Monitoring player stats is a must for anyone that takes fantasy basketball seriously. Approximately 18 games into the season, I am pretty shocked by the following stats. Note – I looked at total numbers, not averages. Any numbers in ( ) indicate the number of games played this season.
1. Jason Kidd (15) has hit 29 threes so far this season. Dirk (15) only has 16. Both have played 15 games this season. For Dallas to win consistently, those numbers need to be reversed. Dirk is still in the top 5 for scoring. I just cant understand why Kidd has so many more 3s.
2. Dwight Howard (16) has 62 blocks already this year, making him the league leader by nearly 30 blocks! The 2nd most prolific blockers are Spencer Hawes(18) and Kendrick Perkins (17) with 35 blocks each. That is a ridiculous difference.
3. Dwyane Wade (16) and Danny Granger (14) have blocked more shots than Emeka Okafor (15), Samuel Dalembert (16), Andris Biedrins (16), Elton Brand (16), Tim Duncan (15), Rasheed Wallace (15), Yao Ming (15) and Amare Stoudemire (17).
4. Ramon Sessions (16), the back up PG for the Bucks, has more assists than these starting PGs – Andre Miller (16), Randy Foye (14), TJ Ford (15), Mo Williams (16), Raymond Felton (15), Jameer Nelson (14), Devin Harris (11), Mike Bibby (15) and Rafer Alston (14). The Bucks arent exactly oozing with talent (Redd hasnt played in ages), so that doesnt explain it.
I know it’s still early in the season, but I still think the above numbers are pretty odd. Looking at the overall Yahoo! Fantasy B Ball Rankings, there are some other fantasy bball surprises:
1. Nene is ranked 9th. This will likely drop, but its still impressive.
2. Brandon Roy is 11th. At this rate, he is a 1st round pick next year.
3. Spencer Hawes is ranked 12th. He plays for the Kings and was the starting C while Miller was out. I dont know much else about him.
4. Dwight Howard is only 27th, despite leading the league in blocks and rebounds. His ft% is just so bad that its hard to work with him on your team.
on Nov 29th, 2008 at 1:59 pm
After reading your post, I’m still not sure what’s going on this season, as you haven’t written anything of value.
Kidd has more 3’s than Dirk? Read: Teams are doubling down on everyone else on Dallas and forcing Kidd to shoot, and he just so happens to be hitting his wide open shots. You mention the numbers should be flip flopped between Kidd and Nowitzki…what difference would this make? They would still be putting up the same amount of points.
“1. Jason Kidd (15) has hit 29 threes so far this season. Dirk (15) only has 16. Both have played 15 games this season. ” – Why did you preface this paragraph with the explanation of what the () mean, and then go on to tell us that they have each played 15 games.
“3. Spencer Hawes is ranked 12th. He plays for the Kings and was the starting C while Miller was out. I dont know much else about him.” – Obviously you don’t know much…how about responding to the article written on espn about how Hawes may have been the better pick then Oden?
Do you actually watch any NBA games? or just read stats online?
on Nov 29th, 2008 at 3:36 pm
NBA All Day – thanks for the comment, but no need for the harsh tone. I dont claim to be the end all be all for the NBA. I’m just a fan expressing his ideas.
From your email address, I think you work for an NBA Team. I hope you dont treat your own fans with such hostility. I also noticed that you didnt hyperlink to your own blog or site. Do you blog? If not, I encourage you to put your ideas out there consistently. Would love to see your thoughts on a consistent basis. It’s easy to be an anonymous critic.
To address your points
1. your explanation for dirk vs kidd makes sense. i never have thought of kidd as a shooter, but have always thought of dirk as one. Perhaps that’s why this surprises me so much. Especially when Dirk is 5th in the league in scoring and has taken more than twice as many shots as Kidd (less 3s though). My point on winning more games is that Kidd has never known as a good shooter. For Dallas to win consistently, Dirk and terry should be counted on for 3s, while Kidd sets them up. Eventually Kidd will lose his touch behind the arc and that will hurt the mavs.
2. I added the sentence about what the () means after I wrote my sentence that they both played 15 games. I just went and added the games in () and didnt take out the extra sentence. Apparently this really bothered you. A bit too much I think.
3. My point on hawes is that he is a top 12 fantasy player right now. I dont think anyone expected that. By the way, the article you reference wasnt written on ESPN. ESPN only linked to it. Responding to that article, where the author would draft Hawes over Oden, wasnt the point.
