NBA Centers 2010 Rankings Analysis

Photo source: WDPG share

I recently posted the cumulative rankings of NBA centers based on their play during the 2009-2010 season.  I combined five different statistical evaluation methods to create the rankings.  Here are my thoughts on the centers:

• I was certainly not surprised that Dwight Howard topped the NBA centers chart.  However, I was surprised at how close Tim Duncan was behind him.  They were separated by only five points.  Howard ranked first in Defensive Rating, WARP and Simple Rating.  He was second to Duncan in PER and 14th in Offensive Rating.  Duncan gave up the most points to Howard in Defensive Rating where he finished seventh.
• Obviously Greg Oden's ranking is skewed by the fact that he only played in 21 games before getting hurt...again.  He was doing quite well at that point though, finishing third in PER and second in Simple Rating.
• A nice second tier of centers is formed by Andrew Bynum, Al Horford, Andrew Bogut and Nene.
• The third tier includes Nazr Mohammed, Chris Andersen, Marc Gasol, Joakim Noah and David Lee.
• These players surprised me by being ranked higher than I expected - Nazr Mohammed, Ben Wallace and Jermaine O'Neal.
• Those with lower rankings than I expected - Brook Lopez, Tyson Chandler and Andrea Bargnani.
• I didn't realize how strong the Nuggets were at the center position last year until I looked at this analysis.  Both Nene and Chris Andersen are ranked in the top 10.  They were helped be ranking first (Andersen) and second (Nene) in Offensive Rating.
• Looking at the ratings you can see why teams are both hesitant and strongly interested in signing Shaquille O'Neal.  He certainly wasn't the force he used to be but he still finished 22nd in the final rankings and was 14th in PER.
• David Lee should be a nice difference maker in Golden State.  His final ranking is 13th while their top ranked center from last year is Anthony Tolliver at 40th.

Who are your biggest surprises on the list?

NBA Centers 2010 - Cumulative Rankings

Photo source: Keith Allison

Dwight Howard and Tim Duncan rule the top of the NBA center rankings charts for the 2009-2010 season.  Things get a lot more interesting after that.  I'll be posting my full analysis of the rankings in the next couple of days.

(If you missed previous posts you should start with the NBA point guards cumulative rankings, which also includes the explanation of my evaluation process.)

Here are the center rankings (500+ minutes played) with their cumulative totals included for purposes of differentiation:

1. Dwight Howard, ORL 19
2. Tim Duncan, SAS 24
3. Greg Oden, POR 41
4. Andrew Bynum, LAL 43
5. Al Horford, ATL 48
6. Andrew Bogut, MIL 49
7. Nene, DEN 51
8. Nazr Mohammed, CHA 64
9. Chris Andersen, DEN 67
10. Marc Gasol, MEM 70
11. Joakim Noah, CHI 71
12. David Lee, NYK 77
13. Brendan Haywood, DAL 87
14. Ben Wallace, DET 90
15. Jermaine O'Neal, MIA 93
16. Brook Lopez, NJN 99
17. Samuel Dalembert, PHI 101
18. Erick Dampier, DAL 110
19. Kendrick Perkins, BOS 112
20. Robin Lopez, PHO 114
21. Shaquille O'Neal, CLE 120
22. Mehmet Okur, UTH 124
23. Al Jefferson, MIN 125
24. Channing Frye, PHO 126
25. Emeka Okafor, NOR 128
26. Marcin Gortat, ORL 133
27. Roy Hibbert, IND 139
28. Louis Amundson, PHO 150
29. JaVale McGee, WAS 156
30. Hasheem Thabeet, MEM 157
31. Nenad Krstic, OKC 174
32. Chris Kaman, LAC 175
33. Jason Thompson, SAC 175
34. Tyson Chandler, CHA 175
35. Rasheed Wallace, BOS 176
36. Joel Anthony, MIA 180
37. Andrea Bargnani, TOR 181
38. Zaza Pachulia, ATL 181
39. Anthony Tolliver, GSW 182
40. Marreese Speights, PHI 184
41. Josh Boone, NJN 187
42. Andris Biedrins, GSW 187
43. Brad Miller, CHI 188
44. Chuck Hayes, HOU 191
45. Ronny Turiaf, GSW 194
46. Zydrunas Ilgauskas, CLE 197
47. Joel Przybilla, POR 198
48. Spencer Hawes, SAC 201
49. Theo Ratliff, CHA 205
50. Kurt Thomas, MIL 219
51. Darko Milicic, MIN 222
52. David Andersen, HOU 230
53. DeAndre Jordan, LAC 233
54. Solomon Jones, IND 257
55. Ryan Hollins, MIN 265
56. Fabricio Oberto, WAS 266
57. Josh Powell, LAL 266
58. Kwame Brown, DET 277

Please share your thoughts on the center rankings in the comments section below.

