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The graphic just above here lists some specific things that you miss when you do not visit QFTR regularly and when you have not favorited or bookmarked QFTR. The following explains what you miss more generally because the following is a summary of what QFTR is and what QFTR does.

The primary mission of QFTR is to explain exactly how pro basketball playoff games and Championships are won and lost. There are sub objectives that you can find out about right here in the intro and in the QFTR User Guide.

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2013 is year number seven for QFTR, which is here for good. Every year is better than the one before and every year we have more fun than any basketball person should be allowed to have while meeting the primary and the secondary objectives. Visit QFTR regularly and you will definitely learn things you were not supposed to know and you will definitely get a break from the same old, limited content found at the sites that exist in one of the same old boxes.
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This Site started out as a Site dedicated to the Denver Nuggets but graduated from that and became a full scale NBA Site in the summer of 2008. But reducing Nuggets coverage has been a very gradual process and although QFTR does cover all teams in the NBA, QFTR will for the foreseeable future cover the Nuggets especially thoroughly.

But because "Nuggets 1" has become more and more misleading, we have since 2009 been exploring various alternatives for a new Internet address. But changing web addresses is saturated with geek / nerd complications and confusions regarding the consequences of changing, resulting in the change getting postponed year after year. So do not be confused or fooled by the Internet address "Nuggets 1". QFTR covers every NBA team to one extent or another. Although the best teams, the Nuggets, and from time to time certain selected teams get the most serious coverage, any team can potentially show up in any Report, and every single NBA team is included in our most important Reports. In conclusion, "Nuggets 1" is how we started but does not reflect where we are now.

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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.

For this and all the other charts, a minimum of 300 minutes of playing time is required. A player must have made at least 6 assists per 36 minutes (or at least 1 assist every 6 minutes) to be 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 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, December 31, 2010

Real Team Ratings as of December 31, 2010

REAL TEAM RATINGS
2010-11 Season
As of December 31, 2010

--See Sub Rating notes below for some information about how these ratings are calculated.

--See the overall User Guide for Real Team Ratings for complete details about why Real Team Ratings are the best possible ratings and for complete details about how they are calculated.

1 Boston Celtics 104.13
2 San Antonio Spurs 98.99
3 Miami Heat 89.79
4 Dallas Mavericks 81.08
5 Orlando Magic 50.71
6 Los Angeles Lakers 41.22
7 Utah Jazz 37.47
8 Oklahoma City Thunder 27.58
9 New Orleans Hornets 21.40
10 Chicago Bulls 17.29
11 Denver Nuggets 14.66
12 Atlanta Hawks 14.56
13 Portland Trail Blazers 3.44
14 New York Knicks -0.06
15 Houston Rockets -5.61
16 Indiana Pacers -6.46
17 Memphis Grizzlies -6.69
18 Philadelphia 76ers -7.81
19 Milwaukee Bucks -8.12
20 Phoenix Suns -29.53
21 Los Angeles Clippers -30.74
22 Charlotte Bobcats -39.18
23 Toronto Raptors -39.31
24 Detroit Pistons -49.84
25 Golden State Warriors -56.32
26 New Jersey Nets -56.55
27 Washington Wizards -68.71
28 Minnesota Timberwolves -73.79
29 Cleveland Cavaliers -79.71
30 Sacramento Kings -83.31

PROJECTED 2011 CHAMPIONSHIP BASED STRICTLY ON REAL TEAM RATINGS
San Antonio Spurs versus Boston Celtics
If the Spurs had the home court advantage it would be a toss-up; if Boston had the home court advantage they would be slight favorites.

What follows is a very important section of the overall User Guide which explains how to interpret the differences in the ratings from a playoffs perspective.

Following that, for each team there are six sub ratings that when combined together give you the overall Real Team Ratings. If you check these sub ratings you can find out in detail the particular strengths and weaknesses of the teams.

USER GUIDE EXCERPT: INTERPRETING RTR DIFFERENCES BETWEEN TEAMS / PREDICTING PLAYOFF SERIES
NOTES
(1) This is an excerpt from the User Guide for Real Team Ratings .

(2) Injury adjustments for injuries occurring within the last month or so can not be and are not completely accounted for. For larger differences between teams (greater than 25-30 RTR points) the higher rated team would generally have to have injury problems in order to lose. The probabilities mentioned below reflect the injury wild card factor about as much as they do all other uncertain factors combined. Were it not for injuries Real Team Ratings alone would correctly predict the outcome of most playoff series.

(3) For playoff series predicting, add five or six points to the rating of the team that has home court advantage.

QUICK PLAYOFF SERIES PREDICTION SCALE
After you have added five or six points to the RTR of the team with home court advantage, calculate the difference between the two RTRs. Then find the range in which that difference is below and then you can see the probability that the series will be won by the higher team.

0 to 5.9 Complete toss-up: flip a coin
6 to 11.9 Roughly 60% chance the higher team will win
12 to 17.9 Roughly 70% chance the higher team will win
18 to 23.9 Roughly 80% chance the higher team will win
24 to 29.9 Roughly 89% chance the higher team will win
30 to 35.9 Roughly 95% chance the higher team will win
36 to 41.9 Roughly 98% chance the higher team will win
42 to 47.9 Roughly 99% chance the higher team will win
48 or more Roughly 100% chance the higher team will win

DETAILED GUIDE TO INTERPRETATION OF DIFFERENCES BETWEEN IN REAL TEAM RATINGS
NOTES
(1) This is an excerpt from the User Guide for Real Team Ratings.

(2) In the detailed interpretation guide that follows, the word "roughly" is repeatedly used in front of the probability numbers, as a reminder about the small amount of unavoidable statistical error, and to emphasize that unknown factors, especially injuries, will in some cases result in substantially different actual probabilities.

(3) For playoff series predicting, add five or six points to the rating of the team that has home court advantage.

(4) The probability percentages are based on the historical results in the NBA and on accepted statistical theory.

DIFFERENCE IN RATINGS IS BETWEEN 0 AND 5.9
The series is a complete toss-up, when statistical error is considered. There is a strong possibility of a 7 game series. The higher team has a 50% to 55% chance of winning, depending on what exactly the difference is. These probabilities are too low for anyone to have any confidence in using RTR to say who will win. All series of this type are decided quite simply by who plays better, by who coaches better, or both.

DIFFERENCE IN RATINGS IS BETWEEN 6.0 AND 11.9
The series can easily go either way, although the higher team has a small edge, and has between a 55% to 65% chance of winning, depending on where in the range the difference is. There is a very substantial chance of a 7-game series. If the lower team wins, it is a small upset. Either slight differences in the quality of coaching, certain players playing a little better or a little worse than they did in the regular season, or both could be responsible for an upset at this level.

DIFFERENCE IN RATINGS IS BETWEEN 12.0 AND 17.9
The series can go either way, and this type of difference gives a significant chance for a 7-game series. But the higher team has a clear edge. The higher team has between a 65% and a 75% probability of winning, depending on where in the range the difference is. If the lower team wins, it is a moderate upset. Either slight differences in the quality of coaching, certain players playing a little better or a little worse than they did in the regular season, or both could be responsible for an upset at this level.

DIFFERENCE IN RATINGS IS BETWEEN 18.0 AND 23.9
The higher team has roughly between a 75% to 85% probability of winning, depending on where in the range the difference is. There is a chance, but only a small one, for a 7-game series. If the lower team wins, it is a fairly big upset. Either coaches, certain players, or both could be responsible for an upset at this level.

DIFFERENCE IN RATINGS IS BETWEEN 24.0 AND 29.9
The higher team has roughly between an 85% to a 93% probability of winning, depending on where in the range the difference is. In this kind of series, often the only way the lower team can win the series is by extending the series out to 7 games and then somehow winning the 7th game, thus taking the series 4 games to 3. However, it is not uncommon, assuming there is an upset in this type of series, for the lower team to so severely disrupt the favored team that the lower team upsets the higher, favored team 4 games to 2. Whichever way it does it, if the lower team does win coming in down by this amount, it should be considered a major upset. In many such cases, the coaching would have to be very wrong and/or negligent.

DIFFERENCE IN RATINGS IS BETWEEN 30.0 AND 35.9
The higher team has roughly between a 93% and a 97% probability of winning depending on where in the range the difference is. In this kind of series, often the only way the lower team can win the series is by taking the series 7 games and winning the 7th game, thus taking the series 4 games to 3. However, there have been a tiny number of series where a team with this amount of a RTR deficit has won the series by so severely disrupting the favored team that it is able to win the series 4 games to 2. In the vast majority of such cases, the coaching for the higher team was severely wrong and/or negligent. Whether accomplished in 6 games or 7, the lower team winning despite being this far behind in RTR is extremely rare, and would be considered a very major and very surprising upset.

DIFFERENCE IN RATINGS IS BETWEEN 36.0 AND 41.9
The higher team has roughly between a 97% and a 99% probability of winning, depending on where in the range the difference is. Obviously, an upset would be extremely rare, shocking, and historical. It would in most cases be caused substantially by incompetent and/or severely negligent coaching or by one or more major injuries. With this amount of difference, any upset would almost certainly have to be with the series going all seven games.

DIFFERENCE IN RATINGS IS 42.0 AND 47.9
The higher team has a roughly 99% probability of winning the series. Obviously, an upset would be extremely rare, shocking, and historical. It would in most cases be caused substantially by incompetent and/or severely negligent coaching or by one or more major injuries. With this amount of difference, any upset would almost certainly have to be with the series going all seven games.

DEFFERENCE IN RATINGS IS 48.0 OR MORE
It is close to a 100% certainty that the higher team will win the series. Obviously, an upset would be extremely rare, shocking, and historical. It would in the vast majority of cases be caused substantially by incompetent and/or severely negligent coaching. With this amount of difference, any upset would almost certainly have to be with the series going all seven games.

COMPLETE USER GUIDE
Above are only excerpts from the full User Guide. See this User Guide article for full details about the revamped Real Team Ratings system.

========== REAL TEAM RATINGS SUB RATINGS ==========

For each team there are six sub ratings that when combined together give you the overall Real Team Ratings (that are near the beginning of this Report). If you check the sub ratings below you can find out in detail the strengths and weaknesses of the teams. For some of the sub ratings there are some limited but important notes from the User Guide. For full understanding and details the complete User Guide must be consulted.

EFFICIENCY SUB RATING
2010-11 Season
As of December 31, 2010

1 Miami Heat 52.00
2 Boston Celtics 44.50
3 San Antonio Spurs 44.00
4 Los Angeles Lakers 34.50
5 Dallas Mavericks 28.50
6 Orlando Magic 25.00
7 Utah Jazz 15.50
8 Oklahoma City Thunder 12.50
9 Atlanta Hawks 12.00
10 Denver Nuggets 10.50
11 New Orleans Hornets 8.00
12 Houston Rockets 7.00
13 New York Knicks 3.50
14 Chicago Bulls 0.00
15 Portland Trail Blazers 0.00
16 Memphis Grizzlies -1.00
17 Philadelphia 76ers -4.00
18 Indiana Pacers -5.00
19 Milwaukee Bucks -12.50
20 Phoenix Suns -13.00
21 Los Angeles Clippers -20.50
22 Detroit Pistons -22.50
23 Toronto Raptors -22.50
24 Golden State Warriors -23.50
25 Charlotte Bobcats -27.50
26 New Jersey Nets -30.50
27 Washington Wizards -33.50
28 Minnesota Timberwolves -33.50
29 Sacramento Kings -36.00
30 Cleveland Cavaliers -48.50

USER GUIDE NOTES FOR THE ABOVE SUB RATING
--For purposes of RTR this sub rating is calculated as three times the difference between offensive efficiency and defensive efficiency.

--Efficiency is how many points scored (or for defense how many given up) per 100 possessions.

--Note that teams can have the same net efficiency with very different team makeups and/or strategies. For example, a team with a mediocre offense but the best defense in the League could have the same exact net efficiency as a team with the best offense in the League but only a mediocre defense.

--Net efficiency is the best single measure of exactly how good a basketball team potentially is and to a large degree how good it actually is. Therefore, this sub rating carries big weight toward overall Real Team Ratings. However, how good the team will actually be in the playoffs requires other sub ratings.

--See the User Guide to Real Team Ratings for complete details regarding this sub rating

PERFORMANCE VERSUS THE GOOD AND VERSUS THE BEST TEAMS SUB RATING
2010-11 Season
As of December 31, 2010

1 San Antonio Spurs 34.19
2 Dallas Mavericks 31.38
3 Boston Celtics 28.43
4 Miami Heat 11.69
5 Oklahoma City Thunder 10.48
6 Denver Nuggets 9.36
7 New Orleans Hornets 8.30
8 Utah Jazz 8.07
9 Chicago Bulls 6.69
10 Orlando Magic 6.31
11 New York Knicks 2.94
12 Portland Trail Blazers 2.94
13 Los Angeles Lakers 0.02
14 Phoenix Suns -0.73
15 Toronto Raptors -0.81
16 Memphis Grizzlies -1.59
17 Philadelphia 76ers -3.31
18 Milwaukee Bucks -3.62
19 Indiana Pacers -5.16
20 Atlanta Hawks -6.64
21 Los Angeles Clippers -6.84
22 Houston Rockets -9.31
23 Charlotte Bobcats -10.58
24 Golden State Warriors -12.02
25 Detroit Pistons -12.94
26 Cleveland Cavaliers -14.91
27 New Jersey Nets -16.75
28 Washington Wizards -18.31
29 Minnesota Timberwolves -19.19
30 Sacramento Kings -23.31

--See the User Guide to Real Team Ratings for complete details regarding the sub rating above.

