RealGM

All the individual data below is compiled from 53 of the 80 regular season games Jordan played that year. Also includes all 22 playoff games.

*Team Performance data is a 55 Game Sample (Includes 2 games Jordan missed)


Regular Season - 55 Games

http://i.imgur.com/UL6DD2R.png


Playoffs - 22 Games

http://i.imgur.com/u2Dz6U8.jpg



This was an "average" season from Jordan's prime, certainly not an outlier for him. Actually, depending on who you ask, this might not even be one of his 3 best seasons. Regardless, the reason I chose this year is due to the game footage availability. I couldn't find more than 25-30 regular season Bulls games from 1985-1991 or 1993. Same goes for any of the 1980's Lakers, Celtics or Pistons games. I believe 50+ games is certainly an adequate sample size to give some idea of his impact. I also doubt there is any major highlight bias in this data, except in the raw ppg average and 3 point %. His 2 point FG% is actually deflated in this sample, as is the overall team ORtg/DRtg (though this might also underrate the bench).



1991-92 was also the season Jordan called himself a "utility" player.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qCJR0RiRadI&t=5m22s



Daily Herald - January 24, 1992

Michael Jordan - He is still the best player in the NBA. But he has performed a new role this season, filling gaps whenever the club needed a spark, either offensively or defensively. He is still obsessed with winning the scoring title, which is unfortunate, but he is human. In terms of all-around play within a team concept, this has been his best half-season. Grade A+

Scottie Pippen - During a game at Chicago Stadium last month, Pippen took a defensive rebound, dribbled through a crowd to the open floor, then dribbled past the back of the defender on the other end and rammed home a vicious dunk. It was the most powerful move of the season. Pippen is a star now, with as much pride in his defense as his offense. He is a more all-around contributor than Jordan this season, though he too is obsessed with his national recognition. He and Horace Grant are the reasons Jordan finally got his title. And Pippen's improved play this season, during which he has had maybe two bad games, promises a second title. Grade — A+

Horace Grant — The third Musketeer, awaiting word on his first all star bid. Grant has shrugged off Charles Oakley disease, and now fights for rebounds in order to get his shots and points. He, too, wants more recognition, but he gets it from his teammates and is the kind of man who appreciates a quick, "Good work." When he fails, everyone knows it because the Bulls get killed on the boards. It just hasn't happened often. Grade — A.








Shot Chart

Sports Illustrated - Dec. 23, 1991

Jordan is now a better shooter than Bird, not from long range, certainly, but from 20 feet in. "I don't do much shooting in the summer anymore, so I don't completely understand it myself," says Jordan. "But it's a fact. Everything about it — my mechanics, when to take the shot, the release — feels better and smoother."


Regular Season (53 Games)



Playoffs (22 Games)



Regular Season + Playoffs (75 Games)





Shot Chart By Series


Bulls vs. Heat (3 Games)



Bulls vs. Knicks (7 Games)



Bulls vs. Cavaliers (6 Games)



Bulls vs. Blazers (6 Games)






Just to increase the sample size, spoiler below includes the 1991 playoff shot charts, added to the 1992 RS sample (53 Games) and 1992 playoffs:






Synergy Offense


PPP stands for Points Per Play. This time I used the real Synergy categories (under Playtype on NBA.com), since the old chart from this thread was very inaccurate in regards to Jordan's isolation frequency and to some extent his P&R Ball Handling frequency. Everything else on that chart is accurate for the most part. Also turnovers are included in this chart and have an impact on the PPP (Points Per Play). To avoid confusion, all isolation plays on this chart are during plays when he has the ball 3 seconds or longer before shooting. Most of the time he would quickly pop out off a screen or take advantage of a switch in a P&R play.

Regular Season (53 Games)




Playoffs (22 Games)





Regular Season + Playoffs (75 Games)






Man Defense

This is a measure of Jordan's man defense the same method NBA.com has used the last 3 seasons. All FGA with Jordan defending the shot are recorded, including 1 on 1 transition and chasing defenders around screens. The only exception is the shots that are taken in heavy traffic or with multiple players contesting.

I have factored the number of FGA for each player in the Opponent Avg. FG%, however I am not 100% sure if NBA.com did that as well. For playoff games I also used the regular season average for opponent FG%.


Regular Season (53 Games)



Playoffs (22 Games)



Regular Season + Playoffs (75 Games)




Man Defense By Series


Bulls vs. Heat (3 Games)



Bulls vs. Knicks (7 Games)



Bulls vs. Cavaliers (6 Games)



Bulls vs. Blazers (6 Games)





Team Performance


*This data below is Jordan on court, with both Pippen & Grant off court. Did not keep track of this for the 22 playoff games due to the lack of a sample size.





