duncan228
12-11-2007, 11:35 AM
http://www.usatoday.com/sports/basketball/nba/2007-12-10-scorers_N.htm
Scorer's Table: Argentinian Ginobili gives world-class effort
By David DuPree, USA TODAY
International players have had a tremendous impact on the NBA, but never more so, perhaps, than last year when German Dirk Nowitzki of the Dallas Mavericks was the regular-season MVP and San Antonio Spurs guard Tony Parker, a Frenchman, was the Finals MVP.
This season, the overall performance of Spurs swingman Manu Ginobili of Argentina has him at the top of USA TODAY's international impact index.
Ginobili, who came off the bench the first 18 games of the season, started his first game Wednesday after Tim Duncan sat down with a sprained ankle. Ginobili scored 37 points in a win against Dallas. He went back to his reserve role Friday, even though Duncan was still out, and scored 37 in a win against Utah. But whether he starts or comes off the bench, he is five points better than runner-up Parker on the international MVP index.
"I just hope we never take (Ginobili's performances) for granted," Spurs coach Gregg Popovich says.
USA TODAY subjectively picked the top 15 international players in the league who didn't play high school or college basketball in the USA and ranked them in five statistical categories to measure every aspect of the game. The player who performs best in a category gets one point and the player performing the worst gets 15 points. The player with the fewest total points in all five categories, theoretically, has the most impact of the international players.
Ginobili, who led Argentina to the gold medal at the 2004 Olympics, is a left-handed combination point guard/shooting guard. At 6-6, he has the creativity to get shots off from all angles.
Ginobili, 30, is averaging a career-high 21.2 points a game, along with 4.9 rebounds, 4.5 assists and 1.8 steals. Ginobili plays only 29.6 minutes a game, making him one of the most efficient players in the league.
Parker, who joined the Spurs a season before Ginobili in 2001, says he has never seen his teammate play better. "He's been playing great," Parker says. "Every year he's improving. In 2005 he was unbelievable, and I think he's back to that level this year. He's playing very good basketball. He's shooting the ball well, is very unselfish moving the ball and makes great passes. He's very smart and brings a lot of energy."
Ginobili and Amare Stoudemire of the Phoenix Suns are the only players in the league who are averaging at least 20 points while playing fewer than 30 minutes. Ginobili is fourth in the league in scoring efficiency, scoring .716 points per minute. LeBron James of the Cleveland Cavaliers is first at .771, followed by Kobe Bryant of the Los Angeles Lakers at .745 and Carlos Boozer of the Utah Jazz at .718.
Ginobili says taking the summer off, instead of playing for Argentina in the Tournament of the Americas in Las Vegas, may have contributed to his strong start and San Antonio's franchise-record 17-3 beginning. "I'm just trying to be aggressive and go to the rim," he says.
MVP INDEX: List of international candidates:
Player, team Win%. Rank pts. PPS Hands TD Total
Manu Ginobili, San Antonio 85.0 (1) 275 (4) 1.027 (4) -2.500 (6) 0.186 (4) 19
Tony Parker, San Antonio 85.0 (1) 292 (6) 0.965 (7) -2.650 (7) 0.189 (3) 24
Leandro Barbosa, Phoenix 76.2 (3) 325 (11) 1.066 (2) -2.190 (3) 0.130 (8) 27
Peja Stojakovic, New Orleans 66.7 (6) 310 (8) 1.036 (3) -1.700 (2) 0.119 (11) 30
Andrei Kirilenko, Utah 61.9 (7) 250 (2) 0.919 (12) -1.381 (1) 0.129 (9) 31
Yao Ming, Houston 52.4 (11) 216 (1) 0.979 (6) -4.333 (14) 0.215 (1) 33
Andris Biedrins, Golden State 55.0 (10) 251 (3) 1.106 (1) -2.900 (9) 0.128 (10) 33
Dirk Nowitzki, Dallas 61.9 (7) 298 (7) 0.941 (9) -3.238 (11) 0.200 (2) 36
Pau Gasol, Memphis 30.0 (14) 320 (9) 0.945 (8) -2.750 (8) 0.166 (6) 45
Hedo Turkoglu, Orlando 76.2 (3) 337 (12) 0.932 (11) -4.429 (15) 0.167 (5) 46
Zydrunas Ilgauskas, Cleveland 42.9 (12) 285 (5) 0.936 (10) -3.857 (12) 0.158 (7) 46
Others: Boris Diaw, Phoenix (49); Marko Jaric, Minnesota (52); Jianlian Yi, Milwaukee (60); Mehmet Okur, Utah (61).
Category key: Win%. — team winning percentage. Rank points — rankings among league leaders in seven categories (field goal percentage, free throw percentage, rebounds, assists, steals, blocked shots and points) added together. PPS — points per shot (total points scored divided by field goal attempts plus free throw attempts). Hands — average steals plus blocked shots minus average turnovers plus personal fouls. TD (team dominance) — average points, rebounds and assists divided by team averages in the same categories. Rank in parentheses. All stats are through Sunday's games.