MOST RECENT GAMES SUB RATING
2010-11 Season
As of December 31, 2010

1 San Antonio Spurs 19
2 Boston Celtics 17
3 Dallas Mavericks 15
4 Miami Heat 15
5 Chicago Bulls 11
6 Oklahoma City Thunder 9
7 Utah Jazz 9
8 Orlando Magic 7
9 Atlanta Hawks 5
10 Los Angeles Lakers 5
11 New York Knicks 5
12 Denver Nuggets 3
13 Houston Rockets 3
14 Portland Trail Blazers -1
15 Indiana Pacers -3
16 Memphis Grizzlies -3
17 Milwaukee Bucks -3
18 New Orleans Hornets -3
19 Philadelphia 76ers -3
20 Phoenix Suns -3
21 Charlotte Bobcats -5
22 Toronto Raptors -5
23 Detroit Pistons -7
24 Los Angeles Clippers -7
25 Golden State Warriors -9
26 Minnesota Timberwolves -11
27 New Jersey Nets -11
28 Washington Wizards -11
29 Cleveland Cavaliers -17
30 Sacramento Kings -19

USER GUIDE NOTES FOR THE ABOVE SUB RATING
--This sub rating over weights the most recent performance: from the most recent 25 games.

--It reflects momentum, playoff motivation, and morale.

--It substantially but indirectly and inexactly reflects the current injury situations.

--It partially, indirectly, and inexactly reflects the likelihood that coaching strategies and tactics will work or not in the playoffs.

--The last five games of the Regular Season are ignored due to playoff coaches resting key players and due to other distortions.

--See the User Guide to Real Team Ratings for complete details regarding this sub rating.

GENERAL DEFENSIVE SUB RATING
2010-11 Season
As of December 31, 2010

1 Boston Celtics 5.80
2 Miami Heat 5.40
3 Orlando Magic 5.00
4 Milwaukee Bucks 4.60
5 Dallas Mavericks 4.00
6 New Orleans Hornets 4.00
7 Indiana Pacers 3.40
8 San Antonio Spurs 3.00
9 Atlanta Hawks 2.40
10 Chicago Bulls 2.40
11 Los Angeles Lakers 1.80
12 Memphis Grizzlies 1.40
13 Philadelphia 76ers 1.00
14 Utah Jazz 0.60
15 Portland Trail Blazers 0.20
16 Charlotte Bobcats -0.20
17 Oklahoma City Thunder -0.60
18 New Jersey Nets -1.00
19 Los Angeles Clippers -1.60
20 Sacramento Kings -1.60
21 Houston Rockets -2.20
22 Denver Nuggets -2.80
23 Washington Wizards -2.80
24 New York Knicks -3.40
25 Detroit Pistons -3.80
26 Toronto Raptors -4.20
27 Cleveland Cavaliers -4.60
28 Golden State Warriors -5.00
29 Minnesota Timberwolves -5.40
30 Phoenix Suns -5.80

USER GUIDE NOTES FOR THE ABOVE SUB RATING
--The general defensive sub rating is a relatively small but important adjustment that slightly to moderately modifies the ratings of teams according to where they rank defensively (the better the defense, the better for the playoffs).

--Since many playoff series feature teams with very similar ratings, even a small general defensive adjustment can flip the predicted winner from one team to the other.

--Aside from being a sub rating, this shows you exactly how the NBA teams rank defensively.

--See the User Guide to Real Team Ratings for complete details regarding this sub rating.

PAINT DEFENDING SUB RATING
2010-11 Season
As of December 31, 2010

1 Boston Celtics 5.80
2 Orlando Magic 5.40
3 Milwaukee Bucks 5.00
4 Indiana Pacers 4.60
5 Cleveland Cavaliers 4.20
6 Los Angeles Clippers 3.80
7 Miami Heat 3.40
8 New Orleans Hornets 3.00
9 Utah Jazz 2.60
10 New Jersey Nets 2.20
11 Charlotte Bobcats 1.80
12 Portland Trail Blazers 1.40
13 Atlanta Hawks 1.00
14 Chicago Bulls 0.60
15 Dallas Mavericks 0.20
16 Philadelphia 76ers -0.20
17 Los Angeles Lakers -0.60
18 Minnesota Timberwolves -1.00
19 San Antonio Spurs -1.40
20 Memphis Grizzlies -1.80
21 Houston Rockets -2.20
22 Denver Nuggets -2.60
23 Washington Wizards -3.00
24 Oklahoma City Thunder -3.40
25 Detroit Pistons -3.80
26 Sacramento Kings -4.20
27 Golden State Warriors -4.60
28 New York Knicks -5.00
29 Phoenix Suns -5.40
30 Toronto Raptors -5.80

USER GUIDE NOTES FOR THE ABOVE SUB RATING
--Defense is a little more important in the playoffs than it is in the regular season; At the same time, in the playoffs, paint defending (aka interior defending aka down low defending) is more important than perimeter defending (aka outside defending).

--See the User Guide to Real Team Ratings for complete details regarding this sub rating.

PACE ADJUSTMENT SUB RATING
2010-11 Season
As of December 31, 2010

1 Boston Celtics 2.60
2 Charlotte Bobcats 2.30
3 Miami Heat 2.30
4 Dallas Mavericks 2.00
5 Orlando Magic 2.00
6 Philadelphia 76ers 1.70
7 Utah Jazz 1.70
8 Los Angeles Clippers 1.40
9 Milwaukee Bucks 1.40
10 Cleveland Cavaliers 1.10
11 New Orleans Hornets 1.10
12 Atlanta Hawks 0.80
13 Sacramento Kings 0.80
14 Los Angeles Lakers 0.50
15 New Jersey Nets 0.50
16 Detroit Pistons 0.20
17 San Antonio Spurs 0.20
18 Portland Trail Blazers -0.10
19 Washington Wizards -0.10
20 Oklahoma City Thunder -0.40
21 Memphis Grizzlies -0.70
22 Toronto Raptors -1.00
23 Indiana Pacers -1.30
24 Phoenix Suns -1.60
25 Houston Rockets -1.90
26 Golden State Warriors -2.20
27 Denver Nuggets -2.80
28 New York Knicks -3.10
29 Chicago Bulls -3.40
30 Minnesota Timberwolves -3.70

USER GUIDE NOTES FOR THE ABOVE SUB RATING
--The pace of a basketball team is the number of possessions it gets on average per game.

--Teams that run a lot of fast breaks and/or take shots early in the 24 second shot clocks have fast paces, and vice versa.

--The pace adjustment is a small but valid adjustment that slightly modifies the ratings of teams according to the effects of pace on ability to win playoff games.

--The best pace is a little below the League average pace.

--This sub rating has been improved. Beginning with 2010-11, optimum pace is to be the 20th fastest (or in other words the 10th slowest) team in the League. The further from that a team is the lower the pace sub rating. The lowest rating possible is for the team with the fastest pace. The slowest team in the League has a moderate pace sub rating rather than the highest rating as in prior years.

--See the User Guide to Real Team Ratings for complete details regarding this sub rating.

========== USER GUIDE ==========
See User Guide to Real Team Ratings for full details about these ratings which accurately predict who will win in the playoffs.

Rick Carlisle is Caught Red-Handed Making George Karl Type Coaching Errors

In the Real Coach Ratings that were reported at the end of November Quest for the Ring (QFTR) informed everyone that Dallas Mavericks Coach Rick Carlisle has been repeatedly badly beaten in the playoffs. In fact, Carlisle’s playoffs record is substantially worse than that of Denver Nuggets Coach George Karl! Rounding to the nearest whole number, both Carlisle and Karl have lost ten playoff games that should have been wins. But Carlisle has done this out of just 78 playoff games coached, whereas with Karl it took 167 playoff games for him to lose ten that he should have won. But both of them are near the bottom of the heap in terms of playoffs coaching and QFTR is certain that neither of them will ever win a Championship.

When in 2009 the Mavs and the Nuggets played in the West semifinal, the two most unsuccessful playoffs coaches among current coaches were matched up head to head. At that time, when the Nuggets thrashed the Mavericks, how bad Carlisle is at coaching in the playoffs was not known. This greatly increased the worry level here at QFTR that we might possibly have overstated how bad Karl is. Had we had to apologize for overstating how bad Karl is we probably would have shut down QFTR! But today, virtually everything that happened in 2009 makes total sense. There are as always a small number of mostly minor mysteries left over from that one of a kind Nuggets year, and there is one medium mystery: why did it take so long for the Lakers to buckle down and use their offensive system to overcome the Nuggets’ defensive overdrive strategy? Fast forward to now, and another similar Lakers mystery appears to be ongoing.

In the 2009 Nuggets-Mavs series, in accordance with the research showing how all the coaches do in the playoffs, neither coach coached well, but Karl clearly outcoached Carlisle. So after this the Nuggets amazingly appeared in the West final against the Lakers. Even more amazingly, the Nuggets in the first four games of that series created the illusion that they could possibly beat the Lakers in that best of seven. When the Lakers demolished the Nuggets to eliminate the Nuggets in game six IN DENVER, 119-92, it was the end of the illusions. Karl had ultimately been outcoached by the master, Phil Jackson. Whenever a team is blown out in an elimination game, coaching has to be at least partly involved, and it surely was here.

FAST FORWARD TO RIGHT NOW: CARLISLE IS CAUGHT RED HANDED
Last night the Dallas Mavericks, still coached by Carlisle, were defeated in their own building (99-93) by the big time revamped and reenergized San Antonio Spurs, coached by one of the very best coaches in the League, Greg Popovich. (Yes, I am starting to think that the Spurs are a real threat to beat the Lakers in the 2011 West Final; more on this later). Although we don’t know ALL of the ways in which Carlisle screws up yet, we do now know that he shares with George Karl the trait of cheating players out of minutes and starts due to personality and style evaluations.

Last night Carlisle refused to play the experienced and at least slightly underrated center Brendan Haywood. Instead, a very young and inexperienced center from France named Alexis Ajinca played. Ajinca has played only 242 minutes in the NBA so technically it is problematic to show a Real Player Rating for him because 300 minutes are wanted for that. But doing it anyway, even QFTR is surprised by how low Ajinca’s rating is. Prior to adding on the Hidden Defending Adjustment his number is only .297. Correctly calculating a HAD is not valid with so few minutes (and would be more difficult than it would be worth anyway) so we just made an educated guess in favor of Ajinca and assumed he is a better hidden defender than 75% of all other players, which gives him a HDA of .235. The resulting overall estimated Real Player Rating for Ajinca is .532. That puts Ajinca in the low end of the marginal role player category; a player with a rating this low should by rights not play in the playoffs and should play sparingly if at all in the regular season on a major playoff team.

So what we saw last night was Ajinca trying to prove himself as a pro in the NBA because he sure has not done so up until now. Ajinca’s game RPR was .736 using an estimated HDA of .140. (Because his plus-minus was miserable it would be absurd to use a HDA higher than this). That is just about the average RPR for centers in the League so you can say that Ajinca was decent in this particular game. (The announcers were gushing about Ajinca as if he was the second coming of Christ, laugh out loud).

But unlike Ajinca, Haywood might have had a game RPR of over 1.000. And the odds are quite high that Haywood would have been at least a little better than Ajinca. By contrast, Ajinca could easily have been a .500. To say that Carlisle was gambling with Ajinca is an understatement. Ajinca played much better in this game than in most prior ones, which matters a lot less than you might think. Ajinca could probably be safely played when the Mavericks were playing bad teams, but to play him when playing the mighty Spurs was just plain stupid.

Brendan Haywood in 2009-10 had a Real Player Rating of .929 for the Mavericks (Superstar) and .744 for the Wizards (Major role player and good enough to start). In 2008-09 Haywood hardly played due to injury. In 2007-08 Haywood’s rating was .833 (Star) using a conservative estimate of .200 for HAD. So Haywood is a bona fide, quality center in the NBA while Ajinca is a shot in the dark. And yet Carlisle plays Ajinca over Haywood in what was an important game for the Mavericks.

True, the Mavericks probably would have lost to the Spurs even if Haywood had played; after all, their historic superstar Dirk Nowitzki was out with a minor injury. But when Haywood didn’t play, anyone watching the game was wasting his or her time because there was no way in hell the Mavericks could possibly have won. So QFTR caught Rick Carlisle red handed making a big coaching error.

A little hunting and clicking around the Internet confirms that some people think that Haywood’s personality (as it shows up on the court anyway) is sort of undependable and a little “soft” at times. Coaches like Carlisle and Karl heavily penalize those who they think have undependable or soft personalities. So we can deduce that Carlisle thought that the very young and very highly motivated Ajinca would do better than the older and relatively inconsistent Haywood. Ajinca’s personality just seemed so much stronger and more dependable than Haywood’s to Carlisle (and to be fair, it might seem that way to others) that Carlisle could not resist making the move.

But this was the wrong decision. Haywood is so much better than Ajinca in basketball terms that the abstract and subjective stuff (that favors Ajinca) could not offset the real basketball stuff. Ajinca was decent in the game but Haywood could have been outstanding in the game if he had been given the opportunity. You might be able to win a regular season game against a medium or bad team with Ajinca but there is no way you are going to beat the Spurs in a playoff game with Ajinca (even with Dirk Nowitzki back).

Overall Haywood is being cheated of minutes by Carlisle, but for the Nuggets George Karl is cheating Renaldo Balkman much more so. Balkman is being robbed of everything by Karl whereas at least Haywood still gets to play in a fairly substantial number of games. By the way, Gary Forbes is apparently the Ajinca for the Nuggets: getting someone else's playing time.

CARLISLE, KARL, AND OTHERS LIVE IN THE NETHERWORLD
The bottom line is that Carlisle apparently lives in the same netherworld as Karl, where players who have personality or style characteristics not liked (by them) don’t get to play as much as they should. You want to know what the real truth is? Its Carlisle’s and Karl’s personalities that are the real problem with respect to winning games, especially playoff games. They are too sensitive about the personality problems of others, which makes their own personalities problematic with respect to winning playoff games.

Meanwhile, successful playoff coaches such as Greg Popovich and Phil Jackson do not overreact to perceived problems with personalities and styles. They coach rather than punish; they try to make little changes where possible, but most of all they try to correctly integrate even the “bad personalities” and the “bad styles” into the team’s offensive and defensive strategies and tactics. And they mostly succeed in doing that, of course. Coaches such as Popovich and Jackson do not expect players’ personalities and styles to magically transform into something completely different while the player is held out of games and is sitting on the bench. Rest assured that Karl and Carlisle are dead wrong: no basketball player’s personality or playing style ever changed worth a damn while he or she was sitting on the bench.
