Regular Season (55 Games) *RS Data is a 55 Game Sample (Includes 2 games Jordan missed)




Playoffs (22 Games)





Regular Season + Playoffs (75 Games)

Brilliant work. Where did you acquire this footage?

Highlights:
-MJ's at rim% was closer to Wade than LeBron level during this span.
-MJ's mid range % was insane
-Man D was solid, but not on the level of guys like Kawhi and Green
-The on court O rating is Stephen Curry level in this sample.

colts18 wrote:Brilliant work. Where did you acquire this footage?

Either from YT, or this torrent site. If you use a browser like google chrome it will automatically translate to english. I really wish the NBA would make its old games available, even from the 80's or 90s. We know all of them have been captured on video, unlike the 60's.

-Man D was solid, but not on the level of guys like Kawhi and Green

There are some transition baskets included in the sample, as well as some plays where he was still able to contest the shot after being picked off on the baseline. However I don't know how NBA.com kept track of their data.

-Man D was solid, but not on the level of guys like Kawhi and Green

It depends which data and what years you are looking at. Jordan definitely looks to be on par if not ahead of Kawhi, though Green is clearly ahead of both.


http://stats.nba.com/league/player/defense/#!/?sort=D_FGA&dir=1


2016 Draymond Green

Regular Season: -6.1% Diff, 16.4 DFGA
Playoffs: -8.4 Diff, 18.3 DFGA


2016 Kawhi Leonard

Regular Season: -5.6% Diff, 9.4 DFGA
Playoffs: -1.2% Diff, 9.9 DFGA


1992 Michael Jordan

Regular Season (53 Games): -8.1% Diff, 9.8 DFGA
Playoffs: -4.2% Diff, 8.8 DFGA

Surprisingly low %s in the playoffs for at the rim finishing and in transition. Especially in transition, actually.

Dipper 13 wrote:MJ awesomeness

Dipper - Thank you. Amazing stuff. Do you know which season Pollack was referring to with this quote

NBA.com: You were close to Wilt after he retired. How often would you talk to him?
Harvey Pollack: All the time. Wilt was big on stats. One time he called me up and said, 'You know, Harvey, Michael Jordan can't hit a shot beyond 15 feet?'
I said, 'How do you know that?'
He said to me, 'Don't you watch the games?'
I said, 'I don't watch stuff like that. How do you know?'
He said, 'I watch it.'
So, during the height of Michael's career, I got the play-by-play of the first 20 Bulls games and I checked the distance of every shot Jordan took during the season and sure enough, he was shooting under 40 percent from 15 feet back.
Then Wilt said, 'Jordan doesn't take any shots from seven feet in, all of those shots are drives to the basket. He doesn't take five or six footers. He goes right to the hoop.'
I tried 20 more games and ended up looking at the entire season and got the same results. Wilt's analysis held up.

Looks like it wasn't from this year for sure.

Dipper 13 wrote:

-Man D was solid, but not on the level of guys like Kawhi and Green

It depends which data and what years you are looking at. Jordan definitely looks to be on par if not ahead of Kawhi, though Green is clearly ahead of both.

I would be surprised if that were true, given the games I've watched from Jordan's '92 playoffs, which honestly aren't that many. The frequency that he contests shots has been poor. Worse, in games 2 and 4 of the '92 finals, he loses Drexler several times while ballwatching or going for a steal. You can't give away three open layups per game and have a high defensive impact as a guard. I actually don't think Jordan had much of a positive defensive impact in the games I've seen. Of course, that can all change as I watch more games, or even as I go back to elucidate what I recorded. Capturing defensive impact is tricky since the result is muddled by variance and teammates. On the other hand, I think it's remarkable that you managed to record all this data, since I know from trying to do the same just how much time it takes. I think recording stats takes away a lot of the enjoyment in watching the games too. Makes it a bit of a grind.

kabstah wrote:Surprisingly low %s in the playoffs for at the rim finishing and in transition. Especially in transition, actually.

Yes he missed a few in transition and around the rim in general. Most of those misses were either due to great rim protection or his tendency to take a ton of "risky" acrobatic shots.

fpliii wrote:Dipper - Thank you. Amazing stuff. Do you know which season Pollack was referring to with this quote

NBA.com: You were close to Wilt after he retired. How often would you talk to him?
Harvey Pollack: All the time. Wilt was big on stats. One time he called me up and said, 'You know, Harvey, Michael Jordan can't hit a shot beyond 15 feet?'
I said, 'How do you know that?'
He said to me, 'Don't you watch the games?'
I said, 'I don't watch stuff like that. How do you know?'
He said, 'I watch it.'
So, during the height of Michael's career, I got the play-by-play of the first 20 Bulls games and I checked the distance of every shot Jordan took during the season and sure enough, he was shooting under 40 percent from 15 feet back.
Then Wilt said, 'Jordan doesn't take any shots from seven feet in, all of those shots are drives to the basket. He doesn't take five or six footers. He goes right to the hoop.'
I tried 20 more games and ended up looking at the entire season and got the same results. Wilt's analysis held up.

