Trivia

[Mike G]

Progressive best Total Rebound % by a guard (not G-F) since 1971:

Code: Select all

TRb%   guard          year   tm
8.7   Don Chaney      1971   Bos
8.9   Walt Frazier    1973   NYK
9.4   Butch Beard     1976 Cle-NY
11.8  Sidney Moncrief 1980   Mil
12.5  Lafayette Lever 1987   Den
13.6  Lever           1990   Den
17.1  Westbrook       2017   OKC

http://bkref.com/tiny/KhY84
In 1976, Frazier and Beard were traded for one another
In 1990, Darrell Walker beat Lever's 1987 mark but not his concurrent rate.

This season, Westbrook and Dejounte Murray (SAS) are both at 14.9 -- the two best rebounding guards known.
Those two plus Lonzo Ball, Denzel Valentine, Chris Paul, Terry Rozier, and Kyle Lowry make 7 current guards who are stronger rebounders than any in the 1970's.

Magic Johnson topped out at 13.7 in 1982, but he was considered G-F.
Ben Simmons is also classed as G-F, though b-r.com says he has played every minute at guard. At 12.4, he's another who would have set the record, before Fat Lever.

[bchaikin]

interesting, from last season:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HYKolm75h8Y

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oqZgLJtErOQ

[Mike G]

Those links bring us to videos of a few games in which Westbrook appears to grab rebounds in front of teammates. Sometimes he's just quicker to the ball, and sometimes, they just let him get it.
It's commonly accepted that on a certain fraction of defensive rebounds, one or another teammate "could have" gotten it. Rodman put a dent in Laimbeer's rebounds, etc. What part of a player's rebounds are typically "granted" by his teammates? Would Andre Roberson's rebounds look similarly "inflated"?

Dejounte Murray is the premier O-Rebounder among guards. How does he fare against the Thunder?
Here are the top O-Rebounding G and G-F this year (>60 ORb on the year); their OReb/36 minute rates; their minutes and OReb vs OKC; and the number of OReb they normally expect to get in those minutes.

Code: Select all

vs OKC      tm  OR/36  Min  ORb  exp
B Simmons  Phl   1.94   91   2   4.9
Dj Murray  SAS   2.30   81   3   5.2
Nwaba      Chi   1.90   16   0    .8
J Murray   Den   1.16   78   3   2.5
Richardson Mia    .96   32   1    .9
E Payton  OrPhx  1.27  100   2   3.5
Lowry      Tor   1.01   57   3   1.6
Barton     Den    .91   92   1   2.3
J Simmons  Orl   1.08   69   2   2.1
. totals                    17  23.8

https://www.basketball-reference.com/pl ... plits/2018
It's a smallish sample, but these guys have totaled just 70% of their normal OReb in minutes vs OKC.
Lowry has an extra OReb, and that's it on the plus side.
OKC allows a very avg number of OReb per game.

[bchaikin]

Those links bring us to videos of a few games in which Westbrook appears to grab rebounds in front of teammates. Sometimes he's just quicker to the ball, and sometimes, they just let him get it.

that'd be alot of times...

in the history of the nba (since 1973-74 when rebounds have been differentiated into off and def rebs) a player has grabbed 300+ off rebs in a season 149 times. of those 149 times, not once did the player grab fewer def rebs than off rebs - until now. steven adams, who now has 353 off rebs, has grabbed just 268 def rebs, 80 less def rebs than any other player that grabbed 300+ off rebs, and he is grabbing def rebs on a per minute basis at a rate of 35% less than he did just a few years ago...

i'd say adams, who has westbrook on the floor with him for 91% of his minutes, does this an awful lot - letting westbrook grab any def rebs near adams...

[Mike G]

.. steven adams, who now has 353 off rebs, has grabbed just 268 def rebs ...

That is pretty amazing. The numbers are now 358/276, a ratio of 1.297 O/D
Some other offensive rebounding specialists in history:

Code: Select all

O/R > 1.3    yr   tm   ORb  DRb
Mike McGee   84  LAL   117   76
McGee        85  LAL    97   68
Harold Ellis 94  LAC    94   59
Fr Williams  81  SDC    75   54
Ryan Bowen   00  Den    75   39

O/R > 1.2    yr   tm   ORb  DRb
Steven Adams 18  OKC   358  276
Don Chaney   74  Bos   210  168
Vi Johnson   84  Det   130  107
Ja Jeffries  09  NYK   128  103
Don Collins  83  Was   116   94

