Tony & Bruce: The assist connection

[whottt]

82Games (http://www.82games.com/feeders.htm)

That link goes to a whole page of player to player passing stats...I am posting this excerpt because it is the only one that has Spurs players among the league leader.



4) Players most reliant on one teammate for feeds, part II
So this sort is by the percentage of a player's total field goals made coming from assists from one passer. This allows for players who create their own shots (eg a Vince Carter) to get a more fair shake perhaps in the measurement of dependency. (Minimum 100 total FGM)
Team Scorer Assister Ast'd FG % of FG's
ORL Cato Francis 58 41.7%
PHO Marion Nash 215 40.9%
SAS Bowen Parker 86 40.3%
NYK K.Thomas Marbury 146 39.3%
CLE Newble James 50 35.9%
PHI Webber Iverson 37 35.5%
TOR Carter Alston 43 34.6%
PHI Dalembert Iverson 69 34.5%
NYK Ariza Marbury 51 33.3%
NJN Carter Kidd 143 32.7%


One thing is for sure, in Philly it's all about Iverson. Five of the top thirty-two most dependent players are Sixers getting the ball from A.I. -- and new arrival Webber is already "fitting in" to the program by depending heavily on a feed from the main man.
You also see a lot of catch and shoot types on the expanded top twenty list -- Bowen, Newble, D.Jones (fed by Wade), Q-Rich (from you know who). There's no shame of course in relying on an exceptional Point Guard to deliver the ball to you, so long as you are making it count when it comes to your hands.



Other interesting things on that page...the best guys at scoring to give others assists...Most of them are great scoring bigs like Garnett and Dirk...noticable by his absence is Tim Duncan...this inspite of the Spurs being among the league leaders in assists...In a way this confirms something I have always said when people are bashing Tony because of his lack of assists...Duncan kills assists...even when he does get it in scoring position...he oftens puts the ball on the floor anyway, just out of force of habit IMO..he still scores...but no one gets an assist off of it...Something to remember the next time we are wondering why Tony doesn't average 11 assists per game....

I also expect our assist totals to go up while Glenn Robinson is on this team...because this guy will score without moving off a great pass.

[timvp]

Good post.

Parker's penetration is how Bowen scores most of his points. When Parker penetrates, he has a real knack for finding people open in the corners.

Bowen probably scores most of the rest of his points off of passes from Manu or fast breaks.

[whottt]

Yeah and I think the inverse is also true...I think Tony gets most of assists off of Bruce as well.

If makes you wonder how key it to Bruce having a good offensive game for Tony to have a good offensive game...or vice versa for Tony to have a good passing game.

And there's another post I am about to make that gives some insight into that....

I wonder how many other guys think "look for Bruce" as much as Tony does...Bruce is our best PCT high volume 3 point shooter...and he might be a weapon that could be utlilized more often by our other passers....


Manu tends to try and create when he gets the ball and it seems like most of his threes come off of Duncan instead of Parker...I think his 3 shooting has been steadily declining since Duncan went out and that might be a reason for it(and being worn out of course)

[Kori Ellis]

What I've noticed is that when Tony's passes are on the money in the first quarter, then Bruce scores more in the game. In other words, if Tony starts off shaky and delivers the ball very high to Bruce in the corner or too far off target, then, even if Bruce is still getting clean shots, he misses. But if Tony is making money passes from the get-go, then Bruce gets off to a fast start and that carries on throughout the game.

I have found myself cussing at Tony in the first quarters on occasion when Bruce gets the passes too high and has to jump to get it before shooting.

[wildbill2u]

The reason Bowen gets most of his passes from Tony is that he camps on the right side in the corner. Manu and Tim play the left side and would have to pass across court to get the ball to him. And Rasho's job seems to be to pass off to Manu or Parker whenever he does get the ball on the high post.

[MannyIsGod]

Nice stat.