RealGM

Little exercise I thought of after debating the quality of the league in 1997 vs this year. Below are the top 10 PPG from that year vs this year (taken from another poster in a different thread)

In 1997, the top 10 scorers (% of shots assisted - 2p/3p):
Jordan - 29.6 (50%/74%)
Malone - 27.4 (78%/NA)
Rice - 26.8 (74%/91%)
Richmond - 25.9 (45%/79%)
Sprewell - 24.2 (44%/64%)
Iverson - 23.5 (27%/57%)
Olajuwon - 23.2 (73%/NA)
Ewing - 22.4 (66%/NA)
Gill - 21.8 (57%/95%)
Payton - 21.8 (35%/71%)
League Average - 57%/81%

2023:
Doncic - 33.8 (10%/18%)
Embiid - 33.4 (60%/94%)
Tatum - 31.1 (54%/69%)
Giannis - 31.0 (40%/60%)
Shai - 30.7 (19%/36%)
Durant - 29.7 (46%/59%)
LeBron - 29.7 (39%/66%)
Dame - 28.8 (24%/58%)
Mitchell - 28.4 (27%/42%)
Morant - 27.5 (19%/52%)
League Average: 50%/83%

If you had to rank how good those players are at that moment in time (1997 and 2023) together in 1 list, what is your 1-20 ranking? I think the top 10 will be heavily skewed towards 2023. Will update later with my list when I'm at a PC.

An important thing to consider is that the pace is significantly higher now than it was in 1997. Teams take 9 more FGA per game on average now compared to then, which combined with a surge in 3 point shooting has resulted in average PPG being 114 in 2023 compared to just 97 in 1997. The unassisted part is mostly because of the rise of heliocentric offenses with lead guards who are both the primary scorer and playmaker of their team.

It's still very much possible that the 2023 group is noticeably better but without this context I don't think you'd get a fair assessment.

Dutchball97 wrote:An important thing to consider is that the pace is significantly higher now than it was in 1997. Teams take 9 more FGA per game on average now compared to then, which combined with a surge in 3 point shooting has resulted in average PPG being 114 in 2023 compared to just 97 in 1997. The unassisted part is mostly because of the rise of heliocentric offenses with lead guards who are both the primary scorer and playmaker of their team.

It's still very much possible that the 2023 group is noticeably better but without this context I don't think you'd get a fair assessment.

heliocentric? is that when u have ball alot

ShaqAttac wrote:

Dutchball97 wrote:An important thing to consider is that the pace is significantly higher now than it was in 1997. Teams take 9 more FGA per game on average now compared to then, which combined with a surge in 3 point shooting has resulted in average PPG being 114 in 2023 compared to just 97 in 1997. The unassisted part is mostly because of the rise of heliocentric offenses with lead guards who are both the primary scorer and playmaker of their team.

It's still very much possible that the 2023 group is noticeably better but without this context I don't think you'd get a fair assessment.

heliocentric? is that when u have ball alot

Lol yeah pretty much. Helios is the Greek word for the sun and heliocentric is the term used for the idea that all the planets in our solar system revolve around the sun.

So when someone says heliocentric offense they mean that there is one usage heavy player (sun) that directs the entire offense. They're the one to bring the ball up and the first option to shoot at the same time.

Dutchball97 wrote:

ShaqAttac wrote:

Dutchball97 wrote:An important thing to consider is that the pace is significantly higher now than it was in 1997. Teams take 9 more FGA per game on average now compared to then, which combined with a surge in 3 point shooting has resulted in average PPG being 114 in 2023 compared to just 97 in 1997. The unassisted part is mostly because of the rise of heliocentric offenses with lead guards who are both the primary scorer and playmaker of their team.

It's still very much possible that the 2023 group is noticeably better but without this context I don't think you'd get a fair assessment.

heliocentric? is that when u have ball alot

Lol yeah pretty much. Helios is the Greek word for the sun and heliocentric is the term used for the idea that all the planets in our solar system revolve around the sun.

So when someone says heliocentric offense they mean that there is one usage heavy player (sun) that directs the entire offense. They're the one to bring the ball up and the first option to shoot at the same time.

so harden

also nice lit flex ig