O/R > 1.1    yr   tm   ORb  DRb
Steven Adams 18  OKC   358  276
George Lynch 94  LAL   220  190
Don Chaney   74  Bos   210  168
Vi Johnson   81  Sea   193  173
De Johnson   77  Sea   161  141

O/R > 1.0    yr   tm   ORb  DRb
Ja Williams  98  NJN   443  440
Steven Adams 18  OKC   358  276
Chris Morris 93  NJN   227  227
Ru Patterson 00  Sea   218  216
George Lynch 94  LAL   220  190

That's Jayson Williams in his one big year. Just 30 more games, and he was done.
http://bkref.com/tiny/tT9Iw
Adams is as much an anomaly/outlier as Westbrook, you might say. Together they have gotten more D-Reb over the years, according to DReb%:

Code: Select all

year    RW   Adams    T
2014   15.9   17.1   33.0
2015   16.7   19.3   36.0
2016   18.1   16.1   34.2
2017   28.8   15.4   44.2
2018   25.1   13.9   39.0

Enes Kanter's DReb% in NY is 36% higher than last year in OKC.
Durant had career high DReb% upon going to GSW. Ibaka similar ...

[Mike G]

This year's league-wide eFG% is .521, an all-time high. Last year's .514 was itself .012 higher than the previous best of 2016.
The 2-year increase of .019 is the largest since 1977-79 (.465 to .485); and before that, it's 1961-63.

The improvement is largely due to shooting more 3's with no dropoff in efficiency. From 2016 to '17, NBA 3fga increased by a record 2.9 per game -- larger than 1980, when the avg went from 0 to 2.8/G **
The 2-year increase 2016-18 is even greater than that from 2015-17 (4.8 vs 4.6)

This also leads to all-time high TS%. In 2 years, 2015-17, it jumped from .534 to .553 -- biggest 2-yr improvement since 1963. This year it's .556.

Pace is now the highest it's been since 1991, at 97.4 poss/G. And league ORtg these last 2 years rank 1-2 all-time (108.8)
Points per game are also highest since '91. The 2-yr increase (+5.6) is largest since 1959-61.

** = not counting short-arc years 95-97

[Mike G]

Denver holds opposing FT shooters to a league-low .737 -- which is .011 better than anyone else. How do they do it?
Probably not a simple answer, so I'll ask this: How unusual is it? The league avg is .768, just .004 off the all-time high.
League FT% has stayed above .750 since 2006-07. In the meantime of 11.9 seasons, here are the best (lowest) opponent FT% each year, the league FT%, and the difference:

Code: Select all

year    NBA   Tm   OppFT%  diff
2007   .752   Chi   .730   .022
2008   .755   Den   .730   .025
2009   .771   Hou   .749   .022
2010   .759   Cha   .743   .016
2011   .763   Orl   .743   .020
2012   .752   Mia   .725   .027
2013   .753   Brk   .731   .022
2013   .753   Den   .731   .022
2014   .756   OKC   .727   .029
2014   .756   LAL   .727   .029
2015   .750   Mia   .730   .020
2016   .757   LAL   .731   .026
2017   .772   Was   .751   .021
2018   .768   Den   .737   .031*

So the Nuggets have the largest such disparity from league avg in recent times, or their opponents do.
Also I didn't see any difference as large as .011 between #1 and #2.
Den also appears 3 times in this list. Altitude?

2007-2018 total Opponent FT% best and worst:

Code: Select all

OppFT%
.749   LAL
.752   Cle
.755   OKC
.755   Den
.755   Bos
...
.765   Mil
.765   Det
.765   Phl
.765   NOH
.766   Min

http://bkref.com/tiny/disH1
Looking at 21-26,000 FTA here

[Mike G]

In a conference finals, starting 1984, progressive record for fewest turnovers, to go with at least 35 points and 10 assists:

Code: Select all

year   35-10     G  Pts  Ast  TO
1984  Bridgeman  5   73   16   5
1985  Natt       5  112   12   4
1987  Sichting   7   43   10   3
1992  Jo Paxson  6   40   11   2
1993  Cartwright 6   36   12   1
2018* Horford    2   35   10   0

In 2015, Horford totaled 44-10-2 in 4 game ECF.
http://bkref.com/tiny/AVggn
Fewest TO with 70-20 is 6 (Ehlo, Ginobili, Kenny Smith)
With 105 and 30, Terry Porter had 8 TO in '92 and 9 in '90.

