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Google shows mostly pre-2000, well advertised, big staff, and big corporation sites in search results. Mostly the same old, often stale sites are shown, sites that editorially only go so far and no farther. This site is about the opposite of what is shown in search results. The vast majority of those who return to this Site use a bookmark since using Google Search to find it is more difficult to do. If you do not bookmark this page in some way, you will probably not be able to find it again. If you are a first time visitor, here is your Welcome and Introduction.

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There are actually many more ways to choose and read Reports. For a complete description of all options, see this User Guide article.

REPORTS--#21 THROUGH #40


Thursday, February 26, 2009

Music Break: Mike Jones: "Next to You"

We just found out for sure and for real that LeBron James is the best player in the NBA this year. In fact LeBron James and to a lesser extent Chris Paul are in worlds of their own. They have left the League and the rest of the World behind! LeBron and Cp3 smoked 'em! Respect, more power, and the best for the future to them.

In the last report posted, earlier today, all NBA players who have played at least 300 minutes are rated and ranked. But what about comparing teams? It's a little bit hard to do that with that format, and we do want to do that! So the Ratings broken down by team are coming up next.

We worked hard to get the Ratings right and to make sure they are the first ever to include defending not tracked by scorekeepers or anyone else. So in between the posting for the Real Player Ratings for the NBA by player and the Real Player Ratings for the NBA by team, we take a break:



D.J. DRAMA, AKON, TI, & SNOOP DOG: DAY DREAMING




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Real Player Ratings for the NBA

Here they are everyone, the Real Player Ratings for the NBA. For the first time, the ratings include an adjustment for defending actions that are not recorded by the League or by anyone else! This is, as they say, really big.

For complete details about how and why the Ratings work, see the User Guide:

USER GUIDE
For very detailed information about how Real Player Ratings were developed and are calculated, please consult the User Guide for Real Player Rating Reports for the NBA, for NBA Teams, and for Games

SCALE FOR REAL PLAYER RATINGS
Perfect Player? Is there Such a Thing? 1.000 and more
Historic Super Star 0.950 and more
Super Star 0.850 0.949
A Star Player; An Extremely Good Starter 0.775 0.849
An Outstanding Player; A Solid Starter 0.700 0.774
Major Role Player 0.650 0.699
Role Player 0.600 0.649
Minor Role Player 0.550 0.599
Very Minor Role Player 0.500 0.549
Poor Player at This Time 0.450 0.499
Very Poor Player at This Time 0.350 0.449
Extremely Poor Player at This Time / Disaster and less 0.349

REAL PLAYER RATINGS
NBA: NATIONAL BASKETBALL ASSOCIATION
FOR THE 2008-09 REGULAR SEASON
AS OF FEBRUARY 25 2009

NEAR PERFECT PLAYERS / HISTORIC SUPERSTARS
LeBron James Cleveland 1.305
Chris Paul New Orleans 1.216
Dwyane Wade Miami 1.128
Tim Duncan San Antonio 1.093
Kobe Bryant LA Lakers 1.052
Dwight Howard Orlando 1.031
Al Jefferson Minnesota 1.017
Kevin Garnett Boston 1.008
Yao Ming Houston 1.008
Marcus Camby LA Clippers 1.008

HISTORIC SUPERSTARS
Carlos Boozer Utah 0.992
Dirk Nowitzki Dallas 0.974
Andris Biedrins Golden State 0.957
Zach Randolph† New York 0.955
Zach Randolph† LA Clippers 0.947

SUPERSTARS
Andrei Kirilenko Utah 0.939
Andrew Bynum LA Lakers 0.931
Pau Gasol LA Lakers 0.929
Jason Kidd Dallas 0.923
Manu Ginobili San Antonio 0.923
Paul Millsap Utah 0.912
Nate Robinson New York 0.912
Zydrunas Ilgauskas Cleveland 0.912
Rajon Rondo Boston 0.908
Brandon Roy Portland 0.907
Jameer Nelson Orlando 0.906
Deron Williams Utah 0.902
Shaquille O'Neal Phoenix 0.900
Andre Miller Philadelphia 0.895
Danny Granger Indiana 0.895
Chris Bosh Toronto 0.882
Andrew Bogut Milwaukee 0.875
Tony Parker San Antonio 0.866
Andre Iguodala Philadelphia 0.866
Nene Hilario Denver 0.864
Jason Terry Dallas 0.863
Carmelo Anthony Denver 0.860
Chauncey Billups† Denver 0.859
Brandan Wright Golden State 0.855
Amare Stoudemire Phoenix 0.852

STARS
Troy Murphy Indiana 0.847
David Lee New York 0.844
Jose Calderon Toronto 0.844
Steve Nash Phoenix 0.841
Rasho Nesterovic Indiana 0.841
Andray Blatche Washington 0.836
T.J. Ford Indiana 0.832
Devin Harris New Jersey 0.832
Charlie Villanueva Milwaukee 0.830
Vince Carter New Jersey 0.826
Lamar Odom LA Lakers 0.825
Kevin Durant Oklahoma 0.821
Joe Johnson Atlanta 0.820
Antawn Jamison Washington 0.814
Kosta Koufos Utah 0.803
Leandro Barbosa Phoenix 0.802
Mo Williams Cleveland 0.800
Emeka Okafor Charlotte 0.798
LaMarcus Aldridge Portland 0.794
Tracy McGrady Houston 0.793
Kirk Hinrich Chicago 0.789
Ronny Turiaf Golden State 0.787
Matt Harpring Utah 0.787
Kris Humphries Toronto 0.784
Josh Smith Atlanta 0.782
Ramon Sessions Milwaukee 0.781

OUTSTANDING PLAYERS--SOLID STARTERS
Baron Davis LA Clippers 0.772
Jermaine O'Neal† Toronto 0.771
Marreese Speights Philadelphia 0.766
Joakim Noah Chicago 0.766
Gerald Wallace Charlotte 0.765
Paul Pierce Boston 0.765
Ron Artest Houston 0.765
Stephen Jackson Golden State 0.765
Mike Bibby Atlanta 0.764
Mehmet Okur Utah 0.763
James Singleton Dallas 0.763
Al Horford Atlanta 0.762
Roy Hibbert Indiana 0.760
Brad Miller† Sacramento 0.758
Trevor Ariza LA Lakers 0.756
Chris Andersen Denver 0.755
Jose Juan Barea Dallas 0.751
J.R. Smith Denver 0.749
Elton Brand Philadelphia 0.749
Ray Allen Boston 0.748
Erick Dampier Dallas 0.747
Joel Przybilla Portland 0.747
Chris Kaman LA Clippers 0.746
Drew Gooden Chicago 0.745
Allen Iverson† Detroit 0.744
Caron Butler Washington 0.742
Matt Bonner San Antonio 0.740
David West New Orleans 0.738
Delonte West Cleveland 0.738
Kevin Love Minnesota 0.735
Anthony Randolph Golden State 0.734
Josh Howard Dallas 0.733
Corey Maggette Golden State 0.732
Jamario Moon† Toronto 0.730
Rudy Fernandez Portland 0.730
Brook Lopez New Jersey 0.730
Al Harrington† New York 0.729
Boris Diaw† Phoenix 0.727
Marquis Daniels Indiana 0.725
Derrick Rose Chicago 0.725
Kenyon Martin Denver 0.724
Ben Gordon Chicago 0.724
Kurt Thomas San Antonio 0.724
Jeff Foster Indiana 0.723
Rashard Lewis Orlando 0.723
Sergio Rodriguez Portland 0.722
Zaza Pachulia Atlanta 0.721
Joe Smith Oklahoma 0.720
Brevin Knight Utah 0.719
Michael Redd Milwaukee 0.716
Luis Scola Houston 0.716
Renaldo Balkman Denver 0.716
Luol Deng Chicago 0.716
Shawn Marion† Miami 0.715
Antonio McDyess Detroit 0.712
Tim Thomas† New York 0.712
Nick Young Washington 0.710
Tyrus Thomas Chicago 0.710
Anthony Morrow Golden State 0.710
Luke Ridnour Milwaukee 0.710
Kelenna Azubuike Golden State 0.708
Grant Hill Phoenix 0.705
Marcin Gortat Orlando 0.705
Rodney Stuckey Detroit 0.700
C.J. Watson Golden State 0.700

MAJOR ROLE PLAYERS
Rasheed Wallace Detroit 0.697
Carl Landry Houston 0.695
Travis Diener Indiana 0.693
Boris Diaw† Charlotte 0.691
Amir Johnson Detroit 0.688
Hakim Warrick Memphis 0.688
Leon Powe Boston 0.686
Raymond Felton Charlotte 0.684
Russell Westbrook Oklahoma 0.684
John Salmons† Sacramento 0.683
Brandon Bass Dallas 0.682
Jamal Crawford† New York 0.681
Greg Oden Portland 0.681
Darko Milicic Memphis 0.680
Tayshaun Prince Detroit 0.680
Michael Beasley Miami 0.679
Jason Thompson Sacramento 0.675
Hedo Turkoglu Orlando 0.673
Samuel Dalembert Philadelphia 0.673
Keyon Dooling New Jersey 0.669
Jason Richardson† Phoenix 0.666
Eddie House Boston 0.665
Tyronn Lue† Milwaukee 0.665
Steve Blake Portland 0.664
Kevin Martin Sacramento 0.657
Josh Boone New Jersey 0.654
Anthony Carter Denver 0.652
Chris Duhon New York 0.652
Kyle Korver Utah 0.651
Jordan Farmar LA Lakers 0.650

