NBA.com's Player Tracking Data: DRIVES

[3ball]

NBA.com's player and team-tracking data show that today's teams score by driving to the basket more than anything else (http://stats.nba.com/tracking/#!/team/drives/?sort=DTP&dir=1).

Nearly 40% of all points are scored off drives, more than any other method.

This is why everyone says today's game is designed for perimeter players - wings from prior eras would have their games enhanced by today's spacing, hand-check/physicality ban, and the resulting standardized/routine penetration.
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[Jud]

SHUT THE **** UP!

[Smoke117]

You must be saving your savior Michael Jordan for an edit.

[3ball]

You must be saving your savior Michael Jordan for an edit.
I wasn't planning to, but I will because you brought it up - here's MJ saying that the 2005 hand-check ban and other rule changes would allow him to score 100 in today's game:

“It’s less physical and the rules have changed, obviously,” said Jordan. “Based on these rules, if I had to play with my style of play, I’m pretty sure I would have fouled out or I would have been at the free throw line pretty often and I could have scored 100 points.”

http://uproxx.com/dimemag/2010/10/michael-jordan-if-i-played-today-i-could-have-scored-100-points/

Given that today's game is based on dribble-penetration, it's no surprise MJ thinks the hand-check and physicality ban are so impactful, certainly more than zone defenses.. However, the main reason MJ doesn't rate today's zones very highly is because of the other rule introduced along with the hand-check ban in 2005: defensive 3 seconds.. This rule weakens the zone rules by banning zones in the most important area of the floor - the paint.

In today's game, defenders can only remain in the paint if they're within armslength (http://www.nba.com/nba101/misunderstood_0708.html) of their man - this is the very definition of man-to-man defense.. Furthermore, it's a very strict brand of man-to-man: a man's arm is 3 feet long and the paint is 16 x 19 feet, so paint defenders must cling to their man at all times, even when both players are inside the paint.

Previous era paint defenders were allowed the armslength provision too, but they could also stay in the lane if their man was OUT of armslength reach - the defender's man could be anywhere inside the paint and up to 3 feet outside the lane on either side, as stipulated in rule Rule 2b (http://nbahoopsonline.com/History/Leagues/NBA/Rules/Fouls.html) of the Illegal Defense Guidelines:

2b. "When a defensive player is guarding an offensive player who is adjacent (posted-up) to the 3-second lane, the defensive player may be within the "inside lane" area with no time limitations. An offensive player shall be ruled as "postedup" when he is within 3' of the free throw lane line. A hash mark on the baseline denotes the 3' area."
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[navy]

Jordan
You aint never lied.

[J Shuttlesworth]

I wasn't planning to, but I will because you brought it up [/I]
http://static.celebuzz.com/uploads/2013/08/14/jennifer-lawrence-10.gif

[3ball]

Jordan


While this thread statistically proves that today's game is based on dribble-penetration, there's equally definitive statistical proof that post scoring is easier than ever as well:

http://stats.nba.com/playtype/#!/post-up/?dir=1&sort=PPP&CF=Poss*GE*200

There you have it - Al Jefferson posts up a super-high percentage of the time, just like the bigs in previous eras, and yet he's a league-leader at 0.97 PPP on the post...

Accordingly, we know that the following 11 players from 1996 would be > 0.97 PPP in today's game, and therefore bump Al Jefferson down to at least #11, probably further:

Hakeem
Shaq
Robinson
Ewing
Alonzo
Sabonis
Karl Malone
Barkley
Webber
Kemp

And probably Rik Smits, Vin Baker, Dino Radja, and certainly Derrick Coleman.

The league changed the rules in 2005 to increase the percentages on ball movement and dribble penetration, which have surpassed post-ups in some spots.. But Al Jefferson is proof that the percentages on post-ups themselves hasn't diminished at all - infact, they've probably increased, along with everything else (http://www.nba.com/2009/news/features/04/09/stujackson/index.html).

[JerrySeinfeld]

You aint never lied.

tmz

[JohnMax]

How much would Scottie Pippen average?

[ralph_i_el]

You always like to talk about how MJ was an off ball player, who didn't use dribble penetration to the degree that players do today.

Wouldn't that mean he would do comparitivley WORSE today? A style he didn't use is now MORE effective according to you...

[Trollsmasher]

Scoring off drives was even more prominent in the 80s/90s.

PM me for stats

[Dragic4Life]

Since you're here (you've been dodging my Pippen threads), could you explain why mj has zero rings without Scottie "50 Greatest Players of All Time" Pippen on his team?

