
--All players who have played at least 300 minutes are included here and in all other ratings to follow in coming days

MAJOR HISTORIC SUPERSTARS
1 LeBron James CLEV SF 1.382
2 Tim Duncan SANA PF 1.254
3 Chris Paul NORL PG 1.202
4 Dwight Howard ORLA C 1.121
5 Andrew Bogut MILW C 1.112

HISTORIC SUPERSTARS
6 Steve Nash PHNX PG 1.095
7 Jason Kidd DALL PG 1.092
8 Rajon Rondo BOST PG 1.084
9 Deron Williams UTAH PG 1.076
10 Dwyane Wade MIAM SG 1.075
11 Marcus Camby LACL C 1.071
12 Pau Gasol LALK PF 1.065
13 Greg Oden PORT C 1.060
14 Kevin Durant OKLA SF 1.051
15 Dirk Nowitzki DALL PF 1.034
16 Josh Smith ATLA SF 1.033
17 Kevin Garnett BOST PF 1.033
18 Manu Ginobili SANA SG 1.023
19 Kobe Bryant LALK SG 1.005

SUPERSTARS
20 Carlos Boozer UTAH PF 0.994
21 Lamar Odom LALK PF 0.982
22 Andrei Kirilenko UTAH SF 0.976
23 Chris Bosh TORO PF 0.972
24 David Lee NWYR C 0.971
25 Al Horford ATLA C 0.970
26 Marcus Camby PORT C 0.967
27 Jameer Nelson ORLA PG 0.959
28 Joakim Noah CHIC C 0.955
29 John Salmons MILW SF 0.937
30 Andrew Bynum LALK C 0.936
31 Troy Murphy INDI PF 0.934
32 Kevin Love MINN PF 0.934
33 Anderson Varejao CLEV C 0.933
34 Brendan Haywood DALL C 0.929
35 Vince Carter ORLA SG 0.928
36 Gerald Wallace CHAR SF 0.918
37 Sergio Rodriguez SACR PG 0.908
38 Tyrus Thomas CHIC PF 0.904
39 Derrick Rose CHIC PG 0.903

STARS
40 Baron Davis LACL PG 0.899
41 Russell Westbrook OKLA PG 0.897
42 Zach Randolph MEMP PF 0.885
43 Danny Granger INDI SF 0.885
44 Marc Gasol MEMP C 0.885
45 Joe Johnson ATLA SG 0.883
46 Chauncey Billups DENV PG 0.883
47 Roy Hibbert INDI C 0.880
48 Ben Wallace DETR C 0.877
49 Andre Miller PORT PG 0.874
50 Carmelo Anthony DENV SF 0.874
51 Brandon Jennings MILW PG 0.870
52 Tyrus Thomas CHAR PF 0.870
53 A.J. Price INDI PG 0.868
54 Paul Millsap UTAH PF 0.866
55 Craig Smith LACL PF 0.865
56 Samuel Dalembert PHIL C 0.864
57 Andre Iguodala PHIL SG 0.858
58 Raymond Felton CHAR PG 0.857
59 Delonte West CLEV SG 0.856
60 Al Jefferson MINN C 0.856
61 Eric Maynor OKLA PG 0.856
62 Serge Ibaka OKLA PF 0.855
63 Nene Hilario DENV C 0.852
64 Chris Andersen DENV PF 0.849
65 Shaquille O'Neal CLEV C 0.842
66 Brandon Roy PORT SG 0.842
67 Ryan Anderson ORLA PF 0.840
68 Antonio McDyess SANA PF 0.839
69 Tony Parker SANA PG 0.837
70 Paul Pierce BOST SF 0.836
71 Mo Williams CLEV PG 0.835
72 Kyle Lowry HOUS PG 0.835
73 Ersan Ilyasova MILW SF 0.828
74 Amare Stoudemire PHNX PF 0.828
75 Luke Ridnour MILW PG 0.827
76 Erick Dampier DALL C 0.826
77 Tyreke Evans SACR PG 0.825
78 Andris Biedrins GOLS C 0.825
79 Kyle Korver UTAH SG 0.824
80 Anthony Randolph GOLS PF 0.820

