NBA Advanced Stats: Is Kristaps Porzingis the King of Putbacks?
Another week of NBA action, another week full of awesome advanced stats. Whether it’s a Detroit Piston making it his sole mission to grab every rebound in the entire universe or a certain rookie’s penchant for putbacks, we bring you the three coolest NBA advanced stats of the week, courtesy of nba.com.
Andre Drummond Will Take All the Rebounds
Through 11 games of the 2015-2016 NBA season, Detroit Pistons center Andre Drummond is having an out-of-body experience. Not only is he averaging 19 points per game, the highest of his career, but he’s also pulling down 18.9 rebounds. Drummond is essentially averaging a 20-20, which is absurd. In a game against Indiana, he posted 25 points and 29 rebounds. A few nights later, it was 29 and 27. It should come as no surprise that Drummond has a rebound percentage of 26.5. In layman terms, that means he’s grabbing 26.5 percent of all the rebounds available in a game. That’s a whole lot. Enes Kanter places second, a distant four points behind Drummond. So, when teams play the Pistons this season, they know going in that all the rebounds they might claim for themselves actually belong to Drummond. He is the rebound king, and everyone must bow down and pledge their loyalty to him.
James Harden Loves Isolation, But It Doesn’t Love Him Back
We don’t mean the type of isolation in which his buddies call him on a Saturday night and are like, “James! We’re going out! Come with!” and he responds, “Nah, staying in tonight.”
Since he arrived in Houston, Harden’s offense has always been predicated on isolation, whether he’s pulling up for a 3 after a step-back dribble or crossing over his defender on a drive to the hole. This year has been no different, though his results are less than encouraging. Harden has so far had 103 isolation possessions, almost 30 percent of his total offensive possessions, far and away the highest in the NBA. Carmelo Anthony sits in second place with 79. Yet Harden is shooting just 38.2 percent on those iso possessions. Compare that to Melo at 48 percent, and you can see inefficiency staring you in the face.
The Rockets’ struggles aren’t all on Harden, obviously, but his inability to get it done in isolation has hurt the team in a big way.
Is Kristaps Porzingis the King of Putbacks?
So far this season, the New York Knicks rookie sensation is best known for his putback dunks. It seems like every game produces a highlight video clip of Porzingis dunking off a teammate’s missed shot. But has it really been happening as much as we think? The answer is no, not quite.
Porzingis has had 25 putback opportunities this year, 8th in the NBA. He’s scored 26 points off those putbacks, but they account to only 14 percent of his total shots in a game. Compare that to Andre Drummond (57 putback opportunities), who leads this stat, and it’s clear Porzingis has a long way to go before he can claim the crown of Putback King.
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NBA Advanced Stats: Is Kristaps Porzingis the King of Putbacks?
Another week of NBA action, another week full of awesome advanced stats. Whether it’s a Detroit Piston making it his sole mission to grab every rebound in the entire universe or a certain rookie’s penchant for putbacks, we bring you the three coolest NBA advanced stats of the week, courtesy of nba.com.
Andre Drummond Will Take All the Rebounds
Through 11 games of the 2015-2016 NBA season, Detroit Pistons center Andre Drummond is having an out-of-body experience. Not only is he averaging 19 points per game, the highest of his career, but he’s also pulling down 18.9 rebounds. Drummond is essentially averaging a 20-20, which is absurd. In a game against Indiana, he posted 25 points and 29 rebounds. A few nights later, it was 29 and 27. It should come as no surprise that Drummond has a rebound percentage of 26.5. In layman terms, that means he’s grabbing 26.5 percent of all the rebounds available in a game. That’s a whole lot. Enes Kanter places second, a distant four points behind Drummond. So, when teams play the Pistons this season, they know going in that all the rebounds they might claim for themselves actually belong to Drummond. He is the rebound king, and everyone must bow down and pledge their loyalty to him.
James Harden Loves Isolation, But It Doesn’t Love Him Back
We don’t mean the type of isolation in which his buddies call him on a Saturday night and are like, “James! We’re going out! Come with!” and he responds, “Nah, staying in tonight.”
Since he arrived in Houston, Harden’s offense has always been predicated on isolation, whether he’s pulling up for a 3 after a step-back dribble or crossing over his defender on a drive to the hole. This year has been no different, though his results are less than encouraging. Harden has so far had 103 isolation possessions, almost 30 percent of his total offensive possessions, far and away the highest in the NBA. Carmelo Anthony sits in second place with 79. Yet Harden is shooting just 38.2 percent on those iso possessions. Compare that to Melo at 48 percent, and you can see inefficiency staring you in the face.
The Rockets’ struggles aren’t all on Harden, obviously, but his inability to get it done in isolation has hurt the team in a big way.
Is Kristaps Porzingis the King of Putbacks?
So far this season, the New York Knicks rookie sensation is best known for his putback dunks. It seems like every game produces a highlight video clip of Porzingis dunking off a teammate’s missed shot. But has it really been happening as much as we think? The answer is no, not quite.
Porzingis has had 25 putback opportunities this year, 8th in the NBA. He’s scored 26 points off those putbacks, but they account to only 14 percent of his total shots in a game. Compare that to Andre Drummond (57 putback opportunities), who leads this stat, and it’s clear Porzingis has a long way to go before he can claim the crown of Putback King.