May 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.

A new era of superstars: There is usually controversy over the MVP award however this year appears to be obvious to almost everyone. Lebron James has taken his game to a level only seen by Michael Jordan and maybe even beyond. MJ was not only the greatest scorer ever but was a great defender, ballhandler and rebounder. He simply had no weaknesses. Same for Lebron. Despite Dwyane Wade's 195 TPR and Chris Paul's 192 TPR which put them at levels above anyone since MJ they were still far below Lebron.

So to top off Lebron's greatest ever we also likely have the greatest season by a point guard in CP3. Let's not forget that Oscar Robertson's numbers, as well as Magic Johnson's, were greatly inflated by the game pace at the time while Paul's Hornets played at a very slow pace.
Wade's season far exceeds Kobe Bryant's best ever and this was likely Kobe's second best after '06.
Add on the presence of the greatest sixth man to play the game, Manu Ginobili, and the possibilities of what Dwight Howard could attain at the center position and we have a hall of fame line-up which no other era can compare to.

base TPR

1. Lebron James____197
   
2. Dwyane Wade___187
   
3. Chris Paul_______184
   
4. Kobe Bryant_____165
   
5. Brandon Roy_____152
   
6. Dan Granger_____150
   
7. Manu Ginobili____148.5
   
8. Al Jefferson_____148
   
9. Pau Gasol_______147
   
10. Dwight Howard___144.5
    
11. Jameer Nelson___142
    
12. Tim Duncan______141
    
13. Tony Parker_____140
    
14. Leandro Barbosa__139.5
    
15. Dirk Nowitzki_____139
    
16. Kevin Garnett____138.5
    
17. Yao Ming________136
    
18. Kevin Durant_____135
    
19. Nate Robinson____134.5
    
20. Shaquille O'Neal__134

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

Add game pace and team defense

1. Lebron James____206.5
   
2. Chris Paul_______189.5
   
3. Dwyane Wade___187.5
   
4. Kobe Bryant_____165
   
5. Brandon Roy_____157
   
6. Manu Ginobili____155.5
   
7. Dwight Howard___153.5
   
8. Jameer Nelson___151
   
9. Tim Duncan______148
   
10. Tony Parker_____147
    
11. Kevin Garnett____147
    
12. Pau Gasol_______146.5
    
13. Dan Granger_____145.5
    
14. Al Jefferson_____145
    
15. Yao Ming________142
    
16. Dirk Nowitzki_____141.5
    
17. Leandro Barbosa__134
    
18. Chris Bosh______131
    
19. Kevin Durant_____130.5
    
20. Deron Williams___129

Add 1 on 1 defense for final TPR

1. Lebron James____220.5
   
2. Dwyane Wade___195.5
   
3. Chris Paul_______192.5
   
4. Kobe Bryant_____174
   
5. Dwight Howard___164.5
   
6. Brandon Roy_____163.5
   
7. Manu Ginobili____160.5
   
8. Kevin Garnett____157
   
9. Tim Duncan______153
   
10. Jameer Nelson___152
    
11. Dan Granger_____150
    
12. Pau Gasol_______147
    
13. Dirk Nowitzki_____145.5
    
14. Tony Parker_____145.5
    
15. Yao Ming________145
    
16. Leandro Barbosa__141
    
17. Michael Redd____138.5
    
18. Al Jefferson______136
    
19. Kevin Durant_____135
    
20. Ray Allen________133.5

BEYOND TPR: I have reduced my bonus for minutes played since my previous MVP ratings.

Add minutes played bonus for final MVP rating

1. Lebron James____234
   
2. Dwyane Wade___208.5
   
3. Chris Paul_______205.5
   
4. Kobe Bryant_____186.5
   
5. Dwight Howard___175.5
   
6. Brandon Roy_____175
   
7. Pau Gasol_______160
   
8. Tim Duncan______159.5
   
9. Dirk Nowitzki_____159
   
10. Dan Granger_____155.5
    
11. Kevin Garnett____154.5
    
12. Yao Ming________152.5
    
13. Tony Parker_____151.5
    
14. Manu Ginobili____150.5
    
15. Kevin Durant____146.5
    
16. Ray Allen_______144.5
    
17. Rashard Lewis___143.5
    
18. Jameer Nelson___143.5
    
19. Andre Igoudala__141
    
20. LaMarcus Aldridge_139.5
    
21. Rajon Rondo_____139.5
    
22. Joe Johnson_____139.5
    
23. Chris Bosh______138.5
    
24. Deron Williams___138
    
25. Leandro Barbosa_137.5

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