In the Offseason Blueprints that I’ve been putting together for each team, I’ve been using a statistic, efficiency per minute (or EPM), to compare players’ performances over the past season. Here is the efficiency statistic, as created by the NBA:
EFF = ((Points + Rebounds + Assists + Steals + Blocks) – ((Field Goals Att. – Field Goals Made) + (Free Throws Att. – Free Throws Made) + Turnovers))
It basically takes all of the positive statistics (points, rebounds, assists, steals and blocks) and subtracts the negative ones (missed field goals, missed free throws and turnovers), finally yielding a player’s efficiency number for a particular game.
I have gone one step further and divided a player’s efficiency for the season by the total number of minutes he played, making it easier to compare a player that gets 40 minutes a game with one that plays 20.
This season, 348 players averaged greater than 10 minutes/game AND played 20 games or more. These are the only players that are used to calculate the league average (.441).
Here are the Top 10 players by position in EPM:
Point Guard
Steve Nash 0.682
Allen Iverson 0.607
Chris Paul 0.590
Chauncey Billups 0.585
Jason Kidd 0.576
Gilbert Arenas 0.572
Tony Parker 0.534
Sam Cassell 0.514
Baron Davis 0.509
Mike James 0.509
Shooting Guard
Dwyane Wade 0.698
Kobe Bryant 0.680
Paul Pierce 0.626
Vince Carter 0.571
Emanuel Ginobili 0.555
Ray Allen 0.546
Corey Maggette 0.526
Michael Redd 0.520
Bonzi Wells 0.507
Jason Richardson 0.502
Small Forward
Shawn Marion 0.715
Lebron James 0.691
Gerald Wallace 0.584
Carmelo Anthony 0.575
Chuck Hayes 0.573
Andrei Kirilenko 0.568
Boris Diaw 0.565
Tracy McGrady 0.557
Richard Jefferson 0.535
Lamar Odom 0.533
Power Forward
Kevin Garnett 0.778
Elton Brand 0.727
Dirk Nowitzki 0.718
Tim Duncan 0.661
Carlos Boozer 0.644
Chris Bosh 0.628
Jermaine O’Neal 0.607
Pau Gasol 0.603
Dwight Howard 0.578
Mehmet Okur 0.562
Center
Yao Ming 0.731
Marcus Camby 0.689
Shaquille O’Neal 0.678
Zydrunas Ilgauskas 0.620
Alonzo Mourning 0.590
Brad Miller 0.552
Dan Gadzuric 0.549
Jake Tsakalidis 0.538
Channing Frye 0.531
Samuel Dalembert 0.526
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Posted in: NBA
With all due respect don’t you think a formula that ends up with a result that Camby is a better center than Shaq is a little flawed? I see the logic in it, but there is a mental aspect to a game. The effect a player’s rep. has on the other team. I mean I love Marion but better than Lebron. They play the same amout of min. but Lebron handles the ball more so will have more TO. and nobody is going to design a defense to stop Marion. Now as for Lebron that’s all they do. All I’m saying sometimes Stats lie.
I agree with you. This isn’t meant to be used in an absolute manner. There is a certain amount of common sense that goes into the use of any statistic, and EPM is no different.
For instance, there isn’t a chance in hell that I would take Carlos Boozer over Dwight Howard. You have to consider 1) Boozer’s injury history and 2) the amount of attention that Howard saw as the best player on the Magic. But the fact remains, Boozer was more productive (stat-wise) in his minutes than Howard was. The same goes for Camby/Shaq…Camby put up better numbers in the minutes he played, but Shaq’s intrinsic value makes him one of the top 2 centers in the league.
Aside from steals, the stat also ignores defense, as there is no conceivable way to quantify it. So a team’s defensive stopper – such as the Clippers’ Quinton Ross – is going to be worth more than his EPM would indicate.
[…] the ball will be up top. Players indicated with a blue diamond are in the Top 10 in this group in Efficiency Per Minute. I set the axis for each category at the average of the 33 players in question, so 1.97 for […]
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