The NBA Stats Thread: The 15-year chain reaction that led to the NBA's current offensive explosion
- Thread in 'Sports & Training' Thread starter Started by pmatic,
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Man what type of IP spoofing software do you have?
Dude is like roaches. Think you killed them all and they keep popping up.
Dude is like roaches. Think you killed them all and they keep popping up.
I don't even understand the IP address stuff. So, mods can see an address from where I signed up? What if you sign up at a friend's house, or work, etc? How can they spot you? Or is it by email address? I never understood how they know who someone is so fast.
rex ryan
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This dude Doo be Doo is straight comedy at this point. I ain't eeen mad. Let that man make as many usernames as he wants lmao
jpzx
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I'm pretty sure they can see IP addresses from where you sign up AND from wherever you've posted.
AKA... if a certain Spurs fan posts in the house he's been posting at his entire time here on the new SN even if he signed up elsewhere, he still can get caught.
AKA... if a certain Spurs fan posts in the house he's been posting at his entire time here on the new SN even if he signed up elsewhere, he still can get caught.
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Meth needs to contact DBD's service provider and have him dealt with.
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I will never understand this, you saw Tim Duncan at his best, what does it matter that he manages to squeeze out a championship at the tail end of his career?
Tim extra championship or not remains in that secondary tier of players who aren't in conversation for the greatest of all time. Kareem, Wilt, Oscar, Mike, Russel, Magic/Bird.
Tim extra championship or not remains in that secondary tier of players who aren't in conversation for the greatest of all time. Kareem, Wilt, Oscar, Mike, Russel, Magic/Bird.
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I don't know man, 4 titles to 5 is a nice come up. 5-5 better than 4-4 or 4-5. Yes he's past his prime, so was Kareem when he was winning back to back titles in his late 30's with another mega star on his team, doesn't hurt his resume, does it?
Iono, I plan on pulling out the Legacy thread when the Finals are over and updating everyone, maybe some things will get hashed out in there. I didn't mean to clutter this one up.
Interesting note I am watching tho, I expect Bron to go nuclear tonight, but not cuz he's Bron, or angry, or any of that (tho it surely helps I'm sure) but because Wade is washed. I'm sorry, I've been calling it on that guy for 2-3 years now, he's outta gas almost. He's not even yet at 30,000 minutes combined regular and postseason, and yet he's already this gassed. He'll be 32 next season and likely coming off 3 straight Finals runs, he won't have anything left for next season, with all their options coming up afterwards. Bron already mentioned being underpaid, does he hitch his wagon to Wade longer, knowing Wade is breaking down?
Healthy Bron, healthy Wade don't waste any effort against the Pacers, but because Wade is lagging, they have to fight tooth and nail to get by. And if the Bulls were healthy last round with Wade not himself, they might be in even worse shape right now if they had to grind an extra game or two vs the Bulls.
I don't think he stays past the first 4 years. Sounds crazy that he could move again, but why stay with Wade when guys like Battier, Ray Allen, Haslem aren't going to last much longer either? Hell, if not for Birdman, where would the Heat be right now with this Wade and Joel Anthony still getting time?
I don't know man, 4 titles to 5 is a nice come up. 5-5 better than 4-4 or 4-5. Yes he's past his prime, so was Kareem when he was winning back to back titles in his late 30's with another mega star on his team, doesn't hurt his resume, does it?
Iono, I plan on pulling out the Legacy thread when the Finals are over and updating everyone, maybe some things will get hashed out in there. I didn't mean to clutter this one up.
Interesting note I am watching tho, I expect Bron to go nuclear tonight, but not cuz he's Bron, or angry, or any of that (tho it surely helps I'm sure) but because Wade is washed. I'm sorry, I've been calling it on that guy for 2-3 years now, he's outta gas almost. He's not even yet at 30,000 minutes combined regular and postseason, and yet he's already this gassed. He'll be 32 next season and likely coming off 3 straight Finals runs, he won't have anything left for next season, with all their options coming up afterwards. Bron already mentioned being underpaid, does he hitch his wagon to Wade longer, knowing Wade is breaking down?
