whats the most overrated stat in the nba?

[Reks]

Why are some people saying steals but not blocks? They're basically the same thing. I think it's PER.

[cwas2882]

FT%

[shawngoat23]

I'm not a big fan of rebounding coming from the guard position.

And I think PER has a lot of flaws, but it's still the best single statistic for assessing a player's value.

[kooldude]

I can tell you what the most overrated thread topic is.

[A.J.]

Assists by far.

[PPAW4Life]

How can you guys say steals is overrated?

Stealing the ball means you stop the opposition from scoring and the majority of the time it leads to a fast break the other way and an easy hoop increasing energy and FG%. Plus it deflates the other team and if you're at home it stirs the crowd.

Steals has such a great impact because possession of the ball is foremost the important part of basketball....you can't score without the ball.

And people shooting down assists? Are you guys nuts?

Assists means the ball is moving and people are making shots....you gotta have a lot of assists....it's a great thing.

The most overrated statistic in basketball is +/- because any scrub can play a 5 minute stint where your team goes on a 19-0 run and have a terrific +/- for the entire game.

+/- is a joke.

Then it has to be rebounds....most specifically defensive rebounds. Just because you get a lot of defensive rebounds doesn't mean anything....some balls just clank off the rim right into your hands when you do absolutely nothing except be at the right spot at the right time.

Offensive rebounds on the other hand is absolutely huge...it's usually followed by an easy score (put back) or a 2nd or 3rd chance at a quality shot. And again it demoralizes the defending team causing them to waste even more energy and effort to defend again.

[some_rand]

blocks are much more overrated than steals.
steals, while not an indication of a good defender(iverson), are much more productive than blocks. most of the time a block goes out of bounds or right back to the other team

[Secret Lover14]

Double Doubles

Just because one play gets 10 pts and 10 rebounds. It doesnt make him better thana player who gets 30pts and 9 rebounds

[Spicy P]

Amare Stoudemire

[jaymeister15]

Assist to turnover ratio.

[eatyourchildren]

Can someone tell me why +/- is a bad stat?

[ilikecb4]

steals and blocked shots. Being good at either doesn't necessarily mean you're a good defender.

very true..look at darko and allen iverson...both are crap defenders..

darko gets a lot of blocks because he leaves his feet

adn iverson gambles too much

[Bank Shot]

What ever my favorite player is worse at then his rivals.

In all seriousness, its steals and blocks followed by PPG. Like people have said, steals or blocks don't mean good defense. I'd lean to steals being the least important since blocks can at least lead to the other team being intimidated. I've never seen a team get intimidated because the other team had a player who gets a lot of steals. PPG really doesn't tell you much without the %s.

[kandiking]

blocks are the sacks of the NBA.

[kevC]

Assist to turnover ratio.

Bingo. Why take a ratio of two seemingly unrelated stats? It's like taking a ratio of rebounds to steals. I understand it's an attempt to measure ball handling and decision making from a guard (mainly the 1) but there is a MUCH better stat for that called pure point rating.

Here's a good article of what I'm talking about:

http://www.miamiheatwave.com/forums/index.php?showtopic=2385

Yet, in spite of the logical disconnect of a name like Miller's showing up near the top of the list, some still insist on using assist/turnover ratio to gauge point guards. They're getting some confusing information. For instance, this year's leader, for a second straight season, isn't Nash. It isn't Jason Kidd or Baron Davis or Brevin Knight, either. It's (drumroll, please)

[Kayariel]

assists

[laxation26]

It depends on the context of the stat...

You can judge a good scorer by PPG, but not an efficient one.
You can judge good defensive IQ with steals and blocks, but not necessarily good defence.

I dont like +/- personally, but then again I never really understood the point of it. If someone else **** up royal while I'm on the court, my +/- is going to be affected. Whats the point of that stat...

[Alyosha12]

First thing that poped into my head were assists.

They are too team dependent a player on a good shooting team will get at least 1.5 or 2 assists more per game, then a player on a lesser team.
plus a player who has a lot of assists is automatically assumed he creates for others which really isn't the case for a lot of players.
And the way they are counted sickens me.

[Serpo]

Assist to turnover ratio.

[NDaATL]

Definitely FG% for me.

EDIT: Unless we are talking about the ridiculous +/- stat. It's fine over an 82 game span, but using +/- to evaluate one game is downright stupid. I still can't believe the NBA started using that.