Happy New Year, everyone. I hope everyone had a safe and happy New Year's Eve. Some of you are probably still reeling from too much Rum-and-Coke egg nog last night to really appreciate these numbers, so I apologize. I hadn't put together one of these stats posts in a while, and I wanted to get one done before tomorrow night's game against the Nets.
Anyway, here are your leaders, which probably turn out the way you expect them to.
| Stat | Leader | Value | League Rank |
|---|---|---|---|
| Points Per Game | Dwight Howard | 22.9 | 9th |
| Rebounds Per Game | Dwight Howard | 15.5 | 1st |
| Assists Per Game | Jameer Nelson | 6.0 | 18th |
| Steals Per Game | Hedo Turkoglu | 1.1 | 41st |
| Blocks Per Game | Dwight Howard | 2.8 | 4th |
| Turnovers Per Game | Dwight Howard | 3.5 | 8th |
| Minutes Per Game | Rashard Lewis | 39.4 | 12th |
| Field Goal Percentage | Dwight Howard | .609 | 4th |
| 3-point Field Goal Percentage | Hedo Turkoglu | .387 | 42nd |
| Free Throw Percentage | Keyon Dooling | .874 | 12th |
| eFG% | Dwight Howard | .609 | 6th |
It's great to see Dwight's growth reflected in his statistics: he's a top-ten player in scoring, rebounding, shot-blocking, and shooting. Unfortunately, he's still having turnover problems. But we love him anyway.
Kinda disheartening to see the only major statistic in which Rashard Lewis leads the team is minutes per game. He'll be paid roughly $9 million more than anyone else on the team this season, but it doesn't seem like he's earning it. Then again, his presence has opened up the middle for Dwight Howard, who is having an MVP-type season. So Lewis' contribution to the Magic's success may go beyond what the box score can tell us.
It's also odd that Dwight Howard is the team's leader in eFG%, a statistic which measures field goal percentage while taking into account the fact that three-point shots are worth more than two-point shots; that is, it provides a boost to players who take -- and make -- plenty of shots from downtown. For instance, Keith Bogans' field goal percentage this season is .415, which is not great by any means, even though it would be a career-high if the season were to end today. However, his eFG% is a robust .544, thanks to the fact that he shoots three-pointers so often.
Just for fun, I've thrown in some advanced stats after the jump.
| Stat | Leader | Value | League Rank |
|---|---|---|---|
| PER | Dwight Howard | 25.32 | 8th |
| Ast Rate | Carlos Arroyo | 36.0 | 12th |
| TO Rate | Maurice Evans | 6.2 | 7th |
| Usg Rate | Hedo Turkoglu | 22.3 | 62nd |
| Reb Rate | Dwight Howard | 22.1 | 1st |
| OReb Rate | Adonal Foyle | 13.8 | 8th |
| DReb Rate | Dwight Howard | 32.7 | 2nd |
I'm not surprised to see that Carlos' possessions result in assists more often than Jameer's, although Nelson is 21st in the league with a 30.9 mark. Carlos' figure should rise as he receives more playing time with the starting unit, which shoots at a much higher percentage (.478) than the bench does (.424).
All stats are from John Hollinger's stats page at ESPN. The explanations for each statistic are included there, but I've reproduced them here:
PER: Player Efficiency Rating is my overall rating of a player’s per-minute statistical production. The league average is 15.00 every season.
[Ast Rate]: Assist Ratio is the percentage of a player’s possessions that ends in an assist. Assist Ratio = (Assists x 100) divided by [(FGA + (FTA x 0.44) + Assists + Turnovers]
[TO Rate]: Turnover Ratio is the percentage of a player’s possessions that end in a turnover. Turnover Ratio = (Turnover x 100) divided by [(FGA + (FTA x 0.44) + Assists + Turnovers]
[Usg Rate]: Usage Rate is the number of possessions a player uses per 40 minutes. Usage Rate = {[FGA + (FT Att. x 0.44) + (Ast x 0.33) + TO] x 40 x League Pace} divided by (Minutes x Team Pace)
[Reb Rate]: Rebound Rate is the percentage of missed shots that a player rebounds. Rebound Rate = (Rebounds x Team Minutes) divided by [Player Minutes x (Team Rebounds + Opponent Rebounds)]
[OReb Rate]: Offensive Rebound Rate
[DReb Rate]: Defensive Rebound Rate