The Quest For the Ring

Laugh Out Loud George Karl!: How Should Russell Westbrook be Notified When he is Forfeiting a Game?

2011-06-05T01:49:00.000-07:00

What is the latest thinking at one of America’s most sophisticated basketball sites? We’re trying to determine whether Kevin Durant should rap Russell Westbrook up top the head or settle for a hand signal. (And you thought we spend all our time on complicated stuff laugh out loud). Specifically, QFTR is trying to determine what Kevin Durant should do from now on every time Russell Westbrook starts forfeiting a game due to refusing to play point guard in general and due to not getting the ball to him (Durant) enough times. The main alternatives are:

--Durant raps that boy up top the head, not very hard but hard enough to get his attention.

Or::

--Durant signals to Westbrook that he is blowing the game by raising his arm up with his hand open and all five fingers showing. The five fingers symbolize the five players on the court. If Durant signals Westbrook with the open hand, he is reminding the boy wonder that there are five players on the court at any time, not just one. This is to remind Westbrook that regardless of how great a scorer he is there is no way in hell that the Thunder can win key playoff games unless Westbrook respects the point guard concept, makes some plays, and gets the ball to Durant enough times so that Durant can get his share of scores and plays.

So what do you think, folks? When Westbrook starts dreaming of winning the game all by himself should he get the open hand signals or should he get a little rap up top the head? The debate about this continues on at QFTR headquarters!

While I was searching to see if there is a picture on the Internet of Kevin Durant rapping Russell Westbrook up top the head (yes, I actually was looking for one, laugh out loud) I came upon an article suggesting that the solution to the Thunder dilemma is to rely on shooting guard James Harden to make plays and throw the term “point guard” out the window. Laugh out loud! Here I am reminded that the Internet is totally lacking in quality reliability (and technical reliability as well by the way). Yeah right, solve the Thunder point guard problem by throwing the concept of point guard out the window and by having James Harden make a few plays in his spare time when he is taking a break from his 2-guard scoring. Laugh out loud indeed!

Sigh. But every time I see a goofy (or inane or absurd) article I am reminded of how QFTR is so very necessary as a beacon of light and intelligence in a sea of dark and dumbness.

HAND SIGNALS OR RAPS UP TOP THE HEAD???

EDITORIAL NOTE
Oh, and just why is this post a "Laugh Out Loud, George Karl!" type of post? After all, George Karl doesn't seem to be involved in this one.

Well, since Karl as a playoffs coach is ultimately nothing more than a joke, whenever we are joking about SOMETHING we might as well tag the posting using "Laugh Out Loud, George Karl!" (How's that for slightly twisted logic, laugh out loud). But I'm actually half serious. In my mind George Karl will forever be associated with the absurd and the humorous in basketball. His schemes to try to win playoff games are very much like the Wiley Coyote's schemes to catch the Road Runner: humorously doomed to failure every time. The mere mention of Karl's name is a signal that it's laugh time! So I don't think that it is too much of a stretch to associate Karl's humorous inability to succeed in the playoffs with any old basketball joking.

In other words starting with this one the Laugh Out Loud, George Karl! postings will not necessarily have to specifically have Karl in the subject matter.

The Banner is Changed but the Banner That Should Have Stayed Up for the Rest of 2011 is Posted Here

2011-06-05T01:31:00.000-07:00

Well I held out as long as I could but I eventually was forced to succumb to the pressure and put the Mavericks’ and Heat’ team flags at the top of The Quest for the Ring (QFTR) banner. There was a lot of debate at QFTR headquarters about how the banner rules should be changed (or would be changed even if they shouldn’t be changed) but in the end the mavericks who were against the Mavericks being on top of the Thunder were forced to back down and the banner rules were not changed.