[Mike G]

In a conference finals, fewest assists to go with at least 100 points, since 1984

Code: Select all

player   yr   Pts   Rb  As
Shaq     06   130   63   2
Amar'e   10   150   36   3
Dwight   10   131   65   4
Marion   06   101   79   4
Shaq     98   127   37   4
J O'Neal 04   104   60   5
Rasheed  05   101   49   5
Bosh     11   116   38   6
Josh H   06   116   50   6
Durant   18   100   12   7

These other scorer/non-passers were rebounders. Durant's just a scorer.
Fewest rebounds to go with 100 points:

Code: Select all

player  yr   Pts   Rb   As
Dumars  87   103    8   32
Irving  17   129   10   27
KJ      90   131   11   68
Reggie  98   122   11   14
B Scott 85   117   11   15
Durant  18   100   12    7

This is just after 3 games. Suppose in 6 games he gets 180 points, maybe more than 24 Reb and 14 Ast.

Code: Select all

player  yr   Pts   Rb   As
Reggie  95   181   21    8
Ray A   01   190   23   38
Iverson 01   183   29   41
Kobe    09   204   35   35


player  yr   Pts   Rb   As
Amar'e  05   185   49    7
Reggie  95   181   21    8
Shaq    02   212   95   11
Shaq    95   191   67   17
Durant  16   210   56   20
Kobe    02   190   44   27

Reggie Miller high on both lists -- Durant's just an elongated version of Reggie now.

[Mike G]

Most minutes in an NBA Finals with zero assists and steals:

Code: Select all

Min.  0 Ast, 0 Stl     yr
86   Antoine Carr     1998
77   Tristan Thompson 2018
64   Udonis Haslem    2013

This is thru 3 games of the current Finals and since 1984
Javale McGee (39 min.) and Nick Young (29) also make the "top" 20.

Most points in fewer than 50 total minutes:

Code: Select all

Min  Pts   Pts/Min      yr
44   31   Mike Miller  2012
50   27   Darren Daye  1987
39   26   Javale McGee 2018

Yes, Javale has the most points in <40 min.
Jordan Bell and Rodney Hood also make the top 20

Just 25 guys have played as many as 70 Finals minutes while totaling < 28 pts, < 11 reb, and < 8 ast.
Four of them are with these Cavs.
http://bkref.com/tiny/NTdNM

In 44 minutes, Kyle Korver has 4 pts, 6 reb, and 2 ast. Only Larry Hughes '07 has gone so weak in all 3 (also in 44 min) and nobody else has matched that in >33 min.
Nick Young also in his own class, with 2 pts and 1 reb in 29 min.

[Mike G]

LeBron is the alltime leader in postseason Win Shares and VORP, a la b-r.com
But are there any younger superstars who have done as much as LeBron at a younger age?

Here are playoff leaders in WS and VORP thru a given age. To make one list, I've averaged WS and vorp*2
Going only back to 1974 and not including ABA, sorry -- b-r.com seems to balk at that.

Code: Select all

xy       22     yr     WS    VORP
7.2    Kawhi   2014    7.2    3.6
6.5    LeBron  2007    5.4    3.8
6.5    Magic   1982    5.7    3.6
6.4    Kobe    2001    6.5    3.1
4.9    Harden  2012    5.0    2.4
4.8    Duncan  1999    4.9    2.3
            
xy       23     yr     WS    VORP
9.4    LeBron  2008    7.6    5.6
8.8    Magic   1983    7.8    4.9
8.8    Kobe    2002    9.1    4.2
8.0    Kawhi   2015    8.0    4.0
7.2    Rondo   2010    6.3    4.0
7.1    Durant  2012    7.6    3.3
            
xy       24     yr     WS    VORP
14.8   LeBron  2009   12.4    8.6
12.4   Magic   1984   11.3    6.7
10.1   Kobe    2003   10.6    4.8
10.1   Kawhi   2016    9.9    5.1
9.4    Durant  2013    9.7    4.5
            
xy       25     yr     WS    VORP
17.5   LeBron  2010   14.7   10.1
15.2   Magic   1985   14.3    8.0
13.2   Kobe    2004   13.5    6.4
12.9   Kawhi   2017   12.7    6.5
11.9   Durant  2014   12.1    5.8
11.1   Rondo   2012    9.7    6.2
            
xy       26     yr     WS    VORP
21.7   LeBron  2011   18.5   12.4
18.2   Magic   1986   17.3    9.5
15.7   Duncan  2003   14.7    8.3
14.0   Jordan  1990   11.7    8.1
13.2   Kobe    2004   13.5    6.4
12.9   Kawhi   2017   12.7    6.5
            