ROLE PLAYERS
Jason Richardson† Charlotte 0.649
Devin Brown New Orleans 0.649
Larry Hughes† Chicago 0.648
Marvin Williams Atlanta 0.648
Darius Songaila Washington 0.648
Beno Udrih Sacramento 0.646
Craig Smith Minnesota 0.646
Marc Gasol Memphis 0.645
Corey Brewer Minnesota 0.644
Bobby Jackson Sacramento 0.639
Mike Conley Memphis 0.638
Richard Hamilton Detroit 0.638
Ronnie Brewer Utah 0.637
George Hill San Antonio 0.637
Ronald Murray Atlanta 0.637
Randy Foye Minnesota 0.634
JaVale McGee Washington 0.634
Chris Wilcox† Oklahoma 0.632
Thaddeus Young Philadelphia 0.632
Luke Walton LA Lakers 0.629
Richard Jefferson Milwaukee 0.628
Ben Wallace Cleveland 0.628
Jeff Green Oklahoma 0.626
Anderson Varejao Cleveland 0.624
Paul Davis LA Clippers 0.621
Roko Ukic Toronto 0.621
Rafer Alston Houston 0.618
Francisco Garcia Sacramento 0.618
Javaris Crittenton† Washington 0.616
Mario Chalmers Miami 0.615
Jarvis Hayes New Jersey 0.614
Mike Dunleavy Indiana 0.614
Derek Fisher LA Lakers 0.613
Eric Gordon LA Clippers 0.612
Jamal Crawford† Golden State 0.612
Lou Williams Philadelphia 0.611
Tony Battie Orlando 0.609
Mike Miller Minnesota 0.609
Udonis Haslem Miami 0.605
Yi Jianlian New Jersey 0.604
Travis Outlaw Portland 0.604
Ryan Anderson New Jersey 0.603
Will Solomon† Toronto 0.601
Luc Richard Mbah a Moute Milwaukee 0.600
Sasha Vujacic LA Lakers 0.600

MINOR ROLE PLAYERS
Chris Quinn Miami 0.599
Spencer Hawes Sacramento 0.593
D.J. Augustin Charlotte 0.592
Kyle Lowry† Memphis 0.591
Kendrick Perkins Boston 0.590
Shelden Williams Sacramento 0.589
Nick Collison Oklahoma 0.589
Acie Law Atlanta 0.588
Willie Green Philadelphia 0.585
Aaron Brooks Houston 0.582
Antonio Daniels† New Orleans 0.580
Von Wafer Houston 0.580
Kwame Brown Detroit 0.580
O.J. Mayo Memphis 0.579
Wilson Chandler New York 0.579
Andres Nocioni† Chicago 0.577
Marco Belinelli Golden State 0.574
Quentin Richardson New York 0.574
Sebastian Telfair Minnesota 0.571
Jarrett Jack Indiana 0.571
Tyson Chandler New Orleans 0.567
Thabo Sefolosha† Chicago 0.566
Rudy Gay Memphis 0.564
Matt Barnes Phoenix 0.563
Anthony Parker Toronto 0.562
Andrea Bargnani Toronto 0.562
Johan Petro† Oklahoma 0.561
DeAndre Jordan LA Clippers 0.558
Linas Kleiza Denver 0.558
Jason Maxiell Detroit 0.558
Monta Ellis Golden State 0.557
Nenad Krstic Oklahoma 0.555
Tony Allen Boston 0.555
Aaron Gray Chicago 0.553
J.J. Hickson Cleveland 0.553

VERY MINOR ROLE PLAYERS
Joey Graham Toronto 0.546
Anthony Johnson Orlando 0.546
Raja Bell† Charlotte 0.544
James Posey New Orleans 0.543
Al Thornton LA Clippers 0.541
Channing Frye Portland 0.537
Eduardo Najera New Jersey 0.535
Dominic McGuire Washington 0.533
Vladimir Radmanovic† LA Lakers 0.531
Ryan Gomes Minnesota 0.530
Brian Cardinal Minnesota 0.529
Donte Greene Sacramento 0.529
Ronnie Price Utah 0.527
Dan Gadzuric Milwaukee 0.527
Morris Peterson New Orleans 0.525
Juan Dixon Washington 0.525
Shane Battier Houston 0.524
Mardy Collins† LA Clippers 0.523
Jamaal Magloire Miami 0.522
Louis Amundson Phoenix 0.521
Fred Jones LA Clippers 0.520
Steve Novak LA Clippers 0.520
Roger Mason San Antonio 0.519
Malik Allen Milwaukee 0.517
Peja Stojakovic New Orleans 0.513
Mikki Moore Sacramento 0.512
Michael Finley San Antonio 0.509
Raja Bell† Phoenix 0.507
Ime Udoka San Antonio 0.507
Earl Watson Oklahoma 0.506
Mickael Pietrus Orlando 0.504
Brent Barry Houston 0.503
Rasual Butler New Orleans 0.501
Wally Szczerbiak Cleveland 0.500
Jared Dudley† Charlotte 0.500

OTHERS: LESS IMPORTANT, BELOW AVERAGE, POOR, EXTREME DEFENSE ONLY TYPE
C.J. Miles Utah 0.498
Jerryd Bayless Portland 0.493
Nicolas Batum Portland 0.489
Gerald Green Dallas 0.487
Kevin Ollie Minnesota 0.486
Mike James† Washington 0.485
Stephen Graham Indiana 0.484
Greg Buckner Memphis 0.481
Darrell Arthur Memphis 0.479
Brian Skinner LA Clippers 0.478
Josh Powell LA Lakers 0.477
Fabricio Oberto San Antonio 0.476
Goran Dragic Phoenix 0.474
Daequan Cook Miami 0.473
Bobby Simmons New Jersey 0.468
Robin Lopez Phoenix 0.467
Gabe Pruitt Boston 0.466
Shannon Brown† Charlotte 0.465
Quinton Ross Memphis 0.463
Solomon Jones Atlanta 0.460
Rodney Carney Minnesota 0.459
Jason Hart LA Clippers 0.459
Rashad McCants† Minnesota 0.457
Yakhouba Diawara Miami 0.456
Trenton Hassell New Jersey 0.456
Maurice Evans Atlanta 0.455
Sasha Pavlovic Cleveland 0.454
Damien Wilkins Oklahoma 0.454
Keith Bogans† Orlando 0.453
Jared Jeffries New York 0.449
Etan Thomas Washington 0.448
Glen Davis Boston 0.448
Reggie Evans Philadelphia 0.447
Bobby Brown† Sacramento 0.447
Luther Head Houston 0.446
Sean Marks New Orleans 0.446
Cuttino Mobley LA Clippers 0.444
DeSagana Diop† Dallas 0.444
Courtney Lee Orlando 0.443
Daniel Gibson Cleveland 0.443
Charlie Bell Milwaukee 0.437
Joel Anthony Miami 0.434
Jason Kapono Toronto 0.432
Chuck Hayes Houston 0.429
Kyle Weaver Oklahoma 0.427
Dahntay Jones Denver 0.424
Juwan Howard† Charlotte 0.420
Joe Alexander Milwaukee 0.416
Francisco Elson Milwaukee 0.415
Antoine Wright Dallas 0.413
Hilton Armstrong New Orleans 0.409
Brandon Rush Indiana 0.408
J.J. Redick Orlando 0.403
Desmond Mason Oklahoma 0.397
Matt Carroll† Charlotte 0.381
Bruce Bowen San Antonio 0.372
DeShawn Stevenson Washington 0.370
Nazr Mohammed Charlotte 0.361
Ricky Davis LA Clippers 0.358
Royal Ivey Philadelphia 0.349
Arron Afflalo Detroit 0.321
Devean George Dallas 0.320
Brian Scalabrine Boston 0.307
Adam Morrison† Charlotte 0.293

USER GUIDE
For very detailed information about how Real Player Ratings were developed and are calculated, please consult the User Guide for Real Player Rating Reports for the NBA, for NBA Teams, and for Games



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Happy Days are Here Again

Happy days are here again: the Real Player Ratings (better than ever) are ready for the entire NBA! They are posted in the next post!

Although it takes a hard day's work to calculate these using a computer, the internet, and Excel, the amount of time needed to make the defending adjustments is less than feared, meaning that we will be able to in the future meet any reasonable production schedule for the All NBA Real Player Ratings.





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Tuesday, February 24, 2009

New Orleans Hornets Real Player Ratings as of February 23 2009

Chris Paul is the MVP in terms of quality and Chris Paul is also the MVP in terms of quantity for the New Orleans Hornets so far in the 2008-09 season.

NEW ORLEANS HORNETS
REAL PLAYER RATINGS
Quality of Players
Includes all tracked actions and adjustments for hidden defending
2008-09 Regular Season
As of Feb 23, 2009

Chris Paul 1.216
David West 0.738
Devin Brown 0.649
Antonio Daniels† 0.580
Tyson Chandler 0.567
James Posey 0.543
Morris Peterson 0.525
Peja Stojakovic 0.513
Rasual Butler 0.501
Sean Marks 0.446
Hilton Armstrong 0.409

SCALE FOR REAL PLAYER RATINGS
Perfect Player? Is there Such a Thing? 1.000 and more
Historic Super Star 0.950 and more
Super Star 0.850 0.949
A Star Player; An Extremely Good Starter 0.775 0.849
A Great Player; A Solid Starter 0.700 0.774
Major Role Player 0.650 0.699
Role Player 0.600 0.649
Minor Role Player 0.550 0.599
Very Minor Role Player 0.500 0.549
Poor Player at This Time 0.450 0.499
Very Poor Player at This Time 0.350 0.449
Extremely Poor Player at This Time / Disaster and less 0.349

REAL PLAYER PRODUCTION
Real Player Production (RPP) is the sum of all the good things minus the sum of all the bad things a player has done since the season began. Although RPP includes all tracked defensive actions, there is no methodology as of yet for adjusting RPP for hidden or untracked defending, such as man to man defending that forces missed shots. Therefore, you should, in order to fairly evaluate the following ratings, remember that the better defenders have done some more for the team relative to the lessor defenders than the ratings are showing.

