timvp
03-19-2012, 10:53 PM
With the return of Stephen Jackson, I decided to take a look back at the 2003 Player Pairs.
(A green cell means that the player in the column improved the number for the player in the row. A red cell means the opposite. So basically, the more green in a player's column, the better.)
Point Differential Per 100 Possessions
http://oi41.tinypic.com/1j9536.jpg
Points Scored Per 100 Possessions
http://oi40.tinypic.com/29u7ag.jpg
Points Allowed Per 100 Possessions
http://oi42.tinypic.com/ac8um9.jpg
Observations:
-Tim Duncan was obviously a beast back in 2003. He was a grand total of 1.2 points per 100 possessions on defense from posting green in each and every cell across the board.
-We know David Robinson was a great player but I think we may not fully understand how great he was. In the final year of his career, he posted better plus/minus numbers than everyone on a team that had three future Hall of Famers? That's pretty ridiculous. And look at his defensive numbers :wow. No one was in the same zip code as Robinson defensively ... and this was a 37-year-old David Robinson.
Robinson's great numbers here aren't a fluke considering his overall plus/minus number was also higher than Duncan's 2002 (http://www.spurstalk.com/forums/showthread.php?t=192402). If Robinson on his last leg out plus/minus'ed Tim Duncan in his absolute prime, just image the type of difference-maker Robinson was in his prime. Then again, we shouldn't be too surprised considering Robinson has the best WS/48 in the history of the NBA.
(WS/48 = win shares per 48 minutes, which basically attempts to measure how many wins a player is responsible for per minute played)
-The closest player to Robinson defensively was Bruce Bowen, which shouldn't surprise anybody. In fact, he's the only player who improved every other player on the team defensively. On offense, 2003 Bowen wasn't too much of a liability.
-Rookie Manu Ginobili was certainly an asset. He didn't have as much green as we've gotten used to since then but he was obviously very useful. It's worth noting how well Ginobili and Parker played together in their first year together. That turned out to be the start of the most successful backcourt pairing this franchise has ever seen.
Even more shocking is how well Ginobili played with Bowen. Their chemistry, particularly on the defensive end, was instant. Bowen defending the top scorer while Ginobili wreaked havoc worked well from Day 1.
Rookie Ginobili when paired with Bowen was great defensively (93.14). But without Bowen, rookie Ginobili was a liability defensively (103.34). That's a bit surprising since Ginobili's steals per minute were at a career-high his rookie season. Then again, that's just more proof that steals don't necessarily equate to good defense.
-It gets a bit overshadowed but perhaps the most amazing of all these plus/minus stats are Tony Parker's numbers. Considering he was just 20 years old and the first European point guard of note in the NBA, it's just awesome what he did. At an age where Cory Joseph can't even create one shot all season, Parker was right there with a prime Duncan as the most devastatingly effective offensive player on a championship team that won 60 regular season games. WoW.
-I didn't realize that Stephen Jackson was such a defensive liability back in 2003. He's deceptively a much better defender these days, which should help his overall value to the team. I also didn't realize how good he was offensively; Jackson was just behind Duncan and Parker as the best offensive weapon on the team.
These numbers give me even more hope for 2012 Stephen Jackson. Factoring in his improved defense, he doesn't even have to be as good as he was on offense to have the same net impact.
-Considering he was playing behind two of the best bigmen of all-time, Malik Rose's numbers are pretty darn good. I think there's a decent case for 2003 Rose being the best backup bigman in the NBA ... or at very least in the discussion.
-The man, the myth, the legend ... Speedy Claxton was all over the map. He was great when playing next to star players but was horrendous when paired with the lesser players. That fits with my subjective view of Claxton as one of the most feast or famine players of the Duncan Era.
-Most of Steve Kerr's value was on defense, surprisingly enough. Then again, he did make a few great defensive plays in the playoffs that year.
-Outside of his elbow pads and physical play, Kevin Willis didn't actually help the team too much that year during the regular season.
-Danny Ferry was great at funneling players to the Twin Towers and was also a fantastic passer into the post ... which makes it no surprise that he did his best work next to Duncan and Robinson.
-Steve Smith was literally that year's Richard Jefferson. Good shooter but so one-dimensional that he hurt the team on offense. And the only reason Smith wasn't more detrimental on defense was Bowen was able to allow him to hide.
This is stunning proof of Bowen's defensive abilities:
Smith played 546.8 minutes with Bowen and allowed 91.57 points per 100 possessions.
Smith played 485.9 minutes without Bowen and allowed 109.75 points per 100 possession.
That's a whopping difference of 18.18 points per 100 possessions. Damn, Bruce :wow
It's always difficult for me to figure out how good the 2003 Spurs team was. There are good arguments that it was the best Spurs team of all-time. There are also good arguments that it was the worst Spurs championship team of all-time. On one hand, it's the only Spurs team with Duncan, Robinson, Ginobili, Bowen and Parker. But on the other hand, only Duncan was in his prime. Still not sure . . .