The banner rules do make a lot of sense (a lot more than Russell Westbrook sometimes does, laugh out loud). Under the rules, from when the Championship teams are determined until sometime in late December, the team flags at the top are the ones of the teams that were actually in the Championship (regardless of who should have been in the Championship if they had played smart). The flags in the second row have to be the ones for the two teams that lost the Conference finals. The flags in the third row are the flags of two of the four teams that lost in the semifinals (round two). For the two team flags in the third row, QFTR still has some leeway. For those, from each Conference we pick the better of the two semifinal losers. We picked the Celtics and the Lakers and passed on the Grizzlies and the Hawks.

The rebels here at QFTR who wanted the teams that were actually better teams (but played dumb and lost) to remain at the top of the banner for the six months plus between early June and late December did not go away empty handed. As a consolation prize, they were promised that the banner they wanted up for the six plus months would be placed in a fast break post. So that banner appears below.

THE BANNER THAT SHOULD HAVE BEEN UP FROM JUNE THROUGH DECEMBER 2011 (BUT ALAS, NEITHER RUSSELL WESTBROOK NOR DERRICK ROSE ATTENDED QFTR POINT GUARD SCHOOL)

Real Player Ratings for the 2011 NBA Championship Game Two, Dallas Mavericks 95 Miami Heat 93

2011-06-04T23:03:00.000-07:00

2011 NBA CHAMPIONSHIP MIAMI HEAT VS DALLAS MAVERICKS GAME TWO REAL PLAYER RATINGS
JUNE 2, 2011
MIAMI, FLORIDA
DALLAS MAVERICKS 95 MIAMI HEAT 93
BEST OF SEVEN SERIES TIED 1-1

KEY PLAYERS WHO DID NOT PLAY
--These are the above average players who would have or should have played but did not.

--The reason is shown after the player if and only if it is known with at least 85% certainty.

--Usually the reason is known with almost 100% certainty.

--If the reason is not known with at least 85% certainty, the reason "unknown" is given.

--Injuries are NEVER perfectly reported and information about them is archived nowhere on the Internet. Therefore, it is possible that when Quest for the Ring identifies "coaching error" or "unknown" as the reason, the real reason may have been an injury.

--If the reason "traded" is shown then in many cases a player who was obtained in that trade played instead.

MIAMI HEAT KEY PLAYERS WHO DID NOT PLAY
Eddie House >>> Did not play due to apparent coach error.

DALLAS MAVERICKS KEY PLAYERS WHO DID NOT PLAY
Caron Butler >>> Did not play due to injury.

REAL PLAYER RATINGS FOR THIS GAME
--Real Player Rating shows you the real basketball quality of players quickly and accurately.

--Players who played at least 7 minutes in the game are included.

--Each player's hidden defending rating from the regular season is used as the Hidden Defending Adjustment (HDA). Obviously, players in any individual game including this one were not exactly as good defenders as they were on the average during the regular season. But since there is no way to provide HDA for individual games and since it is better to have some reasonable HDA than none at all, we use the season HDA as a reasonable substitute.

--Beginning in 2011 we show just the combined listing; in prior years we separately showed the rank lists by team but this is now considered to be unnecessary.

Dwyane Wade, SG 1.559 HEAT
Mike Bibby, PG 1.169 HEAT
LeBron James, SF 0.978 HEAT
Shawn Marion, SF 0.912 MAVERICKS
Jason Terry, SG 0.910 MAVERICKS
DeShawn Stevenson, SG 0.908 MAVERICKS
Dirk Nowitzki, PF 0.905 MAVERICKS
Tyson Chandler, C 0.623 MAVERICKS
Mario Chalmers, PG 0.588 HEAT
Jason Kidd, PG 0.453 MAVERICKS
Jose Juan Barea, PG 0.443 MAVERICKS
Chris Bosh, PF 0.438 HEAT
Joel Anthony, C 0.383 HEAT
Mike Miller, SG 0.314 HEAT
Udonis Haslem, PF 0.195 HEAT
Brendan Haywood, C -0.154 MAVERICKS

