Player Jumps

[Oakland]

We’ve all discussed the so called ‘sophomore jump’ and then we saw the senior jumps that Andy and Rick made (or was it a Jr jump with Rick?). I was going to post a simple rating of the jumps of each player with a few subjective comments, but I started peeking at the stats and, before I knew it, came up with these semi-rigorous, metric based elements that seemed interesting enough to post.

Unless otherwise indicated, all the elements below are positive, e.g., # TOs means less TOs unless it says ‘more TOs’. These represent significant changes, small changes are not indicated. Where appropriate, # of minutes played is taken into account.

* indicates ‘much’, e.g., 2pt % *, means a much greater %
The top of the list, lists the positives
The middle, lists my subjective remarks (hopefully in orange)
The bottom, the negatives (unfortunately, I can't eliminate those blank lines)

A caveat: the stats compare the first 19 games of this season vs the entire 2010-11 season, so the competition is weaker for this season since we still have the tougher part of the season to play.

We know the team is playing better, especially Dion and Fab. This analysis clearly shows why both are true: 32 positives vs 6 negatives (what it doesn’t show is what we lost with Rick). My contention at the beginning of the season was that this team would be better because of a large increase in experience. The benefit of this experience is seen in elements like: fewer fouls, better A/TO (and not just the guards!), better shooting %s, etc. The nature of team chemistry is based on type of players you have and subjective elements, but here you can clearly see the elements of better chemistry.

Of particular interest is Scoop, whose playing profile has changed dramatically. Five of his elements have changed a lot.

+1.5 Jump

Dion – everyone is focused on his pts and steals, but he is doing lots of other good things, and doing them more often. His 2pt % may be the important element and one of the least discussed.
2pt % *
3pt %
# Steals *
# Assists
A/TO ratio
# Points
# FTA
Actually getting to the rim ‘at will’ this season and then doing something good there.
Decision making
Team play
Defense
The ‘it’ factor

Lower FT %

_______________________
+1 Jump

Fab – better in a lot of areas, no negatives
FT% *
Rebs
Blocks *
A/TO ratio
# Fouls
Running the court
Offense
Defensive position


___________________
+0.5 Jump

CJ Fair
FT %
A/TO ratio
Mid range shot

Lower 2pt %

JS
2pt % *
Blocks
Steals
Rebs
Handle
Defense
Consistency
Decision making

Lower FT %

Triche – hard for me to see with the look test, but the numbers are hard to dispute, the guy is playing significantly better.
# Assists
A/TO ratio
# Steals
3pt %

Scoop – his offensive efficiency (on 2 and 3 pt shots) has gone from 0.98 last season to 1.17 this season. He is doing just what we hoped, taking better shots, and being much better because of it. Surprisingly, he is taking the same number of shots (per minute).
2pt % *
PFs *
Fewer # 3pt Attempts *
Lower 3pt % *
Lower FT % *

KJ – another guy I thought had plateau’d but the numbers show he is actually playing significantly better.
3pt %
FT%
# Charges
TOs
Too much dribbling

Lower 2pt %

___________________
0.0 Jump

Keita – I have at BMK at no jump, but his game has improved.
2pt % *
FT % *
Plays like he still has a cast on his hand but has fewer TOs
Doesn’t seem as active

Less steals