VERY GOOD PLAYERS / SOLID STARTERS
81 Eric Maynor UTAH PG 0.819
82 Carlos Arroyo MIAM PG 0.819
83 Antawn Jamison CLEV PF 0.819
84 Nazr Mohammed CHAR C 0.818
85 Luol Deng CHIC SF 0.817
86 Dorell Wright MIAM SG 0.817
87 LaMarcus Aldridge PORT PF 0.817
88 Carl Landry HOUS PF 0.816
89 Luis Scola HOUS PF 0.816
90 Nick Collison OKLA PF 0.812
91 Carlos Delfino MILW SG 0.809
92 Kendrick Perkins BOST C 0.807
93 Jermaine O'Neal MIAM C 0.805
94 Nate Robinson NWYR PG 0.804
95 Goran Dragic PHNX PG 0.803
96 Mike Bibby ATLA PG 0.803
97 Stephen Curry GOLS PG 0.803
98 Mehmet Okur UTAH C 0.800
99 Jose Calderon TORO PG 0.797
100 Jason Terry DALL SG 0.791
101 Ronnie Price UTAH PG 0.784
102 DeJuan Blair SANA PF 0.784
103 Chris Kaman LACL C 0.783
104 Shaun Livingston WASH PG 0.783
105 Joel Przybilla PORT C 0.782
106 David West NORL PF 0.781
107 John Salmons CHIC SF 0.776
108 Matt Barnes ORLA SF 0.775
109 Darren Collison NORL PG 0.775
110 Ronny Turiaf GOLS C 0.774
111 Udonis Haslem MIAM PF 0.774
112 Shawn Marion DALL SF 0.772
113 Jason Williams ORLA PG 0.771
114 Keyon Dooling NJRS PG 0.771
115 Andray Blatche WASH C 0.770
116 James Harden OKLA SG 0.770
117 Brook Lopez NJRS C 0.770
118 Ray Allen BOST SG 0.770
119 Amir Johnson TORO SF 0.769
120 Ty Lawson DENV PG 0.768
121 Beno Udrih SACR PG 0.768
122 Chuck Hayes HOUS PF 0.765
123 Matt Bonner SANA PF 0.763
124 Reggie Evans TORO PF 0.763
125 Gilbert Arenas WASH PG 0.760

MAJOR ROLE PLAYERS / GOOD ENOUGH TO START
126 Zydrunas Ilgauskas CLEV C 0.758
127 Rasheed Wallace BOST PF 0.757
128 Lou Williams PHIL SG 0.756
129 Stephen Jackson CHAR SF 0.754
130 Dan Gadzuric MILW C 0.754
131 Jamario Moon CLEV SF 0.754
132 Ron Artest LALK SF 0.752
133 Rodney Stuckey DETR PG 0.749
134 Shelden Williams BOST PF 0.748
135 Oleksiy Pecherov MINN C 0.748
136 Aaron Brooks HOUS PG 0.747
137 Boris Diaw CHAR PF 0.746
138 C.J. Watson GOLS PG 0.746
139 Brendan Haywood WASH C 0.744
140 Emeka Okafor NORL C 0.742
141 Taj Gibson CHIC PF 0.741
142 J.R. Smith DENV SG 0.738
143 Mike Miller WASH SF 0.732
144 Channing Frye PHNX C 0.731
145 Louis Amundson PHNX PF 0.731
146 Elton Brand PHIL PF 0.726
147 D.J. Mbenga LALK C 0.725
148 Tayshaun Prince DETR SF 0.724
149 Francisco Garcia SACR SG 0.724
150 Tyler Hansbrough INDI PF 0.724
151 Trevor Ariza HOUS SG 0.723
152 Allen Iverson PHIL SG 0.722
153 Rashard Lewis ORLA PF 0.721
154 Richard Jefferson SANA SF 0.721
155 Luc Richard Mbah a Moute MILW SF 0.721
156 Jamal Crawford ATLA SG 0.721
157 Brad Miller CHIC C 0.720
158 Josh Boone NJRS C 0.718
159 Jason Richardson PHNX SG 0.718
160 Sebastian Telfair LACL PG 0.717
161 Marvin Williams ATLA PF 0.716
162 David Andersen HOUS C 0.715
163 Caron Butler DALL SF 0.715
164 Michael Beasley MIAM PF 0.714
165 George Hill SANA PG 0.713
166 Ronnie Brewer UTAH SG 0.712
167 D.J. Augustin CHAR PG 0.712
168 Monta Ellis GOLS PG 0.711
169 Sean May SACR PF 0.710
170 Anthony Tolliver GOLS PF 0.709
171 Kenyon Martin DENV PF 0.709
172 Tyson Chandler CHAR C 0.709
173 Rodrigue Beaubois DALL PG 0.707
174 Stephen Jackson GOLS SF 0.704
175 Shane Battier HOUS SF 0.703
176 Stephen Graham CHAR SF 0.702
177 Mike Conley MEMP PG 0.702
178 Earl Watson INDI PG 0.701
179 T.J. Ford INDI PG 0.700

