Vantage Sports Blog has a nice entry on the league's best screeners last year. http://blog.cacvantage.com/2013/10/jason-collins-revelation-and-top.html [rquoter] Jason Collins said something last spring that we here at Vantage Sports have been waiting to hear an NBA player admit for a long time. Spoiler alert - it had nothing to do with his sexual orientation. "My contributions don't show up in the box scores." What Collins meant is that his game involves moves that improve other players' box scores. As he explains, "I set picks with my 7-foot, 255-pound body to get guys like Jason Kidd, John Wall and Paul Pierce open." Screens are crucial to every team's success. Screens are the only tool a player has to legally contact a defender, creating space for a teammate to either score or facilitate a score. Collins's abilities have been rewarded with an NBA salary for more than a decade, yet have never been effectively tracked or measured. Notice that there is no "effective screens" line item in your NBA box score. Vantage Stats changes that by measuring both screening effort and efficiency. ... [/rquoter] They conclude that Joakim Noah was the league's most effective screener last year. [rquoter] Putting It All Together: Noah Is the Best 3 names appear twice in the 3 lists above, Joakim Noah is in the top 5 in both Solid Screen and Outcome Efficiency. Marcin Gortat is in the top 5 in Solid Screen and Points Per Chance. Finally, Kendrick Perkins is in the top 5 in Efficiency and Points. Noah's Points Per Chance is at .064, which is nowhere near the leaders in that category. However, he stands out as the best high volume screener in the league. This is because Set Screen Outcome Efficiency is more screener-dependent than Points Per Chance and the best way to judge screen value independent of teammates' performance. Noah excels in setting solid picks resulting in good outcomes for the Bulls. With Derrick Rose back on the court look for Noah's Points Per Chance number to jump.[/rquoter]
No one could be a good screener if someone called up the league officials to be ultra straight with the player on moving screens.
This is the main thing that was killing me watching the first preseason game. David West and Scola basically assaulting everyone on their screens, while the Rockets set dainty little ankle picks for a millisecond before darting to the basket. And this on a team where the PnR is supposed to be the big gun. These little veteran details (defense @ the 2 & 4, meshing Dwight on O, turnovers, fouls, set roles, veteran savvy) are why I think next year is when we'll contend.