SCALE FOR REGULAR SEASON REAL PLAYER RATINGS FOR A SINGLE GAME
Perfect Player for all Practical Purposes / Major Historic Super Star 1.200 and more
Historic Super Star 1.080 1.199
Super Star 0.960 1.079
A Star Player / A well above normal starter 0.860 0.959
Very Good Player / A solid starter 0.780 0.859
Major Role Player / Good enough to start 0.700 0.779
Good Role Player / Often a good 6th man, can possibly start 0.620 0.699
Satisfactory Role Player / Generally should not start 0.540 0.619
Marginal Role Player / Should not start except in an emergency 0.460 0.539
Poor Player / Should never start 0.380 0.459
Very Poor Player 0.300 0.379
Extremely Poor Player 0.299 and less

AVERAGE RATINGS BY POSITION
Not all positions are created equal. In pro basketball, point guard and center are the most important positions, power forward is in the middle, and small forward and shooting guard are the least important. (Some teams will have a different pattern.) The following are good estimates for average ratings by position among all NBA players who play 300 minutes or more. There are very few small forwards and shooting guards who don't fit at other positions who are superstars. Most superstars are players who can play point guard, power forward, or center.

Point Guard .750
Shooting Guard .635
Small Forward .645
Power Forward .715
Center .755
All Positions / All Players (NBA Overall Average) .700

To quickly and fairly compare two players who play different positions, convert their Ratings as follows:

Point Guards: Subtract .050; for example, .700 becomes .650
Shooting Guards: Add .065; for example, .700 becomes .765
Small Forwards: Add .055; for example, .700 becomes .755
Power Forwards: Subtract .015; for example, .700 becomes .685
Centers: Subtract .055; for example, .700 becomes .645

REAL PLAYER PRODUCTION FOR THIS GAME
--Shows the real basketball production (or quantity) of players.

--Players who played at least 7 minutes in the game are included.

--An estimate of the value of hidden defending production is included in the total production for all players shown; as described above hidden defending ratings from the regular season are used.

--Beginning in 2011 we show just the combined listing; in prior years we separately showed the rank lists by team but this is now considered to be unnecessary.

Dwyane Wade, SG 65.48 HEAT
LeBron James, SF 39.12 HEAT
Dirk Nowitzki, PF 38.01 MAVERICKS
Shawn Marion, SF 37.39 MAVERICKS
Jason Terry, SG 28.21 MAVERICKS
Mike Bibby, PG 25.72 HEAT
Tyson Chandler, C 23.66 MAVERICKS
DeShawn Stevenson, SG 19.97 MAVERICKS
Chris Bosh, PF 17.50 HEAT
Jason Kidd, PG 17.21 MAVERICKS
Mario Chalmers, PG 14.70 HEAT
Joel Anthony, C 10.34 HEAT
Jose Juan Barea, PG 6.20 MAVERICKS
Udonis Haslem, PF 5.66 HEAT
Mike Miller, SG 4.71 HEAT
Brendan Haywood, C -1.24 MAVERICKS

=============== OFFENSIVE AND DEFENSIVE SUB RATINGS FOR THIS GAME ===============

OFFENSIVE SUB RATINGS FOR THIS GAME
--Shows the real quality of players' offense.

--Players who played at least 7 minutes in the game are included.

--The hidden defending component is not a part of the offensive sub rating.

--Beginning in 2011 we show just the combined listing; in prior years we separately showed the rank lists by team but this is now considered to be unnecessary.

Dwyane Wade, SG 1.083 HEAT
Jason Terry, SG 0.702 MAVERICKS
Mike Bibby, PG 0.619 HEAT
Shawn Marion, SF 0.596 MAVERICKS
Dirk Nowitzki, PF 0.399 MAVERICKS
Tyson Chandler, C 0.379 MAVERICKS
DeShawn Stevenson, SG 0.365 MAVERICKS
LeBron James, SF 0.342 HEAT
Mario Chalmers, PG 0.272 HEAT
Jose Juan Barea, PG 0.098 MAVERICKS
Jason Kidd, PG 0.075 MAVERICKS
Chris Bosh, PF 0.011 HEAT
Joel Anthony, C 0.000 HEAT
Brendan Haywood, C -0.087 MAVERICKS
Udonis Haslem, PF -0.096 HEAT
Mike Miller, SG -0.203 HEAT

THE AVERAGE OFFENSIVE SUB RATING
for all NBA players who play 300 minutes or more is about .385

DEFENSIVE SUB RATINGS FOR THIS GAME
--Shows the real quality of players' defense.

