Statistical Trivia

[Mike G]

12 near certain or absolutely certain (by BRef) Hall of Famers are currently playing.

On this page --
https://www.basketball-reference.com/le ... _prob.html
-- I see at #12 Tony Parker with 94% chance and Pau Gasol at 93%, #13
Then it's a drop to Anthony Davis 78%. And he's just getting started.
Kevin Love and Kyrie Irving are in the 60's, Griffin and Aldridge in the 50's, all still very strong.

Meanwhile, Larry Foust is given 94% chance for his work in the '50s: 8-time allstar, led the league in FG%, total rebounds, WS/48 (twice), a 1st and 2nd all-NBA -- but not in the Hall.

Jack Sikma at 87% -- 7 straight ASG, a title in '79, a C who led the league in FT% (.922), twice led in D-Reb and D-WS.

Others not in :
.84 - Billups
.79 - Tim Hardaway
.76 - Marion
.73 - Amare`
.71 - Larry Costello, another 50's-60s guy with 6 ASG, twice led the league in FT%

I don't know when b-r.com last updated their formula for HOF likelihood.
And back to that top 12 or 13: Carmelo at 98%, Dwight 99% ?

[Crow]

HOF formula probably the same as originally. I haven't looked at it recently. I don't respect the actual HOF decision making, so I don't focus on it. Some "mistakes" get corrected but they drag it out.

[Mike G]

Best individual performances in a losing effort, according to Game Score; sorted chronologically.

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GmSc   losers    yr   date  Min   TS%  Pts  Rb  As S+B
57.0  D Thompson 78   4.09   43  .780   73   7   2   1
48.1   Isiah     83   2.08   46  .721   46  10  11   4
47.2   Jordan    86 * 4.20   53  .627   63   5   6   5
47.8   Jordan    87   4.16   41  .646   61  10   1   5
48.6   Olajuwon  87 * 5.14   53  .633   49  25   2   8

46.5   Jordan    88  11.16   43  .845   52   9   1   6
47.9   Jordan    89   1.21   41  .766   53  14   8   3
46.7   Olajuwon  96   3.23   44  .744   46  19   8   6
54.5   D Booker  17   3.24   45  .680   70   8   6   4
50.4   Giannis   19   3.17   36  .738   52  16   7   3

Playoff losses shown by *
http://bkref.com/tiny/AkZJk
David Thompson's incredible season finale gave him the league Pts/G lead, until George Gervin recaptured it later that evening.

[Mike G]

Season most and best-% combos, 3-pointers, 2-pointers, and FT

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3FG  player    yr  3fg%
402  Curry     16  .454
221  Korver    15  .492
128  Legler    96  .522
89   Kerr      95  .524
59   Korver    10  .536
56   P Gasol   17  .538
26   Novak     11  .565
19   Brooks    18  .594
11   D Jones   09  .647
10   Maravich  80  .667
7    Gee       10  .778
4    Vaught    92  .800
3    Feick     00  1.00
3    C Martin  96  1.00
3    Vetra     93  1.00

2FG   player   yr  2fg%
1597  Wilt     62  .506
1463  Wilt     63  .528
1159  Kareem   72  .574
1063  Kareem   71  .577
983   Shaq     94  .600
835   Kareem   80  .604
785   Wilt     67  .683
426   Wilt     73  .727
56    McCoy    99  .737
13   Williams  98  .765
12    Anuaku   15  .857
5    Peplowski 95  1.00

FT    player   yr   FT%
840   West     66  .860
756   Durant   10  .900
679   Durant   13  .905
590   Thomas   17  .909
551   Miller   91  .918
394 Stojakovic 04  .927
342   Sharman  59  .932
289   Price    93  .948
237   Allen    09  .952
219 Abdul-Rauf 94  .956
206   Murphy   81  .958
151   Calderon 09  .981
83    Brandon  02  .988
25   K Simmons 18  1.00

This year, Kobi Simmons has played only 2 minutes (Cle)
MarShon Brooks is just .278 from the arc this year.

[Crow]

I assume you are applying multiple criteria for these lists. Not sure what they are. On FTs Durant is 6th on just attempts for a season.

[Mike G]

Each player in the lists has the best % with as many makes.
Nobody has made more (3's, 2's, FT) while hitting a higher % of them.
I could have done it on attempts, but I went with makes.

[rlee]

Recently, Jamal Crawford became the 1st player to score 50 or more points w/ 4 different teams. I came up with the following list of 50 point scorers who played for 4 or more teams (who did I miss?):
Walt Wesley, jim jackson, ceballos, barros, tracy murray, clifford robinson,carmelo, mcgrady, shaq, arenas, iverson, chambers, B King, deron, stackhouse, dantley, glen rice, jennings, jermaine o'neal, tiny, ray allen, damon stoudamire, alex english, tony delk, willie burton, dale ellis, moses malone, isaiah thomas, mo williams, andre miller, terry cummings, jb carroll, ray williams, mcadoo, vince carter, webber, jamison, vernon maxwell, kiki, kenon, freeman williams, truck, spencer haywood,DRose, lou wms, kevin martin, amar'e, rashard lewis, mashburn, shareef a-r

[Mike G]

Russell Westbrook has averaged a triple-double over his last 298 RS games.