[24-Inch_Chrome]

Jordan

We got it the first time, you can stop whenever.

[hawksdogsbraves]

Great stat

http://i.imgur.com/A3eAOdW.jpg

[3ball]

^^^^ those figures are the stats for drives by INDIVIDUAL PLAYERS - and as you can see, they show that 1/3 of Lebron's scoring is drives, more than anything else.

The link posted in the OP (and again below) shows total drives per game FOR EACH TEAM - and teams today score between 30-36 PPG on drives... again... more than anything else.

http://stats.nba.com/tracking/#!/team/drives/?sort=DTP&dir=1

[ButterFace]

Is there a difference in free throws between free throws per drive now versus free throws per drive in the 90s? People like to mention that there is more zone now, but fouls are more touchy these days so having a clogged lane but no perimeter hand checking to stop drives would seem to mean a lot more free throws in those situations, hypothetically.

[3ball]

You always like to talk about how MJ was an off ball player, who didn't use dribble penetration to the degree that players do today.


Jordan chose not to dominate the ball because he knew ball-domination doesn't maximize winning.

But the funny thing is that Jordan actually DID play point guard for a stretch - coach Doug Collins put him at point guard for the last 24 games of the 1989 season - it's been well-documented (http://ballislife.com/michael-jordan-could-of-been-the-best-point-guard-ever-want-proof/).

MJ proceeded to average 30 PPG, 9 RPG, and 11 APG for the 24-game stretch at point guard, including a stretch of 10 triple-doubles in 11 games - other than Oscar, no one has ever put up these numbers over a 24 game stretch.. Coaches across the league were already calling Jordan the best point guard in the league, which is particularly remarkable since MJ was already sporting the GOAT off-ball game (http://www.insidehoops.com/forum/showpost.php?p=10862372&postcount=18).

But should we really be surprised that when the GOAT was asked to pinch-hit at point guard, he did it better than anyone else ever has?.. Nah, we shouldn't be a surprised AT ALL - that's exactly the kind of the thing GOAT is supposed to do.. :confusedshrug:.

[3ball]

THREAD CLIFFS: The stats show (http://stats.nba.com/tracking/#!/team/drives/?sort=DTP&dir=1) that almost 40% of all points in today's game are scored off drives - this is more than any other method - we can now definitely say that today's game is based on dribble penetration.

[3ball]

The NBA has prominently stated (http://www.nba.com/2009/news/features/04/09/stujackson/index.html) that one of their primary objectives of the new rules in 2005 was to make penetration easier.

And the NBA accomplished their objective - the stats show (http://stats.nba.com/tracking/#!/team/drives/?sort=DTP&dir=1) that dribble penetration accounts for more points than any other scoring method.

This is EXACTLY why MJ said he would score 100 points if he played today:

http://uproxx.com/dimemag/2010/10/michael-jordan-if-i-played-today-i-could-have-scored-100-points/

The funniest thing is that MJ was an OFF-BALL player anyway, and didn't rely on dribble penetration to achieve his production.

Furthermore, off-ball players are actually the biggest beneficiary of spacing and enhanced ball movement.. So MJ would have a field day in today's game - the easier penetration benefits his GOAT point guard ability (http://www.complex.com/sports/2014/01/michael-jordan-point-guard-in-1989-posted-triple-double-10-of-11-games), while the spacing and enhanced ball movement benefits his GOAT off-ball game (http://www.insidehoops.com/forum/showpost.php?p=10862372&postcount=18).

[Trollsmasher]

You still did not prove that the dribble penetration accounts for morw points today than it did before

Waiting for your data

[3ball]

You still did not prove that the dribble penetration accounts for more points today than it did before


You sound incapable of an eye test... No problem, I'll prove it to you as if you're literally blind:

The NBA stated (http://www.nba.com/2009/news/features/04/09/stujackson/index.html) that a primary objective of the rule changes was to increase penetration... Then they stated (http://www.nba.com/2009/news/features/04/09/stujackson/index.html) these rules had WORKED to increase penetration.. This proves that penetration increased, and is higher today than previous eras.

So there you have it, blind man - I'm not sure what other proof you are "looking" for.. :oldlol:

Furthermore, the NBA introduced new technology in 2014 that tracks player movements - the data shows (http://stats.nba.com/tracking/#!/team/drives/?sort=DTP&dir=1) that more points are scored by dribble-penetration than anything else, just like the NBA wanted.