Looks like it wasn't from this year for sure.

Probably early in his career. Maybe 1987?

Blackmill wrote:I would be surprised if that were true, given the games I've watched from Jordan's '92 playoffs, which honestly aren't that many. The frequency that he contests shots has been poor. Worse, in games 2 and 4 of the '92 finals, he loses Drexler several times while ballwatching or going for a steal. You can't give away three open layups per game and have a high defensive impact as a guard. I actually don't think Jordan had much of a positive defensive impact in the games I've seen. Of course, that can all change as I watch more games, or even as I go back to elucidate what I recorded. Capturing defensive impact is tricky since the result is muddled by variance and teammates. On the other hand, I think it's remarkable that you managed to record all this data, since I know from trying to do the same just how much time it takes. I think recording stats takes away a lot of the enjoyment in watching the games too. Makes it a bit of a grind.

Drexler did shoot good (20/45) against Jordan in the Finals sample. He was definitely caught sleeping a few times in various playoff & RS games. However this does not measure defensive impact, only man defense. I would loosely rely on it since I don't know how NBA.com kept track of their data. NBA.com's definition is "when the player is defending the shot." Whether that meant having a hand up and leaping to contest, or just being within a arms length (or even within a step) of the shooter, I am not sure.

One habit Jordan had on defense was to leak out for a potential fastbreak when closing out on a shooter.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7-XUqJUkHdk&t=26m7s

Dipper,

What was your overall impression of MJ's defense? Not looking for stats, but your overall impression based on the 90 game sample size. How does he compare against the other perimeter players you tracked?

Amazing stuff Dipper. Might seriously need to consider Mj my offensive Goat. Had Bird and Magic over him only but wasnt the most confident in it.

Another thing i need to consider is Dirk as Goat midrange shooter. Mj was always a candidate but those numbers are ridiculous. He might well be the best at that range.

colts18 wrote:Dipper,

What was your overall impression of MJ's defense? Not looking for stats, but your overall impression based on the 90 game sample size. How does he compare against the other perimeter players you tracked?

This is something that was spread out over a long time, it was not all compiled recently or at one time. I was hoping more games would become available. I do not recall tracking any other perimeter players like this. From what I do recall, he was definitely a first team caliber defender, though not against the Cavaliers in the playoffs. That was an overall bad series by his standards. It's hard to compare to modern players since the offensive strategies have changed so much, back then it was more of an inside out game. He was excellent at getting around picks & off ball screens and along with Pippen, perhaps the best in the league at stealing an entry pass as well as playing the passing lanes. Sometimes he would bait the defense into throwing a pass and jump in the lane to steal it. He also liked to reach a LOT, especially while helping on a slasher or cutter. If he was caught deep inside on a mismatch he would either concede the basket or try to reach around and go for the strip. Sometimes the refs let him get away with a foul or two, but he had both big and quick hands. Very rarely would he attempt to draw a charge or anything like that. There were times his man could catch him sleeping, but his anticipation and reflexes were so good it enabled him to recover if he did get beat. This is likely a big reason why he liked to gamble on defense. Still I doubt his impact would have been on par with Pippen and especially Grant, who was the key to their full court pressing defense. But for a wing player with his offensive responsibilities, it is very good.

Dipper 13 wrote:

colts18 wrote:Dipper,

What was your overall impression of MJ's defense? Not looking for stats, but your overall impression based on the 90 game sample size. How does he compare against the other perimeter players you tracked?

This is something that was spread out over a long time, it was not all compiled recently or at one time. And I have not tracked any other perimeter players like this. From what I recall, he was definitely a first team cailber defender, though not against the Cavaliers in the playoffs. That was an overall bad series by his standards. It's hard to compare to modern players since the offensive strategies have changed so much, back then it was more of an inside out game. He was excellent at getting around picks & off ball screens and along with Pippen, perhaps the best in the league at stealing an entry pass as well as playing the passing lanes. Sometimes he would bait the defense into throwing a pass and jump in the lane to steal it. Besides weakside gambling, he also liked to reach a LOT, especially while helping on a slasher or cutter. If he was caught deep inside on a mismatch he would either concede the basket or try to reach around and go for the strip. Sometimes the refs let him get away with a foul or two, but he had both big and quick hands. Very rarely would he attempt to draw a charge or anything like that. There were times his man could catch him sleeping, but his anticipation and reflexes were so good it enabled him to recover if he did get beat. This is likely a big reason why he liked to gamble on defense. Still I doubt his impact would have been on par with Pippen and especially Grant, who was the key to their full court pressing defense. But for a wing player with his offensive responsibilities, it is very good.

