Some of us old people may remember the dating game, but for the lucky young few who don't remember let me give you the gist of it. It was a game show where one person (say a lady) asked questions with the help of a program host to three contestants who were obscured from her view. The idea was that the lack of that visual stimuli would remove the inherent biases that we held -- and that she would pick the right guy to go out on a date with based upon his answers. The match would be made not by bias, but by fit. In this case -- personality.
At the beginning of the season, or during training camp, I don't honestly remember it was all a blur -- but earlier on this season we were graced with the oft-repeated refrain of player playing time / opportunity parity. If you played well you'd get on the court, if you did not, there were no factors holding you in place -- there would be no favorites. In a way, Head Coach Tyrone Corbin was advocating for a meritocracy -- or running the Dating Game. If you were the right answer to the question, you'd get picked. So far the questions on this team have been consistent scoring, defense, and shooting the ball from way away enough to give our bigs some space to operate.
Let's play the dating game with Raja Bell, Gordon Hayward, C.J. Miles, Alec Burks, and Josh Howard. I've randomized the orders and after the jump we'll get right to it. (Full break down and poll after the jump)
The Set Up:
Tyrone Corbin will be representing the Utah Jazz and be looking for what the Jazz needs the most from their wing players -- consistent scoring, defense, and long range shooting. There are five contestants. The catch is that ALL OF US READERS get to pick out who are the winner(s) of this dating game. There are 96 minutes at the shooting guard and small forwards spot. You pick out which one of these guys gets left out. We'll deal with the minutes in a later post . . . of course.
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The Simple Stats -- Naturalized to 18 mpg:
| Player A | Player B | Player C | Player D | Player E | |
| Points | 5.5 | 6.2 | 8.8 | 8.8 | 6.4 |
| Rebounds | 1.1 | 1.8 | 1.9 | 2.7 | 2.8 |
| Assists | 0.9 | 2.1 | 1.1 | 0.9 | 0.9 |
| Steals | 0.3 | 0.5 | 0.8 | 0.5 | 0.6 |
| Blocks | 0.1 | 0.5 | 0.3 | 0.1 | 0.2 |
| Turn Overs | 0.5 | 1.0 | 1.0 | 1.0 | 1.0 |
The clear scoring winners here are Player C and Player D. Player D also hits the glass pretty hard. Player E is also pretty good at scoring, and rebounding; however Player B seems to be a little bit of everything. From this first section I think the clear winners are B, C, and D -- and you'd probably want to start B and C. D's scoring and rebounding could be an asset to the bench. Player A takes care of the ball way better, but seems inferior in all the other ways.
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Offensive Efficiency:
| Player A | Player B | Player C | Player D | Player E | |
| FG% | 49.3% | 42.0% | 38.4% | 41.4% | 36.6% |
| 3PT% | 43.4% | 25.0% | 27.5% | 38.5% | 20.8% |
| FT% | 87.0% | 79.1% | 75.3% | 72.7% | 83.8% |
| eFG% | 60.5% | 45.5% | 42.7% | 43.4% | 37.9% |
| PPS | 1.34 | 1.20 | 1.12 | 1.18 | 1.05 |
| PPS | 1.12 | 0.90 | 0.84 | 0.87 | 0.79 |
| PER | 10.3 | 13.9 | 13.6 | 14.6 | 9.8 |
| USG% | 12.0% | 17.4% | 25.2% | 24.8% | 20.2% |
| AST% | 7.3% | 17.9% | 9.9% | 8.3% | 7.7% |
| Ortg | 123 / 100 | 106 / 100 | 99 / 100 | 103 / 100 | 93 / 100 |
Oh, now I get it. Player A is the best shooter in each category. That makes a huge difference. The rest of the players all shoot in the same 38 fg% to 42 fg%, except Player E who is in the 36 fg% range. If you look at three point percentage as the tie breaker than Player D is the next best. If you look at eFG% as the tie breaker than Player B is the next best. In both cases Player E does not have a very strong showing here. (But hey, he's the best rebounder!) PPS (Points Per Shot), and PPS (Points Per Possession) both seem to favor Player A by quite a bit. Player D has the best PER, and Player C has the highest USG%. Player B has the highest AST%, and his ratio to USG% and AST% seems to be pretty close to 1:1. Only two players have sub 100 / 100 offensive ratings, Player C and Player E. After the first round you kind of had to get rid of Player A from the rotation. After this round you kind of have to keep Player A. Figuring out who to remove from the rotation is going to need more questions.