Scorer's Table: Argentinian Ginobili gives world-class effort
By David DuPree, USA TODAY
International players have had a tremendous impact on the NBA, but never more so, perhaps, than last year when German Dirk Nowitzki of the Dallas Mavericks was the regular-season MVP and San Antonio Spurs guard Tony Parker, a Frenchman, was the Finals MVP.
This season, the overall performance of Spurs swingman Manu Ginobili of Argentina has him at the top of USA TODAY's international impact index.
Ginobili, who came off the bench the first 18 games of the season, started his first game Wednesday after Tim Duncan sat down with a sprained ankle. Ginobili scored 37 points in a win against Dallas. He went back to his reserve role Friday, even though Duncan was still out, and scored 37 in a win against Utah. But whether he starts or comes off the bench, he is five points better than runner-up Parker on the international MVP index.
"I just hope we never take (Ginobili's performances) for granted," Spurs coach Gregg Popovich says.
USA TODAY subjectively picked the top 15 international players in the league who didn't play high school or college basketball in the USA and ranked them in five statistical categories to measure every aspect of the game. The player who performs best in a category gets one point and the player performing the worst gets 15 points. The player with the fewest total points in all five categories, theoretically, has the most impact of the international players.
Ginobili, who led Argentina to the gold medal at the 2004 Olympics, is a left-handed combination point guard/shooting guard. At 6-6, he has the creativity to get shots off from all angles.
Ginobili, 30, is averaging a career-high 21.2 points a game, along with 4.9 rebounds, 4.5 assists and 1.8 steals. Ginobili plays only 29.6 minutes a game, making him one of the most efficient players in the league.
Parker, who joined the Spurs a season before Ginobili in 2001, says he has never seen his teammate play better. "He's been playing great," Parker says. "Every year he's improving. In 2005 he was unbelievable, and I think he's back to that level this year. He's playing very good basketball. He's shooting the ball well, is very unselfish moving the ball and makes great passes. He's very smart and brings a lot of energy."
Ginobili and Amare Stoudemire of the Phoenix Suns are the only players in the league who are averaging at least 20 points while playing fewer than 30 minutes. Ginobili is fourth in the league in scoring efficiency, scoring .716 points per minute. LeBron James of the Cleveland Cavaliers is first at .771, followed by Kobe Bryant of the Los Angeles Lakers at .745 and Carlos Boozer of the Utah Jazz at .718.
Ginobili says taking the summer off, instead of playing for Argentina in the Tournament of the Americas in Las Vegas, may have contributed to his strong start and San Antonio's franchise-record 17-3 beginning. "I'm just trying to be aggressive and go to the rim," he says.
MVP INDEX: List of international candidates:
Player, team Win%. Rank pts. PPS Hands TD Total
Manu Ginobili, San Antonio 85.0 (1) 275 (4) 1.027 (4) -2.500 (6) 0.186 (4) 19
Tony Parker, San Antonio 85.0 (1) 292 (6) 0.965 (7) -2.650 (7) 0.189 (3) 24
Leandro Barbosa, Phoenix 76.2 (3) 325 (11) 1.066 (2) -2.190 (3) 0.130 (8) 27
Peja Stojakovic, New Orleans 66.7 (6) 310 (8) 1.036 (3) -1.700 (2) 0.119 (11) 30
Andrei Kirilenko, Utah 61.9 (7) 250 (2) 0.919 (12) -1.381 (1) 0.129 (9) 31
Yao Ming, Houston 52.4 (11) 216 (1) 0.979 (6) -4.333 (14) 0.215 (1) 33
Andris Biedrins, Golden State 55.0 (10) 251 (3) 1.106 (1) -2.900 (9) 0.128 (10) 33
Dirk Nowitzki, Dallas 61.9 (7) 298 (7) 0.941 (9) -3.238 (11) 0.200 (2) 36
Pau Gasol, Memphis 30.0 (14) 320 (9) 0.945 (8) -2.750 (8) 0.166 (6) 45
Hedo Turkoglu, Orlando 76.2 (3) 337 (12) 0.932 (11) -4.429 (15) 0.167 (5) 46
Zydrunas Ilgauskas, Cleveland 42.9 (12) 285 (5) 0.936 (10) -3.857 (12) 0.158 (7) 46
Others: Boris Diaw, Phoenix (49); Marko Jaric, Minnesota (52); Jianlian Yi, Milwaukee (60); Mehmet Okur, Utah (61).
Category key: Win%. — team winning percentage. Rank points — rankings among league leaders in seven categories (field goal percentage, free throw percentage, rebounds, assists, steals, blocked shots and points) added together. PPS — points per shot (total points scored divided by field goal attempts plus free throw attempts). Hands — average steals plus blocked shots minus average turnovers plus personal fouls. TD (team dominance) — average points, rebounds and assists divided by team averages in the same categories. Rank in parentheses. All stats are through Sunday's games.