--Players who played at least 7 minutes in the game are included.

--The hidden defending component is included as described above.

--Beginning in 2011 we show just the combined listing; in prior years we separately showed the rank lists by team but this is now considered to be unnecessary.

LeBron James, SF 0.636 HEAT
Mike Bibby, PG 0.550 HEAT
DeShawn Stevenson, SG 0.543 MAVERICKS
Mike Miller, SG 0.516 HEAT
Dirk Nowitzki, PF 0.506 MAVERICKS
Dwyane Wade, SG 0.476 HEAT
Chris Bosh, PF 0.426 HEAT
Joel Anthony, C 0.383 HEAT
Jason Kidd, PG 0.378 MAVERICKS
Jose Juan Barea, PG 0.345 MAVERICKS
Shawn Marion, SF 0.316 MAVERICKS
Mario Chalmers, PG 0.316 HEAT
Udonis Haslem, PF 0.291 HEAT
Tyson Chandler, C 0.244 MAVERICKS
Jason Terry, SG 0.207 MAVERICKS
Brendan Haywood, C -0.067 MAVERICKS

THE AVERAGE DEFENSIVE SUB RATING
for all NBA players who play 300 minutes or more is about .315

The breakdown between hidden and unhidden defending is available on request.

THE ALL IMPORTANT, AWARD WINNING REAL PLAYER RATINGS USER GUIDE
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.

ABOUT REAL PLAYER RATINGS REPORTS
Of the several dozen types of Reports that Quest for the Ring (QFTR) produces, Team Real Player Rating Reports are among the most important. A Real Player Rating Report gives you four very important ratings for every player in the Report:

--Overall Real Player Rating
--Real Player Production
--Offensive Sub Rating
--Defensive Sub Rating

These Reports are formatted reports. Formatted reports have a pre-set format and there is little or no custom commentary included. The whole idea of formatted reports is to provide a very large amount of important information very efficiently. The carefully planned and long evolved and perfected formatting eliminates the need for time-consuming custom text reporting in contexts where there is really no need for it and where there may be no time for it. But to fully understand a formatted Report you need to be familiar with the User Guide for it.

In contrast to formatted reports, QFTR breaks new ground in general and reveals its latest discoveries about basketball in particular in free form (non-formatted) text reports. While formatted posts are "on the reservation", non-formatted text reports are where QFTR "goes off the reservation". Both types of reports are essential; having just one type without the other type would reduce the value of QFTR by MORE than half.

QFTR is considering some kind of labelling system for posts that will allow visitors to even more easily than ever get to content they want or need.

There are two things you can do to get the full value out of RPR Reports. First, you can read parts or all of the User Guide for them (the link to the Guide is below). Second, you can simply visit a lot and see a lot of Reports and then you will automatically become better at interpreting what you see.

During the regular season beginning in late January (when we can first validly calculate the hidden defending adjustments) QFTR posts Team Real Player Ratings for major contending teams and other selected teams as time permits. Between the end of the regular season and before the Conference Finals begin (in late April and in early May) QFTR posts the final ratings for approximately the ten best teams as of the beginning of the playoffs. If there is a major upset in round one and/or round two by a team whose ratings were not yet posted, QFTR will make sure to post those asap.

These final ratings can be used in team grids that are very important parts of any playoff series preview.

Unfortunately, production time limits that are caused partly by limited traffic mean that only a small number of playoff series previews can be produced. Remember, you can help QFTR get more production time by posting links to QFTR wherever you can, and then QFTR will link back to you on request (click the contact link under the banner).