NEW ORLEANS HORNETS
REAL PLAYER PRODUCTION
Quantity of Players
Includes all tracked actions
2008-09 Regular Season
Through Feb. 23, 2009

Chris Paul 2207.65
David West 1328.30
Peja Stojakovic 857.35
Rasual Butler 772.10
James Posey 767.65
Tyson Chandler 534.00
Devin Brown 328.85
Antonio Daniels† 277.10
Hilton Armstrong 260.45
Sean Marks 193.00
Morris Peterson 189.70

HORNETS MVPS
Congratulations and respect are due to CHRIS PAUL, who has been leading the Hornets in quality basketball so far this season.

Congratulations and respect are due to CHRIS PAUL, who has contributed more than any other player to the Hornets so far this season.

HORNETS SUPERSTARS AND STARS
Historic Superstars
Chris Paul

Superstars
None

Stars
None

HORNETS OTHER KEY, NON-STAR PLAYERS

Solid Starters
David West

Major Role Players
None

Role Players
Devin Brown

======= DEFENDING AND OFFENSIVE SUB RATINGS ========================================

NEW ORLEANS HORNETS
OVERALL DEFENDING SUB RATINGS
Includes both tracked and hidden defending
2008-09 REGULAR SEASON
As of Feb 23, 2009

Devin Brown 0.514
Chris Paul 0.374
James Posey 0.300
Sean Marks 0.299
Tyson Chandler 0.294
David West 0.273
Hilton Armstrong 0.257
Rasual Butler 0.169
Morris Peterson 0.152
Peja Stojakovic 0.143
Antonio Daniels† 0.128

NEW ORLEANS HORNETS
OFFENSIVE SUB RATINGS
Includes all tracked offensive actions
2008-09 REGULAR SEASON
As of Feb 23, 2009

Chris Paul 0.902
David West 0.492
Antonio Daniels† 0.467
Morris Peterson 0.375
Peja Stojakovic 0.371
Rasual Butler 0.344
Tyson Chandler 0.321
Devin Brown 0.310
James Posey 0.301
Hilton Armstrong 0.221
Sean Marks 0.204

============ STARS AND SUPERSTARS IN PICTURES =================

CHRIS PAUL: HISTORIC SUPERSTAR AND MVP--QUALITY AND MVP--QUANTITY


USER GUIDE
For very detailed information about how Real Player Ratings were developed and are calculated, please consult the User Guide for Real Player Rating Reports by Team



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Portland Trailblazers Real Player Ratings as of February 23 2009

Brandon Roy is the MVP in terms of quality and Brandon Roy is also the MVP in terms of quantity for the Portland Trailblazers so far in the 2008-09 season.

PORTLAND TRAILBLAZERS
REAL PLAYER RATINGS
Quality of Players
Includes all tracked actions and adjustments for hidden defending
2008-09 Regular Season
As of Feb 23, 2009

Brandon Roy 0.907
LaMarcus Aldridge 0.794
Joel Przybilla 0.747
Rudy Fernandez 0.730
Sergio Rodriguez 0.722
Greg Oden 0.681
Steve Blake 0.664
Travis Outlaw 0.604
Channing Frye 0.537
Jerryd Bayless 0.493
Nicolas Batum 0.489

SCALE FOR REAL PLAYER RATINGS
Perfect Player? Is there Such a Thing? 1.000 and more
Historic Super Star 0.950 and more
Super Star 0.850 0.949
A Star Player; An Extremely Good Starter 0.775 0.849
A Great Player; A Solid Starter 0.700 0.774
Major Role Player 0.650 0.699
Role Player 0.600 0.649
Minor Role Player 0.550 0.599
Very Minor Role Player 0.500 0.549
Poor Player at This Time 0.450 0.499
Very Poor Player at This Time 0.350 0.449
Extremely Poor Player at This Time / Disaster and less 0.349

REAL PLAYER PRODUCTION
Real Player Production (RPP) is the sum of all the good things minus the sum of all the bad things a player has done since the season began. Although RPP includes all tracked defensive actions, there is no methodology as of yet for adjusting RPP for hidden or untracked defending, such as man to man defending that forces missed shots. Therefore, you should, in order to fairly evaluate the following ratings, remember that the better defenders have done some more for the team relative to the lessor defenders than the ratings are showing.

PORTLAND TRAILBLAZERS
REAL PLAYER PRODUCTION
Quantity of Players
Includes all tracked actions
2008-09 Regular Season
Through Feb. 23, 2009

Brandon Roy 1658.65
LaMarcus Aldridge 1395.90
Travis Outlaw 811.05
Rudy Fernandez 800.00
Steve Blake 788.15
Joel Przybilla 781.40
Greg Oden 665.95
Sergio Rodriguez 496.70
Nicolas Batum 460.55
Jerryd Bayless 208.85
Channing Frye 188.20

TRAILBLAZERS MVPS
Congratulations and respect are due to BRANDON ROY, who has been leading the Trailblazers in quality basketball so far this season.

Congratulations and respect are due to BRANDON ROY, who has contributed more than any other player to the Trailblazers so far this season.

TRAILBLAZER5 SUPERSTARS AND STARS
Historic Superstars
None

Superstars
Brandon Roy

Stars
LaMarcus Aldridge

TRAILBLAZERS OTHER KEY, NON-STAR PLAYERS

Solid Starters
Joel Przybilla
Rudy Fernandez
Sergio Rodriguez

Major Role Players
Greg Oden
Steve Blake

Role Players
Travis Outlaw

======= DEFENDING AND OFFENSIVE SUB RATINGS ========================================

PORTLAND TRAILBLAZERS
OVERALL DEFENDING SUB RATINGS
Includes both tracked and hidden defending
2008-09 REGULAR SEASON
As of Feb 23, 2009

Joel Przybilla 0.548
Sergio Rodriguez 0.482
Rudy Fernandez 0.459
Channing Frye 0.378
LaMarcus Aldridge 0.375
Greg Oden 0.323
Travis Outlaw 0.283
Brandon Roy 0.228
Nicolas Batum 0.214
Steve Blake 0.200
Jerryd Bayless 0.199

PORTLAND TRAILBLAZERS
OFFENSIVE SUB RATINGS
Includes all tracked offensive actions
2008-09 REGULAR SEASON
As of Feb 23, 2009

Brandon Roy 0.717
LaMarcus Aldridge 0.519
Steve Blake 0.510
Rudy Fernandez 0.431
Sergio Rodriguez 0.430
Greg Oden 0.405
Travis Outlaw 0.376
Jerryd Bayless 0.364
Joel Przybilla 0.301
Nicolas Batum 0.289
Channing Frye 0.285

============ STARS AND SUPERSTARS IN PICTURES =================

BRANDON ROY: SUPERSTAR AND MVP--QUALITY AND MVP--QUANTITY




























LAMARCUS ALDRIDGE: STAR


USER GUIDE
For very detailed information about how Real Player Ratings were developed and are calculated, please consult the User Guide for Real Player Rating Reports by Team



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Utah Jazz Real Player Ratings as of February 23 2009

Carlos Boozer is the MVP in terms of quality and Deron Williams is the MVP in terms of quantity for the Utah Jazz so far in the 2008-09 season.

UTAH JAZZ
REAL PLAYER RATINGS
Quality of Players
Includes all tracked actions and adjustments for hidden defending
2008-09 Regular Season
As of Feb 23, 2009

Carlos Boozer 0.992
Andrei Kirilenko 0.939
Paul Millsap 0.912
Deron Williams 0.902
Kosta Koufos 0.803
Matt Harpring 0.787
Mehmet Okur 0.763
Brevin Knight 0.719
Kyle Korver 0.651
Ronnie Brewer 0.637
Ronnie Price 0.527
C.J. Miles 0.498

SCALE FOR REAL PLAYER RATINGS
Perfect Player? Is there Such a Thing? 1.000 and more
Historic Super Star 0.950 and more
Super Star 0.850 0.949
A Star Player; An Extremely Good Starter 0.775 0.849
A Great Player; A Solid Starter 0.700 0.774
Major Role Player 0.650 0.699
Role Player 0.600 0.649
Minor Role Player 0.550 0.599
Very Minor Role Player 0.500 0.549
Poor Player at This Time 0.450 0.499
Very Poor Player at This Time 0.350 0.449
Extremely Poor Player at This Time / Disaster and less 0.349

REAL PLAYER PRODUCTION
Real Player Production (RPP) is the sum of all the good things minus the sum of all the bad things a player has done since the season began. Although RPP includes all tracked defensive actions, there is no methodology as of yet for adjusting RPP for hidden or untracked defending, such as man to man defending that forces missed shots. Therefore, you should, in order to fairly evaluate the following ratings, remember that the better defenders have done some more for the team relative to the lessor defenders than the ratings are showing.

UTAH JAZZ
REAL PLAYER PRODUCTION
Quantity of Players
Includes all tracked actions
2008-09 Regular Season
Through Feb. 23, 2009

Deron Williams 1364.45
Paul Millsap 1264.25
Mehmet Okur 1233.50
Ronnie Brewer 1097.90
Andrei Kirilenko 960.50
Kyle Korver 613.95
C.J. Miles 612.45
Carlos Boozer 409.50
Brevin Knight 370.00
Kosta Koufos 363.80
Ronnie Price 325.20
Matt Harpring 297.65

JAZZ MVPS
Congratulations and respect are due to CARLOS BOOZER, who has been leading the Jazz in quality basketball so far this season.