NBA Power Forwards 2010 Rankings Analysis

Yesterday I posted the cumulative rankings of NBA power forwards based on their play in the 2009-2010 season when combining five different types of statistical analysis.  Here are my thoughts on the rankings.

• I mentioned it on the rankings post, but I have to mention it again, I was surprised at the wide margin by which Pau Gasol beat the field.  That is by far the biggest difference between first and second at any of the five positions.  Interestingly, Gasol did not finish first in any of the five categories.  In fact, his highest category ranking was third.
• The rest of the power forward pack is quite close.  Kevin Garnett and Dirk Nowitzki are neck and neck for second and third with Josh Smith right behind them.
• The category winners are Chris Bosh in PER, Amir Johnson in Offensive Rating, Tyrus Thomas in Defensive Rating, Josh Smith in WARP and Dirk Nowitzki in Simple Rating.  This is the only position in which a different player won each category.
• Guys that ranked higher than I expected - Marcus Camby, Ryan Anderson, Troy Murphy and Matt Bonner.
• Ranking lower than my expectations are - Chris Bosh, Rashard Lewis and Jeff Green.
• I was really surprised by Jeff Green's ranking.  I thought I had heard good things about him and I figured that with the Thunder excelling Green must have been playing a big part.  Add in the fact that he is competing for a spot on Team USA and I thought he must have had a good year.  Boy was I wrong.
• It's worth noting that Chris Bosh was really hurt by his Defensive Rating.  He was 62nd in the category.  In the other categories he finished first, second twice and seventh.  I highly doubt he'll have the same poor Defensive Rating next season.
• I was shocked to see how far Rashard Lewis has fallen.  His final rank of 36th can be attributed to an all-around poorly played season. 
• There are a number of guys on this list that will be asked to really step up next season like Kevin Love, Amir Johnson, Tyrus Thomas, Andray Blatche and Danilo Gallinari.  It will be fun to watch to see if they are up to the task.

What are your biggest surprises?

NBA Power Forwards 2010 - Cumulative Rankings

Photo source: Boss Banks

Pau Gasol took the top spot in the NBA power forward rankings for the 2009-2010 season by a big margin.  It does surprise me to see the differentiation between his final score and the other top contenders at the position.  Within the next couple of days I will be posting my full analysis of the rankings.

(If you missed previous posts you should start with the NBA point guards cumulative rankings, which also includes the explanation of my evaluation process.)

Here are the power forward rankings (500+ minutes played) with their cumulative totals included for differentiation:

1. Pau Gasol, LAL 23
2. Kevin Garnett, BOS 48
3. Dirk Nowitzki, DAL 49
4. Josh Smith, ATL 52
5. Marcus Camby, POR 55
6. Carlos Boozer, UTA 58
7. Anderson Varejao, CLE 64
8. Chris Bosh, TOR 74
9. Zach Randolph, MEM 76
10. Amare Stoudemire, PHO 76
11. Kevin Love, MIN 93
12. Lamar Odom, LAL 93
13. Paul Millsap, UTH 94
14. LaMarcus Aldridge, POR 97
15. Ryan Anderson, ORL 100
16. Troy Murphy, IND 103
17. Carl Landry, SAC 120
18. DeJuan Blair, SAS 122
19. Ersan Ilyasova, MIL 124
20. Matt Bonner, SAS 126
21. Amir Johnson, TOR 126
22. Tyrus Thomas, CHA 128
23. David West, NOR 128
24. Antawn Jamison, CLE 131
25. Brandon Bass, ORL 150
26. Nick Collison, OKC 151
27. Andray Blatche, WAS 154
28. Craig Smith, LAC 155
29. Luis Scola, HOU 156
30. Udonis Haslem, MIA 159
31. Serge Ibaka, OKC 159
32. Anthony Randolph, NYK 164
33. Josh McRoberts, IND 167
34. Shelden Williams, BOS 169
35. Rashard Lewis, ORL 173
36. Drew Gooden, LAC 175
37. Danilo Gallinari, NYK 177
38. Michael Beasley, MIA 180
39. Elton Brand, PHI 182
40. Dante Cunningham, POR 187
41. Taj Gibson, CHI 191
42. Hakim Warrick, CHI 193
43. Boris Diaw, CHA 194
44. J.J. Hickson, CLE 196
45. Jordan Hill, HOU 199
46. Jonas Jerebko, DET 204
47. Al Harrington, NYK 204
48. Kris Humphries, NJN 206
49. Kenyon Martin, DEN 215
50. Jeff Green, OKC 218
51. Jon Brockman, SAC 223
52. Derrick Brown, CHA 226
53. Antonio McDyess, SAS 228
54. Charlie Villanueva, DET 229
55. Tyler Hansbrough, IND 238
56. Jason Maxiell, DET 238
57. Thaddeus Young, PHI 270
58. Chris Hunter, GSW 276
59. Glen Davis, BOS 276
60. James Singleton, WAS 279
61. Yi Jianlian, NJN 284
62. Joe Smith, ATL 288
63. Juwan Howard, POR 289
64. Jared Jeffries, HOU 299
65. Darius Songaila, NOR 301
66. Jawad Williams, CLE 302
67. Andres Nocioni, SAC 321
68. DeMarre Carroll, MEM 324

What are your thoughts on the power forward rankings?  Feel free to share them in the comments section below.