xy       27     yr     WS    VORP
27.8   LeBron  2012   24.3   15.6
22.0   Magic   1987   21.0   11.5
19.2   Jordan  1991   16.5   10.9
17.3   Duncan  2004   16.3    9.1
14.7   Shaq    2000   14.1    7.6
13.8   Kobe    2006   14.1    6.7
13.6  Draymond 2018   11.8    7.7
13.6   Durant  2016   14.1    6.5
            
xy       28     yr     WS    VORP
33.4   LeBron  2013   29.5   18.6
25.9   Magic   1988   24.9   13.4
23.9   Jordan  1992   20.6   13.6
20.3   Duncan  2005   19.7   10.4
18.1   Shaq    2001   17.8    9.2
16.6   Durant  2017   17.2    8.0
15.6   Bird    1985   13.7    8.7
            
xy       29     yr     WS    VORP
37.9   LeBron  2014   33.8   21.0
28.6   Jordan  1993   25.0   16.1
28.2   Magic   1989   27.1   14.6
22.8   Duncan  2006   22.3   11.6
21.6   Shaq    2002   21.6   10.8
20.1   Bird    1986   18.0   11.1
20.0   Durant  2018   20.9    9.5
            
xy       30     yr     WS    VORP
42.2   LeBron  2015   36.9   23.7
30.1   Magic   1990   28.9   15.6
28.6   Jordan  1993   25.0   16.1
26.1   Duncan  2007   25.6   13.3
24.0   Shaq    2003   24.0   12.0
23.7   Bird    1987   21.2   13.1
22.5   Kobe    2009   22.5   11.2
            
xy       31     yr     WS    VORP
47.6   LeBron  2016   41.6   26.8
33.7   Magic   1991   32.2   17.6
30.2   Jordan  1995   26.3   17.0
28.0   Duncan  2008   27.3   14.3
27.9   Shaq    2004   27.9   13.9
26.4   Bird    1988   23.6   14.6
26.1   Kobe    2010   26.1   13.0
            
xy       32     yr     WS    VORP
52.3   LeBron  2017   45.8   29.4
34.4   Jordan  1996   31.0   18.9
33.7   Magic   1991   32.2   17.6
28.6   Duncan  2009   27.9   14.6
28.5   Shaq    2005   28.7   14.1
26.7   Kobe    2011   26.8   13.3
26.4   Bird    1988   23.6   14.6
            
xy       33     yr     WS    VORP
58.5   LeBron  2018   51.0   33.0
38.5   Jordan  1997   34.9   21.0
33.7   Magic   1991   32.2   17.6
30.0   Shaq    2006   30.3   14.8
29.2   Duncan  2010   28.6   14.9
28.2   Kobe    2012   28.3   14.0
26.9   Bird    1990   24.0   14.9

http://bkref.com/tiny/2prtw

[J.E.]

In 44 minutes, Kyle Korver has 4 pts, 6 reb, and 2 ast. Only Larry Hughes '07 has gone so weak in all 3 (also in 44 min) and nobody else has matched that in >33 min.

Funny/sad how the only other player who managed to record such stats was also a teammate of LeBron

[Mike G]

In 44 minutes, Kyle Korver has 4 pts, 6 reb, and 2 ast. Only Larry Hughes '07 has gone so weak in all 3 (also in 44 min) and nobody else has matched that in >33 min.

Funny/sad how the only other player who managed to record such stats was also a teammate of LeBron

yeah, the lists are littered with Shumpert and James Jones appearances, along with Mike Miller, G Hill, J Green, Korver. But these guys may just be at the sub-marginal edge of NBA existence, and otherwise would not be playing at all.
LeBron may be dominating the ball, but he's not stopping anyone from getting some rebounds at least.

TS% by series for LeBron and rest of team, along with LeBron's Ast/36 rates

Code: Select all

opp    LBJ    ROT  As/36
Ind   .655   .499   6.8
Tor   .579   .624   9.7
Bos   .610   .523   7.4
GSW   .615   .473   8.35

[Mike G]

Top Game Scores for NBA Finals, since 1984

Code: Select all

GmSc   per G    yr     Pts    Reb   Ast   Stl   Blk
30.6   Shaq    2000   38.0   16.7   2.3   1.0   2.7
30.3   Durant  2017   35.2    8.2   5.4   1.0   1.6
30.1   Shaq    2002   36.3   12.3   3.8    .5   2.8
29.6   LeBron  2017   33.6   12.0  10.0   1.4   1.0
29.6   Jordan  1993   41.0    8.5   6.3   1.7    .7