AND RILEY, INTERESTINGLY ENOUGH, SAYS RICK CARLISLE IS "WACK"

Wednesday, December 29, 2010

Fast Break Update on J.R. Smith and Carmelo Anthony

If you look around Internet Land you find that a big majority of bloggers (and an even bigger majority of higher traffic ones) write only remarkably short posts that are basically just little pieces of a real article, or at best outlines of a true article, and/or they are updates of a running story. This is the by the book, establishment way to do it. The main two advantages of doing it this way are that it is easy for the writer to produce this way and it is easy for readers who have very little time to spare to read these little postings; the latter means that traffic will be higher. Also, search engines tend to give more traffic to sites with frequent short posts than to sites with infrequent but far longer posts.

Of course, since Quest for the Ring (QFTR) is a one of a kind site that has it's own custom book and that does things by the establishment book only by accident, QFTR does mostly very long to extremely long reports chock loaded with evidence to as we like to say prove things beyond the shadow of a doubt.

However, as QFTR gets older and due to impossible to contain curiosity about what it's like to try something very seldom tried before, in this post and from time to time in 2011 we will experiment with the shorter update oriented post.

With short update posts the proof beyond a shadow of a doubt will be found in other reports that you can find in many ways. One easy and good way to find recent reports is to use the recent title indexes. The indexes for the latest 40 reports are right at the top and three indexes for the next 60 recent reports (20 in each index) are scattered down the home page. Probably the best way to look for reports on a subject regardless of how old they are is to use Google custom search. That search is NOT at Google; you run a Google custom search right here on this page. For example the subject of this little update post is primarily J.R. Smith. So to find out what all the controversy is regarding J.R. Smith and to find out everything we have already proved beyond a shadow of a doubt regarding J.R. Smith, type "J.R. Smith" into any of the Google custom search boxes on this QFTR home page.


Hell must have frozen over because J.R. Smith has been starting lately. Hell did freeze over for the Nuggets and especially for Carmelo Anthony who left the team December 23 due to the death of his sister Michelle at the age of 36.

Michelle Anthony was always more important than basketball, was always loved, and will never be forgotten by those who loved her, including especially Carmelo Anthony. Tears flow yet there is love and peace. Now win here a Championship, Carmelo.



When Carmelo Anthony left the Denver Nuggets on December 23 Coach George Karl was forced to start J.R. Smith. Think for a second what these latest developments really mean for J.R. Smith. Even though objectively speaking Smith was, back in 2006 and 2007, more than good enough to start, not long after Smith came to the Nuggets, George Karl refused to start Smith due to refusing to accept Smith's personality and playing style. Since like any player Smith wants to start, he made major changes in his game thinking that by doing so Karl would start him and give him the playing time he is supposed to get. Trouble is, Karl’s theories are wrong and when Smith changed he changed for the worse-substantially for the worse. That is, Smith's way of playing now makes him less valuable as a shooting guard than he used to be (and less valuable to other teams who now will be less eager to trade for him and will offer less in trade for him).

So Smith's theory in making big changes in response to Karl's badgering must have been that if he made those changes he would be able to start and would get the full playing time due to him. Certainly Smith was aware that he was "supposed to be" starting. And Karl must have at least implied and may have directly told Smith that he could start if he did as he was told. Even though Smith followed Karl's commands, Arron Afflalo is starting over J.R. Smith at shooting guard and this is not going to change anytime soon. As soon as Carmelo Anthony is back, J.R. Smith will no longer be a starter again.

But what Smith is going to have to learn the hard way is that people who have dictatorial powers in their positions and roles in an organization do not necessarily follow through on what they have hinted at or even stated. They can do whatever they want whenever they want, and those who make a lot of money in American society are known for going back on their word and doing the opposite of what they "promised". With respect to those with high incomes and real power, there is really no such thing as a promise anymore; that kind of thing went out of style and out of the picture decades ago. Again for emphasis, many powerful, high income people today (including some, not all NBA Coaches) do NOT follow through on pledges made to players, whether hinted at or stated openly. Sometimes it’s not even that they are intentionally breaking a promise. For example, if a great new player comes along a coach may not be very able to follow through on a pledge made to another player.

The bottom line is that Smith’s big reward for becoming less of a player than he used to be was to start if the Nuggets were ever very shorthanded as a result of Carmelo Anthony not being there. Obviously, this “reward” was essentially nothing; it was essentially no reward at all. The Nuggets technically have only two shooting guards and one small forward (Anthony) on their roster. The one power forward who sometimes is talked about as a small forward is Renaldo Balkman, who Karl refuses to play at all. So Karl ran out of warm bodies and was essentially forced to start J.R. Smith; this was not really any kind of a reward at all.

While Smith gets essentially nada as his reward, he will be fully penalized by the League as a whole for the fact that he can not and does not make threes as he used to, and for a few lesser changes for the worse he has made in this game. To say the least, Smith has been left with the short end of the stick.

And to be blunt, when new contract time comes, J.R. Smith is going to get many, many millions (probably several dozen millions) of dollars less than he would have received had he not changed his game. There is a rough but fairly high correlation between how good a player actually is and how much money he makes in total during a career. Individual coach opinions about style and personality don't in any way, shape or form determine a player's career pay total (and as we know those opinions do not determine whether rings are won). Career pay totals are largely determined by how good the player is objectively speaking (thank goodness).

BEWARE NBA PLAYERS
--Don’t automatically assume the Coach knows what he is doing, and
--Definitely do not assume that the Coach will reward you if you do exactly what he wants you to do.

Instead of making false assumptions like that, you need and want to get a second opinion (and perhaps a third). Open a channel outside the organization and try to get valuable advice from it. A channel could be a retired coach or an agent who really knows basketball. Another great idea is to find a mentor. For this to work well, your mentor should be a retired player (or better still a retired player-coach) who closely matches your playing style and your personality. Whether or not you can find a mentor or a secret channel, read QFTR, which among other things is in effect a free mentor service for players (and agents and coaches and managers and more).

MICHELLE ANTHONY: MORE IMPORTANT THAN BASKETBALL, ALWAYS LOVED, NEVER FORGOTTEN; TEARS OF HEAVEN AND OTHER TEARS FLOW, BUT LOVE AND PEACE REIGN

Monday, December 27, 2010

The Nuggets Lose at Home to a bad Team that Among Other Shortcomings Could Hardly Make Layups or Free Throws

I don’t know what’s come over me. I’ve been watching a good number of regular season games lately, including the 76’ers at Nuggets game the night of the day after Christmas.

Since I generally reveal all my secrets, let me tell you this: I like to watch the Nuggets play major losing teams in the regular season because I don’t want to miss the big enjoyment (for me) that comes out of where the Nuggets are so badly coached that they lose to a bad team. Mostly I have had the door shut in my face over the last few years while trying to observe what would be a special treat. Instead of seeing the Nuggets lose to bad teams, I have repeatedly seen the Nuggets use massive scoring power to overcome bad coaching. And as for the bad teams opposing the Nuggets, I have repeatedly seen them cheated by circumstances (often by bad calls late in games) repeatedly seen them not able to make free throws, repeatedly seen them not able to make layups, repeatedly seen them lose by just a point or two at the buzzer, repeatedly seen them not able to make quality assists, and sometimes seen them just plain stink so bad that there is no way any team could possibly lose to them.

But tonight I was for a change handsomely rewarded for my persistence in looking for Nuggets losses to bad teams. Tonight, the lowly Philadelphia 76’ers defeated the soon to be lowly Denver Nuggets 95-89. It was more fun than a basketball person should be allowed to have.

True, there was no Carmelo Anthony. And true, Al Harrington was slightly injured and played only 4 minutes. But if you are one of the best teams in the West and you are at home, you are supposed to be able to beat one of the worst teams in the East with or without Carmelo Anthony and Al Harrington. Not to mention that the Nuggets are going to face a hell of a lot more games with no Carmelo Anthony in the future if you know what I am saying, laugh out loud.

Like all major losing teams in most games, the 76’ers certainly made big efforts to lose this game. They could barely make any threes at all and they missed at least five free throws that they should have made. They missed a lot of layups and looked more or less incompetent on offense outside the paint as well. Their point guard, Jrue Holiday, looks and plays like he is 14 years old. He looked like he was up past his bedtime laugh out loud. On the other hand, at least Holiday made most of his free throws and had an excellent scoring night, which is more than can be said for the other 76’ers.

Yet the Nuggets imploded and could not beat this team that, Doug Collins notwithstanding, looks to be so far this year no better than in recent years, which is not good at all.

Let’s make some observations and break down the main reasons the Nuggets lost to a bad team:

Nene seems to only score early in games and by the fourth quarter he’s like a zombie on the offensive end, standing around near and in the paint waiting for someone to pass to a zombie, which doesn’t happen too often. Most guards instinctively avoid passing to zombies, even ones in decent scoring position. Would someone remember to wind up Nene at the half; he’s ticking down to nothing before the game is over.

George Karl failed to call time out as the Nuggets were demolished by one of the worst teams in the League in the 4th quarter in their own building, 29-18. This was a virtual carbon copy of the recent game in Denver versus the Timberwolves, where the Nuggets also imploded in the 4th as the Timberwolves outscored the Nuggets in the period 38-27. In that collapse too there were no Nuggets 4th quarter time outs to speak of. (But the Nuggets escaped with a 2-point win in that one).

Four of the most common smoking guns of an inferior offense are (1) there are too many isolation plays and not enough passing and (2) there is too much standing around and (3) The guards (especially the point guards) don’t make enough assists and (4) there are players who, despite being capable of scoring, seem to be completely out of the offensive flow and therefore they take only a fraction of the shots they should take. The Nuggets were guilty of (2) (3) and (4) in this single pathetic game!

THE JR SMITH BLACK SHEEP SAGA: THE 2010-11 CHAPTER
It was sad to see J.R. Smith unable to make threes in this game; he was a miserable and pathetic one of nine from beyond the arc. To make a long story short (reported in great detail elsewhere here) the coach of the Nuggets belittled Smith’s love of the 3-ball, made him think that shooting threes is "soft," and so he induced him to cut way back on threes even though he was at the time one of the most talented (and valuable) 3-point shooters in the NBA. Check this record:

J.R SMITH THREE POINT SHOOTING RECORD
Shown are the year, the number of threes made per 36 minutes, and the percentage of threes attempted made.
2006-07 3.6 @ .390
2007-08 4.0 @ .403
2008-09 2.9 @ .397
2009-10 2.7 @ .338
2010-11 2.3 @ .380

The first two years above were the golden years where Smith would be a major asset to a playoff team facing a very tough paint defense. In 2008-09 Smith cut back on threes (due to Karl) but he did maintain his percentage. In 2009-10 he cut back a little bit more, but the big story was that he could not make threes all that well anymore. Now so far this year Smith is no longer an enthusiastic or volume three point shooter and his percentage is up from last year but down from the golden years.

Smith’s percentage is more likely to go down in the future than back up to where it was. Folks, if you are not enthusiastically and aggressively trying to optimize a skill it is only a matter of time before you don’t have as much of that skill as you used to have when you were enthusiastic and aggressive about it. If in response to bad coaching a player becomes less enthusiastic and less aggressive about a skill then sooner or later that skill is going to fade away and no longer be an asset in playoff games.

The best coaches tell their players to try to get even better at what they are already very good or extremely good at. They don’t tell them to try to rearrange their skills and/or to change their style in pursuit of trying to be a more balanced or “well rounded” basketball player. That thinking is garbage and will never win you playoff games. You want to know the real truth? There really is no such thing as a completely well rounded basketball player. Even the very best basketball players have a few things they are not good at and will never be good at.

So here is an extremely important memo to coaches who don’t want to make the same mistake Karl did with J.R. Smith: Being able to make threes is very, very important toward winning playoff games and championships and any player, but especially a 2-guard who can shoot very close to or over 40% on threes and do so in volume (as J.R. Smith used to be able to do) is very, very valuable and should be encouraged. I mean, get this type of player to mix in some drives and some fast breaks with the threes so that the defenders won’t be coming all the way out to the 3-point line and making life miserable out there. But the last thing you should do is what George Karl did, which is to deny the importance of the three and make players who like to make a lot of threes and who are good at making them feel guilty about that.

Mathematically, making just 33% of threes is equivalent to making 50% of twos, which is roughly the standard or average make percentage for twos. Players who can make more than 38% and especially ones who can make more than 40% of threes (and who aggressively and enthusiastically make a lot of them including contested ones) are rare and should be greatly praised, encouraged, and facilitated. If you instead discourage the 3-ball you run the risk of causing the player to lose the ability to make the threes at all; J.R. Smith is living proof of this hazard.

THE NUGGETS WERE PATHETIC IN THE PAINT DEFENSIVELY
The 76’ers like almost all bad teams are a poor shooting team which means they need to drive into the paint more than would normally be wise. What was especially pathetic about this game was that although the 76’ers are such a weak scoring team that they even had a lot of trouble finishing at the rim (even though in other words they missed a lot of layups) the Nuggets were still hammered in the paint as the 76’ers scored 48 points in, as Hubie Brown calls it, “the painted area”. I mean, the 76’ers could not buy a layup and yet they still scored 48 points in the paint! They should have scored about 60 in the paint.

Surrendering any more than 40 points in the paint is not very good and giving up anything more than 45 is really bad. A fairly large majority of playoff games are won by teams who have surrendered fewer than 40 points in the paint.

The 76’ers made 17 offensive rebounds where 11 is the normal or average number. Offensive rebounds surrendered is a key indicator for who wins in the playoffs; teams with great paint defenses keep the number of offensive rebounds surrendered (made by the opponent) under ten in games. It is almost impossible to win a playoff game when your opponent makes 17 offensive rebounds.

THE JR SMITH BLACK SHEEP SAGA: THE 2010-11 CHAPTER (CONTINUED)
Arguably even more pathetic than this is the fact that J.R. Smith led the Nuggets in rebounding along with Chris Andersen; each of them made 11 rebounds. But a shooting guard should never ever lead your team in rebounding.