Congratulations and respect are due to DERON WILLIAMS, who has contributed more than any other player to the Jazz so far this season.

JAZZ SUPERSTARS AND STARS
Historic Superstars
Carlos Boozer

Superstars
Andrei Kirilenko
Paul Millsap
Deron Williams

Stars
Kosta Koufos
Matt Harpring

JAZZ OTHER KEY, NON-STAR PLAYERS

Solid Starters
Mehmet Okur
Brevin Knight

Major Role Players
Kyle Korver

Role Players
Ronnie Brewer

======= DEFENDING AND OFFENSIVE SUB RATINGS ========================================

UTAH JAZZ
OVERALL DEFENDING SUB RATINGS
Includes both tracked and hidden defending
2008-09 REGULAR SEASON
As of Feb 23, 2009

Andrei Kirilenko 0.611
Matt Harpring 0.563
Brevin Knight 0.550
Kosta Koufos 0.547
Paul Millsap 0.529
Kyle Korver 0.461
Carlos Boozer 0.356
Mehmet Okur 0.291
Ronnie Price 0.271
Ronnie Brewer 0.225
Deron Williams 0.147
C.J. Miles 0.070

UTAH JAZZ
OFFENSIVE SUB RATINGS
Includes all tracked offensive actions
2008-09 REGULAR SEASON
As of Feb 23, 2009

Deron Williams 0.774
Carlos Boozer 0.668
Paul Millsap 0.526
Mehmet Okur 0.496
Andrei Kirilenko 0.477
Matt Harpring 0.439
Ronnie Brewer 0.433
C.J. Miles 0.430
Kosta Koufos 0.415
Brevin Knight 0.360
Kyle Korver 0.343
Ronnie Price 0.321

============ STARS AND SUPERSTARS IN PICTURES =================

CARLOS BOOZER: HISTORIC SUPERSTAR AND MVP--QUALITY








































DERON WILLIAMS: SUPERSTAR AND MVP-QUANTITY

ANDREI KIRILENKO: SUPERSTAR






















PAUL MILLSAP: SUPERSTAR
KOSTA KOUFOS: STAR






















MATT HARPRING: STAR





























USER GUIDE
For very detailed information about how Real Player Ratings were developed and are calculated, please consult the User Guide for Real Player Rating Reports by Team



BallHype: hype it up!




You Can Post Your Response to Anything on Quest Here

Sunday, February 22, 2009

Maintaining a Black Sheep Can Cost You Dearly

As every basketball watcher knows, except in extremely rare and well known special circumstances, such as Manu Ginobili of the Spurs, starters are considered the primary basketball players of every NBA team. There is no tradition, general practice, or reward in the NBA for teams for obscure reasons to not start players good enough to be starters. There is no secret strategic payoff for that. It's a loser of a strategy, pure and simple. The argument that J.R. Smith is needed for offense on the 2nd squad is nonsensical simply because in most NBA games, three or more starters are on the court most of the time.

Although J.R. Smith of the Nuggets plays at a starter's level, and has clearly earned a starting role, he except when the Nuggets are damaged by injuries does not get any starts. Smith must be aware that the fact he doesn't start is supposed to mean that he is not as good a player as are starting 2-guards around the League, including Dahntay Jones! This is not true, but that is what not starting is supposed to mean. As a result, his confidence level is lower than it would be if he were starting. And his confidence level is a major part of the J.R. Smith puzzle to begin with.

Confidence reduction is the worst thing you would want for a player who despite being qualified to start overall, is by nature one of the most inconsistent good players in the NBA. It is an observable fact that basketball players who start are generally more consistent than basketball players who do not start. The way I see it, the main two reasons for that are the more minutes that come with starting and the greater level of confidence instilled in starters as compared with non-starters.

To use an old cliché, if you are a starter, you let the “game come to you” more so than if you are a non-starter. Since they are lower on the roster and therefore under more pressure to get better, many reserve players press more and end up achieving less due to trying too hard on some plays. In the case of J.R. Smith, who ever since he was on the Nuggets has been repeatedly criticized for negatives while having his positives downplayed, the pressing and trying too hard associated with not starting is going to be much worse than usual. Smith practically looks to be just as much of a rookie presser now as he did when he was actually a rookie.

Linas Kleiza is another example of a reserve player who tries too hard from time to time, and ends up producing less than if he just let “the game come to him.” Other players though, such as Chris Andersen, are seemingly oblivious to whether they start or not. As a manager or a coach, you have to know who is who in this respect on your team, and consider this factor in setting your starting lineups.

By refusing to start him and keeping him in a perpetual “trying too hard mode,” the Nuggets are maximizing the inconsistency of Smith and are literally wasting some of the money they are paying him. So much for being economical in the economics emergency. Why would you put unnecessary, extra pressure on an inconsistent, pressing, and sometimes lower confidence player who is qualified to be a starter? This is kind of strange, don’t you think?

Although J.R. Smith is playing more than 27 minutes a game, he is still not a starter. On the one hand, Coach George Karl has substantially relented on his refusal to give Smith starter minutes, but on the other hand, he has still refused to start him. This is strange, don’t you think?

Further, If Dahntay Jones starts in the playoffs, the Nuggets are going to be playing with one hand tied behind their backs, and not only because the Nuggets will be sacrificing dearly at the offensively very important 2-guard position. J.R. Smith is a much better player than Dahntay Jones, although Jones may have a better personality and may be more intelligent.

Recent calculations based on points allowed per minute on the court show that J.R. Smith is actually a substantially better defender these days than Jones. The latest defending sub ratings show J.R. Smith at .409 and Dahntay Jones at .195. No, it may not appear that way, since Smith is both on offense and on defense pressing too much, is inconsistent, and is often not very smooth looking. But the honest truth is that the Nuggets surrender substantially more points per time when Jones is playing than when Smith is playing.

The bottom line is that if the Nuggets lose a playoff series 4 games to 3 or 4 games to 2, a likely reason why will be that Dahntay Jones started over J.R. Smith, which led to Smith not having enough confidence and consistency. It’s strange that a team would hurt itself in this way, don’t you think?

Further, the strategy of trying to get JR Smith to play better by punishing him with reduced minutes has run its course, regardless of whether it ever worked or whether it was counterproductive from day #1. It’s strange that the Nuggets would continue something which either never worked or at least has run it’s course, don’t you think?

All of these things means that there is mystery here as to why JR Smith can not start for the Denver Nuggets. I have a second theory now to add to the main theory.

The main theory remains simply that George Karl continues to detest Smith a lot, especially because he is relatively immature and impulsive, and so is unable to give him the "honor" of starting. To Mr. Karl, there is a lot of honor in basketball, and starting is one of the most powerful honors of all. But if this is true, what about the 27 minutes a game? First, to Karl and others like him, the number of minutes is not as honorable as the number of starts. Second, Mr. Karl may have been ordered to play Smith for at least 25 minutes a game or so by the management of the Nuggets.

But there is another possible theory now.

We start by noting that we know that in the wake of the economics downturn, Nuggets owner Stanley Kroenke was the first NBA owner to become a lot cheaper, and to this day remains among owners one of the most determined to reduce payroll below the NBA’s soft salary cap so as to avoid any luxury tax liability. Players such as Marcus Camby and Eduardo Najera were let go for songs, replaced by players off the waiver wire who command less than a tenth as much money. The draft was practically ignored. In other words, the Nuggets have the misfortune of having an owner who went from being one of the most generous to one of the most preoccupied with and determined to react to the economic meltdown.

Although details of a player's contract are not made public, most of them leak out. About the only details that don’t always leak out are what the incentives are, if there are incentive clauses. These are performance clauses: if the stipulated performance is achieved, the player makes substantially more money.

When J.R. Smith was signed to a 3-year, $16.5 million contract last August, there were incentives put in it. We don't know exactly what they are, but we obviously know they relate to producing more rather than less on the basketball court. Whether or not the number of starts is specifically one of the performance measures involved, we know that number of starts indirectly affects the ability of any player to achieve any performance measure you care to name. And since this incentive is common in contracts that have incentives, it would not surprise me in the least to find out that number of games started is one of the incentives in the Smith contract.

Now given that the economic downturn keeps getting worse rather than better, since Mr. Kroenke is being joined by more and more NBA owners with respect to becoming cheaper, and since Mr. Kroenke, as one of the wealthiest business persons in the world has more to lose than almost anyone, we have to consider the possibility that J.R. Smith is not starting for financial reasons. Specifically, Mr. Kroenke may have quietly ordered Coach George Karl to not start J.R. Smith no matter what, or perhaps unless he became one of the best three or four 2-guards in the League, which is too tall an order even for Smith, especially since he is, you will remember, trying too hard.

If such an order came down from on high, it would have been music to Mr. Karl's ears.

When Smith doesn’t start, he most likely is not going to make the extra money mentioned in the incentive clauses of his contract. This may mean several million dollars of savings for the economically battered Mr. Kroenke, from pay Smith doesn’t get and from avoided luxury tax.

So if the Nuggets lose their playoff series that they are supposed to win, for example, against Houston with no Tracy McGrady, against Phoenix with no Amare Stoudemire, or against Utah with no Carlos Boozer, it may be just as much the fault of Stanley Kroenke and the economics meltdown as it is the fault of George Karl.

Whether it’s George Karl refusing to look at J.R. Smith as anything other than a black sheep, whether it’s the owner more or less in a panic regarding the economic meltdown, or both, it does not reflect well on the Nuggets franchise. Can you be cheap toward your black sheep and still be considered a serious NBA franchise that can contend in the playoffs? No, you can not. And even more importantly, you can not afford to have a black sheep in the first place.



BallHype: hype it up!