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Shooting Locations:
| Player A | Player B | Player C | Player D | Player E | |
| At the Rim | 83.3% | 61.1% | 72.1% | 55.6% | 58.1% |
| 3' to 9' | 80.0% | 31.6% | 38.2% | 23.8% | 41.7% |
| 10' to 15' | 0.0% | 35.7% | 23.8% | 16.7% | 37.9% |
| 16' to 23' | 43.8% | 43.7% | 24.1% | 37.5% | 29.7% |
| Threes | 43.4% | 25.0% | 27.5% | 38.5% | 20.8% |
| Free Throws | 87.0% | 79.1% | 75.3% | 72.7% | 83.8% |
This isn't nearly as redundant as it first appears -- the Jazz run an offense that gets players shots all over the court. Sometimes it's a quick cut for a layup, sometimes you run through screens and get a mid range jumper. Other times a team mate penetrates and kicks to you, open outside for a spot-up jumper. I recognize now that I should have charted out that stuff too -- but I'm not to stick with this stuff from HoopData.com instead. Player A is having a great year shooting. I guess the reason why Player A scores the least is because Player A never shoots . . . because when he does shoot they are likely to go in. Our wings aren't that great from "Wheezy" range, but we already have a specialist from that range already. I think the Top 3 zones to worry about are from 16' to 23', from Three point range (+23'), and from the Free Throw line. Player A is the best from those spots. Player E is second best from the FT line, but horrible from the other two important zones. Player B is 2nd best from one zone (midrange), 3rd best from the FT line -- but only hitting 25% of his threes. That would almost be perfect as a compliment to Player A. Player C makes his FTs, but little else -- but he was tied for best scorer in 18 mpg. He must take a number of shots. Player D seems to do alright, but misses free throws.
Hmmm, this is going to be hard, let's look at the final category.
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Defense:
| Player A | Player B | Player C | Player D | Player E | |
| Opp PPP | 0.94 | 0.92 | 0.91 | 0.68 | 0.93 |
| NBA Rank | 326 | 301 | 289 | 21 | 314 |
| Opp FG% | 41.7% | 42.6% | 39.9% | 29.6% | 44.8% |
Wowee! Player A, the best shooter, isn't so great at defense. Player B and C are clearly ahead of Player A and E (but not by much by just Opponents PPP). However, Player D -- wow. Either you have a rep and opponents just don't shoot it much around you, or something else. But MySynergySports.com ranks you #21 in the entire NBA. The purpose of this dating game was to pick one of the five guys to eliminate from the rotation -- not to pick a winner. But I may need to revise that . . .
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Bonus Round:
Net PER by Position, and Net +/-:
Yes, even here on the web there's a bonus round, let's see how our contestants did.
| Player A | Player B | Player C | Player D | Player E | |
| NET PER (PG) | +0.0 | +0.0 | +12.5 | ||
| NET PER (SG) | -4.5 | +12.7 | -3.5 | +2.0 | +7.3 |
| NET PER (SF) | +26.1 | +2.3 | -0.9 | +0.0 | -9.3 |
| Net +/- | -5.3 | -1.0 | -3.6 | +14.7 | -0.1 |
Player D seems to be pretty good wherever he is played, but better at the PG and SG spots. Overall he has a Net +/- of +14.7. Player B looks like he is the best SG, but also plays SF. Player A does damage as a SF, but plays everything. The bad news is that he has a negative +/- rating. Player C doesn't seem to do anything right, while Player E can be pretty good or pretty bad depending on where he is played.
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Recap:
- Player A: Worst stats, best % shooter all around, best from range and FT line, not that great on d
- Player B: Does a little bit of everything, good passing skills, solid from distance but three point shot is a problem. Should probably see more time at the SG spot than the SF spot
- Player C: Scores points, steals the ball, second best defender. Not an efficient shooter, but 3rd best from three
- Player D: Scores points, rebounds, best defense. Not great at shooting, but 2nd best from three. Best in +/-.
- Player E: Rebounds and makes his free throws. Best in class at 10'-15' range. Is that a shot our wings take though?
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Vote:
Which of these five players gets eliminated?