In a game like this we can see the total freak that George Karl is trying to turn J.R. Smith into. J.R. Smith is on the verge of becoming some kind of a freak 2-guard who specializes in rebounding instead of shooting and who drives into the paint all the time only to have trouble finishing (because that’s not his highest potential skill) whereas he used to be an extremely valuable shooter who could make threes but now he can’t make threes reliably anymore. In some games, J.R. Smith doesn’t even attempt to make threes; in those games he drives into the paint most of the time. Yet Smith is never ever going to be as good finishing drives as he used to be at making threes. I mean, he’s decent, probably above average at that, but he’s never going to be outstanding or one of the best driving 2-guards. In short, Smith has been induced to trade his best skills away in exchange for doing things that he will never be outstanding at.

The biggest mistake Smith ever made (in basketball, anyway) was to change his style in response to the coaching of George Karl. The situation is so bad that Smith, who should have been a starting 2-guard for Denver and failing that somewhere else in the League, may never start anywhere now. And there is even the possibility that Smith’s NBA career will be cut way short. Certainly, the Nuggets at this point should be motivated to try to trade him to another team and Smith should want to get the hell out of there before even more damage is done.

The Nuggets continue to pay a high and increasing price for injuries to Kenyon Martin and Chris Andersen. Although both of them are back and although both of them played extensively in this game, players do not generally play at 100% very soon after coming back from long injuries. Also, the Nuggets continue to pay a high and increasing price for George Karl’s essentially permanent benching of defensive specialist Renaldo Balkman. Last year the Nuggets were able to use luck and some carryover defensively from their one of a kind, miracle 2008-09 season to escape heavy regular season damage due to refusing to play Balkman. They did, however, lose in the first round of the 2010 playoffs even with home court advantage due to not being able to defend the paint.

This year, however, things may be different. The Nuggets have slipped down yet another notch in terms of defending the paint and now this season they seem destined to pay a fairly large price even in the regular season for refusing to play Balkman and for being unable to defend the paint.















LET'S CHECK WHAT RILEY HAS TO SAY >>>
"DENVER NUGGS, YOU

Saturday, December 25, 2010

Happy Holidays to Everyone as QFTR Heads into Year Five

What is up people? The holidays are up along with the end of the fourth year of one of the world’s most unique and valuable basketball projects: Quest for the Ring (QFTR). Year four was the best year ever and rock bottom minimum year five will be just as good as year four was.

But as always there is some bad news. QFTR was forced to severely cut back in December due to having to put out “fires” that have nothing to do with basketball and which were caused by a combination of incompetence and fraud. Yes it’s true; QFTR is not immune from being negatively affected by the rampant incompetence and fraud that we have in society today. Alas, incompetence and fraud are found society wide and not just from some basketball coaches, managers, and owners. If you are s sportswriter you can in theory be mostly aloof from the incompetence and fraud in society. Whereas political and business writers are supposed to report on incompetence and fraud in society, although many of them are instructed not to do those types of reports by their fat cat editors. But when incompetence and fraud invade the space of a sportswriter, he or she can't be aloof to it anymore due to the need to put those fires out.

2011 CHAMPIONSHIP
Who is going to win the NBA Championship in 2011? Either the Boston Celtics or the Los Angeles Lakers are going to be champions in 2011 assuming no major injuries on those teams. As QFTR comes back to life again over the coming days, one thing near the top of the agenda is an updated “Situation” report which breaks down the contenders. Also, Real Team Ratings are due in late December; we’ll try to have them by January 5 at the latest.

CHRISTMAS 2010 GAMES
I’m actually trying to watch a lot of basketball on Christmas Day 2010. I just saw the Bulls unable to do much of anything offensively. Is Bulls Coach Tom Thibodeau so obsessed with defense that his team is offensively lost? Apparently so. Come on Mr. T, you have Derrick Rose and Carlos Boozer and yet you can’t even match George Karl on basketball offense? Thibodeau is substantially underachieving offensively and it’s a shame because Derrick Rose is the real deal.

Incidentally, I was thinking that Ty Lawson is a poor man’s (or poor franchise's to be more precise) Derrick Rose; the two are very similar in style (although Lawson is a little less athletically spectacular) and I believe that Lawson will be within striking range of Rose’ level when he gets more experience, by 2012 or 2013 at the latest. Lawson is a relatively low profile type of player which means he is going to be at least a little underrated which in turn means that he will be a bargain for some team, hopefully not the Nuggets for Lawson’s sake because the Nuggets will, unless they get all new coaches, never ever make point guards into what you really need them to be. Not to mention that the Nuggets are known for treating players who really should be starters as ones who are not only not starters now, but as players who never ever, no matter how well they play, will ever be starters. I exaggerate not.

Right at this moment I’m watching the Celtics and the Magic and it’s 29-26 Magic at the moment. The game is not that important or interesting because Celtics’ PG Rajon Rondo is not available due to injury (he’s out from December 15 until about January 1). This basically ruins this game for me. Rondo is now apparently right up there with Chris Paul as the best point guard in the NBA and may possibly have surpassed Paul to be the number one PG in the NBA. We’ll find out who the best PG in the NBA for 2010-11 right here at QFTR along about next July. Anyway, due to Rondo not being there I honestly don’t think the Celtics can possibly win this game.

Then later will be the “marquis game,” which this year is the Miami Heat versus Los Angeles Lakers. The Christmas marquis game is the one that tips at 5 pm eastern time and is in theory supposed to showcase and preview the most likely Championship series (that will take place a little more than five months later). However, in practice, the match-up is really more of a popularity contest; the NBA and ABC determine who the majority of people think are going to be in the Championship and schedule that for Christmas at 5 pm eastern.

But as is so often the case, what the popular belief is and what the reality is are two different things. Here at QFTR, we don’t ever just report what is popularly believed, but rather what the exact truth is. And the exact truth at the moment is that the 2011 Championship will be Celtics-Lakers again unless there are one or more major injuries to one or both of those teams.

The Heat have not and most likely will not be avoiding the mistake of trying to have LeBron James do too much, which will stop them cold in the East Conference final if not earlier than that. Also, Dywane Wade and Erik Spoelstra have not figured out how to properly manage an offense when your shooting guard is far better than your point guard, whereas of course Kobe Bryant, Phil Jackson (and QFTR) have figured this out. Obviously I am just scratching the surface of this topic here but that’s an accurate, very quick summary of why the Heat will not be in the Championship in 2011 if I do say so myself.

Celtics-Magic and Heat-Lakers are on the ABC Network at 2:30 and 5:00 pm respectively. After the Heat-Lakers will be the Denver Nuggets versus the Oklahoma Thunder in Oklahoma. If your Internet provider includes ESPN 360 then you can watch this game on your computer at 8 pm eastern and after that you can watch the Portland Trailblazers versus the Golden State Warriors at 10:30 pm eastern. ESPN 360 has a small number of regular season NBA games on ordinary days (not just on holidays). I’m pretty sure that ESPN 360 has a more substantial number of playoff games.

Look for the Nuggets to lose to the Thunder due to all the reasons we have posted in other reports.

Since the Trailblazers remain devastated by injuries the Trailblazers-Warriors night cap game will be close even though the Trailblazers are in theory a much better team than the Warriors. Quite frankly it doesn’t matter who wins because neither the Trailblazers nor the Warriors are in the 2011 playoffs picture. The Warriors very probably won’t make the playoffs and the Trailblazers will lose in round one-at best.

Happy holidays to everyone and may we all effectively offset any and all incompetence, fraud (and economic failures) dumped on our laps and lawns so that we can have a reasonably outstanding and enjoyable 2011.

RILEY SAYS: CHICAGO'S OFFENSE SUCKS, LAKERS-HEAT IS NOT AS IMPORTANT AS YOU THINK IT IS, AND THE NUGGETS ARE LIKELY TO LOSE TO THE THUNDER

Sunday, December 19, 2010

I Had to Dump a Bucket of Cold Water on Myself When it was Over: Denver Nuggets 115, Minnesota Timberwolves 113

I watched a regular season game from start to finish (which I readily admit I don't do more than about twice a month, whereas I watch every single playoff game I possibly can) so I wanted to make some comments based on the game. Plus, I want to signal that I am still alive. I have been buried with the need to put out “a bunch of fires” that all flared up at the same time, which required me to suspend Quest for the Ring (QFTR) for almost three weeks.

I just watched the Timberwolves lose to the Nuggets 115-113 and as someone who has come to the conclusion that playoff basketball is much more worth watching than regular season, I must say my opinion on that was verified big time during this game. The game was horrible.

TY LAWSON
Neither team had any organization or flow to speak of although Ty Lawson, who ironically should be a Timberwolve instead of a Nugget, was outstanding. It was great to see him have such a great real point guard kind of game, especially considering that the Nuggets have, two years after their miracle season in 2008-09, reverted back to the same old same old: a team with very little if any offensive flow and a team that will not even try to defend the paint. In defense of the Nuggets though, it should be said that with no Kenyon Martin due to injury, with no Chris Andersen due to injury, with no Renaldo Balkman due to coach stupidity, and when Al Harrington, Shelden Williams, Gary Forbes, and Nene are your actual playing fours and fives, you are probably not going to be able to defend the paint well even if you try to do it.

If anybody is looking for a great point guard who would be good in the playoffs, they should consider trying to get a hold of Ty Lawson. Who knows, the Nuggets might be stupid enough to include Lawson in the upcoming Carmelo Anthony deal or in some other deal. I don’t waste my time trying to keep up with all the contract minutiae and nor do I waste time speculating about trades that never happen. All I am saying here and now is that Ty Lawson is going to be one of the better point guards in the NBA for many years to come and I am also saying that the Nuggets are stupid enough to lose him.

J.R. SMITH
With regard to J.R. Smith (Nuggets 2-guard) he looks more confused and awkward out there and not less when compared with how he was when he first came to Denver, following his going through three years of George Karl’s dubious to say the least coaching. Before Karl confused and disturbed the hell out of him, Smith’s game was a very, very large amount of raw talent mixed in with seemingly half crazy decision making and a half crazy style. But it was partly or possibly mostly an illusion that his decision making and style were half crazy. To avoid being made a fool of, you need to dodge illusions by looking at real evidence, such as that provided by statistics. Numbers don’t lie and they show that Smith in the old days before he was changed for the worse by George Karl was extremely good. The numbers these days show that Smith is not all that good. Although he used to be more than good enough to start, even in the playoffs for a good team, these days J.R. Smith is good enough to start only on bad teams in the regular season. At this point, if he is ever going to be the starter that he was meant to be, I think he will have to go to a losing team to do so.

The main point I want to get across is that it is sad to see what George Karl has done to J.R. Smith. To go into very heavy detail is beyond the scope here. Let’s just sum it up this way: Karl turned an extremely talented but immature player lacking in decision making skills into an almost as immature player who seems to be making bad decisions much of the time and whose skills, therefore, are going to waste. At the same time, it seems that his skills have actually been at least slightly reduced from what they were, and I would wager that the coaching would have to be a miserable failure for that to be even possible to happen.

Other than Ty Lawson (and Carmelo Anthony, who these days seems to play exactly the same and to end up with the same stat line every single game) none of the other Nuggets were much good from a playoffs level perspective. But Denver has so much offensive fire power that they can use only a portion of it, stink on defense, stink up the court as far as offensive strategy and tactics are concerned, and yet beat one of the worst teams in the League by two points or more. (Laugh out loud that it WAS a two point win; that the Nuggets even came close to losing this game). In fact, were it not for Lawson and his nine assists, the Nuggets obviously would have lost to one of the very worst teams in the League! The two main reasons would have been (1) The Nuggets in this particular game were completely asleep as far as defending the perimeter (even more asleep than the Timberwolves who are often asleep) and (2) The Nuggets always insist on running an almost completely disorganized offense consisting of nothing more and nothing less than the sum of all the individual efforts, mostly in isolation plays, of the individual Nuggets players. In other words, the Nuggets are a sad excuse for playoff caliber offense.

But the thing is, if you are armed to the teeth with scoring power, you can easily get by with that kind of offense in the regular season when you play a lot of teams who are way behind you in scoring power, and when defending is not as ramped up (energetic and tough) as it is in the playoffs. Although it can and does happen in the regular, in the playoffs, the Nuggets’ type of offense becomes very lame and ineffective for long stretches of time (which costs them the playoff game). In the playoffs, teams like the Nuggets are squashed like bugs.

And not being able to defend the paint matters not against the worst teams in the League, who usually have no post up offense to speak of. For the Timberwolves, Kevin Love at power forward didn’t post up much at all yet scored a career high 43 points on 14 of 23 made field goals which included five of five on threes, and Love also made 17 rebounds and 3 assists. On the other hand, Love did not look to me in this game to be someone you could possibly rely on in a playoff game to force a few misses in the paint. The very worst teams usually have one guy who makes a very large number of rebounds, so the 17 rebounds was nice for Love but disturbing from a Timberwolves point of view. Having one guy on even one occasion make that many rebounds means that other players are not rebounding and/or it means you are a horrible rebounding team.

This game was miserable on so many levels! The Nuggets should have won this game by 20 points rock bottom minimum and yet they lazily and awkwardly stumbled to the finish and won the game by a bucket even though they were outscored in the fourth quarter by 11 points, 38-27. Yes, the Nuggets gave up 38 points to one of the very worst teams in the League in the fourth quarter as they tried in vain to give this game away; yes, the game was so miserable that the Nuggets lost their effort to try to lose the game! Does it get any more pathetic than that? Not much more.

George Karl might as well not have been there. Apparently thinking (as I was) that the Nuggets could not possibly lose this game, he didn’t even bother to call any timeouts as the Nuggets imploded in the fourth and almost gave away the game. Had the Nuggets lost, it would have been fair justice for Karl, although I would have looked bad for claiming that the Nuggets “can not possibly lose this game,” laugh out loud.

The Minnesota coach, Kurt Rambis, made a miserable error of his own at the end. With 27 seconds left and with Minnesota behind by two, he elected to not foul the Nuggets! Wrong move! Carmelo Anthony, who knows a cheap win when he sees one and is good at nailing a cheap win down, wisely used up virtually the entire 24 second shot clock before putting up an arching shot that took almost forever to reach the rim. Of course, the shot missed (remember, we are talking about a miserable, pathetic game here, so it had to miss). The ball careened off the rim and no one could really get to it before the miserable horn (I don’t like the sound of that horn) blasted to end the miserable game. Then the miserable fans filed out into the miserable cold and the miserable traffic and, well, hopefully the misery will come to an end soon so that everyone has a happy holiday season.