Healthy Bron, healthy Wade don't waste any effort against the Pacers, but because Wade is lagging, they have to fight tooth and nail to get by. And if the Bulls were healthy last round with Wade not himself, they might be in even worse shape right now if they had to grind an extra game or two vs the Bulls.
I don't think he stays past the first 4 years. Sounds crazy that he could move again, but why stay with Wade when guys like Battier, Ray Allen, Haslem aren't going to last much longer either? Hell, if not for Birdman, where would the Heat be right now with this Wade and Joel Anthony still getting time?
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Not sure if srs
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When you look at the rosters that took the floor when those series started I still stand by it.
The 2007 Dallas Mavericks lost to a more talented team and they won 67 games.
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Let's say for argument sake, the Spurs draft some unknown European and he ends up being like Sabonis with no injuries or something, and they win 3 more chips, with Duncan playing until he's 41.
It's going to make you think he's better than Mike, Kareem, Wilt?
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It's all good, I was more referring to DBD being drawn in here.
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LinkCourtVision: The 3-Point Chill in Miami
In the predawn of July 7, 2012, a very wealthy cruise-ship magnate got out of his English bed and sent out a tweet.
“Its 2:30am in London and I was just woken up with great news. Welcome to the family #20!!”
Micky Arison, the owner of the Miami Heat, had just used Twitter to announce that Ray Allen, the most accomplished 3-point shooter in NBA history, had agreed to take his jumper to South Beach. The defending NBA champion had just landed the most prized free agent on the market. It was equal parts shocking and unfair.
It was still late evening back here in the U.S., and word quickly began to spread. I still remember where I was, riding shotgun in a car on U.S. Route 1, a historic East Coast roadway that stretches all the way from Northern Maine to South Florida, connecting Boston and Miami; I was about 10 miles away from TD Garden, listening to a Red Sox game. Twitter was exploding, but with the Yankees in Fenway, Boston sports radio couldn’t fully unleash its apoplectic hounds until morning.
The Heat had just kidnapped Ubuntu, and became a much better team in the process. It was one thing that Ray took less money to leave; it was another thing altogether that he took this money from the Miami Heat. Bolstered by their new Hall of Famer, Miami’s 3-point shooting quickly went from average to elite. They made 40 percent of their 3s this season, good enough for second best in the NBA.
When you watch the Heat, you notice that Allen and Shane Battier spend a majority of their time outside the 3-point arc. They serve as spatial anchors along the wings and in the corners, forcing opponents to “stay honest” while defending Miami’s terrifying attackers. Because of this floor spacing, a brutal pick-your-poison dilemma awaits every defense that has the displeasure of trying to keep the Heat from scoring. If you collapse on LeBron James or Dwyane Wade in the interior, you’ll leave a great shooter wide open; if you don’t, then you’re likely to fail to defend the interior, leaving James and Wade open to attack the basket.
When they’re playing at their best, James and Wade compromise the shape of an opponents’ defense and, in turn, create open shots for their spot-up shooters outside the arc. During the regular season, the Heat were especially lethal from the corners, where they hit a staggering 43 percent of their shots.
However, in the Eastern Conference finals, against the Pacers, the Heat are only tepid, making 34 percent from beyond the arc, and some of their most reliable sharpshooters are missing the mark. Together, Allen and Battier have combined to make only seven of their 30 3-pointers during the Indiana series.
Battier, who made 43 percent of his 3s during the regular season, has been especially terrible. Miami is getting him shots in the right spots; he’s just not making them. Of Battier’s 13 attempts, eight have come from the corners, where he normally excels. The graphic below shows how Battier gets his chances. More than half of them come from James or Wade, who love finding him open in the corners or along the left wing.
Although he’s not as cold as Battier, Allen is also missing more than usual. He’s 5-for-17 through Game 4, and like Battier, his shots are coming from his favorite spots, but they’re just not falling. During this series, Miami has found Allen open a lot in the left corner and along the right wing. Normally he hits more than 45 percent from these spots, but that’s not happening in these conference finals.