GOOD ROLE PLAYERS / OFTEN GOOD 6TH MAN PLAYERS
180 Ramon Sessions MINN PG 0.699
181 Corey Maggette GOLS SF 0.699
182 Marcin Gortat ORLA PF 0.698
183 Terrence Williams NJRS SG 0.698
184 Jarrett Jack TORO PG 0.698
185 James Singleton WASH SF 0.696
186 JaVale McGee WASH C 0.694
187 Jose Juan Barea DALL PG 0.694
188 Marcus Thornton NORL SG 0.693
189 Daequan Cook MIAM SG 0.691
190 Jordan Farmar LALK PG 0.689
191 Kirk Hinrich CHIC PG 0.689
192 Carl Landry SACR PF 0.689
193 Shannon Brown LALK PG 0.687
194 Anthony Carter DENV PG 0.686
195 Jason Thompson SACR PF 0.686
196 Mike Dunleavy INDI SF 0.686
197 Robin Lopez PHNX C 0.684
198 Spencer Hawes SACR C 0.680
199 Rudy Fernandez PORT SG 0.678
200 Drew Gooden LACL PF 0.678
201 Steve Blake LACL PG 0.677
202 Bobby Simmons NJRS SF 0.676
203 Larry Hughes NWYR SG 0.675
204 Jerry Stackhouse MILW SF 0.675
205 Quentin Richardson MIAM SG 0.675
206 Rudy Gay MEMP SF 0.675
207 Darko Milicic MINN C 0.674
208 Drew Gooden DALL PF 0.674
209 Reggie Williams GOLS SF 0.673
210 Ronald Murray CHAR SG 0.671
211 Grant Hill PHNX SF 0.669
212 Nate Robinson BOST PG 0.668
213 Travis Outlaw LACL SF 0.668
214 Steve Blake PORT PG 0.667
215 Devin Harris NJRS PG 0.665
216 Antawn Jamison WASH PF 0.665
217 Danilo Gallinari NWYR SF 0.664
218 Wilson Chandler NWYR SF 0.664
219 Gerald Henderson CHAR SG 0.664
220 Tony Allen BOST SG 0.663
221 Kyrylo Fesenko UTAH C 0.662
222 Anthony Morrow GOLS SG 0.661
223 Jordan Hill HOUS PF 0.661
224 Jared Dudley PHNX SF 0.660
225 Daniel Gibson CLEV PG 0.660
226 Jeff Green OKLA PF 0.659
227 Josh McRoberts INDI PF 0.659
228 Anthony Johnson ORLA PG 0.658
229 J.J. Redick ORLA SG 0.658
230 Al Harrington NWYR PF 0.655
231 Luther Head INDI PG 0.654
232 Nicolas Batum PORT SF 0.653
233 Theo Ratliff CHAR C 0.650
234 Mario Chalmers MIAM PG 0.648
235 Brandon Bass ORLA PF 0.648
236 Kris Humphries NJRS PF 0.646
237 Chris Duhon NWYR PG 0.643
238 Nenad Krstic OKLA C 0.642
239 Kris Humphries DALL PF 0.642