THE PLAYOFFS? YOU ARE SERIOUSLY ASKING ABOUT THE PLAYOFFS???
If the Nuggets were to make the playoffs this year it’s obvious at the moment (and I don’t see how in the world this could possibly change) that the Nuggets will lose convincingly in round one. It would be the same old, same old, in other words (except for the 2008-09 miracle). But actually, the Nuggets will most likely not be making the playoffs this year, simply because Carmelo Anthony agrees with everything I ever wrote and has therefore decided to quit the Nuggets. (Well, at least the last part, about him leaving the Nuggets, is definitely true; the part about him agreeing with everything I ever wrote might be a wee bit exaggerated, laugh out loud.)

RILEY SAYS: "NUGGETS YOU SUCK"
Seriously though, was there ever a team that more deserved to lose one of its very best players (and its’ “franchise player”) more than the Denver Nuggets? The Nuggets, regardless of all the puff pieces written about them on ESPN and regardless of all the puff statements made about them in TV broadcasts, are not really a well run or serious basketball franchise. Every year they do stuff that reinforces this fact. For example, just a few months ago the Nuggets’ ownership fired the two guys who constituted their general management team (for unknown reason(s) but a good guess is that it was for cost cutting) and replaced them with someone with no general manager experience. This was after other potential managers (with experience) turned down the job due to the insufficient salary being offered. The two fired Nuggets managers are the very same ones responsible in the last five-six years for loading the Nuggets to the rafters with players who can score the hell out of the ball. In other words, those managers made it possible for the Nuggets to get away with having essentially zero organization offensively and to get away with (excepting 2008-09) half assed defending. The damage to the Nuggets from losing Carmelo Anthony is probably going to be compounded when the seemingly endless flow of relatively obscure but extremely talented scorers coming to the Nuggets comes to an end as a result of the firing of the two managers.

As for the Timberwolves, aside from having lost a game they definitely should have won, they have let about four point guards slip through their fingers in the last couple years, including Ty Lawson, any one of which are better than all of the ones they have on the team right now. What their problem is is beyond me.

THE VERDICT ON THE DENVER NUGGETS>>>
















THE VERDICT ON THE MINNESOTA TIMBERWOLVES>>>

Monday, November 29, 2010

Music Videos Break: One Hundred Irish Music Videos

Irish music is like the hip hop music of Ireland. Don't believe me, check it out for a minute. It's kind of opposed to (or different from) everyday society just like hip hop is.

If you hate Irish music then just move on and have a nice day and week, now.

FIFTY MOST RELEVANT IRISH MUSIC VIDEOS

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FIFTY LATEST IRISH MUSIC VIDEOS
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Sunday, November 28, 2010

Official NBA Coach Recommendations: Can the Coach of Your Team Win the Quest or Not?

This is the third of three NBA head coaching Reports. The first two were Real Coach Ratings Reports in the two versions, one looking back on 2009-10 and the other looking ahead to 2010-11. This last one takes the entire work product from the first two and condenses it into specific up or down recommendations for all head coaches from 2009-10 and at the start of 2010-11. The simplification here is useful but the details in the full Reports should be reviewed by anyone serious about finding out whom the best playoffs and/or the best regular season coaches are.

The complete User Guide for Real Coach Ratings is here.

Quest for the Ring (QFTR) starting this year is giving separate playoffs and regular season recommendations for head coach for NBA teams. QFTR is not giving overall recommendations for two main reasons. First, it turns out that there is a big, big difference for a lot of coaches in how well their coaching works out in the regular season versus how well it works out in the playoffs. It turns out that it is relatively common for pro basketball coaches to be very good regular season coaches but poor or very poor playoffs coaches. For these coaches, the way they look at and understand basketball and how they have their team playing works better in the regular season than it does in the playoffs. Because of this alone, making combined regular season / playoffs recommendations would be far less productive than you might think.

The second reason why we don't even attempt an overall recommendation is that franchises will look at the importance of the regular season and the playoffs differently. For franchises who know already they are most likely not going to be in the playoffs for a while, and also for franchises who think the regular season is more important for them than the playoffs, they might perhaps use the regular season recommendations more than the playoff ones.

However, QFTR strongly disagrees with any owner or manager who places the importance of the regular season above the importance of the playoffs. By rights, the playoffs should always be considered as more important than the regular season. If a team is not going to be making the playoffs this year it should by rights have a great playoff coach anyway, so when the team does make the playoffs in the near future it has the right coach for winning in the playoffs.

THE COACH RUT
Teams should avoid getting stuck in a rut that the public is completely unaware of but that QFTR has proven exists. This rut is where a team has a very good regular season coach but a lousy playoffs coach. It can be extremely difficult to get out of this rut because it is very hard to fire a coach who usually does very well in the regular season.

Plus, which coaches are not good for the playoffs is basically a secret from the public. This is one of QFTR's favorite and most important topics, and yet it took even us until November 2010 before we assembled all the hard proof and officially reported out which coaches are lousy playoffs coaches. And this is most likely the first time in history anyone carefully and mathematically investigated this. It took many hours of work to prove this beyond a shadow of a doubt and it was not very easy to do. So it is understandable that most people are in the dark and would not believe that there are a substantial number of coaches who are very good in the regular season but are poor in the playoffs.

The point is, this is basically unknown territory, so don't expect that these good in the regular but bad in the playoffs coaches are going to be fired when they should be (or never hired in the first place). Instead, expect that teams are going to make mistakes with these types of coaches year after year after year. People and things other than the coach will get the blame, and in some cases other people and things are also to blame. But the problem remains that this type of coach is very seldom if ever blamed simply because no one is aware that this type of coach exists and is fairly common.

Most lousy playoffs coaches get away with being lousy playoffs coaches year after year after year as long as they are good regular season coaches. A franchise can be in the dark about this for many years, for the entire time the coach is the coach. A team stuck with this type of coach will typically go along year after year thinking they have a chance to win the Quest, whereas their coach may be so poor in the playoffs that realistically they have no chance whatsoever to win it regardless of who the players are.

RECOMMENDATIONS ABOUT THE RECOMMENDATIONS
QFTR highly recommends that all franchises use the playoff recommendations more strongly than they do the regular season recommendations. But some words of caution are in order. Never completely ignore the regular season recommendations. It is going to be very unusual for a great playoff coach to be a not so good regular season coach (unlike the reverse which is surprisingly common) but if there ever was a coach with an outstanding playoff record but a poor regular season record, you would want to avoid this coach as a kind of insurance policy against having the wrong coach overall. This scenario could play out if the number of playoff games coached was relatively low and a fluke amount of statistical error resulted in an artificially high playoffs rating (whereas meanwhile the lower regular season rating was exactly accurate).

At an absolute minimum, the playoffs should be considered equal in importance to the regular season and the playoff coach recommendations should be just as important as the regular season coach recommendations.

One thing QFTR could do (and what QFTR would do if forced to make an overall recommendation) would be to use a formula where the playoffs rating was more important than the regular season rating. Or for that matter we could change the overall Real Coach Ratings system so that it was even more weighted in favor of the playoffs than it already is. We choose not to do either of these things at this time because of the complexities already discussed and because of other factors not mentioned here.

To some extent this discussion about which recommendations to use is not completely on point, because obviously, the best thing and what you want is a coach who is above average for BOTH the playoffs and for the regular season. Unfortunately however such coaches are much rarer than most people think they are. It turns out that although it is not rocket science, coaching basketball at the NBA level is much more difficult and complex than most people think it is. And then NBA playoff coaching is more difficult and complex than regular season coaching is. Ironically, many of the head coaches themselves apparently underestimate how difficult their job is and many of them don’t even begin to understand the magnitude and nature of the differences between the regular season and the playoffs.

I have a theory (can’t prove it right now) that on average Americans underestimate the importance of coaching more so than other people do. Maybe Canada can find that perfect coach who can bring the NBA Championship to Toronto and to Canada? That would be so sweet.

THE PHIL JACKSON ADJUSTMENT FOR THE PLAYOFFS RECOMMENDATIONS
Phil Jackson is by far the best and most successful NBA playoffs coach among current and recent head coaches. Actually, he is most likely the best NBA playoffs coach of all time (although there are a handful of other ones who are in Jackson’s ballpark). Jackson has repeatedly won playoff games he wasn't supposed to win versus some of the very best of the other NBA coaches. Jackson has won just about 42 playoff games he (statistically) wasn’t supposed to win out of a total of 323 playoff games. Jackson’s all time playoffs record is 225-98 but according to the QFTR investigation his “par record” is just 183-140.

This means that if you think (as most of the general public does) that Phil Jackson wins in the playoffs mostly according to how good his players are and that he has little or no impact on how many wins his teams get you are completely wrong. Jackson has had good teams, since he was “supposed to be” 183-140 in the playoffs but he boosted that to 225-98 and this was such a big improvement that we know, for example, that Jackson would not have won 11 rings (and probably not even half a dozen rings) if he were an average playoffs coach and we also know that Jackson would have won very few if any rings if he was a well below average playoffs coach.

Some coaches have come up against Phil Jackson in many more playoff games than others. Rick Adelman, Jerry Sloan, and Greg Popovich lead this pack, having faced Jackson in 29, 27, and 26 playoff games respectively. Adelman has pretty well held his own but Sloan and especially Popovich have been hammered by Jackson. After these three there is a group of five coaches who have faced Jackson in between 12 and 16 playoff games and three out of five of these have been handed (by Jackson) a big bunch of losses that should have been wins. The damage to them, though, is far less than the damage to Popovich.

For a big majority of coaches, the more playoff games a coach has played against Phil Jackson, the more his Playoff Rating is going to be depressed because Jackson has heavily dominated in playoffs coaching. Therefore, for my recommendations, I decided to remove most of the bias caused by big differences between coaches in the number of games versus Phil Jackson. For determining the recommendations you see below, 4/5 or 80% of the scoring from games versus Phil Jackson is removed.

The "Phil Jackson adjustment" is NOT done in the main Real Coach Ratings Report. All of the numbers in all sections of that Report include all games played against Phil Jackson. Only in these final official recommendations are in effect 80% of the games versus Phil Jackson taken out.

The primary beneficiaries of this adjustment are Greg Popovich, Jerry Sloan, and Flip Saunders. But Saunders is still "strongly not recommended" even after being boosted by the Phil Jackson adjustment. Sloan goes from "strongly not recommended" to simply "not recommended". The biggest swing is with Popovich. Believe it or not, Popovich, who has won four Championships in years when Phil Jackson's team was not competitive with Popovichs’ Spurs, would be "strongly not recommended" if all his games versus Phil Jackson were included whereas Popovich is "recommended" if you take away 4/5 of the effect from Jackson! The Popovich versus Jackson coaching saga is very much like the road runner versus Wily Coyote!

There are two coaches whose ratings would be lower rather than higher if their games versus Phil Jackson were removed. Doc Rivers and George Karl have very slightly gotten the best of Phil Jackson in the playoffs. (Yes, the fact that George Karl has gotten the better of Phil Jackson, even if only by a small margin, is quite a surprise). Even though the Nuggets were destroyed by the Lakers in the elimination game, the 2008 West Conference final was nevertheless one of the greatest achievements for both Karl and the Nuggets because the Nuggets did better than they were supposed to in that series.

For Doc Rivers and George Karl, the Phil Jackson adjustment is ignored so that they get credit for their limited success versus Jackson.

Note that QFTR can in theory include in these recommendations any coach who has ever coached in the NBA (subject to the 25 playoff games and 200 regular season games minimums). If you need a specific coach evaluated, contact QFTR.

The following includes the 33 head coaches from 2009-10 and the six new head coaches for 2010-11 not already among those 33. In total 39 head coaches from last year and the year coming up are included.

Here are the official QFTR recommendations:

========== COACH RECOMMENDATIONS FOR THE PLAYOFFS ==========
--The 33 head coaches from 2009-10 are included (three teams changed their head coach during the season)
--The 6 new head coaches for 2010-11 who are not among the 33 who coached last year are included; a total of 39 head coaches are included.
--Coaches who have coached fewer than 25 playoff games are not included in the playoff recommendations due to insufficient information.

VERY HIGHLY RECOMMENDED FOR THE PLAYOFFS
-An extremely good team or just a very good team could easily win with these coaches

Phil Jackson
Larry Brown
Mike Dunleavey

HIGHLY RECOMMENDED FOR THE PLAYOFFS
-An extremely good team could easily win and a very good team could relatively easily win with these coaches

Stan Van Gundy

RECOMMENDED FOR THE PLAYOFFS
-An extremely good team could win with these coaches; a very good team could possibly win with these coaches

Byron Scott
Jim O'Brien
Mike Brown
Gregg Popovich

NEITHER RECOMMENDED NOR NOT RECOMMENDED FOR THE PLAYOFFS
-An extremely good team could possibly win with these coaches but there are no guarantees among these

Lawrence Frank
Doug Collins
Rick Adelman
Nate McMillan
Paul Westphal
Doc Rivers

NOT RECOMMENDED FOR THE PLAYOFFS
-These coaches are not recommended but an extremely good team could possibly win with these coaches, especially if the players were smart enough to help coach themselves

Scott Skiles
Eddie Jordan
Mike Woodson
Jerry Sloan
Avery Johnson

STRONGLY NOT RECOMMENDED FOR THE PLAYOFFS
-It is very unlikely that the following coaches could ever possibly win the Quest for the Ring regardless of players

Flip Saunders

VERY STRONGLY NOT RECOMMENDED FOR THE PLAYOFFS
-It is extremely unlikely that the following coaches could ever possibly win the Quest for the Ring regardless of players

Don Nelson
Mike D'Antoni
George Karl
Rick Carlisle

NOT ENOUGH INFORMATION
Alvin Gentry
Erik Spoelstra
Jay Triano
Jeff Bower
John Kuester
Keith Smart
Kiki Vandeweghe
Kim Hughes
Kurt Rambis
Larry Drew
Lionel Hollins
Monty Williams
Scott Brooks
Tom Thibodeau
Vinny Del Negro

========== COACH RECOMMENDATIONS FOR THE REGULAR SEASON ==========

--The 33 head coaches from 2009-10 are included (three teams changed their head coach during the season)
--The 6 new head coaches for 2010-11 who are not among the 33 who coached last year are included; a total of 39 head coaches are included.
--Coaches who have coached fewer than 200 regular season games are not included in the recommendations due to insufficient information.