[Mike G]

Harden says he has been playing "like this" for five years, or something to that effect.
Ranked by square root of total VORP x Win Shares in that time:

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2015-19    WS    VORP    xy
Harden    75.3   41.9   56.2
Westbrook 54.6   41.4   47.5
Curry     64.9   33.1   46.3
LeBron    58.1   34.7   44.9
Paul      56.2   24.7   37.3

Lillard   54.9   24.6   36.7
Giannis   52.0   24.7   35.8
Davis     55.4   21.7   34.7
Durant    53.2   22.3   34.4
Gobert    52.4   21.3   33.4

Almost 50% more WS and almost twice the vorp as super-players, like AD and KD, is pretty impressive.
How does this 5 year interval rank all-time? I don't see a way to search for "best 5 year interval", but here are some "year 6 thru 10" totals:

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yrs 6-10   yrs      WS    VORP    xy
Wilt     1965-69   93.4      
LeBron   2009-13   88.0   48.0   65.0
Jordan   1990-95   76.6   37.9   53.9
Harden   2015-19   75.3   41.9   56.2
Russell  1962-66   74.8  
    
Garnett  2001-05   74.6   41.2   55.4
Kareem   1975-79   74.2   41.2   55.3
Nowitzki 2004-08   74.0   27.0   44.7
KMalone  1991-95   73.2   32.8   49.0
Oscar    1966-70   71.0      

Most of these would have earlier or later 5-yr totals that were better.
Note Jordan's interval runs 6 years: 1994 didn't happen, and this just picks up that tail end of '95.

In "first 10 years" WS, Harden ranks 19th*; after those in the previous table, plus Robinson, Paul, Duncan, Barkley, Pettit, Bird, West, and Shaq; *plus Gilmore and Erving if you count ABA*.
In VORP he's 9th (since 1974), after LeBron, Jordan, Barkley, Bird, Robinson, Garnett, Paul, and Magic; ahead of Duncan, Olajuwon, Westbrook, Erving, and everyone else in the era.
http://bkref.com/tiny/k5Xif

[Crow]

Russell Westbrook has averaged a triple-double over his last 298 RS games.

And over that stretch they have been a "good" but not a great team.

[Crow]

Presti and ownership's handling of Harden continues to look awful. For what they gave up and how little impact the things they traded him for yielded.

As long as these teams remain titleless, it isn't an ultimate big deal. It probably remains that way but Rockets have the better chance to get one. Not great chance and not for long but better.

[Mike G]

The percentage of a player's FGA which are 3's is known as 3-pt attempt rate, or 3PAr at b-r.com
Until recently, players with very high 3pAr were known as "specialists" and didn't tend to be big scorers.
Lately, such players get big minutes and score aplenty. Here are highest Pts/G and 3PAr combos since 1980:

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3PAr    PPG    player     yr   tm    TS%
.914    2.9   G Clark    2019  Hou  .480
.880    4.9   Posey      2011  Ind  .485
.873    6.6   Battier    2013  Mia  .623
.837    8.8   Novak      2012  NYK  .684
.827   11.2   Ellington  2018  Mia  .569
.748   12.1   Korver     2015  Atl  .699
.677   12.8   Covington  2018  Phl  .563
.665   13.2   N Young    2017  LAL  .588
.655   13.6   R Anderson 2017  Hou  .583
.651   16.2   E Gordon   2017  Hou  .557
.627   18.0   E Gordon   2018  Hou  .578
.604   27.3   Curry      2019  GSW  .641
.554   30.1   Curry      2016  GSW  .669
.539   36.1   Harden     2019  Hou  .616
.029   37.1   Jordan     1987  Chi  .562

TS% is thrown in for information only, not part of the sorting process.

[Crow]

When Magic Johnson resigned, how much time was left on his contract and is he still getting it? I wouldn't be surprised if he is still going to it. Not "my business" but still a curiosity.

He says he is still involved. But not officially. So perhaps he won't get as much blame if things stagnate or go worse. If they succeed, I am sure he'll still take some of the credit.

[Crow]

https://sports.yahoo.com/nba-commission ... 26128.html

Adam Silver:

“ ... the goal is, going forward, it should be roughly 50-50 of new officials entering in the league, same for coaches by the way. Program too. There’s no reason why women shouldn’t be coaching men’s basketball.”

He says "coaching", not "head coaching. NBA at 5 female NBA level assistant coaches out of about 150-180 assistant coaches. How many interviews will there be this summer for female candidates for these jobs?

Becky Hammond got the only interview to date for Head Coach (so far as I know). 5-6 Head Coach jobs have opened so far this off-season. Haven't heard her name or any other female coach mentioned or interviewed. Including with Lakers.


My understanding is that there are no female head coaches for men's NCAA Division I teams and that there may have been only one game ever coached by a female for this group / level (at Tenn St.).

Nancy Lieberman was a Head Coach in the D-league.

Does any pro team in a top 5 international men's league have a female coach or have they ever?

[Mike G]

Going into game 6 of the eastern finals, Kawhi Leonard has been a dominant presence in each of the first 3 rounds.
Looking at best Game Scores in this postseason, we see 100 games of 21.5 or better.
http://bkref.com/tiny/dQn8j
Players hitting this top 100 in more than two games:

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#    GmSc    tm    high
12  Kawhi    Tor   39.9
7   Jokic    Den   41.4
7   Curry    GSW   36.5
7   Giannis  Mil   36.1
6   Durant   GSW   38.8
6   Harden   Hou   30.9
5   Lillard  Por   36.9
5   Butler   Phl   29.5
4   McCollum Por   28.6
3   DeRozan  SAS   26.2
3   Lowry    Tor   24.0

Twice on the list: Aldridge, Embiid, George, D Green, Harrell, Irving, Middleton, Murray, Simmons, Westbrook, Lou Williams.

That 41.4 by Jokic (G6 vs Spurs) ranks #26 alltime (since 1980); Kawhi also makes top 50 -- and another game at 21.3, where only Olajuwon, Duncan, Bird, Shaq, Jordan (twice), and LeBron (3x) have had more such games in one postseason. They all went to the Finals.