Kings Per 100 Possessions -- The Centers

[Bricklayer]

basketball-reference.com has popped up with a new fun little subsection for player (and team) stats per 100 possessions. The great advantage here being that per 100 possessions corrects for both minutes played and for pace.

I thought a comparison of how our guys look vs. the rest of the league might be in order. So here are all the fulltime starters, with all our guys at the position added in:

Centers:
Cousins 35.7pts (.555TS%) 18.4reb 4.6ast 2.4stl 2.0blk 5.6TO
Jeffersn 32.4pts (.532TS%) 16.1reb 3.2ast 1.4stl 1.6blk 2.5TO
Pekovic 28.0pts (.582TS%) 13.9reb 1.5ast 0.9stl 0.7blk 2.5TO
Howard 27.0pts (.600TS%) 18.0reb 2.7ast 1.2stl 2.7blk 4.8TO
PaGasol 26.9pts (.522TS%) 15.0reb 5.2ast 0.7stl 2.4blk 3.6TO
ChBosh 26.6pts (.597TS%) 10.9reb 1.8ast 1.7stl 1.6blk 2.6TO
Duncan 26.2pts (.535TS%) 16.9reb 5.2ast 1.0stl 3.3blk 3.7TO
MGasol 23.3pts (.526TS%) 11.5reb 5.8ast 1.6stl 2.1blk 3.0TO
Vucevic 22.9pts (.536TS%) 17.7reb 2.9ast 1.7stl 1.3blk 3.2TO
Hickson 21.4pts (.521TS%) 16.6reb 2.5ast 1.2stl 1.3blk 3.4TO
SHawes 21.1pts (.552TS%) 13.2reb 4.8ast 0.9stl 1.9blk 3.5TO
Drumm 21.1pts (.599TS%) 20.7reb 0.7ast 2.0stl 2.5blk 2.1TO
Valanci 21.0pts (.579TS%) 16.4reb 1.3ast 0.5stl 1.6blk 3.1TO
MGortt 20.7pts (.568TS%) 14.9reb 2.7ast 0.8stl 2.3blk 2.4TO
JoNoah 19.0pts (.531TS%) 17.0reb 8.1ast 1.9stl 2.3blk 2.7TO
Hibbert 18.8pts (.499TS%) 11.6reb 2.0ast 0.6stl 3.9blk 3.2TO
RLopez 17.6pts (.605TS%) 13.6reb 1.4ast 0.5stl 2.7blk 1.6TO
Dalemb 16.8pts (.605TS%) 17.2reb 1.2ast 1.3stl 3.0blk 2.9TO
MiPlum 16.5pts (.529TS%) 16.0reb 1.1ast 1.3stl 2.3blk 2.8TO
Chandlr 15.4pts (.615TS%) 16.9reb 1.9ast 1.2stl 2.0blk 2.3TO
DJordan 14.9pts (.630TS%) 19.4reb 1.3ast 1.4stl 3.5blk 2.1TO
ABogut 13.9pts (.610TS%) 18.9reb 3.2ast 1.3stl 3.4blk 2.7TO
AarGray 9.3pts (.466TS%) 15.9reb 3.2ast 1.4stl 1.1blk 4.4TO
Perrkins 8.8pts (.474TS%) 12.7reb 2.8ast 1.1stl 1.3blk 3.7TO

In addition there were two major guys injured early in the year. Their sample sizes are probably too small as their numbers were considerably inflated over anything they'd done in previous years:
BrLopez 34.7pts (.629TS%) 10.0reb 1.6ast 0.9stl 3.0blk 2.8TO -- 17gms
Horford 28.5pts (.588TS%) 12.9reb 4.0ast 1.4stl 2.3blk 3.4TO -- 29gms

Several teams didn't have any true centers worth bothering with.

Given the amount of work/time, I'll start other threads for the other positions. Thunder should sign Aaron Gray this offseason to upgrade their C spot.

 

[kingsboi]

Since when are Hickson, Pau, Jefferson, Bosh considered centers?

 

[Bricklayer]

Since when are Hickson, Pau, Jefferson, Bosh considered centers?

Since their teams had no choice but to play them there all season.

 

[The_Jamal]

Since when are Hickson, Pau, Jefferson, Bosh considered centers?

All them have been playing C's for multiple years now. Even Pau is better at C these days since he's slowed down

 

[LPKingsFan]

Saw this pop up on the site today as well and geeked out for a while. Thanks for compiling this, Brick.

