Observations on the Mid-Season NBA Shooting Guard Rankings

I recently posted my mid-season NBA shooting guard rankings.  Here are my observations on those rankings:

Photo source: Tiago Hammil

• Manu Ginobili and Dwyane Wade tied for the top spot.  That's no surprise - they were one and two in the 2009-10 Final Shooting Guard Rankings.  Wade is first in the PER and Estimated Wins Added categories while Ginobili leads the Simple Rating category.
• Ray Allen and Kobe Bryant are on the second level.  Allen moved up three spots from the 09-10 rankings while Bryant dropped one.
• Interestingly, Eric Gordon and Kevin Martin are both really hurt by their Defensive Rating.  Gordon tied for 51st and Martin tied for 60th. 
• Jason Richardson and Vince Carter, who were essentially swapped for each other by the Magic and Suns, come in 11th and 12th.
• The biggest positive surprises to me are Andre Iguodala, Landry Fields, J.R. Smith and Ronnie Brewer.
• The biggest negative surprises to me are Jason Terry, Stephen Jackson, O.J. Mayo and John Salmons. 
• The biggest jumpers from the final 09-10 rankings are DeShawn Stevenson (up 52), Nick Young (up 43) and Tracy McGrady (up 28).  Those are three very different cases.
• Stevenson boosted his PER from 3.3 last season to a career best 13.3 this season and his Simple Rating from -10 to 3.3. 
• The biggest droppers from 2009-10 are John Salmons (down 37), Quentin Richardson (down 31) and Randy Foye (down 26).
• Salmons really surprises me.  I expected him to be excellent for the Bucks this season after serving as such a uniter when he came over from Chicago during the middle of last season.  The most noticeable difference - his Simple Rating crashed from 7.9 in 09-10 to -4.2 this season.
• Fields is the highest ranking rookie at number 10.  Evan Turner is next at 59.
• The two teams getting the least production from the shooting guard position are Utah and Cleveland.  The Jazz have Raja Bell at 60.  The Cavaliers have Anthony Parker at 61, Alonzo Gee at 62, Manny Harris at 66 and Joey Graham at 68.

2010-11 Mid-Season NBA Shooting Guard Rankings

There's a tie atop the mid-season rankings of NBA shooting guards. Dwyane Wade and Manu Ginobili have outproduced all of the competition at their position.  That is no change from the 2009-10 NBA Shooting Guard Rankings - they were in the top two spots there as well.

To see additional details on my ranking process check out my 2010-11 Mid-Season Small Forward Rankings.  For your viewing pleasure, or displeasure, here are the mid-season shooting guard rankings:

. PLAYER PER Rank EWA Rank Simple Rank O. Rat Rank D. Rat Rank Totals Final . Dwyane Wade, MIA 25.51 1 11.2 1 11.6 2 113 11 101 3 18 1 . Manu Ginobili, SA 22.58 4 8.3 3 12.6 1 117 5 102 5 18 1 . Ray Allen, BOS 17.81 8 5.6 7 6.9 6 119 3 104 11 35 3 . Kobe Bryant, LAL 24.73 2 10.6 2 8.9 3 112 13 106 18 38 4 . Andre Iguodala, PHI 17.2 9 3.9 10 5.1 8 109 20 104 11 58 5 . Eric Gordon, LAC 21.18 5 8.2 4 8.2 4 117 5 112 51 69 6 . Joe Johnson, ATL 18.33 7 5.1 8 7.9 5 108 26 108 30 76 7 . Kevin Martin, HOU 22.77 3 8.2 4 6.6 7 120 2 113 60 76 7 . Jamal Crawford, ATL 16.77 11 3.6 11 3.8 13 109 20 108 30 85 9 . Landry Fields, NY 14.14 23 2.3 19 4.8 9 116 7 108 30 88 10 . Jason Richardson, ORL 17 10 4.6 9 1.1 24 113 11 109 37 91 11 . Vince Carter, PHX 15.65 16 2.8 15 4 12 107 30 107 23 96 12 . J.R. Smith, DEN 15.83 13 2.6 16 2.8 16 106 32 107 23 100 13 . James Harden, OKC 14.82 21 2.2 20 0 27 115 9 108 30 107 14 . Ronnie Brewer, CHI 13.42 31 1.5 28 1.8 22 108 26 98 1 108 15 . Monta Ellis, GS 19.76 6 8.1 6 2.2 20 108 26 112 51 109 16 . Wesley Matthews, POR 15.77 14 3.6 11 -1 35 112 13 109 37 110 17 . J.J. Redick, ORL 13.52 29 1.5 28 -0.9 34 119 3 106 18 112 18 . Rudy Fernandez, POR 14.48 22 1.8 24 1.6 23 109 20 107 23 112 18 . Nick Young, WSH 15.76 15 3.2 13 4.5 10 111 16 113 60 114 20 . DeShawn Stevenson, DAL 13.28 32 1 35 3.3 14 116 7 108 30 118 21 . Brandon Roy, POR 14.97 17 1.8 24 4.5 10 107 30 109 37 118 21 . Kyle Korver, CHI 12.58 38 1 35 1 25 111 16 102 5 119 23 . Francisco Garcia, SAC 14.01 26 1.4 31 0 27 115 9 108 30 123 24 . Arron Afflalo, DEN 14.02 24 2.6 16 -1.3 36 124 1 112 51 128 25 . Jason Terry, DAL 14.95 19 3.1 14 0 27 101 47 107 23 130 26 . Leandro Barbosa, TOR 16.53 12 2.5 18 2.4 17 108 26 113 60 133 27 . Tracy McGrady, DET 13.89 27 1.6 26 2.3 18 103 40 109 37 148 28 . Tony Allen, MEM 14.96 18 1.2 32 -2 42 96 60 99 2 154 29 . Marquis Daniels, BOS 12.03 41 0.7 38 -1.4 37 104 37 101 3 156 30 . Marcus Thornton, NO 14.02 24 0.8 37 -1.5 38 97 58 102 5 162 31 . Keyon Dooling, MIL 11.43 47 0.3 45 2.3 18 104 37 106 18 165 32 . Kirk Hinrich, WSH 13.47 30 1.6 26 -3.4 47 109 20 111 47 170 33 . Stephen Jackson, CHA 13.56 28 2.2 20 -1.8 40 96 60 107 23 171 34 . Thabo Sefolosha, OKC 10.5 54 0 53 -0.7 32 111 16 106 18 173 35 . Ben Gordon, DET 12.94 35 1.5 28 3 15 102 46 112 51 175 36 . Toney Douglas, NY 13.05 34 1.1 33 -1.9 41 104 37 109 37 182 37 . Marco Belinelli, NO 11.31 48 0.5 42 -2.1 44 105 35 106 18 187 38 . Jodie Meeks, PHI 11.21 49 0.2 51 1 25 111 16 110 46 187 38 . Anthony Morrow, NJ 11.19 50 0.3 45 -0.1 30 112 13 112 51 189 40 . Richard Hamilton, DET 14.95 19 1.9 23 -3.4 47 103 40 113 60 189 40 . Luther Head, SAC 11.91 42 0.3 45 -1.6 39 109 20 112 51 197 42 . O.J. Mayo, MEM 12.24 40 1.1 33 -3.9 51 101 47 108 30 201 43 . Jeff Teague, ATL 12.9 36 0.5 42 -6.7 63 98 54 103 8 203 44 . John Salmons, MIL 11.55 45 0.7 38 -4.2 53 98 54 105 14 204 45 . Courtney Lee, HOU 11.69 44 0.5 42 -0.4 31 103 40 111 47 204 45 . Von Wafer, BOS 10.56 53 0 53 -3.5 49 103 40 104 11 206 47 . Corey Brewer, MIN 11.13 51 0.3 45 2 21 98 54 109 37 208 48 . Quentin Richardson, ORL 9.76 57 -0.2 56 -3.8 50 103 40 103 8 211 49 . Brandon Rush, IND 10.79 52 0.2 51 -3.3 46 103 40 107 23 212 50 . Sam Young, MEM 11.51 46 0.3 45 -5.7 57 99 51 105 14 213 51 . Josh Childress, PHX 12.6 37 0.6 40 -2.5 45 106 32 113 60 214 52 . DeMar DeRozan, TOR 13.23 33 2 22 -8 66 106 32 114 66 219 53 . Bill Walker, NY 10.46 55 0 53 -0.8 33 105 35 112 51 227 54 . Sasha Vujacic, NJ 11.77 43 0.3 45 -4.5 55 99 51 109 37 231 55 . Sonny Weems, TOR 12.27 39 0.6 40 -3.9 51 99 51 114 66 247 56 . Keith Bogans, CHI 6.93 69 -1.4 70 -5.7 57 101 47 103 8 251 57 . Willie Green, NO 8.78 62 -0.7 64 -5.9 59 96 60 105 14 259 58 . Evan Turner, PHI 9.21 59 -0.6 62 -6.2 61 95 65 105 14 261 59 . Raja Bell, UTAH 9.02 60 -0.9 68 -8.1 67 109 20 112 51 266 60 . Anthony Parker, CLE 9.99 56 -0.3 57 -2 42 101 47 114 66 268 61 . Alonzo Gee, CLE 9 61 -0.3 57 -4.3 54 96 60 109 37 269 62 . Gerald Henderson, CHA 8.73 63 -0.5 60 -5.1 56 93 68 107 23 270 63 . Greivis Vasquez, MEM 8.49 64 -0.6 62 -8.1 67 96 60 109 37 290 64 . Xavier Henry, MEM 7.55 66 -0.7 64 -6.1 60 98 54 111 47 291 65 . Manny Harris, CLE 9.46 58 -0.3 57 -13.9 70 92 69 111 47 301 66 . Rasual Butler, LAC 7.39 68 -1 69 -6.6 62 97 58 112 51 308 67 . Wayne Ellington, MIN 7.89 65 -0.7 64 -11 69 95 65 113 60 323 68 . Joey Graham, CLE 7.44 67 -0.5 60 -7.5 65 95 65 114 66 323 68 . Randy Foye, LAC 6.54 70 -0.7 64 -7 64 92 69 114 66 333 70

