A very good analysis of Iverson/Kobe/Lebron/Wade/Melo

[AxnJxn00]

Found this on ESPN and thought I should share it here...

I've said it before and I'll say it again: Respect to Lebron for improving his work ethic on defense, but he has yet to resolve the issue that got his team swept last finals: He does NOT posess a threatening jump shot.

I will compare him to the other top 5 scorers in the league here:


FROM UNDER THE BASKET:
Lebron: 227/339 = 67.0% (best finisher in the league)
Kobe: 130/225 = 57.8% (not on lebrons level, but gets the job done)
Iverson: 175/319 = 54.9% (worse than kobe and lebron, still gets the job done consistently)
Melo: 201/340 = 59.1% (very solid)
Wade: 155/259 = 59.8% (no surprise that the three younger guys finish strongest around the basket, but everyone here is properly shooting 55+%. Lebron is exceptional though)

SHORT JUMPERS:
Lebron: 29/89 = 32.6% (awful. No defending it. Awful)
Kobe: 58/120 = 48.3% (16% percent better than James. Think about that. That's obscene. Starts to become clear why teams are more afraid of Kobe than anyone else in the league)
Iverson: 66/168 = 39.3% (Not as abyssmal as Lebron, but still pretty weak for close range shots)
Melo: 48/149 = 32.3% (congrats melo, you're the only person who's short jumper is worse than lebron. That's a big surprise, actually
Wade: 41/104 = 39.4% (was actually expecting better from wade here, but still second strongest of the 5)


LONG JUMPERS
Lebron: 65/176 = 36.9% (surprisingly better than short, but still mediocre)
Kobe: 99/254 = 39.0% (there are better long bombers, but this about average
Iverson: 76/166 = 45.8% (surprisingly strong here, my guess is because he faces fewer big men here so it is where he excels)
Melo: 100/226 = 44.2% (very solid, surprisingly much better than his short jumper)
Wade: 82/217= 37.8% (mediocre)


FROM 3
Lebron: 48/163 = 29.4% (no one shooting under 30% from 3 should take this many 3s)
Kobe: 73/206 = 35.4% (above average from 3, but there are better 3 shooters)
Iverson: 42/127 = 33.1% (High enough to deserve some 3 shots but nothing special)
Melo: 25/82 = 30.5% (Barely any better than Lebrons, but atleast he shoots half as much)
Wade: 7/25 = 28.0% (dont shoot them until you can)

Lebron homers love to try to refute Lebrons' weakness outside the basket as being irrellevant because he can drive to the basket so often and play to his strength. I'm sympathetic to that argument but guess what: IT DOES MATTER. LOOK AT WHAT HAPPENED AGAINST THE SPURS. That is about as strong as the evidence gets to show that having such a glaring weakness can have a serious affect on a players impact on a game.

So instead of droning on endlessly about FG% without anything resembling actual analysis, maybe you guys should really look into these extra statistical features. They give some excellent insight into why actual basketball players are more afraid of duncan and kobe than lebron and melo.

Looking at the hot spots on the top 5 scorers in the league I note:

WADE:
-Shoots below league averages from the distanced right and distanced center of the court.
-Has only made 3's in 2 of the 5 zones (is 0/1 from far left, 0/1 from far right, 0/4 from center)
-Takes the vast majority of his shots from either under the basket or on long jumpers from the left of the basket. This area he scores efficiently from
-Aside from driving the basket, there is no area in the court where he shoots better than 43%

MELO:
-Shooting is extremely streaky based on his comfort areas. He shoots 53.7% on long 2s from the right of the basket yet barely averages 35% from 2 on the right side of the court.
-Shoots below average from in close to the left and right of the basket
-Shoots poorly from range in front of the basket
-Essentially only shoots well under the basket or taking long twos from the right of the basket

IVERSON:
-Shoots long twos from the left almost as efficiently as he hits from under the basket (53.1% to 54.9%)
-No areas within the 2 point line where he shoots under 35%, majority of them he shoots 40-45%
-Has two three point zones that he struggles badly in, but shoots 41% from the 3 spot where he takes most of his threes (just to left)

JAMES:
-Shoots the majority of his shots from under the basket where he is one of the most efficient in the league
-Has three zones within the two point line, including the two zones just outside the right and left of the basket, where he shoots under 33%
-Shoots a median of about 35% from within the 2 point line
-Shoots 27% and below from 3s in front of the basket and anywhere to the right
-Takes most of his 3s just to the left of the basket where he makes 32%

BRYANT:
-Shoots poorly from two zones to the right of the basket
-Has three zones within the 2 point line where he shoots 50% or above, zones are both left and right of basket
-Shoots strong from 3 in all the areas where he takes a lot of 3s, including 41% from in front of the basket.