The Heat need Battier and Allen to make more of their shots. So far this series, as 3-point shooters, they’ve been outperformed by James and Chris Bosh, which indicates something is amiss with the entire Miami Heat offensive ecosystem. Bosh is a great midrange shooter, but he rarely shoots 3s. In fact, during the regular season, Bosh averaged only one 3-point attempt per game, but he’s taking three per game so far this series. Sure, he’s making them at a decent clip, but this marked increase in perimeter shooting means he’s not spending as much time in the spots where he spent most of the season: closer to the elbows, and closer to the basket. In this series, Miami is using Bosh a lot at the top of the arc, where he receives passes inside-out from Wade and James once a double-team arrives.
Nobody has shot more 3s this series than LeBron, who is currently 9-for-21, or 43 percent. During the regular season, LeBron averaged three 3-point attempts, per game, but he’s putting up more than five per game during this series. If you’re a Pacers fan, you’re thrilled to see LeBron shooting 3s; he’s at his best when he’s attacking closer to the hoop, drawing fouls, making layups, or kicking it out to an open shooter. When his role is reduced from facilitator to off-the-dribble jump shooter, his team is simply not as good.
Miami’s 3-point shooting serves as a kind of canary in their offensive coalmine. And so far during this series, that canary seems to have black lung. With Battier and Allen struggling to convert, and Bosh and LeBron uncharacteristically active from deep, it’s clear that Indiana’s defense is effectively messing with Miami’s offensive ideals. When they’re firing on all cylinders, Miami gets lots of open 3s and knocks them down. That’s not happening. The Pacers and their defensive system deserve a lot of credit for finding ways to reduce the Heat’s outside efficiencies. As the series extends, it will be interesting to see if the Heat can find some perimeter scoring from players other than James and Bosh.
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eh that regular season stat means nothing, they didn't play the pacers 82 games in a row. They played the pacers 3 times in the regular season. Alot of those 3s they made were against teams that don't defend the 3 well or even at all. Stats tell alot but they also don't tell the whole story most of the time.
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The Jazz hired Karl Malone as a "part-time big man coach." 
How about this:
Gordon Hayward's PER as a shooting guard: 15.1
Paul George's: 12.3
Hayward's PER as a small forward: 18.6
George's: 17.2
Opposing shooting guards' PER against Hayward: 13.6
Against George: 17.6
Opposing small forwards' PER against Hayward: 12.4
Against George: 12.0
If they don't end up making a move for Bledsoe, I hope they end up with Dennis Schroeder in the draft (even if it means trading up).
Sidebar: I'm like this close to making a Jazz thread.
I need to start posting on SLC Dunk or something.
How about this:
Gordon Hayward's PER as a shooting guard: 15.1
Paul George's: 12.3
Hayward's PER as a small forward: 18.6
George's: 17.2
Opposing shooting guards' PER against Hayward: 13.6
Against George: 17.6
Opposing small forwards' PER against Hayward: 12.4
Against George: 12.0
If they don't end up making a move for Bledsoe, I hope they end up with Dennis Schroeder in the draft (even if it means trading up).
Sidebar: I'm like this close to making a Jazz thread.
I need to start posting on SLC Dunk or something.
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Amir (I think that's his name) does great statistical work for SLC Dunk.
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The Jazz hired Karl Malone as a "part-time big man coach."
How about this:
Gordon Hayward's PER as a shooting guard: 15.1
Paul George's: 12.3
Hayward's PER as a small forward: 18.6
George's: 17.2
Opposing shooting guards' PER against Hayward: 13.6
Against George: 17.6
Opposing small forwards' PER against Hayward: 12.4
Against George: 12.0
If they don't end up making a move for Bledsoe, I hope they end up with Dennis Schroeder in the draft (even if it means trading up).
Sidebar: I'm like this close to making a Jazz thread.
I need to start posting on SLC Dunk or something.
