March 2, 2009

Joe Schaller

Most Valuable Player: The player who, along with scoring efficiency, gave his team the most opportunities to score and his opponents the fewest.

TPR scale: 180+ MVP, 140+ superstar, 110+ allstar, 85+ starter, 65+ bench

Once again I cover all angles going from base TPR, add game pace and team defense and add one on one defense from data obtained from 82games.com for the final TPR.
Beyond TPR I add a minutes played bonus calculated from the percentage of team minutes played. I have decided to leave the interpretation of on/off ratings to others.

base TPR: Notable on my lists is the high position of Manu Ginobili. This is not good news for the Lakers and other possible playoff opponents. Stars are what wins in the playoffs and the Spurs have two in the top ten for minute per minute excellence.

base TPR

1. Lebron James____194.5
   
2. Chris Paul_______185
   
3. Dwyane Wade___179.5
   
4. Kobe Bryant_____165
   
5. Manu Ginobili____148.5
   
6. Al Jefferson_____144.5
   
7. Brandon Roy_____144
   
8. Dan Granger_____144
   
9. Tim Duncan______144
   
10. Dwight Howard___143.5
    
11. Pau Gasol_______142.5
    
12. Dirk Nowitzki_____141.5
    
13. Jameer Nelson___139
    
14. Leandro Barbosa__139
    
15. Kevin Garnett____138.5
    
16. Nate Robinson____138.5
    
17. Kevin Durant_____137.5
    
18. Jason Terry______136.5
    
19. Devin Harris_____134
    
20. Yao Ming________133
    
21. Chauncey Billups_132
    
22. Shaquille O'Neal_131.5
    
23. Chris Bosh______131.5
    
24. Antawn Jamison___129
    
25. Amare Stoudemire_129

Game Pace and Team Defense: Teams such as Boston, Cleveland and Orlando get a boost while Devin Harris, Dan Granger, Nate Robinson, Kevin Durant and Antawn Jamison slide.

Add game pace and team defense

1. Lebron James____205
   
2. Chris Paul_______189.5
   
3. Dwyane Wade___182.5
   
4. Kobe Bryant_____163
   
5. Manu Ginobili____153
   
6. Dwight Howard___152.5
   
7. Tim Duncan______149.5
   
8. Brandon Roy_____148
   
9. Jameer Nelson___148
   
10. Kevin Garnett____147.5
    
11. Dirk Nowitzki_____144
    
12. Pau Gasol_______140.5
    
13. Al Jefferson_____140.5
    
14. Jason Terry______139
    
15. Leandro Barbosa__137.5
    
16. Dan Granger_____136.5
    
17. Yao Ming________136.5
    
18. Ray Allen________133.5
    
19. Kevin Durant_____131.5
    
20. Chauncey Billups_131.5
    
21. Chris Bosh______131
    
22. Devin Harris_____130.5
    
23. Shaquille O'Neal__130
    
24. Nate Robinson____130
    
25. Tony Parker_____129.5

1 on 1 defense: Defense is half the game and we see Rajon Rondo, Zydrunas Ilgauskas and Andrei Kirilenko leap onto the board of my final TPR. This is the list to look at for a preview of playoff contenders with the exception of Utah which is just gathering steam.

Add 1 on 1 defense for final TPR

1. Lebron James____214.5
   
2. Chris Paul_______189
   
3. Dwyane Wade___186
   
4. Kobe Bryant_____168.5
   
5. Manu Ginobili____156.6
   
6. Dwight Howard___155
   
7. Brandon Roy_____151.5
   
8. Kevin Garnett____151
   
9. Tim Duncan______148
   
10. Jameer Nelson___146
    
11. Dirk Nowitzki_____144.5
    
12. Leandro Barbosa__143
    
13. Ray Allen________139.5
    
14. Dan Granger_____137.5
    
15. Pau Gasol_______136
    
16. Andrei Kirilenko___136
    
17. Jason Terry______134.5
    
18. Yao Ming________134.5
    
19. Kevin Durant_____133
    
20. Zydrunas Ilgauskas_132
    
21. Rajon Rondo_____130.5
    
22. Nate Robinson____130
    
23. Al Jefferson______130
    
24. Chauncey Billups__129
    
25. Amare Stoudemire_128

BEYOND TPR

Minutes played bonus: Minutes played should be given significant consideration and Andre Igoudala, Rashard Lewis and Paul Pierce climb onto my MVP list. Others who have lost minutes to injuries slip off the list.

Add minutes played bonus for final MVP rating

1. Lebron James____242.5
   
2. Dwyane Wade___215
   
3. Chris Paul_______211
   
4. Kobe Bryant_____194.5
   
5. Dwight Howard___178
   
6. Brandon Roy_____173.5
   
7. Dirk Nowitzki_____170.5
   
8. Tim Duncan______169
   
9. Ray Allen_______164.5
   
10. Kevin Durant____164
    
11. Kevin Garnett____163
    
12. Pau Gasol_______161
    
13. Dan Granger_____154.5
    
14. Rashard Lewis___153.5
    
15. Amare Stoudemire_151
    
16. Rajon Rondo_____149.5
    
17. Paul Pierce______149.5
    
18. Al Jefferson______149
    
19. Yao Ming________148.5
    
20. Jason Terry______147.5
    
21. Chris Bosh______147
    
22. Andre Igoudala__146.5
    
23. Manu Ginobili____145.5
    
24. Chauncey Billups_145
    
25. Jameer Nelson___145
    
26. Antawn Jamison__145

Conclusion: Lebron appears to be a lock this year with a close race for second as D-Wade has overtook CP3.

Total Performance Ratings-- since 1996

1. Scoring
   
2. Scoring Efficiency
   
3. Ballhandling
   
4. Rebounding
   
5. Disruptive Defense
   
6. One on one Defense
   
7. Team Defense
   
8. Team Game Pace
   
9. Schedule Strength
   
10. Projected Improvement or Decline
    
11. Teams Wins Adjustment

Ratings indicate productivity per minute played. See my feature "The TPR Formula" for more information.

• Joe Schaller
  
• 505-722-3103
  
• schaller_6@msn.com