The conclusion you see from looking over their hot spots, is basically that Wade has serious problems with short jumpers and long 3s, Melo only shoots well from very specific spots on the court, Lebron cant shoot at all outside the basket, Iverson can shoot strong on both sides but takes too many threes from areas where he's not effective, and Bryant has the most balanced shooting from everywhere on the court and seems to be the only one who takes shots consistently from all over the court.

Credit to Joelo from ESPN message boards for this. He used http://www.nba.com/hotspots/ for his numbers.

[Patterns]

This is shocking! Kobe can shoot anywhere and Wade can't shoot 3's? Lebron can finish around the basket better than just about anyone? Wow.

[superLuigi21]

This is shocking! Kobe can shoot anywhere and Wade can't shoot 3's? Lebron can finish around the basket better than just about anyone? Wow.

u read my mind... but nice job finding all of these stats nonetheless

[Wade3Iverson]

That was a TERRIBLE ANALYSIS. Absolutely no insight.

[prekazi]

LeBron takes too many stupid outside jumpers, especially in first 3 quarters. Still, when it matters he starts to knock them down surprisingly. His 3pt %is his career low and FT hasn't improved. But like i said before in 4th quarters his jumpers mostly look good.

[CB4MiamiHeat]

good post but no surprise..

You note that Lebrons 1 dimension, as strong as it is, hurts him ..youre right he looked bad when the Spurs clogged up the lane as we saw in the 07 Finals.

But it goes both ways, Kobe knows he can score from anywhere and he tends to settle and not work for a closer shot..as we saw in the 04 Finals

But anyways, i dont know what the point is youre trying to prove.

[Cevap]

so lebron's the best...right....

[hermes]

good find

[WadeKnicks2010]

This doesn't prove anything except that all these players, except Kobe have unique sets of strengths and weaknesses. Kobe is an all around excellent player, the best overall player in the game and the best outside scorer of those 5.. But he can't take it to the rim and finish or get fouled as well as Wade and LeBron can. But that's because Wade and LeBron are younger and stronger at the moment. No player is perfect : / .

[bballcool34]

That was a TERRIBLE ANALYSIS. Absolutely no insight.

In terms of analysis, it didn't provide much.

But it did prove some conceptions of players which we already have an reinforce Kobe's ability to score from anywhere on the floor and that he has the least weaknesses in that part of his game.

It also provided for weaknesses in the young guy's games.

Overall, though nothing unexpected, it had some solid facts- hardly terrible.

[Santana Moss]

I found the post interesting. How about Jordan? How does Jordan's numberes stack up?

[Wade3Iverson]

In terms of analysis, it didn't provide much.

But it did prove some conceptions of players which we already have an reinforce Kobe's ability to score from anywhere on the floor and that he has the least weaknesses in that part of his game.

It also provided for weaknesses in the young guy's games.

Overall, though nothing unexpected, it had some solid facts- hardly terrible.

Well the OP says "very good analysis", which is simply not true. I was being a bit harsh because it wasn't terrible but rather mediocre/non-existent.

[LiquidFire]

oh, another lebron hate thread... i didnt see this coming....

[skagen]

-= original quote snipped =-



Well the OP says "very good analysis", which is simply not true. I was being a bit harsh because it wasn't terrible but rather mediocre/non-existent.

Actually, it was a very good analysis imo. Just because it doesn't bring anything 'new' or 'well duh' doesn't mean it's not a good analysis in it's own right. Analyzing is just examining and identifying causes. What he essentially analyzed is the cause for which NBA teams fear one player over another offensively.

He provided data relevant to habits and their efficiency at it and gave an evidence supported opinion of why one team fears kobe more than they do lebron.

I would say the analysis was pretty good, if not a little 'well known'.

[NetsForce]

So Kobe is better than Iverson, Lebron, Wade, and Melo?

Thank you captain obvious.

[AxnJxn00]

I thought it was interesting at the very least. I did kind of expect to see those results but this is the first time I have really seen it backed up with statistics...if you don't like it whatever, but it's much better than just simply saying "Lebron can drive and finish better than anyone! KOBE OWNS LEBRON BECAUSE HE CAN"T SHOOT" etc...I like the facts in this one.

[D-Wade]

LeBron would be a far better player if he didn't take 3's unless he had to.

I've been saying that for a while now.

[ljp24]

oh, another lebron hate thread... i didnt see this coming....

How is this hating when the stats show he's on the bottom 2 of every stat except 'under baske't

[HarlemHeat37]

I don't think shooting is Lebron's weakness..it's his shot selection..

I won't make a Lebron/slave joke for once

[D.Brasco]

^^^

I know cuz there so funny...i love how ur the only guy who's caught on to adding another word to the Le part of lebrons name.....its so clever and fresh where did u get the inspiration for it? i mean wow...you are on to something buddy.