Statistical Observations (10.98% into the season)

[grndmstr_c]

In looking through the Mavs team stats for this season as compared to last a few areas jumped out as being noticeably different; two of them positive, one of them negative. Thought I'd post them for discussion.

Rebounding: Both our offensive and defensive rebounding percentages are up from last season. We're grabbing 29.3% of the offensive boards this year as compared to 25.3% last year, and defensive rebounding is up from 70.8% to 72.5%, this despite the fact that we've spent much of the season playing without a true center on the floor. Compared to the rest of the league we're Top 10 in both categories.

Three point percentage: Down from 38.1% last year to a meager 30.2% this year. In a wierd way I almost find this encouraging. Why? Two reasons. First, because we're finding ways to win in spite of our woeful long range shooting (case in point - last night's victory over Houston in which we shot 2-19 from behind the arc). Second, because of who's primarily at fault - Michael Finley (24%) and Dirk Nowitzki (21%). Both these guys have proven in past that they can bomb away from outside, and I, for one, cannot even bring myself to doubt that they'll both find their shot eventually.

Opponents FTA's: Down from 24.8 per game last year to a league-leading 18.8 this year. Two things last year really frustrated me about our defense. One was all the rebounding lapses, and the other was that we sent our opponents to the line way too often. I think it's safe to say that Raef (foul prone) and NVE (poor perimeter D) were two of the primary culprits in the latter respect. Hopefully we can keep this up, because even though it's one of those stats that often gets overlooked, that kind of improvement is worth 4-5 points each game.

[kg_veteran]

To me, the very encouraging stats are the differentials.

The Mavericks outrebound their opponent by an average of 1.6 rebounds per game so far. And they've faced some pretty good rebounding teams.

The Mavericks outshoot their opponent by 1.9 %, and are holding opponents under 43% shooting.

The Mavericks MAKE 3.8 more FTs per game than their opponents, and TAKE 3.5 more.

The Mavericks turn the ball over 2 times less per game than their opponents and commit 4.5 fewer fouls per game.

Also, they outscore their opponents by an average of 5.9 ppg, good for 3rd in the league.



Things are definitely headed in the right direction.

[grndmstr_c]

KG, a few things.

Rebounding: I'm not a huge fan of raw rebounding differentials. Reason being that they're affected by the relative number of missed shots, and don't allow an examination of offensive vs. defensive board work.

FG% differential: Our adjusted fg% differential is actually down from 2.5% last year to 1.3% this year. From looking at it, though, the main culprit seems to be our poor three-point shooting. Defensively we're about in the middle of the pack, which is to say, roughly the same as last year.

FT differential: That's a good point, because it doesn't matter if we hold our opponents to less if we're also getting there less. Good for us, we're getting to the line just as often as we did before.

TO's: Here again we're actually a bit worse, both because we're turning the ball over a touch more (12.4 vs. 11.1), and getting fewer gifts from our opponents (14.4 vs. 15.3). It's good that we're still on the plus side of the comparo, though.

[LRB]

I think that the stats are very good for a team with admitedly a long way to go to jell.

grndmstr_c we are behing ond some things from last year as you pointed out in your post above, but I think that we will greatly improve on those once we get more used to each other as a team. To be honest I'm quite surprised that we're doing as well as we are statistically.

One other stat that I found very interesting is that Best has a 7.67 Assist to turnover ratio. Just wanted to throw that one out there.

[grndmstr_c]

LRB, I agree. Wasn't pointing those things out to criticize. For the most part you can count me among those who are pleased with the team's performance so far (esp. after the last two games). We look to have either improved, or at the very least not regressed in our problem areas (rebounding, D), and most of the areas we are currently a little weak in (eg., 3pt%) are areas that I fully expect to be strengths by season's end. One other area that hasn't changed much, but where I think that is actually a good sign, is assists (we're actually up from 22.4 to 23.1). With all the turnover we've had, combined with our poor outside shooting, I wouldn't have been surprised to see fewer assists than last year. The fact that we're getting as many as we are is, to me, a very encouraging sign.

Wow on Best. I hadn't noticed that.

[kg_veteran]

Originally posted by: grndmstr_c
KG, a few things.

Rebounding: I'm not a huge fan of raw rebounding differentials. Reason being that they're affected by the relative number of missed shots, and don't allow an examination of offensive vs. defensive board work.

True, but they still show overall whether you're competing on the boards. Another way to look at it would be that the Mavs are averaging 3 more rebounds per game than last year while allowing opponents to get about 1.5 fewer. In other words, last year the Mavs got beaten consistently on the boards; this year, so far, they're more than holding their own -- they're actually winning.

FG% differential: Our adjusted fg% differential is actually down from 2.5% last year to 1.3% this year. From looking at it, though, the main culprit seems to be our poor three-point shooting. Defensively we're about in the middle of the pack, which is to say, roughly the same as last year.

Last year the team was unbelievably hot early on from an offensive standpoint. This year, we're having to find our way again. That might explain why the differential isn't as high.

FT differential: That's a good point, because it doesn't matter if we hold our opponents to less if we're also getting there less. Good for us, we're getting to the line just as often as we did before.

Bottom line is we're getting to the line more AND making more. That indicates not just good offense, but better defense.

TO's: Here again we're actually a bit worse, both because we're turning the ball over a touch more (12.4 vs. 11.1), and getting fewer gifts from our opponents (14.4 vs. 15.3). It's good that we're still on the plus side of the comparo, though.

You have to think, though, that the TO number will progressively go down as the season goes along. The team will take a while to become thoroughly familiar with one another; still, you have to be encouraged by games like last night where they only turned it over 7 times against a "good" defense.

[Max Power]

Some numbers I pulled together.

Howard shoots the ball every 1.84 minutes played
Daniels shoots the ball every 1.96 minutes played
Jamison shoots the ball every 2.31 minutes played
Dirk shoots the ball every 2.35 minutes played
Walker shoots the ball every 2.40 minutes played
Delk shoots the ball every 2.87 minutes played
Finley shoots the ball every 3.30 minutes played
Best shoots the ball every 3.47 minutes played
Nash shoots the ball every 3.54 minutes played

[bernardos70]

Nash is a very effective shooter so far, so I think it's ok if he takes less shots, being that he'll make the most of them. Howard is just eager to shoot in the limited time he has had on the court.