I'll be posting my observations on the shooting guard rankings in the next couple of days. Let me know your thoughts by posting a comment below.

NBA Shooting Guards 2010 Rankings Analysis

Yesterday I posted the cumulative rankings of NBA shooting guards based on their play last season using the combination of five different statistical evaluations.  Below are my thoughts on the data.

• As I mentioned when I posted the rankings, I am absolutely shocked to see Manu Ginobili sitting at the top spot.  I certainly expected it to be Dwayne Wade or Kobe Bryant.  Ginobili is solid all around, ranking either second or third in all five categories.
• Wade finished first in three of the categories but was hurt by a #12 ranking on Offensive Rating.
• Similarly, Kobe was hurt by finishing 29th in the Offensive Rating.
• Ginobili and Wade are far and away above the rest.  The second level includes Kobe, Brandon Roy and Vince Carter.  I would say the third level includes six guys - Ray Allen, Joe Johnson, John Salmons, Rodrigue Beaubois, Jamal Crawford and Jason Richardson.
• These guys ranked higher than I expected - Carter, Beaubois, Kyle Korver and Quentin Richardson.
• I was surprised by the lower rankings of these guys - Joe Johnson, O.J. Mayo and Ben Gordon.
• It's downright shocking to me that Portland will be signing Wesley Matthews to a five year, $34 million deal.  He ranked 31st by this cumulative statistical analysis.  Now granted, I realize it was his rookie season and you have to allow for growth, but that's a very large contract to give somebody for one year after those contributions.
• Surprisingly J.J. Redick topped the Offensive Rating category.
• Not surprising, if you watched the NBA Finals, Tony Allen came in at number one in Defensive Rating.
• I still think the Bucks signing of John Salmons will prove to be an excellent decision.  Salmons ranked a solid eighth among shooting guards in the cumulative rankings and signed a five year deal for just $5 million more than what Portland gave to Matthews.

What player rankings surprise you the most?