Need to give us any of your 4 bigs + late 1st rder for Perkins, Reggie Jackson, PJ3, and Dallas's pick/Charlotte's Pick. Everybody wins. Perkins is a vet with championship experience who provides toughness, character, and leadership to teach to whatever bigs you keep, obviously RJ is your new starting PG, PJ3 is an extremely athletic tweener forward and I give you the picks.
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Haberstroh:
Cleveland déjà vu for LeBron?
LeBron James has a point.
Actually, James had many of them on the court Thursday night in a pivotal Game 5 against the Indiana Pacers. Thirty points, eight rebounds, six assists, a pair of steals and a trio of 3-pointers. But his biggest point? That came off the court when he sat at the podium by himself, talking about his monstrous third quarter when he single-handedly outscored the Pacers 16 to 13.
"I kind of just went back to my Cleveland days ... just to see if the guys would follow me and lead 'em the best I could," James said.
Oh, boy.
Those 10 words -- "I kind of just went back to my Cleveland days" -- will surely ignite some speculation about James' future in Miami even though the Heat stand five wins away from winning back-to-back championships and a chance at a dynasty. That fiery discussion will be had in the wake of James' comment and it might seem premature if not for one little thing ...
James has a pretty good point.
Tired of being a one-man show in Cleveland, James joined forces with superstars Dwyane Wade and Chris Bosh in Miami to get away from having to do it all. But Wade and Bosh look nothing like stars these days. Not with Wade's bum right knee taming his explosiveness and Bosh's sore right ankle keeping him grounded lately.
The truth is that James didn't just go back to his Cleveland days in the third quarter of Game 5; he has been performing that one-man show more often than not during this playoff run.
Have you seen Wade's numbers? He has registered only one 20-point game this entire playoffs. One. That's the same total as Andrew Goudelock, Ersan Ilyasova and Darius Morris -- three players whose seasons ended over a month ago. That's not the company that James envisioned for Wade when they teamed up in the summer of 2010.
On Thursday, Wade scored 10 points in Game 5 on 3-of-8 shooting to drag his playoff scoring average down to 13.9 points per game. That's lower than Mo Williams' scoring average next to James in the 2009-10 playoffs. This is Dwyane Wade we're talking here. And he's barely scoring more than Delonte West did in the 2008-09 playoffs for Cleveland (13.8 points).
Don't care for scoring average? Fine. We can pull up Wade's player efficiency rating (PER), which bottles up all the box score statistics to measure per-minute productivity. Wade's playoff PER this season is 17.7, down 6.3 points from his regular season PER of 24.0. The only regular (minimum 10 games and 25 minutes per game in the playoffs) to see a larger drop off in PER this postseason is J.R. Smith (minus-6.. Wade's declined more than the other 37 players in the sample.
So, what happened to Wade?
Well, he got hurt. It all started over two months ago when he banged his right knee against the Boston Celtics March 18 and tried to play through knee pain for two games before needing to sit out nine of his final 14 games of the regular season. Wade has missed one game in the playoffs and received two one-week intervals of rest between series and he still hasn't been able to get back into pre-injury form. Now Erik Spoelstra refers to Wade as a "warrior," which is a label Spoelstra usually reserves for over-the-hill role players battling through injury or career decay.
Wade's productivity shortfall can be attributed to a plummeting free throw frequency. He's averaging 3.5 free throw attempts per game in the postseason, which is about half his regular-season rate of 6.2. He hasn't shot double-digit free throws this postseason. Last season, he averaged 7.2 free throws in the playoffs; he hasn't shot seven free throws in a single game in over a month. Take away Wade's ability to rack up freebies and you're left with a slightly better version of Evan Turner.
But Wade isn't alone in his plight. Bosh has been hobbled as well. He turned his right ankle in the third quarter of Game 4 while fighting for position with Roy Hibbert. In Game 5, he recorded just seven points and five rebounds in 33 minutes of action, his second game in a row with just seven points. In fact, it's the first time since his rookie season that Bosh has scored fewer than 10 points in consecutive games.
