Some player tracking data observations

[Payt10]

I decided to dig into some of the player movement tracking data available at NBA.com. I wanted to see if I could find anything revealing or noteworthy in regards to which players are hustling and which or not. I think these stats give you a pretty good idea of that. Take a look.

Jimmy Butler (39.7 MPG):
2.8 Miles per game, 3.4 Miles per 48, 4.3 MPH

Pau Gasol (34.9 MPG):
2.2 Miles per game, 3.0 Miles per 48, 3.8 MPH

Joakim Noah (30.5 MPG):
2.1 Miles per game, 3.2 Miles per 48, 4.0 MPH

Derrick Rose (29.6 MPG):
2.1 Miles per game, 3.4 Miles per 48, 4.2 MPH

Mike Dunleavy (29.5 MPG):
2.2 Miles per game, 3.6 Miles per 48, 4.5 MPH

Taj Gibson (28.6 MPG):
1.9 Miles per game, 3.1 Miles per 48, 3.9 MPH

Kirk Hinrich (27.7 MPG):
2.1 Miles per game, 3.6 Miles per 48, 4.5 MPH

Aaron Brooks (20.1 MPG):
1.4 Miles per game, 3.3 Miles per 48, 4.1 MPH

Nikola Mirotic (18.3 MPG):
1.3 Miles per game, 3.3 Miles per 48, 4.1 MPH

Tony Snell (11.2 MPG):
0.8 Miles per game, 3.5 Miles per 48, 4.3 MPH

E'Twaun Moore (8.4 MPG):
0.6 Miles per game, 3.5 Miles per 48, 4.3 MPH

FYI-- the league leader in Distance Traveled per game is Jimmy Butler at 2.8 miles per game. To nobody's surprise. The league leader in distance traveled per 48 minutes is 3.7 with several people, including Tony Parker sitting atop that list. The lead for average speed (MPH) is 4.7 MPH. Kirk and Mike are actually tied for 12th in that category.

The low for Miles per 48 minutes is 2.8 (Demarcus Cousins). The low for MPH is 3.5 (Demarcus Cousins).

Two things immedietely jump out at me: Mike Dunleavy. Holy crap. Is this proof of his value? The guy is busting his tail out there covering up a lot of ground. He is tied with Kirk for fasted average speed of anybody on the team and also ties Kirk for Miles per 48.

The other thing that jumps out at me is how lazy (apparently) Taj Gibson has been. ranks right next to Pau for slowest average speed on the team at 3.9 MPH and also the second least amount of distance traveled per 48, again next to Pau.

Can anything be made of this? What are your guys thoughts?

[alucryts]

I personally don't think you can compare players across position and role. Pau Gasols area of interest on the court is physically smaller than any shooter's. Taj compared to pau and Noah makes sense though.

[kodo]

The other thing that jumps out at me is how lazy (apparently) Taj Gibson has been. ranks right next to Pau for slowest average speed on the team at 3.9 MPH and also the second least amount of distance traveled per 48, again next to Pau.

Can anything be made of this? What are your guys thoughts?

Anthony Davis also has an average speed of 3.9 MPH. Are we saying he's also lazy?

Jeff Teague also maintains an average speed of 3.9 MPH. He seems fast enough to me.

IMO most of these stats aren't meaningful.

The only interesting one IMO is total distance covered, mainly as a indicator of fatigue issues. Butler tops everyone in the NBA, but i think we already knew this.

Pau is also extremely high on the list for total distance traveled, which is troubling considering he's a 34 year old center. He's traveled the same distance as Anthony Davis, for comparison.

[Mech Engineer]

It can be useless data. Players might be running around inefficiently like Kirk might do sometimes or Snell looking for the ball.

Economy of movement is more important sometimes. Observe Jimmy...Jimmy is pretty good in his economy of movement by not making unnecessary running.

MDJ is a spacer but also is in the right position most of the time both on offense or defense. A dumber player in Dunleavy's role might have more mileage.

[Payt10]

The other thing that jumps out at me is how lazy (apparently) Taj Gibson has been. ranks right next to Pau for slowest average speed on the team at 3.9 MPH and also the second least amount of distance traveled per 48, again next to Pau.

Can anything be made of this? What are your guys thoughts?

Anthony Davis also has an average speed of 3.9 MPH. Are we saying he's also lazy?

Jeff Teague also maintains an average speed of 3.9 MPH. He seems fast enough to me.

IMO most of these stats aren't meaningful.

The only interesting one IMO is total distance covered, mainly as a indicator of fatigue issues. Butler tops everyone in the NBA, but i think we already knew this.

Pau is also extremely high on the list for total distance traveled, which is troubling considering he's a 34 year old center. He's traveled the same distance as Anthony Davis, for comparison.

It would be more interesting to me if we they divided these stats team by team so there is even more context. I just thought it was interesting to see Dunleavy ranking so highly in average speed, not only on our team, but across the league. Anderson Varejao, for instance was the 2nd fasted big man (average speed) in the league this year before he went down. I think these stats can give you a little bit of a glimpse into how active or how hard some of these players have to work.

I also think it would be interesting to see comparisons to last year and look at consistency.

[Flopper]

Taj's numbers definitely back up the eye test. Not sure if his ankles are still limiting him, but he's looked like a statue out there this year. I've always been an advocate of his, but his lack of mobility has been nearly as problematic as Jo and Pau's on the defensive end and on the glass. His comments about some on the team not practicing hard irked me too, since he sometimes looks like he's not playing hard in actual games against good teams.

[dice]

i think the spurs led the league in distance traveled last season due to their motion offense. i'd wager the hawks are pretty high this year

[musiqsoulchild]

I posted this exact same thing in the Dunleavy thread that Suzerain started.

I was comparing how much motion Korver does to that of Dunleavy. Very similar numbers.

[micromonkey]

This kind of supports Kurts "thrust"
I'd be interested in seeing peak speed for Rose on drives, and on D (probably much slower)

Dun's is a lot running around screens on O I think; kirk more on D--but I'd be interested in the further breakdown.