You Can Post Your Response to Anything on Quest Here

Post your response to anything on Quest HERE

GIVE US THE JUICE TO PRODUCE REPORTS MORE QUICKLY

Although there is a guaranteed minimum rate of Report production regardless of traffic, IT IS IN YOUR POWER to help double or triple the number of and frequency of Reports. Simply take two or three minutes as often as you can to recommend Quest and post links to Quest on your favorite sports and other sites. The resulting automatic increase of traffic will in turn increase the resources that go in to producing Quest, which in turn speeds up reporting. If you want, e-mail how you helped (include the url of where you posted a link to Quest) and we will throw some Internet love back to where you tell us on the Internet. Thank you.

Here are some quick links that you can use to find a place where you might post a link to Quest and/or to Quest content.

Share/Bookmark


HOLD MOUSE HERE TO EXPAND THIS MENU OF PLACES ON WHICH YOU CAN POST A LINK TO QUEST:


BASKETBALL SITES THAT ARE OPEN FOR CONTENT FROM ANYONE
Note: Beware of "layered" sites. None of the following are layered sites, which are sites that allow contributions from the public only in hard to find, low traffic areas, while the main areas are off limits for public input and are only for a chosen few. All of the following have at least some notable traffic, and all of them allow relatively equal and open participation. The order is from most recommended to least recommended, based on about half a dozen factors.

Bleacher Report Open Posting Site
Inside Hoops NBA Forum
Real GM NBA and Team Forums
Pro Sports Daily NBA Forum
Basketball Forum NBA Forum
Sporting News NBA Forum
Hoops Hype NBA Forum
Armchair GM Open Posting Site
SportsTwo NBA Forum
NBA Dimensions NBA Forum
OTR Basketball Forums NBA Forum
NBA Boards NBA Forum
NBA Wire NBA Forum
KFFL NBA Forum

Note: there are other forums, but they are all very low traffic and activity compared to the ones above.

MESSAGE BOARDS AT HUGE COROPORATIONS
The Fox NBA board is very low traffic, and the MSNBC NBA board doesn't exist anymore. The CBS Sports NBA Message Board is a layered site; you can NOT post topics nor expect to be considered seriously there until you have spent a few years posting there. We do not recommend CBS Sports. So the only real, fully open NBA forum hosted by a big corporation is the ESPN message board. Be forewarned though that the ESPN board is dominated by very young fans who make very short comments. On the other hand, it is a high traffic site, so we won't stop you from posting a Quest link at ESPN if you want to.

ESPN NBA Message Board

LAKERS SIGN IN HOLLYWOOD

LAKERS SIGN IN HOLLYWOOD
The Nuggets are scary, but Lakers fans can breathe a sigh of relief when they think of who coaches them!

>>>I WANT TO STICK WITH THE WAY OTHER SITES PRESENT POSTS
Due to the number of, uniqueness of, and importance of the many other home page features we have, only one Report loads at a time, currently the one just above. To see the next Report (which would be the one that came out just before the one above) on this home page, click "Older Posts" that is at the very bottom of the Report showing above, just above the section header "Your Ball: Take Your Best Shot".

>>ALTERNATIVE HOME PAGES
There are three home pages, all of which have all of the Reports but which have completely different features appearing on the sidebar and below the one Report that is shown at a time. These pages have been designed so that they fully load in about 10 seconds (no more super long load times we used to be known for.)

HOME PAGE A: ALL REPORTS, READERS CONTAINING REPORTS 1-100, AND UNIQUE FEATURES
HOME PAGE B: ALL REPORTS, READERS CONTAINING REPORTS 1-100, AND UNIQUE FEATURES
HOME PAGE C: ALL REPORTS, READERS CONTAINING REPORTS 1-100, AND UNIQUE FEATURES

>>REPORT READERS: Complete freedom to rapidly choose and read what you need or want to read. The latest 40 Reports are found near the top of all three of the primary home pages (linked to just above) while Reports #41-#100 are found in three separate readers placed at various points down the page on all three primary home pages.

>>EXPRESS VERSION: Every Single Report but no Features: a Fast Loading Page: Click Here

>>FAST BREAK VERSION: The Latest 100 Reports via Report Readers Only; no Features, a Fast Loading Page: Click Here

>>QUEST ARCHIVE HOME PAGES--REPORT ARCHIVES AND A SMALL NUMBER OF CLASSIC FEATURES THAT WON'T FIT ON OTHER HOME PAGES
QUEST 4: REPORTS 101-200
QUEST 5: REPORTS 201-300
QUEST 6: REPORTS 301-400
QUEST 7: REPORTS 401-500
QUEST 8: REPORTS 501-600
QUEST 9: REPORTS 601-700
QUEST 10: REPORTS 701-800

>>FEATURES ONLY HOME PAGES: NO REPORTS, JUST FEATURES THAT WE CAN'T FIT ANYWHERE ELSE
QUEST OVERTIME
QUEST CLASSIC

>>COMPLETE TITLE INDEX: : A Complete Report Title Index, with Express Version Links to all Reports

>>LATEST 25 Reports: Direct links to the latest 25 Reports (with no truncated titles as you find with the poorly designed Google archive). This is located near the very bottom of this page.

>>GOOGLE ARCHIVE you will find this, with Reports shown by week not very far below.

>>I'M NEW AND I DON'T KNOW WHERE I WANT TO GO: Welcome to the Real Zone. Simply browse the page and see for yourself what is here. You will not be disappointed.

>>OR YOU CAN DO A CUSTOM GOOGLE SEARCH OF THE 13 BOOKS AND COUNTING CONTAINED ON THIS SITE>>>>>

SEARCH THE QUEST FOR THE RING--THE EQUIVALENT OF MORE THAN 15 BOOKS ABOUT BASKETBALL

Custom Search
SEARCH THE 15 BOOKS / 1.5 MILLION WORDS

TWO WAYS TO LOOK AT HOW LONG QUEST FOR THE RING HAS BEEN KEEPING IT REAL

The above shows you in two different ways the exact amount of time since The Quest for the Ring began to completely explain how the Quest is won, while having as much fun as possible at the expense of basketball pretenders and player haters. The first panel shows how long it has been in each of seven units. The second panel shows how long it has been in the more usual "remainder" way.

QUEST FOR THE RING SOMETIMES GOES INTO HIATUS
Regardless of any temporary unavoidable absences, the Quest is in this project to explain in detail for the very long term--indefinitely, for many, many, many years ahead. At this writing we have the equivalent of 15 basketball books under our belt and we plan on doing dozens more. Count on us being right where basketball is at, which is here, actually.

Blog Archive


QUEST REPORTS #41 TO #60, GOING BACK IN TIME


QUEST IS FREE BUT ABOUT 3 MINUTES OF YOUR TIME CAN GET YOU MORE OF IT

Although there is a guaranteed minimum rate of Report production regardless of traffic, it is in your power to help increase the number of and frequency of Quest Reports. All Quest sites are developed and produced according to both superseding criteria and site traffic. Like all sites started in recent years, Quest receives very little help from Google and other search engines. The search engines mostly serve to keep the older, popular sites popular; they preserve the same old, same old status quo.

The amount of reporting and the frequency of Quest Reports could easily be double what it is were site traffic higher. If Quest obtained the traffic we know it deserves, than production would go from the equivalent of roughly three books about basketball a year to at least five and to as many as six books a year!

WE NEED A GRAND TOTAL OF ABOUT 3 MINUTES OF YOUR TIME
Please take three or four minutes every now and then to recommend Quest and post links to Quest on your favorite sports and other sites. In other words, wherever possible use us to back up what you are posting and writing. The resulting automatic increase of traffic will in turn increase the resources that go in to producing Quest home page Reports. After helping us, feel free to e-mail how you helped and we will throw some Internet love back to your Internet hangout. The email address is thequestforthering1. This is a gmail address, so you use @gmail.com after that address.

QUEST FOR THE RING USER GUIDE

QUEST FOR THE RING USER GUIDE: YOU CAN QUICKLY LOCATE AND GET THE SITE INFORMATION YOU NEED OR WANT RIGHT HERE

LATEST 25 REPORTS THREE AT A TIME -- TO LOAD THE NEXT THREE, CLICK ">" AT THE TOP ON THE RIGHT



QUEST REPORTS #61 TO #80, GOING BACK IN TIME


WORD IS BOND

WELCOME TO THE QUEST--THINGS ARE VERY DIFFERENT HERE

WELCOME TO THE QUEST FOR THE RING, ALSO KNOWN AS THE REAL ZONE
This is one of the most serious basketball sites on the internet, focusing on how and why playoff games and NBA Championships are won. We also love to take comedy and music breaks, but not every day.

WELCOME TO THE QUEST FOR THE RING. YOU HAVE LEFT THE HYPE ZONE AND HAVE ARRIVED IN THE REAL ZONE. Please check any rose colored glasses at the door. The Hype Zone is where you can find out about the personalities and the styles and how popular they are and what they are up to lately. The Real Zone is where we DO NOT think personalities and styles and how popular or unpopular they are things to waste time on just for ratings or traffic.

Instead of hype, here we post as much truth about how NBA playoff games and Championships are won as we can 365 days a year and at at any hour of the day or night. Please have a productive visit, and a nice trip back to the Hype Zone when your visit is over.