 

[Sluggah]

Cousins = amazing. Check.

 

[Agent23]

Looking at Drummond's stats makes me sad.

 

[The_Jamal]

Only those TO's concern me. But even then, those will go down once we get Cuz down from a league high USG%

 

[Bricklayer]

Only those TO's concern me. But even then, those will go down once we get Cuz down from a league high USG%

You don't want to back him down. The more dominant the better. Its a skill amplifier in itself. You punish people again and again and it breaks their spirit.

A huge # of those are actually passing errors, which should improve with time,. and would also likely improve dramatically if we either had a PG capable of running the show himself, or enough passers scattered through the lineup that our 270lb center wasn't feeling pressure to make PG plays too. It needs to improve, but the root causes can be addressed externally.

 

[The_Jamal]

You don't want to back him down. The more dominant the better. Its a skill amplifier in itself. You punish people again and again and it breaks their spirit.

A huge # of those are actually passing errors, which should improve with time,. and would also likely improve dramatically if we either had a PG capable of running the show himself, or enough passers scattered through the lineup that our 270lb center wasn't feeling pressure to make PG plays too. It needs to improve, but the root causes can be addressed externally.

Disagree. You don't want a guy with a 30+ USG%, unless he's Kevin Durant or LeBron James. Getting that USG down to 27-28% will go a long way to making him more efficient and getting him easier shots.

 

[Bricklayer]

Disagree. You don't want a guy with a 30+ USG%, unless he's Kevin Durant or LeBron James. Getting that USG down to 27-28% will go a long way to making him more efficient and getting him easier shots.

There is a modern fascination with those two freaks, but the league was around long before they arrived. And in some ways their freakish physical characteristics for their positions explain their ability to be effective at high usage rates the same way it has for big men.

here are the big guys who have had 30+ USG rates in a season:
Jermaine O'Neal x2 (03-04, 04-05 peak years)
Yao Ming (06-07 peak year)
Shaq x9 (basically his entire prime)
Admiral (93-94 MVP)
Hakeem x3 (94-95, 95-96, 96-97)
Ewing x3 (90-91, 94-95, 95-96)
Webber x2 (00-01, 02-03)
Amare (10-11 New York)
Randolph (06-07)
Malone x10 (prime)
Nowizki (08-09)
Boogie (13-14)

Those players, and the teams they played for, were not failing because of that productivity. The great majority were in fact contenders. You don't aim for somebody to have a 30 USG, but if you've got a big who can sustain productivity at those levels you can absolutely ride it right into the playoffs for you, and the HOF for them.

 

[Spike]

And I disagree with your disagree for the same reason you disagreed. We may have lucked into the most offensively skilled post player of this era. Why would we want the ball out of his hands? Brick is right, the turnovers are not a function of his usage, they're a function of him trying to involve others. Eliminating JT's fumble-itis around the basket, for example, would probably help. So would having Cousins run the point on the fast break, but considering the current makeup of this team, he should have James/Bryant usage numbers.

 

[Spike]

There is a modern fascination with those two freaks, but the league was around long before they arrived. And in some ways their freakish physical characteristics for their positions explain their ability to be effective at high usage rates the same way it has for big men.

here are the big guys who have had 30+ USG rates in a season:
Jermaine O'Neal x2 (03-04, 04-05 peak years)
Yao Ming (06-07 peak year)
Shaq x9 (basically his entire prime)
Admiral (93-94 MVP)
Hakeem x3 (94-95, 95-96, 96-97)
Ewing x3 (90-91, 94-95, 95-96)
Webber x2 (00-01, 02-03)
Amare (10-11 New York)
Randolph (06-07)
Malone x10 (prime)
Nowizki (08-09)
Boogie (13-14)

Those players, and the teams they played for, were not failing because of that productivity. The great majority were in fact contenders. You don't aim for somebody to have a 30 USG, but if you've got a big who can sustain productivity at those levels you can absolutely ride it right into the playoffs for you, and the HOF for them.

Damn you for typing faster. At least tell me you weren't on your phone; I'll feel better.

 

[Bricklayer]

Damn you for typing faster. At least tell me you weren't on your phone; I'll feel better.

oh no, filling time while listening to bickering idiots on a conference call. my phone typing skillz are decidedly medicore.