VERY HIGHLY RECOMMENDED FOR THE REGULAR SEASON
Phil Jackson
Gregg Popovich
Jerry Sloan

HIGHLY RECOMMENDED FOR THE REGULAR SEASON
Rick Adelman
George Karl
Stan Van Gundy

RECOMMENDED FOR THE REGULAR SEASON
Mike Brown
Avery Johnson
Rick Carlisle
Flip Saunders
Paul Westphal
Doc Rivers

NEITHER RECOMMENDED NOR NOT RECOMMENDED FOR THE REGULAR SEASON
Mike D'Antoni
Don Nelson
Doug Collins
Larry Brown
Scott Skiles
Nate McMillan

NOT RECOMMENDED FOR THE REGULAR SEASON
Jim O'Brien
Alvin Gentry
Lawrence Frank
Byron Scott

STRONGLY NOT RECOMMENDED FOR THE REGULAR SEASON
Mike Woodson
Eddie Jordan

VERY STRONGLY NOT RECOMMENDED FOR THE REGULAR SEASON
Mike Dunleavey

NOT ENOUGH INFORMATION
Erik Spoelstra
Jay Triano
Jeff Bower
John Kuester
Keith Smart
Kiki Vandeweghe
Kim Hughes
Kurt Rambis
Larry Drew
Lionel Hollins
Monty Williams
Scott Brooks
Tom Thibodeau
Vinny Del Negro

==========================================
The complete User Guide for Real Coach Ratings is here.

Saturday, November 27, 2010

Music Videos Break: One Hundred Lil Wayne Music Videos

Don't like Lil Wayne or don't like rap / hip hop at all? Then move on because it's Weezy time right here.

18 VERY POPULAR LIL WAYNE MUSIC VIDEOS



Note, due to Vevo paying Google to share the traffic for music videos of popular artists, QFTR has no way at the moment to show you the most popular Lil Wayne videos at YouTube. The next best thing is to show you the best channel we could find (other than Vevo whose videos will not play anywhere but at Vevo and at Vevo's YouTube page). We found the Magiczamu channel. Following this player we can still show you the fifty latest Lil Wayne videos without interference.:

LIL WAYNE MUSIC VIDEOS FROM THE MAGICZAMU CHANNEL
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FIFTY LATEST LIL WAYNE MUSIC VIDEOS
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Michael Jackson video

Friday, November 26, 2010

Real Coach Ratings for the NBA, 2010-11, Look Ahead

If you recently read the Look Back Version of Real Coach Ratings you might want to skip to the Ratings that follow the text below because the text that immediately follows is repeated from the 2009-10 Look Back edition.

The following is a very quick, very limited, and simplified summary of the detailed User Guide for Real Coach Ratings.

The Real Coach Rating system has been extensively improved. The biggest improvement is the new factor called "Playoffs Games Coaching Score". A lot of time went into developing this factor, much of which went into developing an underlying data base called the "NBA Playoffs Series, Games, Teams and Coaches Database". This database consists of every playoff series ever played except for twenty best of three first round playoff series played between 1980 and 1983.

To summarize simply, for each series, a statistically valid estimate of how exactly how many games should have been won by each team (to two decimal places, for example, 3.25 wins) and then the actual number of wins is compared to this and either a positive score or negative score is derived from this.

See the revised User Guide for Real Coach Ratings for complete details regarding the Playoffs Database, about the Playoffs Games Coaching Score and about the Real Coach Ratings as a whole.

Starting this year Quest for the Ring (QFTR) produces two Real Coach Ratings Reports. One of them, scheduled for August but three months late this year is called the "look back version" which, as the name implies, gives the ratings for all the head coaches from the season just gone by.

For anyone who has seen a prior Coach Ratings Report, you will see that the format of the report has changed and expanded too. The Report is now divided into two large sections: the rankings and the coach by coach details.

Yes, this Report is longer than most, but the length is justified because if a team has the wrong coach it is going to be wasting money and wasting player talents. For any of the worst playoffs coaches, winning the NBA Championship is literally impossible unless perhaps they end up with one of the very best teams of all time, and even then the poor playoffs coach might still lose the Championship.

The following is the Look Ahead (to 2010-11) Version of Real Coach Ratings. The Look Behind Version (to 2009-10) was posted on November 23, 2010.

NBA REAL COACH RATINGS
--2010-11 Season (Look Ahead Version)
--All head coaches for the 2010-11 NBA season are included
--See the User Guide for Real Coach Ratings for how and why these Ratings are correct

1 Los Angeles Lakers Phil Jackson 8801.48
2 Charlotte Bobcats Larry Brown 2420.14
3 Orlando Magic Stan Van Gundy 1574.30
4 San Antonio Spurs Gregg Popovich 1510.88
5 Houston Rockets Rick Adelman 1263.04
6 Utah Jazz Jerry Sloan 866.20
7 Indiana Pacers Jim O'Brien 577.30
8 Philadelphia 76ers Doug Collins 536.25
9 Los Angeles Clippers Vinny Del Negro 463.00
10 Sacramento Kings Paul Westphal 455.60
11 New Jersey Nets Avery Johnson 445.00
12 Denver Nuggets George Karl 404.92
13 Cleveland Cavaliers Byron Scott 387.25
14 Portland Trail Blazers Nate McMillan 377.75
15 Boston Celtics Doc Rivers 294.35
16 Milwaukee Bucks Scott Skiles 256.70
17 Phoenix Suns Alvin Gentry 216.40
18 Atlanta Hawks Larry Drew 200.00
19 Chicago Bulls Tom Thibodeau 200.00
20 New Orleans Hornets Monty Williams 200.00
21 Miami Heat Erik Spoelstra 157.20
22 Oklahoma City Thunder Scott Brooks 74.80
23 Golden State Warriors Keith Smart 65.50
24 Toronto Raptors Jay Triano 53.10
25 Detroit Pistons John Kuester 30.10
26 Minnesota Timberwolves Kurt Rambis -60.40
27 Washington Wizards Flip Saunders -62.50
28 Memphis Grizzlies Lionel Hollins -106.70
29 Dallas Mavericks Rick Carlisle -145.80
30 New York Knicks Mike D'Antoni -325.55

REAL COACH PLAYOFFS SUB RATINGS
--2010-11 Season (Look Ahead Version)
--All head coaches for the 2010-11 NBA season are included
--See the User Guide for Real Coach Ratings for how and why these Ratings are correct

1 Los Angeles Lakers Phil Jackson 6035.00
2 Charlotte Bobcats Larry Brown 2199.00
3 Orlando Magic Stan Van Gundy 761.00
4 Indiana Pacers Jim O'Brien 488.00
5 Los Angeles Clippers Vinny Del Negro 386.00
6 Cleveland Cavaliers Byron Scott 380.00
7 Philadelphia 76ers Doug Collins 257.00
8 Portland Trail Blazers Nate McMillan 211.00
9 Phoenix Suns Alvin Gentry 151.00
10 Houston Rockets Rick Adelman 101.00
11 Milwaukee Bucks Scott Skiles 57.00
12 Atlanta Hawks Larry Drew 0.00
13 Chicago Bulls Tom Thibodeau 0.00
14 Detroit Pistons John Kuester 0.00
15 Golden State Warriors Keith Smart 0.00
16 Memphis Grizzlies Lionel Hollins 0.00
17 New Orleans Hornets Monty Williams 0.00
18 Toronto Raptors Jay Triano 0.00
19 Minnesota Timberwolves Kurt Rambis -1.00
20 Oklahoma City Thunder Scott Brooks -24.00
21 Miami Heat Erik Spoelstra -45.00
22 Sacramento Kings Paul Westphal -51.00
23 Boston Celtics Doc Rivers -150.00
24 New Jersey Nets Avery Johnson -210.00
25 San Antonio Spurs Gregg Popovich -373.00
26 Utah Jazz Jerry Sloan -587.00
27 Denver Nuggets George Karl -648.00
28 Washington Wizards Flip Saunders -682.00
29 New York Knicks Mike D'Antoni -700.00
30 Dallas Mavericks Rick Carlisle -793.00

REAL COACH REGULAR SEASON SUB RATINGS
--2010-11 Season (Look Ahead Version)
--All head coaches for the 2010-11 NBA season are included
--See the User Guide for Real Coach Ratings for how and why these Ratings are correct

1 Los Angeles Lakers Phil Jackson 2766.48
2 San Antonio Spurs Gregg Popovich 1883.88
3 Utah Jazz Jerry Sloan 1453.20
4 Houston Rockets Rick Adelman 1162.04
5 Denver Nuggets George Karl 1052.92
6 Orlando Magic Stan Van Gundy 813.30
7 New Jersey Nets Avery Johnson 655.00
8 Dallas Mavericks Rick Carlisle 647.20
9 Washington Wizards Flip Saunders 619.50
10 Sacramento Kings Paul Westphal 506.60
11 Boston Celtics Doc Rivers 444.35
12 New York Knicks Mike D'Antoni 374.45
13 Philadelphia 76ers Doug Collins 279.25
14 Charlotte Bobcats Larry Brown 221.14
15 Miami Heat Erik Spoelstra 202.20
16 Atlanta Hawks Larry Drew 200.00
17 Chicago Bulls Tom Thibodeau 200.00
18 New Orleans Hornets Monty Williams 200.00
19 Milwaukee Bucks Scott Skiles 199.70
20 Portland Trail Blazers Nate McMillan 166.75
21 Oklahoma City Thunder Scott Brooks 98.80
22 Indiana Pacers Jim O'Brien 89.30
23 Los Angeles Clippers Vinny Del Negro 77.00
24 Golden State Warriors Keith Smart 65.50
25 Phoenix Suns Alvin Gentry 65.40
26 Toronto Raptors Jay Triano 53.10
27 Detroit Pistons John Kuester 30.10
28 Cleveland Cavaliers Byron Scott 7.25
29 Minnesota Timberwolves Kurt Rambis -59.40
30 Memphis Grizzlies Lionel Hollins -106.70

========== KEY DETAILS ABOUT THE 2010-11 COACHES ==========

The head coaches at the start for 2010-11 are:

Atlanta Hawks Larry Drew
Boston Celtics Doc Rivers
Charlotte Bobcats Larry Brown
Chicago Bulls Tom Thibodeau
Cleveland Cavaliers Byron Scott
Dallas Mavericks Rick Carlisle
Denver Nuggets George Karl
Detroit Pistons John Kuester
Golden State Warriors Keith Smart
Houston Rockets Rick Adelman
Indiana Pacers Jim O'Brien
Los Angeles Clippers Vinny Del Negro
Los Angeles Lakers Phil Jackson
Memphis Grizzlies Lionel Hollins
Miami Heat Erik Spoelstra
Milwaukee Bucks Scott Skiles
Minnesota Timberwolves Kurt Rambis
New Jersey Nets Avery Johnson
New Orleans Hornets Monty Williams
New York Knicks Mike D'Antoni
Oklahoma City Thunder Scott Brooks
Orlando Magic Stan Van Gundy
Philadelphia 76ers Doug Collins
Phoenix Suns Alvin Gentry
Portland Trail Blazers Nate McMillan
Sacramento Kings Paul Westphal
San Antonio Spurs Gregg Popovich
Toronto Raptors Jay Triano
Utah Jazz Jerry Sloan
Washington Wizards Flip Saunders

COACHING CHANGES FOR 2010-11
22 out of the 30 coaches are exactly the same this year as they were last. The other eight are as follows:

THREE NEW COACHES WHO HAVE NEVER BEEN A NBA HEAD COACH BEFORE
Atlanta Hawks Larry Drew
Chicago Bulls Tom Thibodeau
New Orleans Hornets Monty Williams

All of these brand new coaches start with a Real Coach Rating of 200 all of which is part of their Regular Season Ratings; they start with a Playoffs Rating of zero and it stays at zero unless and until they coach playoff games.

TWO COACHES FROM LAST YEAR WHO SWITCHED TEAMS
Cleveland Cavaliers Byron Scott (Last year: New Orleans Hornets)
Los Angeles Clippers Vinny Del Negro (Last year: Chicago Bulls)

THREE COACHES WHO WERE HEAD COACHES YEARS AGO AND ARE RETURNING AS HEAD COACHES
Golden State Warriors Keith Smart
New Jersey Nets Avery Johnson
Philadelphia 76ers Doug Collins

COACHES QFTR GUARANTEES WILL NEVER EVER WIN THE CHAMPIONSHIP
For the guarantee QFTR uses the primary component of the Playoffs Rating rather than the overall Playoffs Rating to identify coaches who will never ever win the Quest. The primary component (the one that has the most weight) is called the Playoff Games Coaching Score. This score is based on a carefully constructed proven model and a database; for details see the User Guide for Real Coach Ratings. The broader Playoffs Rating includes playoff experience and bonuses for Conference and NBA Championships won. The broader Playoffs Rating IS used for the official Coach Recommendations which appear in a separate Report.

The bottom line is that the guarantee is issued whenever a Coach has lost eight or more playoff games that he was supposed to win.

If any of the following coaches ever win the Quest for the Ring, the QFTR Site will be shut down due to utter uselessness.

Denver Nuggets George Karl
Dallas Mavericks Rick Carlisle

The guarantee is technically not permanent although in practice it is often going to be permanent. George Karl would have to win about two playoff games that he was supposed to lose to be removed from the guarantee list. Rick Carlisle would have to win about one playoff game that he was supposed to lose to be removed.