This is James' reality now. Bosh has migrated to the 3-point line, struggles to rebound and rarely gets to the free throw line. Sound familiar? At this point, all Bosh needs to do is forget how to play defense and his transformation into 2009-10 Antawn Jamison would be complete. That's no joke. Here are Bosh's current playoff numbers next to Jamison's in the 2009-10 playoffs just before James left Cleveland:
Jamison: 34.1 minutes, 15.3 points, 7.4 rebounds, 3.5 3-point attempts and 3.7 free-throw attempts.
Bosh: 32.1 minutes, 13.0 points, 6.6 rebounds, 2.0 3-point attempts and 2.9 free-throw attempts.
Of course, Bosh has been much more accurate with his shot than Jamison, who shot a putrid 25.6 percent from downtown that postseason, but it's hard to ignore how closely Bosh has mirrored Jamison's game. Once a terror to guard off the dribble, rarely do we see Bosh put the ball on the deck and use his quickness to draw fouls and get by lumbering big men. Rolling to the rim or posting up on the block? Not so much anymore. With a bum ankle, we may not see that for a while.
The Heat finished the regular season with a 37-2 record, but that juggernaut isn't the one we're watching now. Wade and (more recently) Bosh haven't been healthy and it has put an enormous burden on James to deliver. To put it in perspective, James has double the number of 20-point games this playoffs (12) than the rest of his teammates combined (6). No wonder he feels as though he has to go back to his Cleveland days.
So far, the Heat have shown that they can absorb a compromised Wade and a less effective Bosh. They hold a 3-2 lead heading into Indiana for Game 6 on Saturday, which promises to be as hostile as any environment they've played in this season. As evidenced by the random outbursts of Udonis Haslem, Chris Andersen, Mario Chalmers and Ray Allen this postseason, the Heat have more depth than those Cavs teams that came up short.
But if the Heat want to have a strong chance at another title and keep James hungry to build a dynasty in Miami, they'll have to start looking like the star-studded 2011-12 Miami Heat soon. Or else they'll risk suffering the same fate as the one-pronged Cavs team that got swept by the San Antonio Spurs in the 2007 Finals.
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Paine:
All-time conference finals players
LeBron James had an incredible performance against the Pacers on Thursday night, pouring in 30 points to go with eight rebounds and six assists, including a dominant stretch during the third quarter in which his 16 points gave Miami a stranglehold on the game and the series. For most players, that would have been the game of a lifetime, to perform at that high of a level on such a big stage. But for James, it was pretty much par for the course; in fact, it wouldn't have even cracked his top 10 greatest conference finals performances.
The numbers support it; last night's showing ranked 11th in James' pantheon of conference finals games. I ran the calculations on every conference finals performance since 1986, the first year for which Basketball-Reference.com has complete box scores. For each player, I computed Alternate Win Score (AWS), a linear-weights formula that multiple studies have found to be the best of its kind in terms of predicting future team performance. I also made adjustments for the quality of the opponent, location of the game and team defensive performance that isn't captured by the box score, and I weighted everything by championship leverage index to account for the game's level of "clutchness."
What follows are the results of that study -- the 10 best conference finals performers of the past 28 seasons, according to AWS per game (minimum 10 conference finals games played).
Was James' performance Thursday good enough to put his career average over the top?
10. Kobe Bryant
Adjusted AWS/game: 10.7
Conference finals stats: 45 GP | 26.8 PPG | 56.4 TS% | 5.4 RPG | 5.3 APG | 2.1 St+Bk/G
Just Derek Fisher, Shaquille O'Neal, Scottie Pippen, Dennis Rodman, Rasheed Wallace and Robert Horry have played more conference finals games than Bryant since 1986 (Michael Jordan is tied with Kobe at 45). And just Fisher, Horry, Pippen, Jordan and Rodman can beat Bryant's 28 wins in that span.
Signature performance: Bryant tallied 30 points, 10 rebounds and 7 assists at Sacramento in Game 7 of the 2002 Western Conference finals (4.8 leverage index).