29.4   Jordan  1991   31.2    6.6  11.4   2.8   1.4
28.3   LeBron  2018   34.0    8.5  10.0   1.3   1.0
28.3   Magic   1987   26.2    8.0  13.0   2.3    .3
27.4   Shaq    2001   33.0   15.8   4.8    .4   3.4
26.9   Durant  2018   28.8   10.8   7.5    .8   2.3

http://bkref.com/tiny/QVmHJ
You might say it's an exclusive list. The 2nd 10 consists of: LeBron (2), Jordan, Wade, Olajuwon, Magic, Curry, Duncan, Bird (2)
And 3 LeBrons in the next 10.

LeBron is the only Finals loser in the top 20. How out-manned has he been at this level?
In 2011, the Mavs had 7 of the top 11 players in the Finals, according to Game Score.
2012 vs OKC, Heat had 4 of the top 7 and won handily.
2013 vs Spurs, Mia with 4 of the top 9, won in 7.
2014 rematch, SA with 4 of top 5, and 6 of the top 8 players.

Cavs vs Warriors:
2015 - GS with 3 of top 4, 6 of 10
2016 - Cavs with just 4 of top 10 players, win anyway
2017 - Dubs with 5 of the top 8
2018 - .. .. 6 of top 8, and 8 of 11

EDIT -- Worst GmSc since '84, 30+ Finals minutes

Code: Select all

GmSc   per game     yr    Pts   Reb   Ast  Stl  Blk
-2.0  Larry Hughes 2007   1.0   2.5   1.0   .5   .0
-1.2  Kyle Korver  2018   1.5   1.8    .8   .0   .3
-1.0  Vince Askew  1996   1.8   2.5    .5   .5   .0
-1.0  Nick Young   2018   1.3    .5    .0   .0   .0
-0.9  D Williams   2017   1.0   1.6   1.2   .4   .0

Korver with the worst eFG% of the bunch, .094

[Mike G]

Best postseasons ever, via the 5th root of the product of 5 summary stats.

Code: Select all

xyz   playoffs  year    G    PER    WS   ws/48   BPM  vorp
5.28   LeBron   2009   14   37.4   4.8   .399   18.2   2.9
4.83   LeBron   2018   22   32.2   5.2   .269   14.0   3.7
4.68   Jordan   1991   17   32.0   4.8   .333   13.8   2.8
4.66   Duncan   2003   24   28.4   5.9   .279   11.6   3.5
4.62   LeBron   2012   23   30.3   5.8   .284   11.0   3.2

4.47   LeBron   2016   21   30.0   4.7   .274   13.1   3.1
4.38   Jordan   1990   16   31.7   4.0   .284   14.3   2.8
4.23   LeBron   2013   23   28.1   5.2   .260   10.2   2.9
4.20   Kareem   1974   16   28.3   4.7   .297   11.3   2.5
4.18   Jordan   1989   17   29.9   4.0   .270   12.8   2.7

xyz   playoffs  year    G    PER    WS   ws/48   BPM  vorp
4.13   LeBron   2017   18   30.1   4.3   .275   11.5   2.5
4.11   Jordan   1993   19   30.1   4.4   .270   10.9   2.5
4.08   Kareem   1977   11   32.4   3.2   .332   14.8   2.0
4.06   LeBron   2014   20   31.1   4.3   .270   10.4   2.4
4.00   Bird     1984   23   26.3   4.7   .236   10.2   2.9

4.00   Bird     1986   23   26.3   4.7   .236   10.2   2.9
3.94  Nowitzki  2006   23   26.8   5.4   .263    7.9   2.4
3.89   Wade     2006   23   26.9   4.8   .240    8.9   2.6
3.77   Jordan   1996   18   26.7   4.7   .306    8.1   1.9
3.75   Shaq     2000   23   30.5   4.7   .224    7.2   2.3

xyz   playoff  year    G    PER   WS   ws/48
3.37   Mikan   1954   13   33.6   3.5   .391
3.15   Wilt    1964   12   31.3   3.8   .323
2.69   West    1968   15   25.1   3.6   .278
2.68   Wilt    1962   12   29.7   3.1   .260
2.43  Russell  1965   12   20.9   3.3   .286

Bottom 5 -- bpm and vorp omitted from formula.
Sample is those who are top-15 in any one of these categories, from:
http://bkref.com/tiny/0n9KO