The guarantee is a little bit risky because if some of their opponents were devasted by multiple injuries than theoretically Rick Carlisle or George Karl could win the NBA Championship despite the guarantee. However, the number of injuries that would be required is so large that I don't lose any sleep over that scenario. If I ever slip and start to worry I remember the 119-92 devastation of the Nuggets by the Lakers in the 2009 West Conference Final elimination game.

COACHES CLOSE TO THE GUARANTEE
If Jerry Sloan loses three more playoff games that he is supposed to win than QFTR will absolutely guarantee that Sloan will never ever win the Quest. If Mike D'Antoni loses three more playoff games that he is supposed to win than QFTR will absolutely guarantee that D'Antoni will never ever win the Quest. If Flip Saunders loses four more playoff games that he is supposed to win than QFTR will absolutely guarantee that Saunders will never ever win the Quest.

COACHES WHO HAVE NEVER COACHED A NBA PLAYOFF GAME
Atlanta Hawks Larry Drew
Chicago Bulls Tom Thibodeau
Detroit Pistons John Kuester
Golden State Warriors Keith Smart
Memphis Grizzlies Lionel Hollins
New Orleans Hornets Monty Williams
Toronto Raptors Jay Triano

========== COACH BY COACH DETAILS ==========

--See the User Guide to Real Coach Ratings for details about all of the components.
--All head coaches for the NBA 2010-11 season are included.
--The playoffs rating plus the regular season rating equals the overall Real Coach Rating.
--Coaches who have never coached a playoff game have Playoff Ratings of zero.
--Brand new coaches who have never coached a NBA game have Real Coach Ratings of 200.00 (the Regular Season Rating is 200.00 and the Playoffs Rating is zero).
--See the User Guide to Real Coach Ratings for how the playoffs games that should have been wins or losses are calculated.
--The number of extra playoff games the coaches will win or lose out of 100 are statistical averages and are not exact predictions.
--The statistical error for the number of extra playoff games the coaches will win or lose out of 100 rises as the number of playoff games coached goes down.
--The number of extra playoff games the coaches will win or lose out of 100 is not reported for any coach who has coached less than 25 playoff games due to excessive statistical error. For 25 or more games, the reported numbers are relatively accurate and reliable. The estimate of the number of extra playoff games the coaches will win or lose out of 100 is very accurate for coaches who have coached 50 or more playoff games, except that it is possible though very unlikely that a coach will at some point make big changes and become a much better playoff coach.
--In the Look Back Version, when a team switched coaches during the season, both coaches are shown.
--There are three types of coaches whose number of games coached with the current team is zero: brand new NBA Coaches, Coaches who were fired after last season but were hired by another team, and Coaches who retired or were fired in years prior but are now returning to head coaching.

ATLANTA HAWKS
COACH: LARRY DREW
Real Coach Rating: 200.00
Rank Among 2010-11 Coaches: 19 out of 30

PLAYOFFS / REGULAR SEASON BREAKDOWN
Playoffs Rating: 0
Playoffs Rank: 15 out of 30
Regular Season Rating: 200.00
Regular Season Rank: 17 out of 30

PLAYOFFS DETAILS
Playoffs experience: Number of playoff games coached: 0

Playoff games won that should have been losses: 0
Playoff games lost that should have been wins: 0

The extra playoff games this coach will win or lose out of 100 is not reported for this coach due to insufficient number of playoff games.

NBA Championships won: 0
Number of times this Coach won a Conference final but not the Championship: 0

REGULAR SEASON DETAILS
Games coached with current team: 0
Regular season games coached: 0
Regular season wins: 0
Regular season losses: 0


BOSTON CELTICS
COACH: DOC RIVERS
Real Coach Rating: 294.35
Rank Among 2010-11 Coaches: 15 out of 30

PLAYOFFS / REGULAR SEASON BREAKDOWN
Playoffs Rating: -150.00
Playoffs Rank: 23 out of 30
Regular Season Rating: 444.35
Regular Season Rank: 11 out of 30

PLAYOFFS DETAILS
Playoffs experience: Number of playoff games coached: 86

Net Playoff games LOST that should have been wins: 4.7

How many EXTRA playoff games this coach will LOSE out of 100: 5.5

NBA Championships won: 1
Number of times this Coach won a Conference final but not the Championship: 1

REGULAR SEASON DETAILS
Games coached with current team: 492
Regular season games coached: 831
Regular season wins: 451
Regular season losses: 380


CHARLOTTE BOBCATS
COACH: LARRY BROWN
Real Coach Rating: 2420.14
Rank Among 2010-11 Coaches: 2 out of 30

PLAYOFFS / REGULAR SEASON BREAKDOWN
Playoffs Rating: 2199.00
Playoffs Rank: 2 out of 30
Regular Season Rating: 221.14
Regular Season Rank: 14 out of 30

PLAYOFFS DETAILS
Playoffs experience: Number of playoff games coached: 193

Net Playoff games WON that should have been losses: 16.1

How many EXTRA playoff games this coach will WIN out of 100: 9.4

NBA Championships won: 1
Number of times this Coach won a Conference final but not the Championship: 2

REGULAR SEASON DETAILS
Games coached with current team: 164
Regular season games coached: 1974
Regular season wins: 1089
Regular season losses: 885


CHICAGO BULLS
COACH: TOM THIBODEAU
Real Coach Rating: 200.00
Rank Among 2010-11 Coaches: 19 out of 30

PLAYOFFS / REGULAR SEASON BREAKDOWN
Playoffs Rating: 0.0
Playoffs Rank: 15 out of 30
Regular Season Rating: 200.00
Regular Season Rank: 17 out of 30

PLAYOFFS DETAILS
Playoffs experience: Number of playoff games coached: 0

Playoff games won that should have been losses: 0
Playoff games lost that should have been wins: 0

The extra playoff games this coach will win or lose out of 100 is not reported for this coach due to insufficient number of playoff games.

NBA Championships won: 0
Number of times this Coach won a Conference final but not the Championship: 0

REGULAR SEASON DETAILS
Games coached with current team: 0
Regular season games coached: 0
Regular season wins: 0
Regular season losses: 0


CLEVELAND CAVALIERS
COACH: BYRON SCOTT
Real Coach Rating: 387.25
Rank Among 2010-11 Coaches: 13 out of 30

PLAYOFFS / REGULAR SEASON BREAKDOWN
Playoffs Rating: 380.00
Playoffs Rank: 6 out of 30
Regular Season Rating: 7.25
Regular Season Rank: 28 out of 30

PLAYOFFS DETAILS
Playoffs experience: Number of playoff games coached: 57

Net Playoff games WON that should have been losses: 1.7

How many EXTRA playoff games this coach will WIN out of 100: 2.9

NBA Championships won: 0
Number of times this Coach won a Conference final but not the Championship: 2

REGULAR SEASON DETAILS
Games coached with current team: 0
Regular season games coached: 707
Regular season wins: 352
Regular season losses: 355


DALLAS MAVERICKS
COACH: RICK CARLISLE
Real Coach Rating: -145.80
Rank Among 2010-11 Coaches: 29 out of 30

PLAYOFFS / REGULAR SEASON BREAKDOWN
Playoffs Rating: -793.00
Playoffs Rank: 30 out of 30
Regular Season Rating: 647.20
Regular Season Rank: 8 out of 30

PLAYOFFS DETAILS
Playoffs experience: Number of playoff games coached: 78

Net Playoff games LOST that should have been wins: 9.5

How many EXTRA playoff games this coach will LOSE out of 100: 12.2

NBA Championships won: 0
Number of times this Coach won a Conference final but not the Championship: 0

REGULAR SEASON DETAILS
Games coached with current team: 164
Regular season games coached: 656
Regular season wins: 386
Regular season losses: 270


DENVER NUGGETS
COACH: GEORGE KARL
Real Coach Rating: 404.92
Rank Among 2010-11 Coaches: 12 out of 30

PLAYOFFS / REGULAR SEASON BREAKDOWN
Playoffs Rating: -648.00
Playoffs Rank: 27 out of 30
Regular Season Rating: 1052.92
Regular Season Rank: 5 out of 30

PLAYOFFS DETAILS
Playoffs experience: Number of playoff games coached: 167

Net Playoff games LOST that should have been wins: 10.3

How many EXTRA playoff games this coach will LOSE out of 100: 6.2

NBA Championships won: 0
Number of times this Coach won a Conference final but not the Championship: 1

REGULAR SEASON DETAILS
Games coached with current team: 450
Regular season games coached: 1657
Regular season wins: 986
Regular season losses: 671


DETROIT PISTONS
COACH: JOHN KUESTER
Real Coach Rating: 30.10
Rank Among 2010-11 Coaches: 25 out of 30

PLAYOFFS / REGULAR SEASON BREAKDOWN
Playoffs Rating: 0.0
Playoffs Rank: 15 out of 30
Regular Season Rating: 30.10
Regular Season Rank: 27 out of 30

PLAYOFFS DETAILS
Playoffs experience: Number of playoff games coached: 0

Playoff games won that should have been losses: 0
Playoff games lost that should have been wins: 0

The extra playoff games this coach will win or lose out of 100 is not reported for this coach due to insufficient number of playoff games.

NBA Championships won: 0
Number of times this Coach won a Conference final but not the Championship: 0

REGULAR SEASON DETAILS
Games coached with current team: 82
Regular season games coached: 82
Regular season wins: 27
Regular season losses: 55


GOLDEN STATE WARRIORS
COACH: KEITH SMART
Real Coach Rating: 65.50
Rank Among 2010-11 Coaches: 23 out of 30

PLAYOFFS / REGULAR SEASON BREAKDOWN
Playoffs Rating: 0.0
Playoffs Rank: 15 out of 30
Regular Season Rating: 65.50
Regular Season Rank: 24 out of 30

PLAYOFFS DETAILS
Playoffs experience: Number of playoff games coached: 0

Playoff games won that should have been losses: 0
Playoff games lost that should have been wins: 0

The extra playoff games this coach will win or lose out of 100 is not reported for this coach due to insufficient number of playoff games.

NBA Championships won: 0
Number of times this Coach won a Conference final but not the Championship: 0

REGULAR SEASON DETAILS
Games coached with current team: 30
Regular season games coached: 40
Regular season wins: 9
Regular season losses: 31


HOUSTON ROCKETS
COACH: RICK ADELMAN
Real Coach Rating: 1263.04
Rank Among 2010-11 Coaches: 5 out of 30

PLAYOFFS / REGULAR SEASON BREAKDOWN
Playoffs Rating: 101.00
Playoffs Rank: 10 out of 30
Regular Season Rating: 1162.04
Regular Season Rank: 4 out of 30

PLAYOFFS DETAILS
Playoffs experience: Number of playoff games coached: 157

Net Playoff games LOST that should have been wins: 3.1

How many EXTRA playoff games this coach will LOSE out of 100: 2.0

NBA Championships won: 0
Number of times this Coach won a Conference final but not the Championship: 2

REGULAR SEASON DETAILS
Games coached with current team: 246
Regular season games coached: 1479
Regular season wins: 902
Regular season losses: 577


INDIANA PACERS
COACH: JIM O'BRIEN
Real Coach Rating: 577.30
Rank Among 2010-11 Coaches: 7 out of 30

PLAYOFFS / REGULAR SEASON BREAKDOWN
Playoffs Rating: 488.00
Playoffs Rank: 4 out of 30
Regular Season Rating: 89.30
Regular Season Rank: 22 out of 30

PLAYOFFS DETAILS
Playoffs experience: Number of playoff games coached: 31

Net Playoff games WON that should have been losses: 4.3

How many EXTRA playoff games this coach will WIN out of 100: 12.2

NBA Championships won: 0
Number of times this Coach won a Conference final but not the Championship: 0

REGULAR SEASON DETAILS
Games coached with current team: 246
Regular season games coached: 586
Regular season wins: 286
Regular season losses: 300


LOS ANGELES CLIPPERS
COACH: VINNY DEL NEGRO
Real Coach Rating: 463.00
Rank Among 2010-11 Coaches: 9 out of 30

PLAYOFFS / REGULAR SEASON BREAKDOWN
Playoffs Rating: 386.00
Playoffs Rank: 5 out of 30
Regular Season Rating: 77.00
Regular Season Rank: 23 out of 30

PLAYOFFS DETAILS
Playoffs experience: Number of playoff games coached: 12

Net Playoff games WON that should have been losses: 3.6

The extra playoff games this coach will win or lose out of 100 is not reported for this coach due to insufficient number of playoff games.

NBA Championships won: 0
Number of times this Coach won a Conference final but not the Championship: 0

REGULAR SEASON DETAILS
Games coached with current team: 0
Regular season games coached: 164
Regular season wins: 82
Regular season losses: 82


LOS ANGELES LAKERS
COACH: PHIL JACKSON
Real Coach Rating: 8801.48
Rank Among 2010-11 Coaches: 1 out of 30

PLAYOFFS / REGULAR SEASON BREAKDOWN
Playoffs Rating: 6035.00
Playoffs Rank: 1 out of 30
Regular Season Rating: 2766.48
Regular Season Rank: 1 out of 30

PLAYOFFS DETAILS
Playoffs experience: Number of playoff games coached: 323

Net Playoff games WON that should have been losses: 41.9

How many EXTRA playoff games this coach will WIN out of 100: 13.0

NBA Championships won: 11
Number of times this Coach won a Conference final but not the Championship: 2

REGULAR SEASON DETAILS
Games coached with current team: 820
Regular season games coached: 1558
Regular season wins: 1098
Regular season losses: 460


MEMPHIS GRIZZLIES
COACH: LIONEL HOLLINS
Real Coach Rating: -106.70
Rank Among 2010-11 Coaches: 28 out of 30

PLAYOFFS / REGULAR SEASON BREAKDOWN
Playoffs Rating: 0.0
Playoffs Rank: 15 out of 30
Regular Season Rating: -106.70
Regular Season Rank: 30 out of 30

PLAYOFFS DETAILS
Playoffs experience: Number of playoff games coached: 0

Playoff games won that should have been losses: 0
Playoff games lost that should have been wins: 0

The extra playoff games this coach will win or lose out of 100 is not reported for this coach due to insufficient number of playoff games.

