Top Three Teams

[Dr J]

Look at the Lenovo +/- Stats on nba.com -- they certainly argue that the Mavs, Spurs, and Suns are the teams to beat.

http://www.nba.com/statistics/lenovo/lenovo_sort.jsp?pcomb=1&season=22006&split=9&team=

Here are the top fifteen players in the NBA according to this stat:

D. Harris Mavericks 1,967 -1,653 314 33
T. Duncan Spurs 2,351 -2,055 296 33
S. Nash Suns 2,502 -2,235 267 29
D. Nowitzki Mavericks 2,449 -2,194 255 32
J. Terry Mavericks 2,409 -2,172 237 33
E. Dampier Mavericks 1,870 -1,644 226 33
S. Marion Suns 2,807 -2,582 225 31
T. Parker Spurs 2,267 -2,042 225 33
M. Ginobili Spurs 1,616 -1,408 208 28
R. Bell Suns 2,496 -2,294 202 29
S. Battier Rockets 2,407 -2,212 195 32
A. Stoudemire Suns 2,095 -1,902 193 31
J. Howard Mavericks 1,794 -1,610 184 25
G. Arenas Wizards 2,898 -2,717 181 31
B. Bowen Spurs 2,112 -1,944 168 33


John

[Bob Lanier]

See? Told you Battier deserves an All-Star berth.

[angel_luv]

:lol

Are you trying to prop your guys' stats without actually doing so directly?

[Cry Havoc]

Harris > Dirk

Clearly.

[mavsfan1000]

Devean George>>>Anthony Johnson. Those stats depend a lot on how your backup is.

[Dr J]

Hey Cry.

Here is the description of the Lenovo stat:

"The Lenovo Stat shows the power of teamwork. It's a way of showing the best-engineered/best combination of players on the court. The Lenovo Stat is a plus/minus statistic that looks at the point differential when players are both in and out of the game, to see how the team performs with various combinations. The Lenovo Stat can look at a variety of combinations – including the best two player, three player and even five player combinations for each game."

The Mavs are very dependent upon Devin's play making abilities and defense. Clearly, Dirk is the best player, but the fortunes of the team are markedly different when Devin is on the bench.

Likewise, Duncan is not only scoring, but making others dramatically better. Notice that he has a much higher positive value than Devin, but also a much larger negative.

Take a look at the best 5 player combinations per this Stat:
E. Dampier D. Nowitzki J. Terry J. Howard D. Harris Mavericks 628 -480 148 20
T. McGrady R. Alston S. Battier M. Yao C. Hayes Rockets 412 -303 109 14
S. Nash S. Marion R. Bell A. Stoudemire B. Diaw Suns 815 -717 98 24
A. Jamison D. Stevenson B. Haywood G. Arenas C. Butler Wizards 603 -519 84 23
B. Bowen T. Duncan F. Elson M. Ginobili T. Parker Spurs 254 -188 66 14
D. Fisher A. Kirilenko M. Okur C. Boozer D. Williams Jazz 602 -547 55 20
M. Camby A. Miller E. Najera C. Anthony J. Smith Nuggets 750 -698 52 20
E. Dampier J. Terry D. George J. Howard D. Harris Mavericks 86 -43 43 10
K. Thomas S. Nash S. Marion A. Stoudemire L. Barbosa Suns 129 -88 41 11
S. Cassell T. Thomas E. Brand C. Maggette Q. Ross Clippers 121 -81 40 9

Just interesting, but I thought it was good for more intellectual discussion than cursing and throwing insults like the other threads here.

John

[1Parker1]

Devin Harris sucks.



:lol

[mavsfan1000]

Devin Harris sucks.



:lol
Devin Harris owns the Spurs. :lol

[Dr J]

Inagra: I do not feel that the Mavs have as good a scoring bench as we had last year -- it is roughly equal in rebounding and defense. It is not reasonable to say that they have the "worst bench in the league". If the bench is the worst and the Mavs have the best record in the league by 3+ games, then all of the Mav starters deserve to be All-Stars (and this is not true).

1Parker1: Very intellectual response. Perhaps a reasonable person would say that Parker is an All Star and the best scoring point guard in the league while Harris is a maturing point guard with very good speed and defensive skills.

John

[1Parker1]

Devin Harris owns the Spurs. :lol


:lol That's the biggest mystery. I can't understand why. He's not that good. Take away the driving lanes and make him a jump shooter. He's also not that great of a passer, IMO. His defense is overated because he's quick and gets away with a lot of flopping for offensive fouls (which before Mavs fans jump on me, I'm not saying is bad. It's actually good that he can get away with it so often...). Harris is the X factor for the Mavs, I think, especially when against the Spurs. I just never understood how the Spurs always seem to make him look like an All Star out there...

[Duncanoypi]

Devin Harris has no ring....lol

[1Parker1]

1Parker1: Very intellectual response. Perhaps a reasonable person would say that Parker is an All Star and the best scoring point guard in the league while Harris is a maturing point guard with very good speed and defensive skills.

John


Damn, why are Mavs fans so sensitive??? If you've read in other places, I've said good things about Harris saying that he reminds me of a young Tony Parker. By the way the (:lol) is meant to imply I was joking. :rolleyes

Anyways, I'm entitled to my opinion, just as you are to yours. Devin Harris has improved a lot over the past couple of seasons. He's not that good offensively and doesn't have the court vision to be a prototypical PG. But his defense is good. But overall, I don't think he's All-Star level yet...however whenever he plays the Spurs he seems to be.

[Dr J]

1P1: Sorry, I took the smile to be laughing at me rather than with me -- one of the difficulties of non-verbal communication.

Devin does not have the best vision, but he is excellent at executing Avery's offense and including other players. Dampier's improvement this year is very much due to timely assists from Devin. He works diligently on his shot, but it is not falling. If he gets the midrange jumper and a floater to fall, he will be Tony Parker north.

I have a good friend who is a Spurs fan, and he and I discuss the Spurs/Mavs constantly. For example, he pointed me to the FG% of Tony last year -- an amazingly efficient scorer for a point guard. However, he came to the Mavs boards and commented how civil and detailed they are compared to the Spurs boards. The past two days mark my first visits here. Most of the threads are shallow and filled with vulgarities. The long-time, intellectual posters here should be harrasing vulgar posters until they leave -- this is what has worked on many of the Mavs boards.

Good luck tonight.
John

[Cry Havoc]

Dr. J:

I've seen some vulgarity here, but nothing compared to espn forums or anything of the sort. Civilized discourse actually exists here. But you can't really say there is any harm in good-hearted banter. =P

[Dr J]

Hey Cry,

I agree that the ESPN forums and Yahoo forums are a cesspool. Perhaps I was jaded by the threads here with the F word in giant print. I am a pediatrician, and I have been having to scroll quickly and drop the screen due to all the giant vulgarities. You would think that I was surfing Xrated sites or something.

Let's root for no injuries and impartial refs tonight.
Good luck to you.
John