Game Real Player Ratings Reports are produced for every NBA Championship game, every NBA Conference Final game, and for selected NBA semifinal games. For the semifinals, normally, the most interesting semifinal (round two) series will be selected (out of the four of them) and Real Player Ratings for every game in that series will be posted.

After the playoffs are completely over and the off-season arrives, QFTR has enough time to produce and publish a final annual Real Player Ratings Report for all thirty NBA teams. These annual records of who was really the best and who really did what are scheduled to be posted in late June and in early July. They are posted in alphabetic order by team starting with the Atlanta Hawks and ending with the Washington Wizards. The ones for the top teams that were posted in late April-early May are repeated so there is a complete set in alpha and chronological sequence.

If you ever spend quality time at QFTR you will discover that there are other types of Real Player Rating Reports. Many of these appear in the summer. Among the most important ones that come out in the summer are the League-Wide Real Player Ratings Reports. Also, don't miss the Real Player Ratings Reports by position if you are a serious basketball person.

This section was a limited and brief overview of Real Player Ratings Reports in general. What you need if you want to understand how the Ratings are constructed and why QFTR knows they are the best possible ratings is the User Guide for Real Player Ratings. This User Guide was last revised and updated in May 2010; a new revision is "on order" and is expected to be completed in May or June of 2011. The May 2010 edition is still very useful; the only section of it that is not completely accurate is the one where the specific factors are shown; the factors have been adjusted a little to reflect the latest information and understanding QFTR has about exactly how playoff games are won. There has also been a significant improvement in the calibration and validation of Real Player Ratings components.

So 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.

Real Player Ratings for the 2011 NBA Championship Game One: Miami Heat 92 Dallas Mavericks 84

2011-06-04T22:22:00.000-07:00

2011 NBA CHAMPIONSHIP MIAMI HEAT VS DALLAS MAVERICKS GAME ONE REAL PLAYER RATINGS
MAY 31 2011
MIAMI, FLORIDA
MIAMI HEAT 92 DALLAS MAVERICKS 84
MIAMI LEADS BEST OF SEVEN SERIES 1-0

KEY PLAYERS WHO DID NOT PLAY
--These are the above average players who would have or should have played but did not.

--The reason is shown after the player if and only if it is known with at least 85% certainty.

--Usually the reason is known with almost 100% certainty.

--If the reason is not known with at least 85% certainty, the reason "unknown" is given.

--Injuries are NEVER perfectly reported and information about them is archived nowhere on the Internet. Therefore, it is possible that when Quest for the Ring identifies "coaching error" or "unknown" as the reason, the real reason may have been an injury.

--If the reason "traded" is shown then in many cases a player who was obtained in that trade played instead.

MIAMI HEAT KEY PLAYERS WHO DID NOT PLAY
Eddie House >>> Did not play due to apparent coach error.

DALLAS MAVERICKS KEY PLAYERS WHO DID NOT PLAY
Caron Butler >>> Did not play due to injury.

REAL PLAYER RATINGS FOR THIS GAME
--Real Player Rating shows you the real basketball quality of players quickly and accurately.

--Players who played at least 7 minutes in the game are included.

--Each player's hidden defending rating from the regular season is used as the Hidden Defending Adjustment (HDA). Obviously, players in any individual game including this one were not exactly as good defenders as they were on the average during the regular season. But since there is no way to provide HDA for individual games and since it is better to have some reasonable HDA than none at all, we use the season HDA as a reasonable substitute.

--Beginning in 2011 we show just the combined listing; in prior years we separately showed the rank lists by team but this is now considered to be unnecessary.