A SMALL SAMPLE OF CURRENT AND SOON TO COME QUEST FOR THE RING REAL ZONE TOPICS
--How and Why the 2010 Los Angeles Lakers, the 2010 Cleveland Cavaliers, and the 2010 Boston Celtics Win or Lose in the 2010 Playoffs
--The right "amount of" LeBron James
--How players we know deserve to win a first or second Ring can get one, highly talented players such as Chris Paul, Chris Bosh, Rajon Rondo, and Dwyane Wade.
--How and why the Denver Nuggets Franchise has repeatedly fooled the public, and possibly themselves for that matter. (No, we still have not completely finished with the Nuggets, thanks to how successful they were in 2008-09, albeit there was no chance of a Championship; Continuing, much done already)
--How and why much of what you may think you know about Allen Iverson is dead wrong (Continuing, much done already)
--How and why the playoffs are something completely different from the regular season, and why your team may be simply not prepared for them despite a lot of regular season wins

A SMALL SAMPLE OF ALREADY COMPLETED QUEST FOR THE RING REAL ZONE TOPICS
--How and why Carmelo Anthony has been downsized due to a quest for "well-roundedness," and why this is really bad
--How and why the owner of the Nuggets shortchanged and cheated his team out of a possible Championship
--How and why being physical alone can not win you a Championship
--How and why the Nuggets' high fouling defense will take them only so far
--How and why George Karl is doing more harm than good with respect to J.R. Smith
--How and why George Karl's obsession with personalities is wrong and bad for any team
--How and why George Karl and the Nuggets can not win in the playoffs (2007, 2008) or a West final (2009). If Quest commits a foul, we own up to it, as we do right here: we thought the Nuggets could not win in the playoffs in 2009. They did win 10 games before being eliminated by the Lakers in the West final, so in response we corrected our evaluation of what you can do with the Nuggets' unique 2009 approach to basketball without, however, going overboard.
--How and why George Karl cheats the fans and the franchise out of performance and development of "reserve" players
--How and why playmaking is so important, probably more than you think, and how you manage playmakers correctly.
--How and why you have probably been fooled regarding the Nuggets' 2008 off-season and their 2008-09 defense

UNIQUE SITE DESIGN
The Quest is organized in a completely different way from what you are used to on the internet. We have combined the best features of the blog and the conventional web site formats, the latter being the norm for large organizations. However, since we do not like the idea of using flash to "wow" visitors, we do not use flash except within video and other discrete components. So we are state of the art in terms of expanding the power of visitors to get exactly what they want very quickly, but we do not have the latest flash gadgetry just to "keep up with the Joneses". More broadly, you will find that Quest for the Ring never seeks to keep up with the Joneses, simply because the Joneses never had the nerve and the intelligence to do what we do.

2009: A PROFESSIONAL ORGANIZATION COMES TO QUEST
Just before the 2009-10 season tipped, the very large number of features and links to important resources were strategically reorganized and placed within an easy to use and clearly labelled section system. So ended the era of the rapidly developed, sprawling and slightly disorganized Quest, and so began the era of the big but under careful control and extremely well organized and professional Quest for the Ring.

The Quest Home Page consists of numerous types of content, organized carefully into the new sections as of November 2009. Features can be any educational and / or entertaining thing you can think of, including everything from music players to videos to photos to breaking NBA news readers to top teams performance breakdown pages.

Quest for the Ring has a world class link system for those who know what they are looking for and wish to find and engage the appropriate link, But the Quest visitor does not HAVE to hunt for links to have an intelligent and entertaining experience. The Quest home page is big enough and chock loaded enough that link hunting is not absolutely necessary the way it normally is at many other basketball sites.

THERE MUST BE TEN WAYS TO READ REPORTS [PAUL SIMON LOL]
There are close to ten ways to find out about, select, and read Quest Reports! The standard, traditional blog presentation is available as one of the many ways to choose, access, and read reports. On the Home Page, only one report loads in the traditional format in order to keep this page as quick loading as possible.
See the "Total Freedom of Navigation" section for complete details about how to find, choose, and read reports.

One key place to find Older Reports is on sequentially numbered url's thequestforthering2.blogspot.com, thequestforthering3.blogspot.com, and so forth.

THE QUEST USER GUIDE VERSUS an about page
Other sites most often have undeveloped and limited in scope "about pages" which is usually all they have for what we call a "User Guide". Our User Guide material is a vast improvement, quantitatively and qualitatively, over a mere "about page" While many other sites don't help their visitors to make the best use of the content, we do. Also, the User Guide is chock loaded with invitations to visitors to participate in all kinds of ways, including for example advertising for free, link exchange, and getting a team site supported by Quest.

SEARCH THE QUEST FOR THE RING, THE EQUIVALENT OF MORE THAN 15 BOOKS ABOUT BASKETBALL

Custom Search
SEARCH THE 15 BOOKS / 1.5 MILLION WORDS

QUEST REPORTS #81 TO #100 GOING BACK IN TIME

RECOMMENDED SCHOOL--CLICK FOR DETAILS


VIDEOS

QUEST FOR THE RING VIDEOS--The primary Quest video page with video juke boxes for all 30 teams

QUEST FOR THE RING VIDEOS #2--Specially chosen video juke boxes and individual videos

QUEST FOR THE RING PRIMARY HOME PAGE B--A few key video players are here

LATEST NBA.COM NBA VIDEOS
LATEST YAHOO SPORTS NBA / BASKETBALL VIDEOS
LATEST CBS SPORTSLINE NBA VIDEOS

MOST RECENT LEAGUE WIDE REAL PLAYER RATINGS

Note: This is generally a once a year, end of season Report. For many teams and players, more recent ratings are often available.

NBA REAL PLAYER RATINGS
2009-10 REGULAR SEASON

POSITION AND TEAM CODES
In the Real Player and related ratings shown for the League, two codes follow each players' name (and before his rating). The first code tells you the players' team and the second one tells you his position.

TEAM CODES
ATLA Atlanta Hawks
BOST Boston Celtics
CHAR Charlotte Bobcats
CHIC Chicago Bulls
CLEV Cleveland Cavaliers
DALL Dallas Mavericks
DENV Denver Nuggets
DETR Detroit Pistons
GOLS Golden State Warriors
HOUS Houston Rockets
INDI Indiana Pacers
LACL Los Angeles Clippers
LALK Los Angeles Lakers
MEMP Memphis Grizzlies
MIAM Miami Heat
MILW Milwaukee Bucks
MINN Minnesota Timberwolves
NJRS New Jersey Nets
NORL New Orleans Hornets
NWYR New York Knicks
OKLA Oklahoma Thunder
ORLA Orlando Magic
PHIL Philadelphia 76'ers
PHNX Phoenix Suns
PORT Portland Trailblazers
SACR Sacramento Kings
SANA San Antonio Spurs
TORO Toronto Raptors
UTAH Utah Jazz
WASH Washington Wizards

POSITION CODES
PG Point Guard
SG Shooting Guard
SF Small Forward
PF Power Forward
C Center

SCALE FOR REGULAR SEASON REAL PLAYER RATINGS
Perfect for all Practical Purposes / Major Historic Super Star 1.100 and more
Historic Super Star 1.000 1.099
Super Star 0.900 0.999
A Star Player / A well above normal starter 0.820 0.899
Very Good Player / A solid starter 0.760 0.819
Major Role Player / Good enough to start 0.700 0.759
Good Role Player / Often a good 6th man 0.640 0.699
Satisfactory Role Player / Preferably should not start 0.580 0.639
Marginal Role Player / Generally should not start 0.520 0.579
Poor Player / Should never start 0.460 0.519
Very Poor Player 0.400 0.459
Extremely Poor Player .399 and less

NBA REAL PLAYER RATINGS
2009-10 REGULAR SEASON

--Shows the real quality of players
--Includes all tracked actions and also includes untracked or hidden defending
--The average Real Player Rating for all players who play 300 minutes or more is about .700.
--All players who have played at least 300 minutes are included here and in all other ratings to follow in coming days

MAJOR HISTORIC SUPERSTARS
1 LeBron James CLEV SF 1.382
2 Tim Duncan SANA PF 1.254
3 Chris Paul NORL PG 1.202
4 Dwight Howard ORLA C 1.121
5 Andrew Bogut MILW C 1.112

HISTORIC SUPERSTARS
6 Steve Nash PHNX PG 1.095
7 Jason Kidd DALL PG 1.092
8 Rajon Rondo BOST PG 1.084
9 Deron Williams UTAH PG 1.076
10 Dwyane Wade MIAM SG 1.075
11 Marcus Camby LACL C 1.071
12 Pau Gasol LALK PF 1.065
13 Greg Oden PORT C 1.060
14 Kevin Durant OKLA SF 1.051
15 Dirk Nowitzki DALL PF 1.034
16 Josh Smith ATLA SF 1.033
17 Kevin Garnett BOST PF 1.033
18 Manu Ginobili SANA SG 1.023
19 Kobe Bryant LALK SG 1.005

SUPERSTARS
20 Carlos Boozer UTAH PF 0.994
21 Lamar Odom LALK PF 0.982
22 Andrei Kirilenko UTAH SF 0.976
23 Chris Bosh TORO PF 0.972
24 David Lee NWYR C 0.971
25 Al Horford ATLA C 0.970
26 Marcus Camby PORT C 0.967
27 Jameer Nelson ORLA PG 0.959
28 Joakim Noah CHIC C 0.955
29 John Salmons MILW SF 0.937
30 Andrew Bynum LALK C 0.936
31 Troy Murphy INDI PF 0.934
32 Kevin Love MINN PF 0.934
33 Anderson Varejao CLEV C 0.933
34 Brendan Haywood DALL C 0.929
35 Vince Carter ORLA SG 0.928
36 Gerald Wallace CHAR SF 0.918
37 Sergio Rodriguez SACR PG 0.908
38 Tyrus Thomas CHIC PF 0.904
39 Derrick Rose CHIC PG 0.903