SATISFACTORY ROLE PLAYERS / USUALLY DO NOT START
240 Rasho Nesterovic TORO C 0.637
241 Hedo Turkoglu TORO SF 0.635
242 Johan Petro DENV C 0.635
243 Randy Foye WASH PG 0.634
244 Jrue Holiday PHIL PG 0.633
245 Mickael Pietrus ORLA SG 0.631
246 Jared Jeffries NWYR PF 0.627
247 Leandro Barbosa PHNX SG 0.626
248 Joel Anthony MIAM C 0.624
249 O.J. Mayo MEMP SG 0.622
250 Chase Budinger HOUS SF 0.621
251 Roger Mason SANA SG 0.619
252 Caron Butler WASH SF 0.617
253 Peja Stojakovic NORL SF 0.615
254 Marreese Speights PHIL PF 0.613
255 Jamaal Tinsley MEMP PG 0.613
256 Bobby Brown NORL PG 0.611
257 Jonas Jerebko DETR SF 0.610
258 Omri Casspi SACR SF 0.609
259 Kurt Thomas MILW PF 0.608
260 Thaddeus Young PHIL SF 0.607
261 Brandon Rush INDI SG 0.606
262 Hasheem Thabeet MEMP C 0.605
263 Damien Wilkins MINN SG 0.601
264 Rodney Carney PHIL SF 0.601
265 Earl Boykins WASH PG 0.599
266 J.J. Hickson CLEV PF 0.599
267 Willie Green PHIL SG 0.598
268 Anthony Parker CLEV SG 0.596
269 Jamaal Magloire MIAM C 0.594
270 Wesley Matthews UTAH SG 0.592
271 Devean George GOLS SG 0.592
272 Richard Hamilton DETR SG 0.592
273 Kevin Martin SACR SG 0.591
274 Andrea Bargnani TORO C 0.591
275 Ryan Gomes MINN SF 0.589
276 Thabo Sefolosha OKLA SF 0.589
277 Rafer Alston NJRS PG 0.589
278 Tracy McGrady NWYR SG 0.588
279 Marco Belinelli TORO SG 0.587
280 Michael Finley BOST SF 0.585
281 Marcus Williams MEMP PG 0.583
282 Martell Webster PORT SG 0.583
283 Charlie Villanueva DETR PF 0.582

MARGINAL ROLE PLAYERS / RARELY START
284 Derek Fisher LALK PG 0.578
285 Jannero Pargo CHIC PG 0.577
286 Toney Douglas NWYR PG 0.577
287 Chris Hunter GOLS PF 0.576
288 Derrick Brown CHAR SF 0.575
289 Yi Jianlian NJRS PF 0.575
290 Nathan Jawai MINN PF 0.575
291 Ime Udoka SACR SG 0.574
292 Sergio Rodriguez NWYR PG 0.574
293 Arron Afflalo DENV SG 0.573
294 Kevin Martin HOUS SG 0.572
295 Hakim Warrick MILW PF 0.571
296 Al Thornton WASH SF 0.569
297 Will Bynum DETR PG 0.568
298 Jonny Flynn MINN PG 0.568
299 James Posey NORL SF 0.564
300 Mikki Moore GOLS C 0.561
301 Darius Songaila NORL PF 0.561
302 Jerryd Bayless PORT PG 0.556
303 Jon Brockman SACR PF 0.554
304 Sasha Vujacic LALK SG 0.554
305 Dante Cunningham PORT SF 0.551
306 Michael Redd MILW SG 0.551
307 Eric Gordon LACL SG 0.550
308 C.J. Miles UTAH SF 0.549
309 Al Thornton LACL SF 0.547
310 Julian Wright NORL SF 0.545
311 Jeff Teague ATLA PG 0.544
312 Marquis Daniels BOST SG 0.543
313 Dahntay Jones INDI SG 0.542
314 Chris Douglas-Roberts NJRS SG 0.541
315 Zaza Pachulia ATLA C 0.538
316 Etan Thomas OKLA C 0.538
317 Sonny Weems TORO SG 0.537
318 Devin Brown NORL SG 0.533
319 Jason Maxiell DETR PF 0.532
320 Bill Walker NWYR SG 0.532
321 Courtney Lee NJRS SG 0.528
322 James Jones MIAM SF 0.525
323 Donte Greene SACR SF 0.524
324 Kenny Thomas SACR PF 0.523
325 Wayne Ellington MINN SG 0.521
326 Juwan Howard PORT PF 0.520

POOR PLAYERS / SHOULD NEVER START
327 Charlie Bell MILW SG 0.518
328 Corey Brewer MINN SF 0.518
329 Hakim Warrick CHIC PF 0.514
330 DeAndre Jordan LACL C 0.512
331 Rasual Butler LACL SG 0.509
332 Glen Davis BOST PF 0.508
333 Sam Young MEMP SF 0.508
334 Austin Daye DETR SF 0.507
335 Ronald Murray CHIC SG 0.504
336 Vladimir Radmanovic GOLS SF 0.494
337 Solomon Jones INDI PF 0.493
338 Ben Gordon DETR SG 0.491
339 James Johnson CHIC PF 0.487
340 Rafer Alston MIAM PG 0.482
341 Eduardo Najera DALL PF 0.482
342 Chucky Atkins DETR PG 0.477
343 Earl Clark PHNX SF 0.474
344 Joey Graham DENV SF 0.473
345 Fabricio Oberto WASH C 0.468
346 Jason Smith PHIL PF 0.466
347 Andres Nocioni SACR SF 0.464
348 Jared Jeffries HOUS PF 0.462
349 Nick Young WASH SG 0.462
350 Maurice Evans ATLA SF 0.462
351 Keith Bogans SANA SG 0.462
352 Josh Howard DALL SF 0.460