LeBron James, SF 1.164 HEAT
Dwyane Wade, SG 1.030 HEAT
Dirk Nowitzki, PF 0.964 MAVERICKS
Shawn Marion, SF 0.952 MAVERICKS
Juwan Howard, PF 0.882 HEAT
Brendan Haywood, C 0.858 MAVERICKS
DeShawn Stevenson, SG 0.854 MAVERICKS
Chris Bosh, PF 0.788 HEAT
Jason Kidd, PG 0.634 MAVERICKS
Mario Chalmers, PG 0.588 HEAT
Tyson Chandler, C 0.568 MAVERICKS
Mike Bibby, PG 0.483 HEAT
Mike Miller, SG 0.422 HEAT
Udonis Haslem, PF 0.406 HEAT
Jason Terry, SG 0.343 MAVERICKS
Joel Anthony, C 0.265 HEAT
Jose Juan Barea, PG 0.226 MAVERICKS
Peja Stojakovic, SF 0.067 MAVERICKS

SCALE FOR REGULAR SEASON REAL PLAYER RATINGS FOR A SINGLE GAME
Perfect Player for all Practical Purposes / Major Historic Super Star 1.200 and more
Historic Super Star 1.080 1.199
Super Star 0.960 1.079
A Star Player / A well above normal starter 0.860 0.959
Very Good Player / A solid starter 0.780 0.859
Major Role Player / Good enough to start 0.700 0.779
Good Role Player / Often a good 6th man, can possibly start 0.620 0.699
Satisfactory Role Player / Generally should not start 0.540 0.619
Marginal Role Player / Should not start except in an emergency 0.460 0.539
Poor Player / Should never start 0.380 0.459
Very Poor Player 0.300 0.379
Extremely Poor Player 0.299 and less

AVERAGE RATINGS BY POSITION
Not all positions are created equal. In pro basketball, point guard and center are the most important positions, power forward is in the middle, and small forward and shooting guard are the least important. (Some teams will have a different pattern.) The following are good estimates for average ratings by position among all NBA players who play 300 minutes or more. There are very few small forwards and shooting guards who don't fit at other positions who are superstars. Most superstars are players who can play point guard, power forward, or center.

Point Guard .750
Shooting Guard .635
Small Forward .645
Power Forward .715
Center .755
All Positions / All Players (NBA Overall Average) .700

To quickly and fairly compare two players who play different positions, convert their Ratings as follows:

Point Guards: Subtract .050; for example, .700 becomes .650
Shooting Guards: Add .065; for example, .700 becomes .765
Small Forwards: Add .055; for example, .700 becomes .755
Power Forwards: Subtract .015; for example, .700 becomes .685
Centers: Subtract .055; for example, .700 becomes .645

REAL PLAYER PRODUCTION FOR THIS GAME
--Shows the real basketball production (or quantity) of players.

--Players who played at least 7 minutes in the game are included.

--An estimate of the value of hidden defending production is included in the total production for all players shown; as described above hidden defending ratings from the regular season are used.

--Beginning in 2011 we show just the combined listing; in prior years we separately showed the rank lists by team but this is now considered to be unnecessary.

LeBron James, SF 52.37 HEAT
Dwyane Wade, SG 39.14 HEAT
Dirk Nowitzki, PF 38.57 MAVERICKS
Shawn Marion, SF 33.30 MAVERICKS
Chris Bosh, PF 30.72 HEAT
Jason Kidd, PG 22.83 MAVERICKS
Tyson Chandler, C 19.32 MAVERICKS
Mario Chalmers, PG 16.46 HEAT
Udonis Haslem, PF 12.19 HEAT
Brendan Haywood, C 12.01 MAVERICKS
DeShawn Stevenson, SG 11.96 MAVERICKS
Jason Terry, SG 11.32 MAVERICKS
Mike Miller, SG 8.44 HEAT
Mike Bibby, PG 6.76 HEAT
Juwan Howard, PF 5.47 HEAT
Joel Anthony, C 4.78 HEAT
Jose Juan Barea, PG 4.07 MAVERICKS
Peja Stojakovic, SF 1.01 MAVERICKS

=============== OFFENSIVE AND DEFENSIVE SUB RATINGS FOR THIS GAME ===============

OFFENSIVE SUB RATINGS FOR THIS GAME
--Shows the real quality of players' offense.