STARS
40 Baron Davis LACL PG 0.899
41 Russell Westbrook OKLA PG 0.897
42 Zach Randolph MEMP PF 0.885
43 Danny Granger INDI SF 0.885
44 Marc Gasol MEMP C 0.885
45 Joe Johnson ATLA SG 0.883
46 Chauncey Billups DENV PG 0.883
47 Roy Hibbert INDI C 0.880
48 Ben Wallace DETR C 0.877
49 Andre Miller PORT PG 0.874
50 Carmelo Anthony DENV SF 0.874
51 Brandon Jennings MILW PG 0.870
52 Tyrus Thomas CHAR PF 0.870
53 A.J. Price INDI PG 0.868
54 Paul Millsap UTAH PF 0.866
55 Craig Smith LACL PF 0.865
56 Samuel Dalembert PHIL C 0.864
57 Andre Iguodala PHIL SG 0.858
58 Raymond Felton CHAR PG 0.857
59 Delonte West CLEV SG 0.856
60 Al Jefferson MINN C 0.856
61 Eric Maynor OKLA PG 0.856
62 Serge Ibaka OKLA PF 0.855
63 Nene Hilario DENV C 0.852
64 Chris Andersen DENV PF 0.849
65 Shaquille O'Neal CLEV C 0.842
66 Brandon Roy PORT SG 0.842
67 Ryan Anderson ORLA PF 0.840
68 Antonio McDyess SANA PF 0.839
69 Tony Parker SANA PG 0.837
70 Paul Pierce BOST SF 0.836
71 Mo Williams CLEV PG 0.835
72 Kyle Lowry HOUS PG 0.835
73 Ersan Ilyasova MILW SF 0.828
74 Amare Stoudemire PHNX PF 0.828
75 Luke Ridnour MILW PG 0.827
76 Erick Dampier DALL C 0.826
77 Tyreke Evans SACR PG 0.825
78 Andris Biedrins GOLS C 0.825
79 Kyle Korver UTAH SG 0.824
80 Anthony Randolph GOLS PF 0.820

VERY GOOD PLAYERS / SOLID STARTERS
81 Eric Maynor UTAH PG 0.819
82 Carlos Arroyo MIAM PG 0.819
83 Antawn Jamison CLEV PF 0.819
84 Nazr Mohammed CHAR C 0.818
85 Luol Deng CHIC SF 0.817
86 Dorell Wright MIAM SG 0.817
87 LaMarcus Aldridge PORT PF 0.817
88 Carl Landry HOUS PF 0.816
89 Luis Scola HOUS PF 0.816
90 Nick Collison OKLA PF 0.812
91 Carlos Delfino MILW SG 0.809
92 Kendrick Perkins BOST C 0.807
93 Jermaine O'Neal MIAM C 0.805
94 Nate Robinson NWYR PG 0.804
95 Goran Dragic PHNX PG 0.803
96 Mike Bibby ATLA PG 0.803
97 Stephen Curry GOLS PG 0.803
98 Mehmet Okur UTAH C 0.800
99 Jose Calderon TORO PG 0.797
100 Jason Terry DALL SG 0.791
101 Ronnie Price UTAH PG 0.784
102 DeJuan Blair SANA PF 0.784
103 Chris Kaman LACL C 0.783
104 Shaun Livingston WASH PG 0.783
105 Joel Przybilla PORT C 0.782
106 David West NORL PF 0.781
107 John Salmons CHIC SF 0.776
108 Matt Barnes ORLA SF 0.775
109 Darren Collison NORL PG 0.775
110 Ronny Turiaf GOLS C 0.774
111 Udonis Haslem MIAM PF 0.774
112 Shawn Marion DALL SF 0.772
113 Jason Williams ORLA PG 0.771
114 Keyon Dooling NJRS PG 0.771
115 Andray Blatche WASH C 0.770
116 James Harden OKLA SG 0.770
117 Brook Lopez NJRS C 0.770
118 Ray Allen BOST SG 0.770
119 Amir Johnson TORO SF 0.769
120 Ty Lawson DENV PG 0.768
121 Beno Udrih SACR PG 0.768
122 Chuck Hayes HOUS PF 0.765
123 Matt Bonner SANA PF 0.763
124 Reggie Evans TORO PF 0.763
125 Gilbert Arenas WASH PG 0.760

MAJOR ROLE PLAYERS / GOOD ENOUGH TO START
126 Zydrunas Ilgauskas CLEV C 0.758
127 Rasheed Wallace BOST PF 0.757
128 Lou Williams PHIL SG 0.756
129 Stephen Jackson CHAR SF 0.754
130 Dan Gadzuric MILW C 0.754
131 Jamario Moon CLEV SF 0.754
132 Ron Artest LALK SF 0.752
133 Rodney Stuckey DETR PG 0.749
134 Shelden Williams BOST PF 0.748
135 Oleksiy Pecherov MINN C 0.748
136 Aaron Brooks HOUS PG 0.747
137 Boris Diaw CHAR PF 0.746
138 C.J. Watson GOLS PG 0.746
139 Brendan Haywood WASH C 0.744
140 Emeka Okafor NORL C 0.742
141 Taj Gibson CHIC PF 0.741
142 J.R. Smith DENV SG 0.738
143 Mike Miller WASH SF 0.732
144 Channing Frye PHNX C 0.731
145 Louis Amundson PHNX PF 0.731
146 Elton Brand PHIL PF 0.726
147 D.J. Mbenga LALK C 0.725
148 Tayshaun Prince DETR SF 0.724
149 Francisco Garcia SACR SG 0.724
150 Tyler Hansbrough INDI PF 0.724
151 Trevor Ariza HOUS SG 0.723
152 Allen Iverson PHIL SG 0.722
153 Rashard Lewis ORLA PF 0.721
154 Richard Jefferson SANA SF 0.721
155 Luc Richard Mbah a Moute MILW SF 0.721
156 Jamal Crawford ATLA SG 0.721
157 Brad Miller CHIC C 0.720
158 Josh Boone NJRS C 0.718
159 Jason Richardson PHNX SG 0.718
160 Sebastian Telfair LACL PG 0.717
161 Marvin Williams ATLA PF 0.716
162 David Andersen HOUS C 0.715
163 Caron Butler DALL SF 0.715
164 Michael Beasley MIAM PF 0.714
165 George Hill SANA PG 0.713
166 Ronnie Brewer UTAH SG 0.712
167 D.J. Augustin CHAR PG 0.712
168 Monta Ellis GOLS PG 0.711
169 Sean May SACR PF 0.710
170 Anthony Tolliver GOLS PF 0.709
171 Kenyon Martin DENV PF 0.709
172 Tyson Chandler CHAR C 0.709
173 Rodrigue Beaubois DALL PG 0.707
174 Stephen Jackson GOLS SF 0.704
175 Shane Battier HOUS SF 0.703
176 Stephen Graham CHAR SF 0.702
177 Mike Conley MEMP PG 0.702
178 Earl Watson INDI PG 0.701
179 T.J. Ford INDI PG 0.700

GOOD ROLE PLAYERS / OFTEN GOOD 6TH MAN PLAYERS
180 Ramon Sessions MINN PG 0.699
181 Corey Maggette GOLS SF 0.699
182 Marcin Gortat ORLA PF 0.698
183 Terrence Williams NJRS SG 0.698
184 Jarrett Jack TORO PG 0.698
185 James Singleton WASH SF 0.696
186 JaVale McGee WASH C 0.694
187 Jose Juan Barea DALL PG 0.694
188 Marcus Thornton NORL SG 0.693
189 Daequan Cook MIAM SG 0.691
190 Jordan Farmar LALK PG 0.689
191 Kirk Hinrich CHIC PG 0.689
192 Carl Landry SACR PF 0.689
193 Shannon Brown LALK PG 0.687
194 Anthony Carter DENV PG 0.686
195 Jason Thompson SACR PF 0.686
196 Mike Dunleavy INDI SF 0.686
197 Robin Lopez PHNX C 0.684
198 Spencer Hawes SACR C 0.680
199 Rudy Fernandez PORT SG 0.678
200 Drew Gooden LACL PF 0.678
201 Steve Blake LACL PG 0.677
202 Bobby Simmons NJRS SF 0.676
203 Larry Hughes NWYR SG 0.675
204 Jerry Stackhouse MILW SF 0.675
205 Quentin Richardson MIAM SG 0.675
206 Rudy Gay MEMP SF 0.675
207 Darko Milicic MINN C 0.674
208 Drew Gooden DALL PF 0.674
209 Reggie Williams GOLS SF 0.673
210 Ronald Murray CHAR SG 0.671
211 Grant Hill PHNX SF 0.669
212 Nate Robinson BOST PG 0.668
213 Travis Outlaw LACL SF 0.668
214 Steve Blake PORT PG 0.667
215 Devin Harris NJRS PG 0.665
216 Antawn Jamison WASH PF 0.665
217 Danilo Gallinari NWYR SF 0.664
218 Wilson Chandler NWYR SF 0.664
219 Gerald Henderson CHAR SG 0.664
220 Tony Allen BOST SG 0.663
221 Kyrylo Fesenko UTAH C 0.662
222 Anthony Morrow GOLS SG 0.661
223 Jordan Hill HOUS PF 0.661
224 Jared Dudley PHNX SF 0.660
225 Daniel Gibson CLEV PG 0.660
226 Jeff Green OKLA PF 0.659
227 Josh McRoberts INDI PF 0.659
228 Anthony Johnson ORLA PG 0.658
229 J.J. Redick ORLA SG 0.658
230 Al Harrington NWYR PF 0.655
231 Luther Head INDI PG 0.654
232 Nicolas Batum PORT SF 0.653
233 Theo Ratliff CHAR C 0.650
234 Mario Chalmers MIAM PG 0.648
235 Brandon Bass ORLA PF 0.648
236 Kris Humphries NJRS PF 0.646
237 Chris Duhon NWYR PG 0.643
238 Nenad Krstic OKLA C 0.642
239 Kris Humphries DALL PF 0.642