4. I do watch. Whenever I can. If you do work for an NBA team, you probably get to watch more than me. But this post was on surprising stats. Did you find my other stats a bit surprising?
on Nov 30th, 2008 at 9:05 am
“4. Dwight Howard is only 27th, despite leading the league in blocks and rebounds. His ft% is just so bad that its hard to work with him on your team.”
I am actually in 1st place in my 15 team, 9 cat roto league on the strength of Dwight Howard, I am last in ft% but 1st in Pts, blks, rebs, with a healthy fg%. Thanks Dwighty!
on Nov 30th, 2008 at 9:29 am
Daniel,
Thanks for your comment. I am in 2 leagues this season and have howard in one of them (a H2H league). I have mixed feelings on Howard b/c of his FT%. Being in last place for a category can make it very hard to win your league. Nice work on being in first place despite being last in FT%.
A perfect scenario would be to balance out Howard with players that have great FT% (Kevin Martin comes to mind but he wouldnt be enough).
on Nov 30th, 2008 at 5:20 pm
You think you are a fantasy guru? I am in (12) Fantasy Leagues, and currently winning all of them. From the looks of your post, you don’t know much about basketball. Let me know if you need some help.
on Nov 30th, 2008 at 5:35 pm
Rudy – @ 12/12, you must be the world’s greatest fantasy basketball guru. Start a fantasy basketball blog and show the world how good you are.
on Dec 1st, 2008 at 4:05 pm
Jeremy, I found this post interesting. I’m glad you can respond to critical comments on a positive note.
on Dec 1st, 2008 at 4:31 pm
Thanks Daniel. And thanks for reading.
on Dec 1st, 2008 at 4:34 pm
hey rudy how about you get a life instead of playin in 12 fantasy leagues…
jeremy nice post i thought it was very interesting
on Dec 1st, 2008 at 5:54 pm
Jeremy! seriously i love your blog and i second what Daniel said… do you think Kobe should be punished by MVP voters just because he doesnt need to put up amazing numbers like he has in the past? i mean cut the guy a break the year he avg. 35.4 he didnt win MVP cuz his team wasnt winning idk i think if Lakers win 70+ you have to hand MVP to him Coach of the Year to Phil Most Improved to Bynum Sixth man to Lamar
on Dec 1st, 2008 at 6:14 pm
Ragy – thanks for the note. its a little too early in the season pick an MVP. Kobe will get consideration, especially if his team wins 70+ games. dont forget that he won MVP last year, so the league has recognized how good he is.
on Dec 1st, 2008 at 6:26 pm
idk how this works haha so tell me if you don’t want me to post too much but ok yeah i guess Kobe is getting recognition but i feel like stats are becoming too overrated like any true Laker fan knows when Kobe wants to take over the game he can and i dont think you can say that for any other player(Lebron cant hit FTs and his mid-range and long-range J’s are streaky, D-wade when his J isnt falling he’s useless, CP3 not at will, Howard no Fts etc…)
on Dec 1st, 2008 at 7:12 pm
u have a horrible opinion on the nba. Nene is bad. Howard is not ranked so well because of ft percentage and TO. Wade is amazing and granger has proven that he can block shots like he did last year
on Dec 1st, 2008 at 7:19 pm
Ragy – kobe is the best closer in the game. but dont forget that wade (with the help of the refs) beat dallas in the finals by driving to the basket and making his FTs. Lebron also willed his team to the finals 2 years ago.
Another way to look at the MVP race – what happens if that player gets injured for the seaons? The Lakers still have bynum, gasol and odom and will likely make the playoffs. Who do the Cavs have? Mo Will and Big Z arent enough.
on Dec 1st, 2008 at 8:27 pm
This blog might as well be about women’s soccer, because it sure as hell ain’t about basketball. I’m sitting on the shitter at work trying to take a break from watching game film, and this is the garbage I have to read?
on Dec 1st, 2008 at 8:35 pm
ya but Jeremy that is not a good way to look at it (with all due respect) because when Kobe WILLED and i mean WILLED the lakers to the playoffs in 05-06 he didnt get MVP and if u think that team would have had more than 20 wins without him then u are greatly mistaken.
on Dec 1st, 2008 at 8:54 pm
was just bringing up a new way to look at the argument. Individual stats and team records will all come into play at the end of the year.
as a laker fan, you should be pretty happy that kobe’s numbers are down. he is playing fewer minutes and being asked to do less. come playoff time, he will be fresh. ultimately its all about winning the championship, not the MVP award. Ask barkley or malone which trophy they would rather have…
on Dec 1st, 2008 at 9:31 pm
haha wow i love how your so open minded(no sarcasm) hell ya haha but the more hardware the better