9. Earvin "Magic" Johnson
Adjusted AWS/game: 11.0
Conference finals stats: 26 GP | 20.3 PPG | 59.4 TS% | 7.1 RPG | 13.6 APG | 1.9 St+Bk/G
Sadly, Johnson's entire conference finals career isn't in this data set, but it still manages to capture four successful conference final runs for his Lakers, spurred by phenomenal passing, offensive efficiency and all-around greatness.
Signature performance: Johnson put up 24 points, 11 assists and 9 rebounds versus Dallas in Game 7 of the 1988 Western Conference finals (3.6 leverage index).
8. Dirk Nowitzki
Adjusted AWS/game: 11.5
Conference finals stats: 14 GP | 28.9 PPG | 61.7 TS% | 10.1 RPG | 2.9 APG | 1.8 St+Bk/G
Nowitzki's Mavericks somehow have made just three conference final appearances during his career, thanks to a Western Conference gauntlet that almost always included at least one of the Lakers, San Antonio Spurs and Phoenix Suns. Still, Nowitzki did his part in those games, averaging nearly 30 points and 10 rebounds with incredible efficiency, a big reason why the Mavs prevailed in two of those three series and took the eventual champion Spurs to six games in the other.
Signature performance: Nowitzki posted 50 points and 12 rebounds versus Phoenix in Game 5 of the 2006 Western Conference finals (2.4 leverage index).
7. Charles Barkley
Adjusted AWS/game: 11.9
Conference finals stats: 13 GP | 21.2 PPG | 57.7 TS% | 12.5 RPG | 3.9 APG | 1.9 St+Bk/G
Sir Charles played in just two conference final series in this data set (which is missing the 76ers' 1985 playoff run), and was hardly dominant in the Rockets' 1997 loss to Utah. But his performance against Seattle in 1993 -- when he averaged 25.6 points and 13.9 rebounds, with a 58.1 percent true shooting mark, including 44 points and 24 boards in Game 7 -- was so outstanding that it pretty much single-handedly propelled him to the seventh slot on this list.
Signature performance: Barkley put up 44 points and 24 rebounds versus Seattle in Game 7 of the 1993 Western Conference finals (4.1 leverage index).
6. Larry Bird
Adjusted AWS/game: 12.3
Conference finals stats: 17 GP | 24.1 PPG | 54.8 TS% | 10.8 RPG | 7.2 APG | 2.6 St+Bk/G
Like Johnson, Bird's complete conference finals résumé is not included in this study's data set. However, Bird still did enough statistically in his last three appearances (1986, 1987 and 198
Signature performance: Bird posted 37 points, 9 rebounds and 9 assists versus Detroit in Game 7 of the 1987 Eastern Conference finals (4.7 leverage index).
5. Dwight Howard
Adjusted AWS/game: 12.6
Conference finals stats: 12 GP | 23.8 PPG | 63.6 TS% | 11.9 RPG | 1.8 APG | 3.0 St+Bk/G
Surprised to see Howard rank this high? Don't be. For starters, his 2009 performance against James and the Cavaliers ought to be the stuff of legend. Against the NBA's third-best defense, Howard averaged 25.8 points and 13 boards on 65 percent shooting, including posting 40 points and 14 rebounds in the clinching game. A year later, Howard's Magic were upset by Boston, but he still averaged 21.8 points and 10.8 rebounds per game on 56.8 percent shooting.
Signature performance: Howard threw down 40 points and 14 rebounds versus Cleveland in Game 6 of the 2009 Eastern Conference finals (3.2 leverage index).
4. Kevin Durant
Adjusted AWS/game: 12.7
Conference finals stats: 11 GP | 28.8 PPG | 60.9 TS% | 8.4 RPG | 4.7 APG | 2.9 St+Bk/G
We're just two conference finals berths into Durant's career, and the numbers he's produced have been staggering. Despite losing to the Mavericks in 2011, Durant averaged 28 points and 9.4 rebounds per game, a prelude to the show he would put on a season later. Last season, as the Thunder stormed back to win four straight against the Spurs, Durant averaged 29.5 points per game on a 66.2 true shooting percentage and had 7.5 rebounds per contest.
