Allow me to explain how this works. We have taken the top-10 league leaders in points-per-game, as found on the index, made a few changes, and examined each player analytically and statistically in an attempt to help shed some more light on those who truly are the most valuable via John Hollinger's famous Player Efficiency Rating. We felt like there were two more deserving candidates than Chicago's Richard Dumas and Toronto's Hakeem Olajuwon, based on team records. Charlotte's Latrell Sprewell and Seattle's David Robinson were incorporated into this list, seeing as how they are the clearcut leaders on teams that are considered among the elite in the league this season.
The formula used in this case is a simplified version of Hollinger's complex mathematical system, but does the job. We take into consideration the following categories in calculating a player's PER:
- Field-Goals Made
- Steals
- Three-Pointers Made
- Free-Throws Made
- Blocks
- Offensive Rebounds*
- Assists
- Defensive Rebounds*
- Free-Throws Missed
- Field-Goals Missed
- Turnovers
- Minutes
*In order to distinguish between the offensive/defensive rebounding rate, we have opted to take 40% of the total amount of rebounds as the number of offensive rebounds, and the remaining 60% as the number of defensive rebounds. These numbers were not taken at random, but rather through a rounded ratio found over in the NBA, our brother-league.
Without any further ado, let's dive right into it!
1998 DASL Midseason PER Rankings
As you can see, while Glen Rice currently leads all scorers at 29.2ppg, which is 1.2 points greater than the league's second highest scorer in Dana Barros, Rice falls just short of the #1 spot in PER. That honour goes to the Lakers' Barros! Anyone surprised? He is the reigning league MVP, and currently has 4 Maurice Podoloff trophies to his name: back-to-back in 1993 and 1994, and another back-to-back in 1996 and 1997. While he had won all four in Milwaukee, there was talk about his play not being as elite as it has been in past seasons, seeing as how he is aging and is now playing with a different squad. However. at 31 years old, he is once again showing us all that he knows how to get it done, logging a whopping PER of 33.14, an astounding +3.3 in front of second-place Rice. If history is any indication, perhaps we can put our hopes in PER to be a key indicator in the MVP race. Barros' efficient scoring across the board, along with his terrific playmaking ability and great defense give him the lead, and by a significant margin, as we begin the second half of the season. Couple it all with the Lakers having a three-game lead over the West, and one can certainly argue the likelihood of a Barros' MVP three-peat. Let us not discount Rice however, who himself is having a terrific season at the age of 31 as well. The Timberwolves are right behind the Lakers, sitting in second-place in the West. See the trend happening here? Barros in first, Rice in second; Lakers in first, Wolves in second. Let's see how Rice responds as the season goes on.
Dana Barros once again taking the league by storm. Glen Rice is doing it all this season, big time.
Looking further down the list, we observe something very interesting that happens to those in third and fourth on the scoring list. While Mitch Richmond and Scottie Pippen lead their squads in scoring and are some of the best scorers the league has to offer this season, they both take big tumbles down the PER rankings. While the Hawks' Richmond is a phenomenal scorer from all over the floor, he struggles on the defensive end of the court. He is not the worst defender, but at the same time is not very good. He also turns the ball over a tad much at 3.3 turnovers-per-game. What we can definitely tip our hats to though in his favour is his phenomenal rebounding for a 6'5 shooting guard. 7.9 rebounds-per-game for someone of that stature is outstanding to see, and is a big reason for Boston's being ranked first in rebounds up to date this season, +1.9 over the second-place Timberwolves (sorry Minnesota, I swear we are not doing this on purpose!). What Richmond does warrants him a seventh-place spot on the list, simply due to others deserving a higher spot on the list. Dropping four spots down the list is alarming enough, but five definitely sounds worse, does it not? Unfortunately, that is the case for Orlando's Scottie Pippen, who, despite being ranked fourth on the scoring list, takes a massive dive into ninth in our PER rankings. 48/79/38 is great, especially for someone whose main focus is on the defensive end firstly, and for someone who does a lot of ball handling, like our point-forward here. Pippen does not have many flaws, truth be told. The simple truth? There are others on the list who do more in less minutes. He is tied in first with Latrell Sprewell for minutes-per-game in the league at 40.2 this season, and with that kind of output, it would require bigger numbers for him to climb the PER rankings, when there are others doing more in less time on the floor. However, we cannot take away from what Pippen is doing in Orlando, leading his squad to first in the East by a mind-boggling seven-and-a-half game lead. An eleven-year veteran, no doubt he has nothing in mind but winning the championship that has evaded him all these years. If it takes him 48 minutes-per-game to get it done, make no mistake, he will do whatever it takes.
Our first big man on the PER rankings appears in fifth, and is none other than the Lakers' Alonzo Mourning. Having two players in the top-5 in the PER rankings may put a dent in the MVP case Barros is making, but with the way he's playing this season, it may not make a difference that he is playing with one of the top bigs the league has to offer.
We have no idea what to make of the situation in New York, but sophomore Marc Jackson (by now, there is no way you have not heard the name) is a walking prodigy in the league. No flair, no swagger, no hype surrounding him prior to the 1997 draft, and yet he is already the leader of a Knicks team the likes of Dale Ellis and B.J. Armstrong. No one could have seen this coming, except for, it seems, the Knicks front office. New York management never ceases to amaze me. I cannot begin to think where and how they manage to find these steals and continue to dominate. Jackson has led his team to third-place in the East thus far, only a game-and-a-half behind the second-place Hornets. He has done a phenomenal job of leading the oldest team in the league, where the average age is 29.5, despite his being only 23 years of age.
Young Jackson doing all he can to lead the Knickerbockers back to the top.
The last player we want to show love to has to be the Sonics' big man, David Robinson. There was a great level of trade speculation going around at the beginning of the season surrounding him, but he ultimately was not moved, despite the interest shown across the league by a number of GMs. There is no need to clarify the level of interest, as his play and leadership say it all. Yes, he is last on the scoring list, logging 20.7 points-per-game, which would not even make him the scoring leader on his team, but his all-around play is what sets him apart. He leads all on this list in blocks, field-goals missed, and plays the least amount of minutes, leading second-place Mourning by +74. Add to the fact that he is third in steals, third in free-throws made, and second in rebounds, and one can see why he jumps from tenth in the scoring rank to third in PER! He sits behind Rice by only -0.8, which means he is not far off at all, and leads fourth-place Mourning by +1.65. Seattle currently sits in third in the Western Conference, led by this man's phenomenal play at 33 years old. If one were to be critical of something The Admiral needs to improve, it would most definitely be his poor field-goal percentage for a big man. 42.5% is not great at all, and it is one of the reasons the Sonics find themselves right in the middle of the pack in field-goal percentage league-wide. Their success revolves around their stifling defense, and while defense wins championships, it takes a certain offense as well. It will be curious to see if they make a move or two prior to the trade deadline to bump their scoring a tad. Perhaps that is what will take them from championship contender to championship favourite.
The Admiral doing what he does best: lead on defense.
That's all we have for today! We hope you have enjoyed this edition of the DASL PER Rankings, and stay tuned for more very soon!
~PistolPeteJR