NBA Small Forwards 2010 Rankings Analysis

Photo Source: Craig Hatfield

Yesterday I posted the cumulative rankings of NBA small forwards based on their play in the 2009-2010 season using the combination of five different statistical evaluations.  Below are my thoughts on the rankings.

• Unlike the point guard and shooting guard rankings there is quite a bit of space between the top 10.  It is not as easy to group them into levels because of that spacing.
• One thing is for sure - LeBron James and Kevin Durant dominated the categories.  LeBron ranked first in three categories, second in one and third in the other.  Durant was second in three categories, fourth in one and eighth in the other.
• I am shocked to see Andrei Kirilenko finish third.  He was very well rounded ranking as high as third and no lower than seventh in the five categories.
• Other positive surprises are: Nicolas Batum, Matt Barnes, Dorell Wright and Jared Dudley.
• I was disappointed by the rankings of: Carmelo Anthony, Caron Butler and Hedo Turkoglu.
• Nicolas Batum finished first in Offensive Ranking, but that may be do in part to the fact that he only played in 37 games.
• Gerald Wallace finished first in Defensive Ranking.
• Based on these rankings the signing of Matt Barnes by the Lakers for two years and $3.6 million looks like an absolute steal.  In fact, he finished 14 spots ahead of Ron Artest.
• While it's hard to disagree that the Warriors appear to be a train wreck with no direction, their signing of Dorell Wright was an excellent decision.
• I know Memphis was stuck between a rock and hard place in regards to Rudy Gay, but it's hard not to argue that the five years and $82 million they committed to the 13th ranked small forward in the league is too much.

What player rankings surprise you the most?

NBA Small Forwards 2010 - Cumulative Rankings

As I expected LeBron James and Kevin Durant dominated the cumulative rankings of NBA small forwards in 2010.  There were some surprises after that to be sure.  I'll be posting my full analysis of the rankings within the next couple of days.

(If you missed previous posts you should start with the NBA point guards cumulative rankings, which also includes the explanation of my evaluation process.)

Here are the small forward rankings (500+ minutes played) with their cumulative totals included for differentiation:

1. LeBron James, MIA 8
2. Kevin Durant, OKC 18
3. Andrei Kirilenko, UTH 27
4. Gerald Wallace, CHA 32
5. Paul Pierce, BOS 45
6. Nicolas Batum, POR 52
7. Danny Granger, IND 58
8. Carmelo Anthony, DEN 63
9. Matt Barnes, ORL 69
10. Dorell Wright, MIA 76
11. Luol Deng, CHI 77
12. Shawn Marion, DAL 84
13. Rudy Gay, MEM 90
14. Corey Maggette, GSW 92
15. Jared Dudley, PHO 109
16. Tayshaun Prince, DET 111
17. Richard Jefferson, SAS 113
18. Jamario Moon, CLE 113
19. Grant Hill, PHO 114
20. Carlos Delfino, MIL 117
21. Chase Budinger, HOU 117
22. Marvin Williams, ATL 119
23. Ron Artest, LAL 120
24. Reggie Williams, GSW 129
25. Trevor Ariza, HOU 133
26. Luc Richard Mbah a Moute, MIL 135
27. Mike Dunleavy, IND 137
28. Caron Butler, DAL 139
29. Shane Battier, HOU 149
30. Omri Casspi, SAC 152
31. Martell Webster, POR 152
32. Hedo Turkoglu, TOR 153
33. Travis Outlaw, LAC 158
34. Wilson Chandler, NYK 165
35. Rodney Carney, PHI 168
36. Mickael Pietrus, ORL 169
37. Maurice Evans, ATL 169
38. Devean George, GSW 171
39. Josh Howard, WAS 185
40. Austin Daye, DET 190
41. Peja Stojakovic, NOR 192
42. Julian Wright, NOR 195
43. Stephen Graham, CHA 195
44. James Jones, MIA 195
45. Damien Wilkins, MIN 199
46. Ryan Gomes, MIN 214
47. James Johnson, CHI 216
48. Terrence Williams, NJN 223
49. Al Thornton, WAS 223
50. C.J. Miles, UTH 224
51. Ime Udoka, SAC 225
52. Donte Greene, SAC 225
53. James Posey, NOR 231
54. Chris Douglas-Roberts, NJN 248
55. Jarvis Hayes, NJN 254
56. Jason Kapono, PHI 273
57. Vladimir Radmanovic, GSW 276
58. Antoine Wright, TOR 278
59. Trenton Hassell, NJN 292
60. Sasha Pavlovic, MIN 294

Please share your thoughts on the rankings in the comments section 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?