Ten Celtics Stats that Might be of Interest after 9 Games

After nine games (a nice round figure—NOT), I thought it might be interesting to look at a few Celtics stats.  I may have invented the statement that stats aren’t everything, and I’m pretty sure I originated the comment that intangibles mean a lot.  (That was back when they had just invented writing.)  So consider all the qualifiers covered.  The answers are provided, making it convenient for those who choose to say none of the stats surprised them.

First stat of interest: Guess who’s the team’s leading scorer  per 36 minutes—and by a comfortable margin.
It’s Sully, with Green more than two points behind in second place.

Second stat of interest: Guess who’s the team’s third-lead scorer per 36 minutes?
It’s Courtney Lee, about a point ahead of 4th place Jordan Crawford.

Third stat of interest: Which four Celtics have averaged more than 3 turnovers per 36 minutes?
Kelly Olynyk (3.9), Gerald Wallace (3.4), Vitor Faverani and Avery Bradley (3.1 apiece).

Fourth stat of interest: Who leads the team in offensive rebounds per 36 minutes?
Vitor (3.6) leads Olynyk (3.2) an Sully (2.9).

Fourth stat of interest: Which Celtic is leading the team in fouls committed per 36 minutes?
Kelly Olynyk (5.9); no other Celtic has more than Vitor’s 4.8.

Fifth stat of interest: Which Celt comes closest to shooting as well from three-point land as two-point land?
Jeff Green (43.8% on threes and 48.1% on twos).

Sixth stat of interest: Which Celtic leads the team in ratio of assists to turnovers (minimum 10 minutes played)?
Crawford (3.32 to 1) leads Pressey (1.95 to 1) and Wallace (1.31 to 1).  (Actually, MarShon Brooks, in only 7 minutes played, has a grand total of one assist and no turnovers.)

Seventh stat of interest: Who leads the Celtics in blocks per 36 minutes?
Vitor (2.9) leads Humphries (2.6).

Eighth stat of interests: Who leads the Celtics in steals per 36 minutes?
Gerald Wallace (2.4) leads Bradley (2.0) and Lee (1.9).

Ninth stat of interest: Who leads the Celtics in free throw shooting percentage (minimum 10 free throws taken)?
Kelly Olynyk (100.0% leads Crawford (94.7%), Bradley (91.7%) and Bass (91.3%).

Tenth stat of interest: Who leads the Celtics in minutes played per game?
Jeff Green (33.4) and Avery Bradley (30.1) are the only Celts averaging at least 30 MPG.

Bonus Stats:

Just for kicks, I developed statistical ratings of the players combining five positive factors (points, assists, rebounds, steals and blocks) and three negative factors (turnovers, personal fouls, and missed field goal attempts).  Obviously, these factors (like Hollinger’s PER) are slanted more toward offense than defense; but that’s okay with me because conventional wisdom seems to be that the Celts’ offense is currently in need of greater improvement than its defense.  The ratings assign one point for: each point scored per 36 minutes, each assist per 36 minutes, each rebound per 36 minutes, each block per 36 minutes, and each steal per 36 minutes.  One point each is DEDUCTED from the rating for each field goal MISSED per 36 minutes, each turnover per 36 minutes, and each personal foul committed per 36 minutes.

The ratings, along with my own comments on strengths and weaknesses suggested by the stats, are shown below.  I limited the ratings to the ten players who are in the regular rotation.  As to what the ratings prove, the best answer I can give (aside from the fact that all these stats were conveniently available) is that they're an indicator of each player's relative value on offense, with a smattering of defensive factors thrown in.  It's interesting that the rankings from 1 to 10 don't at all coincide with the minutes per game rankings, which demonstrates (1) the importance of non-statistical and intangible considerations such as matchups, offensive vs. defensive combinations, etc. and (2) the fact that Brad has statistics that put these to shame).

1. Sullinger 19.5 While not spectacular, does everything well; points and rebounds among team leaders (ranks #7 in MPG)
2. Crawford 18.1 Fourth highest point-producer on team, assist leader, fewest turnovers among guards (ranks #5 in MPG)
3. Lee 14.9 Third highest point producer per 36 minutes; shooting 56.1%—tops on the team (ranks #9 IN MPG)
4. Green 14.4 Scoring is his main strength; just okay in other aspects of the game (ranks #1 in MPG)
5. Faverani 13.9 Leads team in rebounds per 36 minutes, but fairly mediocre otherwise (ranks #8 in MPG)
6. Bass 12.5 Satisfactory in all respects; no outstanding factors such as Sully’s scoring and rebounds (ranks #3 in MPG)
7. Wallace 11.0 Low scoring average (6.8 per 36 minutes) not offset by (ranks #4 in MPG)
8. Olynyk 8.6 Rebounding strength (9.1 per 36 min.) offset by turnovers, 41% shooting percentage, fouls (ranks #6 in MPG)
9. Bradley 8.5 Hurt by missing 8.2 of 14.7 shots per 36 minutes and by turnovers (ranks #2 in MPG)
10. Pressey 2.5 Decent assist record per 36 minutes can’t offset terrible shooting percentage of 24.1% (ranks #10 in MPG)

Sam

Stats that stand out to me:

• Sully scoring at a faster rate than Green. Probably affected by Sully scoring more than expected and Green less.

• Olynyk being an effective offensive rebounder.

• Gerald Wallace has more steals per 36 minutes than Bradley and Lee. Who woulda thunk it.

• Bradley shooting 91.7% on free throws. He's a career 76.8% FT shooter, so he'll likely fall back toward that figure, and this stat alone screams "small sample size."

• I think it's great that no one is averaging heavy minutes, and I think that's indicative of how effective the second unit is. When Rondo returns and is taken off any minutes restriction, I'd expect him to be an outlier to this trend. If Green starts doing what everyone thinks and hopes he can do, his minutes may rise as well.

• Some of the combined statistical ratings are surprising, particularly Faverani being so high on the list and Bradley being so low.

My other observation is that you need to come up with a catchy acronym for your combined stats, like SAM (Stats Analyzed Muchbetterthanhollinger) or COUSY (Combined Optimized Use of Stats, Yo). That's the kind of thing that can get you a job as an NBA general manager.

Outside,

Good observations. I actually tried to think of an acronym for the combined stats and decided they probably weren't worth the trouble. Essentially giving the same weight to every indicator is a real flaw. But it was a fun exercise, even if just to give Faverani one brief shining moment.

Sam