VERY POOR PLAYERS
353 Eddie House NWYR SG 0.454
354 Joe Smith ATLA PF 0.453
355 Kwame Brown DETR C 0.452
356 Antoine Wright TORO SF 0.451
357 Darrell Arthur MEMP PF 0.443
358 Jarvis Hayes NJRS SF 0.438
359 Ricky Davis LACL SF 0.437
360 Mardy Collins LACL PG 0.436
361 Malik Hairston SANA SG 0.433
362 Jeff Pendergraph PORT PF 0.432
363 Jermaine Taylor HOUS SG 0.428
364 Chris Wilcox DETR C 0.417
365 DeMar DeRozan TORO SG 0.414
366 Jodie Meeks MILW SG 0.413
367 Quinton Ross DALL SF 0.406

EXTREMELY POOR PLAYERS
368 Morris Peterson NORL SG 0.394
369 Josh Powell LALK PF 0.386
370 Jason Kapono PHIL SG 0.383
371 Jawad Williams CLEV SF 0.369
372 DeMarre Carroll MEMP SF 0.357
373 Ryan Hollins MINN C 0.351
374 Steve Novak LACL SF 0.345
375 Trenton Hassell NJRS SF 0.342
376 Brian Scalabrine BOST C 0.329
377 Michael Finley SANA SF 0.321
378 Sasha Pavlovic MINN SG 0.314
379 DeShawn Stevenson WASH SG 0.287
380 Malik Allen DENV PF 0.282
381 DaJuan Summers DETR SF 0.266

SCALE FOR REGULAR SEASON REAL PLAYER RATINGS
Perfect for all Practical Purposes / Major Historic Super Star 1.100 and more
Historic Super Star 1.000 1.099
Super Star 0.900 0.999
A Star Player / A well above normal starter 0.820 0.899
Very Good Player / A solid starter 0.760 0.819
Major Role Player / Good enough to start 0.700 0.759
Good Role Player / Often a good 6th man 0.640 0.699
Satisfactory Role Player / Usually do not start 0.580 0.639
Marginal Role Player / Rarely start 0.520 0.579
Poor Player / Should never start 0.460 0.519
Very Poor Player 0.400 0.459
Extremely Poor Player .399 and less

AVERAGE RATINGS BY POSITION
Not all positions are created equal. These are the average ratings by position among all NBA players who play 300 minutes or more. There are very few small forwards and shooting guards who are superstars. Most (but definitely not all) superstars are players who can play point guard, power forward, or center.

Point Guard .750
Shooting Guard .640
Small Forward .640
Power Forward .720
Center .750
All Positions / All Players (NBA Overall Average) .700

PLAYOFF GRADE PLAYERS
Playoff Grade Players have ratings of .560 and higher. Players with ratings below .560 should not play in the playoffs unless the team is forced to play them so that they have two players at a position and/or so that the team has at least eight players playing in the playoffs and/or because the coach is absolutely certain the low rating player will play better in the playoffs than he did in the regular season.

REGULAR SEASON STARTING PLAYERS
All starters on all teams should have ratings of .575 and higher. If a team has no player at a postion with at least a .575 rating, then it is extremely deficient at that position due to injuries or due to management incompetence.

THE ALL IMPORTANT, AWARD WINNING REAL PLAYER RATINGS USER GUIDE
The above are a few hightlights from the User Guide for Real Player Ratings. For complete details regarding how the Real Player Ratings are designed, how and why they work, and how exactly you can use them, see the User Guide. The User Guide for Real Player Ratings is a necessary reference for anyone who wants to truly understand the value of, the validity of, and the ways you can use the Real Player Rating performance measures.

Also, you should become a regular visitor to Quest for the Ring if you want to get the full advantage of reading and using Real Player Ratings Series performance measures. The more you visit and check out ratings, the more quickly and easily you will be able to evaluate what you are seeing.

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