(A green cell means that the player in the column improved the number for the player in the row. A red cell means the opposite. So basically, the more green in a player's column, the better.)
Point Differential Per 100 Possessions
http://oi41.tinypic.com/1j9536.jpg
Points Scored Per 100 Possessions
http://oi40.tinypic.com/29u7ag.jpg
Points Allowed Per 100 Possessions
http://oi42.tinypic.com/ac8um9.jpg
Observations:
-Tim Duncan was obviously a beast back in 2003. He was a grand total of 1.2 points per 100 possessions on defense from posting green in each and every cell across the board.
-We know David Robinson was a great player but I think we may not fully understand how great he was. In the final year of his career, he posted better plus/minus numbers than everyone on a team that had three future Hall of Famers? That's pretty ridiculous. And look at his defensive numbers :wow. No one was in the same zip code as Robinson defensively ... and this was a 37-year-old David Robinson.
Robinson's great numbers here aren't a fluke considering his overall plus/minus number was also higher than Duncan's 2002 (http://www.spurstalk.com/forums/showthread.php?t=192402). If Robinson on his last leg out plus/minus'ed Tim Duncan in his absolute prime, just image the type of difference-maker Robinson was in his prime. Then again, we shouldn't be too surprised considering Robinson has the best WS/48 in the history of the NBA.
(WS/48 = win shares per 48 minutes, which basically attempts to measure how many wins a player is responsible for per minute played)
-The closest player to Robinson defensively was Bruce Bowen, which shouldn't surprise anybody. In fact, he's the only player who improved every other player on the team defensively. On offense, 2003 Bowen wasn't too much of a liability.
-Rookie Manu Ginobili was certainly an asset. He didn't have as much green as we've gotten used to since then but he was obviously very useful. It's worth noting how well Ginobili and Parker played together in their first year together. That turned out to be the start of the most successful backcourt pairing this franchise has ever seen.
Even more shocking is how well Ginobili played with Bowen. Their chemistry, particularly on the defensive end, was instant. Bowen defending the top scorer while Ginobili wreaked havoc worked well from Day 1.
Rookie Ginobili when paired with Bowen was great defensively (93.14). But without Bowen, rookie Ginobili was a liability defensively (103.34). That's a bit surprising since Ginobili's steals per minute were at a career-high his rookie season. Then again, that's just more proof that steals don't necessarily equate to good defense.
-It gets a bit overshadowed but perhaps the most amazing of all these plus/minus stats are Tony Parker's numbers. Considering he was just 20 years old and the first European point guard of note in the NBA, it's just awesome what he did. At an age where Cory Joseph can't even create one shot all season, Parker was right there with a prime Duncan as the most devastatingly effective offensive player on a championship team that won 60 regular season games. WoW.
-I didn't realize that Stephen Jackson was such a defensive liability back in 2003. He's deceptively a much better defender these days, which should help his overall value to the team. I also didn't realize how good he was offensively; Jackson was just behind Duncan and Parker as the best offensive weapon on the team.
These numbers give me even more hope for 2012 Stephen Jackson. Factoring in his improved defense, he doesn't even have to be as good as he was on offense to have the same net impact.
-Considering he was playing behind two of the best bigmen of all-time, Malik Rose's numbers are pretty darn good. I think there's a decent case for 2003 Rose being the best backup bigman in the NBA ... or at very least in the discussion.
-The man, the myth, the legend ... Speedy Claxton was all over the map. He was great when playing next to star players but was horrendous when paired with the lesser players. That fits with my subjective view of Claxton as one of the most feast or famine players of the Duncan Era.
-Most of Steve Kerr's value was on defense, surprisingly enough. Then again, he did make a few great defensive plays in the playoffs that year.
-Outside of his elbow pads and physical play, Kevin Willis didn't actually help the team too much that year during the regular season.
-Danny Ferry was great at funneling players to the Twin Towers and was also a fantastic passer into the post ... which makes it no surprise that he did his best work next to Duncan and Robinson.
-Steve Smith was literally that year's Richard Jefferson. Good shooter but so one-dimensional that he hurt the team on offense. And the only reason Smith wasn't more detrimental on defense was Bowen was able to allow him to hide.
This is stunning proof of Bowen's defensive abilities:
Smith played 546.8 minutes with Bowen and allowed 91.57 points per 100 possessions.
Smith played 485.9 minutes without Bowen and allowed 109.75 points per 100 possession.
That's a whopping difference of 18.18 points per 100 possessions. Damn, Bruce :wow
It's always difficult for me to figure out how good the 2003 Spurs team was. There are good arguments that it was the best Spurs team of all-time. There are also good arguments that it was the worst Spurs championship team of all-time. On one hand, it's the only Spurs team with Duncan, Robinson, Ginobili, Bowen and Parker. But on the other hand, only Duncan was in his prime. Still not sure . . .