Who’s still stepping it up in the NBA Playoffs?
A couple of weeks ago, I took a look at the numbers to see which players were producing at a higher rate in the Playoffs. Now that we’ve about closed down the second round, I thought it would be a good time to refresh the data.
I calculated Efficiency Per Minute for both the regular season (EPMr) and playoffs (EPMp) and took the difference as a percentage of their performance during the regular season. The resulting percentage is the gain (or drop) in their statistical production in the postseason.
Below you’ll find a table with the 18 (of 71 eligible) players that have managed to step up their games in the Playoffs. Keep in mind that I’m only looking at players that made it to the second round, so the sample size is a bit smaller.
| # | Player | MPG | EPMr | EPMp | % DIFF |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Greivis Vasquez | 11.5 | .328 | .563 | 72% |
| 2 | Jason Terry | 32.2 | .425 | .540 | 27% |
| 3 | Ron Artest | 31.9 | .318 | .401 | 26% |
| 4 | Derek Fisher | 32.6 | .274 | .340 | 24% |
| 5 | James Harden | 30.3 | .457 | .531 | 16% |
| 6 | Jermaine O’Neal | 22.1 | .373 | .427 | 15% |
| 7 | Eric Maynor | 13.0 | .380 | .431 | 13% |
| 8 | Taj Gibson | 17.5 | .483 | .544 | 13% |
| 9 | Marc Gasol | 40.1 | .535 | .596 | 11% |
| 10 | Ray Allen | 40.1 | .439 | .485 | 10% |
| 11 | James Jones | 24.6 | .319 | .337 | 6% |
| 12 | Dwyane Wade | 39.4 | .668 | .695 | 4% |
| 13 | Nick Collison | 22.4 | .400 | .415 | 4% |
| 14 | Keith Bogans | 19.4 | .287 | .296 | 3% |
| 15 | Daequan Cook | 12.2 | .372 | .377 | 1% |
| 16 | Jason Kidd | 33.5 | .464 | .469 | 1% |
| 17 | Derrick Rose | 40.1 | .618 | .624 | 1% |
| 18 | Dirk Nowitzki | 38.1 | .684 | .685 | 0% |
A few random thoughts:
— No surprise seeing Jason Terry there. He was solid during the regular season, but shot the lights out against the Lakers, including his 9-for-10 effort from the three-point line in Game 4.
— Funny to see Ron Artest and Derek Fisher there in the Top 5, but that was mainly because they were so dreadful during the regular season.
— Taj Gibson has been big for the Bulls, especially since Carlos Boozer is only now starting to get his game back. Chicago is fortunate they can turn to Gibson when Boozer isn’t producing.
— You don’t see a lot of superstars in this list because when you’re that productive during the regular season, there isn’t a lot of room for improvement. Dwyane Wade, Derrick Rose and Dirk Nowitzki have been able to improve a bit on their regular season numbers.
— Is Marc Gasol the best Gasol in the NBA?
Now it’s time to look at the other end of the spectrum, those players that are s#!tting the bed:
| # | Player | MPG | EPMr | EPMp | % DIFF |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 71 | Mike Bibby | 20.6 | .331 | .112 | -66% |
| 70 | Nazr Mohammed | 12.0 | .534 | .275 | -49% |
| 69 | Tony Allen | 27.4 | .493 | .286 | -42% |
| 68 | Glen Davis | 21.3 | .411 | .245 | -40% |
| 67 | Kendrick Perkins | 28.0 | .427 | .261 | -39% |
| 66 | Deshawn Stevenson | 12.8 | .292 | .188 | -36% |
| 65 | Marvin Williams | 18.0 | .405 | .264 | -35% |
| 64 | Omer Asik | 9.4 | .447 | .311 | -31% |
| 63 | Al Horford | 39.0 | .641 | .447 | -30% |
| 62 | Pau Gasol | 35.8 | .685 | .494 | -28% |
— No surprise to see Mike Bibby, Glen Davis and Pau Gasol on this list. Their struggles have been well documented.
— We should probably cut Tony Allen some slack. He has had his hands full with Kevin Durant and Russell Westbrook in the Western Conference Semis. Such is the life of a defensive specialist.
A few other players of note:
19. Kevin Durant (-1%)
22. Jeff Teague (-3%)
25. Luol Deng (-3%)
26. Joakim Noah (-3%)
28. Rajon Rondo (-5%)
31. Andrew Bynum (-9%)
33. Zach Randolph (-10%)
38. LeBron James (-12%)
41. Chris Bosh (-13%)
43. Russell Westbrook (-15%)
45. Kevin Garnett (-16%)
46. Paul Pierce (-16%)
49. Joe Johnson (-17%)
51. Carlos Boozer (-21%)
56. Lamar Odom (-23%)
58. Kobe Bryant (-24%)
59. Josh Smith (-24%)
Follow the Scores Report editors on Twitter @clevelandteams and @bullzeyedotcom.
Comments Off on Who’s still stepping it up in the NBA Playoffs?
Posted in: NBA
