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Bird Watching: A Statistical Comparison

Discussion in 'Houston Rockets: Game Action & Roster Moves' started by Jeff, Apr 20, 2004.

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  1. Jeff

    Jeff Clutch Crew

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    I read a stat that I hadn't seen before and thought it would be interesting to see where our guys rank league-wide. The stat is called a "Birdie" named after its creator, Larry Bird, who devised a method for determining a player's value to his team.

    The stat is total points + total assists + total rebounds + total steals + total blocked shots - missed field goals - missed free throws - fouls - turnovers divided by the total number of games played.

    It took me a while to figure out all the stats, but here are our main four guys and some others based on 2003 stats in the regular season.

    Rockets:

    J. Jackson: 11.48
    Mobley: 12.28
    Yao: 17.08
    Francis: 17.74

    Other big men:

    J. O'Neal: 18.31
    Shaq: 21.57
    Duncan: 24.42
    Garnett: 30.67 :eek:

    Other guards:

    Bibby: 16.15
    Baron Davis: 17.15
    Cassell: 17.61
    Kidd: 18.81
    Kobe: 19.97
    McGrady: 21.82

    Others:

    Carmello Anthony: 14.21
    LeBron James: 16.96
    Pierce: 17.56
    Nowitzki: 21.36
    Stojakovic: 21.02

    Interesting stuff.
     
  2. Samar

    Samar Member

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    see we dont need a diff starting pg
     
  3. dragonsnake

    dragonsnake Member

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    I don't like foul be taking into account in the formular.
     
  4. Deckard

    Deckard Blade Runner
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    Ummm... can't we get Garnett in the offseason?? ;)

    Wow! Thanks for the stats. Something to ponder besides last night.
     
  5. JPM0016

    JPM0016 Member

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    very interesting, thanks for posting these
     
  6. Severe Rockets Fan

    Severe Rockets Fan Takin it one stage at a time...

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    Hmmm. Just curious Jeff, what do you believe this demonstrates?
     
    #6 Severe Rockets Fan, Apr 20, 2004
    Last edited: Apr 20, 2004
  7. leebigez

    leebigez Member

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    Thats pretty good, but it doesn't take into account the fouls created by players. Look at last night when Kobe shot 18fts, basically he created or was fouled 9 times. If you look at game 1, shaq shot 14fts and basically created 7 fouls. Not to take away what KG does, but how many ft does he shoot per game? How many games have KG put guys in foul trouble? Its still a pretty good chart though, but i would like to add in the Karl Malone factor, which is a value of a player who draws fouls on the opposition.
     
  8. Jeff

    Jeff Clutch Crew

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    To be honest, I'm not sure. Just thought it made for interesting discussion. I think Bird clearly believes (as do many coaches since this is a tracked stat by everyone) that this helps determine the impact of a player on his team simply because it measures both stats that help and hurt and gives them an average.
     
  9. Easy

    Easy Boban Only Fan
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    Jeff,

    You probably made a mistake with Francis' number. My calculation is 14.04 rather than your 17.74. Care to double check?

    I didn't check the non-Rockets, because I'm using the data right here on CF.net.
     
  10. Severe Rockets Fan

    Severe Rockets Fan Takin it one stage at a time...

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    Also, not trying to rub it in :) , but you got Steve's wrong...its 13.80, I had to check it seeing as though it showed him and J Oneal as comparable players :eek:
     
  11. Jeff

    Jeff Clutch Crew

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    I just realized with Steve that I mis-calculated his FG missed. Sorry.

    Clearly he sucks. ;)
     
  12. choujie

    choujie Member

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    I had Yao 17.24 and Steve 13.85.
     
  13. xiki

    xiki Member

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    I first heard of this several years back (when LB was coaching?). It's his Bill James interpretation for basketball, and he puts a lot of stock in it.

    Frankly I would have guessed JJ higher.
     
  14. mbiker

    mbiker Member

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    Although it’s fun to look at, I don’t think you can gauge a player by this. For instance, who is to say that a point is equal to a blocked shot, or that a blocked shot is equivalent in the opposite direction to a foul. It also doesn’t take into consideration good defense. For instance, Mobley will sometimes completely shut down his opponent, but he doesn’t register the defensive stats that Francis does.
     
  15. rocksolid

    rocksolid Member

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    i bet some of our bench players (maybe even Cato) would be negative?
     
  16. yipengzhao

    yipengzhao Member

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    This stat isn't anything out of the ordinary. It's efficiency with fouls as another negative variable. If you disregarded fouls, then it would be exactly the same as efficiency ranking.

    If you were to rank the league according to the birdie, it would almost be identical to the same ranking by eff.
     
  17. xiki

    xiki Member

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    Cat can play shut down D, but he canNOT play shut down D and O in the same game.

    Artest's and Bowen's #s are the same on O game-to-game while their D remains stifling.
     
  18. whag00

    whag00 Member

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    I guess its a pretty good way to measure a player statistically...It encompasses all your basic stats. But I wouldn’t really judge a player based on this…
     

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