Signature performance: Durant put up 34 points, 14 rebounds and 5 assists versus San Antonio in Game 6 of the 2012 Western Conference finals (2.9 leverage index).
3. Michael Jordan
Adjusted AWS/game: 12.7
Conference finals stats: 45 GP | 31.0 PPG | 54.8 TS% | 6.3 RPG | 5.6 APG | 2.9 St+Bk/G
Jordan gets far more attention (and deservedly so) for his NBA Finals résumé, but he was no slouch in the conference finals, either. After dropping both the 1989 and 1990 series to Detroit (despite 31 PPG from Jordan), MJ would never again lose a conference finals series -- no surprise, given the positive correlation between the leverage of the game and Jordan's AWS (meaning that on average, his performance actually improved as the pressure of the game increased).
Signature performance: Jordan tallied 28 points, nine rebounds and eight assists versus Indiana in Game 7 of the 1998 Eastern Conference finals (4.4 leverage index).
2. Hakeem Olajuwon
Adjusted AWS/game: 14.6
Conference finals stats: 22 GP | 30.4 PPG | 59.5 TS% | 10.8 RPG | 3.9 APG | 6 St+Bk/G
Generally speaking, when a player's first YouTube search result is a video devoted to him humiliating his biggest rival in the conference finals, he's going to earn a spot on this list. Everyone remembers Olajuwon obliterating David Robinson in that 1995 West final (to the tune of 35.3 PPG on 56 percent shooting, and 12.5 RPG and 5.0 APG for good measure), but Olajuwon also crushed Karl Malone and the Jazz a season earlier, was dominant in the Rockets' upset of the Lakers in 1986 and even had a good showing (27.2 PPG, 9.3 RPG) as a 34-year-old in Houston's 1997 Western Conference finals loss to Utah. In short, Olajuwon always brought his A-game to the conference finals.
Signature performance:Olajuwon put up 39 points, 17 rebounds and 5 blocks versus San Antonio in Game 6 of the 1995 Western Conference finals (2.7 leverage index).
1. LeBron James
Adjusted AWS/game: 14.9
Conference finals stats: 29 GP | 30.7 PPG | 57.8 TS% | 8.9 RPG | 6.4 APG | 2.9 St+Bk/G
As hard as it is to believe that anyone could play better in the conference finals than Olajuwon, we're actually witnessing the greatest conference finals player of the past three decades in James. Break it down, and it's not hard to see why: In 2007, James famously decimated the Pistons. In 2009, he had one of the all-time great individual performances in a series loss to the Magic (38.5 PPG/8.3 RPG/8 APG). In 2011, his hot shooting led the Heat over the Bulls. Last season, he absolutely torched the Celtics (38 PPG) in Miami's do-or-die Game 6 and Game 7. And so far this season, he's averaging 28 points, 7 reboounds and 5 assists on 52 percent shooting, with a game winner in the opener and his aforementioned performance in Thursday's huge Game 5. While James has had his share of clutch failings over the years, they most certainly have not come at this particular stage of the playoffs, where he's been nothing less than lights out.
Signature performance: King James posted 48 points, 9 rebounds and 7 assists at Detroit in Game 5 of the 2007 Eastern Conference finals (3.1 leverage index).
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Hill could have reached 25,000 points, 9,700 rebounds, and 7,800 assists with those type numbers if he played 15 seasons in relative health. With guys like Kobe, Nash, Kidd, KG, etc playin 17-18-19 years, that's not that far fetched for Hill to at least reach 15 decent years at those totals. That's without assuming that he would have been even better at 27-28-29 like most players are and maybe elevated those numbers.
I suppose with some real good luck, and a couple extra years, that's a 28K, 10K, 8,500 type range. With plus defense to boot.
We were robbed. |I
I suppose with some real good luck, and a couple extra years, that's a 28K, 10K, 8,500 type range. With plus defense to boot.
We were robbed. |I