SATISFACTORY ROLE PLAYERS / USUALLY DO NOT START
240 Rasho Nesterovic TORO C 0.637
241 Hedo Turkoglu TORO SF 0.635
242 Johan Petro DENV C 0.635
243 Randy Foye WASH PG 0.634
244 Jrue Holiday PHIL PG 0.633
245 Mickael Pietrus ORLA SG 0.631
246 Jared Jeffries NWYR PF 0.627
247 Leandro Barbosa PHNX SG 0.626
248 Joel Anthony MIAM C 0.624
249 O.J. Mayo MEMP SG 0.622
250 Chase Budinger HOUS SF 0.621
251 Roger Mason SANA SG 0.619
252 Caron Butler WASH SF 0.617
253 Peja Stojakovic NORL SF 0.615
254 Marreese Speights PHIL PF 0.613
255 Jamaal Tinsley MEMP PG 0.613
256 Bobby Brown NORL PG 0.611
257 Jonas Jerebko DETR SF 0.610
258 Omri Casspi SACR SF 0.609
259 Kurt Thomas MILW PF 0.608
260 Thaddeus Young PHIL SF 0.607
261 Brandon Rush INDI SG 0.606
262 Hasheem Thabeet MEMP C 0.605
263 Damien Wilkins MINN SG 0.601
264 Rodney Carney PHIL SF 0.601
265 Earl Boykins WASH PG 0.599
266 J.J. Hickson CLEV PF 0.599
267 Willie Green PHIL SG 0.598
268 Anthony Parker CLEV SG 0.596
269 Jamaal Magloire MIAM C 0.594
270 Wesley Matthews UTAH SG 0.592
271 Devean George GOLS SG 0.592
272 Richard Hamilton DETR SG 0.592
273 Kevin Martin SACR SG 0.591
274 Andrea Bargnani TORO C 0.591
275 Ryan Gomes MINN SF 0.589
276 Thabo Sefolosha OKLA SF 0.589
277 Rafer Alston NJRS PG 0.589
278 Tracy McGrady NWYR SG 0.588
279 Marco Belinelli TORO SG 0.587
280 Michael Finley BOST SF 0.585
281 Marcus Williams MEMP PG 0.583
282 Martell Webster PORT SG 0.583
283 Charlie Villanueva DETR PF 0.582

MARGINAL ROLE PLAYERS / RARELY START
284 Derek Fisher LALK PG 0.578
285 Jannero Pargo CHIC PG 0.577
286 Toney Douglas NWYR PG 0.577
287 Chris Hunter GOLS PF 0.576
288 Derrick Brown CHAR SF 0.575
289 Yi Jianlian NJRS PF 0.575
290 Nathan Jawai MINN PF 0.575
291 Ime Udoka SACR SG 0.574
292 Sergio Rodriguez NWYR PG 0.574
293 Arron Afflalo DENV SG 0.573
294 Kevin Martin HOUS SG 0.572
295 Hakim Warrick MILW PF 0.571
296 Al Thornton WASH SF 0.569
297 Will Bynum DETR PG 0.568
298 Jonny Flynn MINN PG 0.568
299 James Posey NORL SF 0.564
300 Mikki Moore GOLS C 0.561
301 Darius Songaila NORL PF 0.561
302 Jerryd Bayless PORT PG 0.556
303 Jon Brockman SACR PF 0.554
304 Sasha Vujacic LALK SG 0.554
305 Dante Cunningham PORT SF 0.551
306 Michael Redd MILW SG 0.551
307 Eric Gordon LACL SG 0.550
308 C.J. Miles UTAH SF 0.549
309 Al Thornton LACL SF 0.547
310 Julian Wright NORL SF 0.545
311 Jeff Teague ATLA PG 0.544
312 Marquis Daniels BOST SG 0.543
313 Dahntay Jones INDI SG 0.542
314 Chris Douglas-Roberts NJRS SG 0.541
315 Zaza Pachulia ATLA C 0.538
316 Etan Thomas OKLA C 0.538
317 Sonny Weems TORO SG 0.537
318 Devin Brown NORL SG 0.533
319 Jason Maxiell DETR PF 0.532
320 Bill Walker NWYR SG 0.532
321 Courtney Lee NJRS SG 0.528
322 James Jones MIAM SF 0.525
323 Donte Greene SACR SF 0.524
324 Kenny Thomas SACR PF 0.523
325 Wayne Ellington MINN SG 0.521
326 Juwan Howard PORT PF 0.520

POOR PLAYERS / SHOULD NEVER START
327 Charlie Bell MILW SG 0.518
328 Corey Brewer MINN SF 0.518
329 Hakim Warrick CHIC PF 0.514
330 DeAndre Jordan LACL C 0.512
331 Rasual Butler LACL SG 0.509
332 Glen Davis BOST PF 0.508
333 Sam Young MEMP SF 0.508
334 Austin Daye DETR SF 0.507
335 Ronald Murray CHIC SG 0.504
336 Vladimir Radmanovic GOLS SF 0.494
337 Solomon Jones INDI PF 0.493
338 Ben Gordon DETR SG 0.491
339 James Johnson CHIC PF 0.487
340 Rafer Alston MIAM PG 0.482
341 Eduardo Najera DALL PF 0.482
342 Chucky Atkins DETR PG 0.477
343 Earl Clark PHNX SF 0.474
344 Joey Graham DENV SF 0.473
345 Fabricio Oberto WASH C 0.468
346 Jason Smith PHIL PF 0.466
347 Andres Nocioni SACR SF 0.464
348 Jared Jeffries HOUS PF 0.462
349 Nick Young WASH SG 0.462
350 Maurice Evans ATLA SF 0.462
351 Keith Bogans SANA SG 0.462
352 Josh Howard DALL SF 0.460

VERY POOR PLAYERS
353 Eddie House NWYR SG 0.454
354 Joe Smith ATLA PF 0.453
355 Kwame Brown DETR C 0.452
356 Antoine Wright TORO SF 0.451
357 Darrell Arthur MEMP PF 0.443
358 Jarvis Hayes NJRS SF 0.438
359 Ricky Davis LACL SF 0.437
360 Mardy Collins LACL PG 0.436
361 Malik Hairston SANA SG 0.433
362 Jeff Pendergraph PORT PF 0.432
363 Jermaine Taylor HOUS SG 0.428
364 Chris Wilcox DETR C 0.417
365 DeMar DeRozan TORO SG 0.414
366 Jodie Meeks MILW SG 0.413
367 Quinton Ross DALL SF 0.406

EXTREMELY POOR PLAYERS
368 Morris Peterson NORL SG 0.394
369 Josh Powell LALK PF 0.386
370 Jason Kapono PHIL SG 0.383
371 Jawad Williams CLEV SF 0.369
372 DeMarre Carroll MEMP SF 0.357
373 Ryan Hollins MINN C 0.351
374 Steve Novak LACL SF 0.345
375 Trenton Hassell NJRS SF 0.342
376 Brian Scalabrine BOST C 0.329
377 Michael Finley SANA SF 0.321
378 Sasha Pavlovic MINN SG 0.314
379 DeShawn Stevenson WASH SG 0.287
380 Malik Allen DENV PF 0.282
381 DaJuan Summers DETR SF 0.266

SCALE FOR REGULAR SEASON REAL PLAYER RATINGS
Perfect for all Practical Purposes / Major Historic Super Star 1.100 and more
Historic Super Star 1.000 1.099
Super Star 0.900 0.999
A Star Player / A well above normal starter 0.820 0.899
Very Good Player / A solid starter 0.760 0.819
Major Role Player / Good enough to start 0.700 0.759
Good Role Player / Often a good 6th man 0.640 0.699
Satisfactory Role Player / Usually do not start 0.580 0.639
Marginal Role Player / Rarely start 0.520 0.579
Poor Player / Should never start 0.460 0.519
Very Poor Player 0.400 0.459
Extremely Poor Player .399 and less

AVERAGE RATINGS BY POSITION
Not all positions are created equal. These are the average ratings by position among all NBA players who play 300 minutes or more. There are very few small forwards and shooting guards who are superstars. Most (but definitely not all) superstars are players who can play point guard, power forward, or center.

Point Guard .750
Shooting Guard .640
Small Forward .640
Power Forward .720
Center .750
All Positions / All Players (NBA Overall Average) .700

PLAYOFF GRADE PLAYERS
Playoff Grade Players have ratings of .560 and higher. Players with ratings below .560 should not play in the playoffs unless the team is forced to play them so that they have two players at a position and/or so that the team has at least eight players playing in the playoffs and/or because the coach is absolutely certain the low rating player will play better in the playoffs than he did in the regular season.

REGULAR SEASON STARTING PLAYERS
All starters on all teams should have ratings of .575 and higher. If a team has no player at a postion with at least a .575 rating, then it is extremely deficient at that position due to injuries or due to management incompetence.

THE ALL IMPORTANT, AWARD WINNING REAL PLAYER RATINGS USER GUIDE
The above are a few hightlights from the User Guide for Real Player Ratings. For complete details regarding how the Real Player Ratings are designed, how and why they work, and how exactly you can use them, see the User Guide. The User Guide for Real Player Ratings is a necessary reference for anyone who wants to truly understand the value of, the validity of, and the ways you can use the Real Player Rating performance measures.

Also, you should become a regular visitor to Quest for the Ring if you want to get the full advantage of reading and using Real Player Ratings Series performance measures. The more you visit and check out ratings, the more quickly and easily you will be able to evaluate what you are seeing.

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