NBA Championships won: 0
Number of times this Coach won a Conference final but not the Championship: 0

REGULAR SEASON DETAILS
Games coached with current team: 121
Regular season games coached: 185
Regular season wins: 71
Regular season losses: 114


MIAMI HEAT
COACH: ERIK SPOELSTRA
Real Coach Rating: 157.20
Rank Among 2010-11 Coaches: 21 out of 30

PLAYOFFS / REGULAR SEASON BREAKDOWN
Playoffs Rating: -45.00
Playoffs Rank: 21 out of 30
Regular Season Rating: 202.20
Regular Season Rank: 15 out of 30

PLAYOFFS DETAILS
Playoffs experience: Number of playoff games coached: 12

Net Playoff games LOST that should have been wins: 0.7 (less than one)

The extra playoff games this coach will win or lose out of 100 is not reported for this coach due to insufficient number of playoff games.

NBA Championships won: 0
Number of times this Coach won a Conference final but not the Championship: 0

REGULAR SEASON DETAILS
Games coached with current team: 164
Regular season games coached: 164
Regular season wins: 90
Regular season losses: 74


MILWAUKEE BUCKS
COACH: SCOTT SKILES
Real Coach Rating: 256.70
Rank Among 2010-11 Coaches: 16 out of 30

PLAYOFFS / REGULAR SEASON BREAKDOWN
Playoffs Rating: 57.00
Playoffs Rank: 11 out of 30
Regular Season Rating: 199.70
Regular Season Rank: 19 out of 30

PLAYOFFS DETAILS
Playoffs experience: Number of playoff games coached: 42

Net Playoff games LOST that should have been wins: 0.3 (less than one)

How many EXTRA playoff games this coach will LOSE out of 100: 0.8 (less than one)

NBA Championships won: 0
Number of times this Coach won a Conference final but not the Championship: 0

REGULAR SEASON DETAILS
Games coached with current team: 164
Regular season games coached: 696
Regular season wins: 361
Regular season losses: 335


MINNESOTA TIMBERWOLVES
COACH: KURT RAMBIS
Real Coach Rating: -60.40
Rank Among 2010-11 Coaches: 26 out of 30

PLAYOFFS / REGULAR SEASON BREAKDOWN
Playoffs Rating: -1.00
Playoffs Rank: 19 out of 30
Regular Season Rating: -59.40
Regular Season Rank: 29 out of 30

PLAYOFFS DETAILS
Playoffs experience: Number of playoff games coached: 8

Net Playoff games LOST that should have been wins: 0.2 (less than one)

The extra playoff games this coach will win or lose out of 100 is not reported for this coach due to insufficient number of playoff games.

NBA Championships won: 0
Number of times this Coach won a Conference final but not the Championship: 0

REGULAR SEASON DETAILS
Games coached with current team: 82
Regular season games coached: 119
Regular season wins: 39
Regular season losses: 80


NEW JERSEY NETS
COACH: AVERY JOHNSON
Real Coach Rating: 445.00
Rank Among 2010-11 Coaches: 11 out of 30

PLAYOFFS / REGULAR SEASON BREAKDOWN
Playoffs Rating: -210.00
Playoffs Rank: 24 out of 30
Regular Season Rating: 655.00
Regular Season Rank: 7 out of 30

PLAYOFFS DETAILS
Playoffs experience: Number of playoff games coached: 47

Net Playoff games LOST that should have been wins: 3.5

How many EXTRA playoff games this coach will LOSE out of 100: 10.4

NBA Championships won: 0
Number of times this Coach won a Conference final but not the Championship: 1

REGULAR SEASON DETAILS
Games coached with current team: 0
Regular season games coached: 264
Regular season wins: 194
Regular season losses: 70


NEW ORLEANS HORNETS
COACH: MONTY WILLIAMS
Real Coach Rating: 200.00
Rank Among 2010-11 Coaches: 19 out of 30

PLAYOFFS / REGULAR SEASON BREAKDOWN
Playoffs Rating: 0.0
Playoffs Rank: 15 out of 30
Regular Season Rating: 200.00
Regular Season Rank: 17 out of 30

PLAYOFFS DETAILS
Playoffs experience: Number of playoff games coached: 0

Playoff games won that should have been losses: 0
Playoff games lost that should have been wins: 0

The extra playoff games this coach will win or lose out of 100 is not reported for this coach due to insufficient number of playoff games.

NBA Championships won: 0
Number of times this Coach won a Conference final but not the Championship: 0

REGULAR SEASON DETAILS
Games coached with current team: 0
Regular season games coached: 0
Regular season wins: 0
Regular season losses: 0


NEW YORK KNICKS
COACH: MIKE D'ANTONI
Real Coach Rating: -325.55
Rank Among 2010-11 Coaches: 30 out of 30

PLAYOFFS / REGULAR SEASON BREAKDOWN
Playoffs Rating: -700.00
Playoffs Rank: 29 out of 30
Regular Season Rating: 374.45
Regular Season Rank: 12 out of 30

PLAYOFFS DETAILS
Playoffs experience: Number of playoff games coached: 51

Playoff games LOST that should have been wins: 8.0

How many EXTRA playoff games this coach will LOSE out of 100: 15.7

NBA Championships won: 0
Number of times this Coach won a Conference final but not the Championship: 0

REGULAR SEASON DETAILS
Games coached with current team: 164
Regular season games coached: 603
Regular season wins: 328
Regular season losses: 275


OKLAHOMA CITY THUNDER
COACH: SCOTT BROOKS
Real Coach Rating: 74.80
Rank Among 2010-11 Coaches: 22 out of 30

PLAYOFFS / REGULAR SEASON BREAKDOWN
Playoffs Rating: -24.00
Playoffs Rank: 20 out of 30
Regular Season Rating: 98.80
Regular Season Rank: 21 out of 30

PLAYOFFS DETAILS
Playoffs experience: Number of playoff games coached: 6

Net Playoff games LOST that should have been wins: 0.4 (less than one game)

The extra playoff games this coach will win or lose out of 100 is not reported for this coach due to insufficient number of playoff games.

NBA Championships won: 0
Number of times this Coach won a Conference final but not the Championship: 0

REGULAR SEASON DETAILS
Games coached with current team: 151
Regular season games coached: 151
Regular season wins: 72
Regular season losses: 79


ORLANDO MAGIC
COACH: STAN VAN GUNDY
Real Coach Rating: 1620.30
Rank Among 2010-11 Coaches: 3 out of 30

PLAYOFFS / REGULAR SEASON BREAKDOWN
Playoffs Rating: 807.00
Playoffs Rank: 3 out of 30
Regular Season Rating: 813.30
Regular Season Rank: 6 out of 30

PLAYOFFS DETAILS
Playoffs experience: Number of playoff games coached: 99

Net Playoff games WON that should have been losses: 4.6

How many EXTRA playoff games this coach will WIN out of 100: 4.6

NBA Championships won: 1
Number of times this Coach won a Conference final but not the Championship: 1

REGULAR SEASON DETAILS
Games coached with current team: 246
Regular season games coached: 431
Regular season wins: 282
Regular season losses: 149


PHILADELPHIA 76'ERS
COACH: DOUG COLLINS
Real Coach Rating: 536.25
Rank Among 2010-11 Coaches: 8 out of 30

PLAYOFFS / REGULAR SEASON BREAKDOWN
Playoffs Rating: 257.00
Playoffs Rank: 7 out of 30
Regular Season Rating: 279.25
Regular Season Rank: 13 out of 30

PLAYOFFS DETAILS
Playoffs experience: Number of playoff games coached:

Net Playoff games WON that should have been losses: 1.8

How many EXTRA playoff games this coach will WIN out of 100: 4.8

NBA Championships won: 0
Number of times this Coach won a Conference final but not the Championship: 0

REGULAR SEASON DETAILS
Games coached with current team: 0
Regular season games coached: 619
Regular season wins: 332
Regular season losses: 287


PHOENIX SUNS
COACH: ALVIN GENTRY
Real Coach Rating: 216.40
Rank Among 2010-11 Coaches: 17 out of 30

PLAYOFFS / REGULAR SEASON BREAKDOWN
Playoffs Rating: 151.00
Playoffs Rank: 9 out of 30
Regular Season Rating: 65.40
Regular Season Rank: 25 out of 30

PLAYOFFS DETAILS
Playoffs experience: Number of playoff games coached: 21

Net Playoff games WON that should have been losses: 1.1

The extra playoff games this coach will win or lose out of 100 is not reported for this coach due to insufficient number of playoff games.

NBA Championships won: 0
Number of times this Coach won a Conference final but not the Championship: 0

REGULAR SEASON DETAILS
Games coached with current team: 113
Regular season games coached: 516
Regular season wins: 249
Regular season losses: 267


PORTLAND TRAILBLAZERS
COACH: NATE MCMILLAN
Real Coach Rating: 377.75
Rank Among 2010-11 Coaches: 14 out of 30

PLAYOFFS / REGULAR SEASON BREAKDOWN
Playoffs Rating: 211.00
Playoffs Rank: 8 out of 30
Regular Season Rating: 166.75
Regular Season Rank: 20 out of 30

PLAYOFFS DETAILS
Playoffs experience: Number of playoff games coached: 28

Net Playoff games WON that should have been losses: 1.6

How many EXTRA playoff games this coach will WIN out of 100: 5.5

NBA Championships won: 0
Number of times this Coach won a Conference final but not the Championship: 0

REGULAR SEASON DETAILS
Games coached with current team: 410
Regular season games coached: 805
Regular season wins: 410
Regular season losses: 395


SACRAMENTO KINGS
COACH: PAUL WESTPHAL
Real Coach Rating: 455.60
Rank Among 2010-11 Coaches: 10 out of 30

PLAYOFFS / REGULAR SEASON BREAKDOWN
Playoffs Rating: -51.00
Playoffs Rank: 22 out of 30
Regular Season Rating: 506.60
Regular Season Rank: 10 out of 30

PLAYOFFS DETAILS
Playoffs experience: Number of playoff games coached: 49

Net Playoff games LOST that should have been wins: 2.0

How many EXTRA playoff games this coach will LOSE out of 100: 4.1

NBA Championships won: 0
Number of times this Coach won a Conference final but not the Championship: 1

REGULAR SEASON DETAILS
Games coached with current team: 82
Regular season games coached: 508
Regular season wins: 292
Regular season losses: 216


SAN ANTONIO SPURS
COACH: GREG POPOVICH
NOTE: Greg Popovich' playoff ratings are unfortunately misleading. Popovich has had the misfortune of meeting up with Phil Jackson in the playoffs much more than any other coach. Greg Popovich' playoff ratings and details would be much higher were it not for the large number of times that Phil Jackson out-coached him. Jackson's coaching dominance over Popovich, who is a great coach in his own right, is one of Jackson's greatest achievements.

Real Coach Rating: 1510.88
Rank Among 2010-11 Coaches: 4 out of 30

PLAYOFFS / REGULAR SEASON BREAKDOWN
Playoffs Rating: -373.00
Playoffs Rank: 25 out of 30
Regular Season Rating: 1883.88
Regular Season Rank: 2 out of 30

PLAYOFFS DETAILS
Playoffs experience: Number of playoff games coached: 175

Net Playoff games LOST that should have been wins: 11.2

How many EXTRA playoff games this coach will LOSE out of 100: 6.4

NBA Championships won: 4
Number of times this Coach won a Conference final but not the Championship: 0

REGULAR SEASON DETAILS
Games coached with current team: 1098
Regular season games coached: 1098
Regular season wins: 736
Regular season losses: 362


TORONTO RAPTORS
COACH: JAY TRIANO
Real Coach Rating: 53.10
Rank Among 2010-11 Coaches: 24 out of 30

PLAYOFFS / REGULAR SEASON BREAKDOWN
Playoffs Rating: 0.00
Playoffs Rank: 15 out of 30
Regular Season Rating: 53.10
Regular Season Rank: 26 out of 30

PLAYOFFS DETAILS
Playoffs experience: Number of playoff games coached: 0

Playoff games won that should have been losses: 0
Playoff games lost that should have been wins: 0

The extra playoff games this coach will win or lose out of 100 is not reported for this coach due to insufficient number of playoff games.

NBA Championships won: 0
Number of times this Coach won a Conference final but not the Championship: 0

REGULAR SEASON DETAILS
Games coached with current team: 147
Regular season games coached: 147
Regular season wins: 65
Regular season losses: 82


UTAH JAZZ
COACH: JERRY SLOAN
Real Coach Rating: 862.20
Rank Among 2010-11 Coaches: 6 out of 30

PLAYOFFS / REGULAR SEASON BREAKDOWN
Playoffs Rating: -587.00
Playoffs Rank: 26 out of 30
Regular Season Rating: 1453.20
Regular Season Rank: 3 out of 30

PLAYOFFS DETAILS
Playoffs experience: Number of playoff games coached: 200

Net Playoff games LOST that should have been wins: 10.9

How many EXTRA playoff games this coach will LOSE out of 100: 5.5

NBA Championships won: 0
Number of times this Coach won a Conference final but not the Championship: 2

REGULAR SEASON DETAILS
Games coached with current team: 1855
Regular season games coached: 1970
Regular season wins: 1190
Regular season losses: 780


WASHINGTON WIZARDS
COACH: FLIP SAUNDERS
Real Coach Rating: -62.50
Rank Among 2010-11 Coaches: 27 out of 30

PLAYOFFS / REGULAR SEASON BREAKDOWN
Playoffs Rating: -682.00
Playoffs Rank: 28 out of 30
Regular Season Rating: 619.50
Regular Season Rank: 9 out of 30

PLAYOFFS DETAILS
Playoffs experience: Number of playoff games coached: 98

Net Playoff games LOST that should have been wins: 8.8

How many EXTRA playoff games this coach will LOSE out of 100: 9.0

NBA Championships won: 0
Number of times this Coach won a Conference final but not the Championship: 0

REGULAR SEASON DETAILS
Games coached with current team: 82
Regular season games coached: 1065
Regular season wins: 613
Regular season losses: 452

==============================================
The complete User Guide to Real Coach Ratings is here.

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BASKETBALL FORUMS THAT ARE OPEN FOR CONTENT FROM ANYONE
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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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