Dipper - What about his lateral quickness/foot speed? Are there any guards that you think he would have trouble staying in front of at this point in his career?

fpliii wrote:Dipper - What about his lateral quickness/foot speed? Are there any guards that you think he would have trouble staying in front of at this point in his career?

That depends on how the game is officiated and how much body contact is allowed. But I believe his lateral footspeed and strength is good enough to stay with any modern guards off the dribble.

Pretty amazing, and that was only his 5th best season in terms of FG%.

The efficiency out of the post is incredible.

A little surprised at the defensive numbers as there are two playoff series in which the players Jordan defended shot better against him than against others. It really puts into perspective LeBron's performance in the Finals when opponents were -16% against him and that's against a GOAT offensive team. It would be interesting to see Pippen's numbers but it was somewhat clear that Pippennwas the better defender at this point.

RealGM is awesome Thank you Dipper!

Great work. I really need to consider MJ the GOAT mid-range shooter, those numbers from 16 feet to 3pter are insane.

His efficiency working in the post is incredible too.

Dipper 13 wrote:

colts18 wrote:Dipper,

What was your overall impression of MJ's defense? Not looking for stats, but your overall impression based on the 90 game sample size. How does he compare against the other perimeter players you tracked?

This is something that was spread out over a long time, it was not all compiled recently or at one time. I was hoping more games would become available. I do not recall tracking any other perimeter players like this. From what I do recall, he was definitely a first team caliber defender, though not against the Cavaliers in the playoffs. That was an overall bad series by his standards. It's hard to compare to modern players since the offensive strategies have changed so much, back then it was more of an inside out game. He was excellent at getting around picks & off ball screens and along with Pippen, perhaps the best in the league at stealing an entry pass as well as playing the passing lanes. Sometimes he would bait the defense into throwing a pass and jump in the lane to steal it. He also liked to reach a LOT, especially while helping on a slasher or cutter. If he was caught deep inside on a mismatch he would either concede the basket or try to reach around and go for the strip. Sometimes the refs let him get away with a foul or two, but he had both big and quick hands. Very rarely would he attempt to draw a charge or anything like that. There were times his man could catch him sleeping, but his anticipation and reflexes were so good it enabled him to recover if he did get beat. This is likely a big reason why he liked to gamble on defense. Still I doubt his impact would have been on par with Pippen and especially Grant, who was the key to their full court pressing defense. But for a wing player with his offensive responsibilities, it is very good.

Amazing piece of work.

Just adding some quotes from that period that line up with your observations.

-"He had unbelievable speed, he had the ability to stop, pivot and return. Return and coil. Just like a rattlesnake. He could strike and recover so quick. Nobody had that recovery ability. Combine that with his determination and intuitive sense, and those were his greatest strengths as a defender in my opinion" John Bach (Defensive coordinator Bulls)

-Jackson said the best thing about Jordan as a defender was never having to provide help for him. When opponents tried to set picks and screens for the man he was guarding, Jackson never worried because he felt Jordan was too strong to be held with a pick. Jordan's footspeed gave him the ability to circle around to the front of the man he was playing and poke the ball away on an attempted pass. When defending a man in the post up situation, this technique is known as circling the post. He negated an opponents ability to post up simply because nobody felt confident enough to challenge him there." (Book "Jordan" by Mitchell Krugel)

- "He was such an attacker, guys were afraid to put the ball down on the floor against him because they were afraid of losing it" "The great scorers, he could neutralize them or take them out of their games. He did that to Clyde Drexlerin the 1992 Finals. He did it to Reggie Lewis. Those things are why we won a lot of games" Phil Jackson

-"Where can I play Jordan now and cause the most damage" Bach on PJ's defensive decisions to put jordan on guards, PG's Forwards etc (remarking about the decision to put MJ on Price during the 1992 ECF 4th quarter game 5

Shot Clock wrote:Jordan's footspeed gave him the ability to circle around to the front of the man he was playing and poke the ball away on an attempted pass. When defending a man in the post up situation, this technique is known as circling the post. He negated an opponents ability to post up simply because nobody felt confident enough to challenge him there." (Book "Jordan" by Mitchell Krugel)

Yes, I was thinking of a play like this:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aad6PQzRIp8&t=4m45s

As far as stealing entry passes, even if Jordan or Pippen was guarding the passer, they could still steal it. Both had excellent reflexes and timing.

Dipper, your MJ work is awesome

Looking at the full game clips, it's noticeable how dominant the Bulls were athletically. In the first Q of game 1 v. the Heat, Jordan is controlling the defensive glass and Pippen has a play where he takes a pass from beyond the arc and gets an easy-looking dunk with one dribble. 'Positionless' basketball really isn't so new, methinks.