--Players who played at least 7 minutes in the game are included.

--The hidden defending component is not a part of the offensive sub rating.

--Beginning in 2011 we show just the combined listing; in prior years we separately showed the rank lists by team but this is now considered to be unnecessary.

LeBron James, SF 0.716 HEAT
Juwan Howard, PF 0.684 HEAT
Dirk Nowitzki, PF 0.585 MAVERICKS
Dwyane Wade, SG 0.567 HEAT
Shawn Marion, SF 0.510 MAVERICKS
DeShawn Stevenson, SG 0.506 MAVERICKS
Chris Bosh, PF 0.438 HEAT
Mike Miller, SG 0.365 HEAT
Jason Kidd, PG 0.339 MAVERICKS
Mario Chalmers, PG 0.278 HEAT
Jason Terry, SG 0.234 MAVERICKS
Tyson Chandler, C 0.190 MAVERICKS
Mike Bibby, PG 0.139 HEAT
Udonis Haslem, PF 0.083 HEAT
Jose Juan Barea, PG 0.033 MAVERICKS
Brendan Haywood, C -0.040 MAVERICKS
Joel Anthony, C -0.116 HEAT
Peja Stojakovic, SF -0.203 MAVERICKS

THE AVERAGE OFFENSIVE SUB RATING
for all NBA players who play 300 minutes or more is about .385

DEFENSIVE SUB RATINGS FOR THIS GAME
--Shows the real quality of players' defense.

--Players who played at least 7 minutes in the game are included.

--The hidden defending component is included as described above.

--Beginning in 2011 we show just the combined listing; in prior years we separately showed the rank lists by team but this is now considered to be unnecessary.

Brendan Haywood, C 0.898 MAVERICKS
Dwyane Wade, SG 0.463 HEAT
LeBron James, SF 0.448 HEAT
Shawn Marion, SF 0.442 MAVERICKS
Joel Anthony, C 0.381 HEAT
Dirk Nowitzki, PF 0.380 MAVERICKS
Tyson Chandler, C 0.378 MAVERICKS
Chris Bosh, PF 0.350 HEAT
DeShawn Stevenson, SG 0.348 MAVERICKS
Mike Bibby, PG 0.344 HEAT
Udonis Haslem, PF 0.323 HEAT
Mario Chalmers, PG 0.309 HEAT
Jason Kidd, PG 0.295 MAVERICKS
Peja Stojakovic, SF 0.270 MAVERICKS
Juwan Howard, PF 0.199 HEAT
Jose Juan Barea, PG 0.193 MAVERICKS
Jason Terry, SG 0.109 MAVERICKS
Mike Miller, SG 0.057 HEAT

THE AVERAGE DEFENSIVE SUB RATING
for all NBA players who play 300 minutes or more is about .315

The breakdown between hidden and unhidden defending is available on request.

THE ALL IMPORTANT, AWARD WINNING REAL PLAYER RATINGS USER GUIDE
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.

ABOUT REAL PLAYER RATINGS REPORTS
Of the several dozen types of Reports that Quest for the Ring (QFTR) produces, Team Real Player Rating Reports are among the most important. A Real Player Rating Report gives you four very important ratings for every player in the Report:

--Overall Real Player Rating
--Real Player Production
--Offensive Sub Rating
--Defensive Sub Rating

These Reports are formatted reports. Formatted reports have a pre-set format and there is little or no custom commentary included. The whole idea of formatted reports is to provide a very large amount of important information very efficiently. The carefully planned and long evolved and perfected formatting eliminates the need for time-consuming custom text reporting in contexts where there is really no need for it and where there may be no time for it. But to fully understand a formatted Report you need to be familiar with the User Guide for it.

In contrast to formatted reports, QFTR breaks new ground in general and reveals its latest discoveries about basketball in particular in free form (non-formatted) text reports. While formatted posts are "on the reservation", non-formatted text reports are where QFTR "goes off the reservation". Both types of reports are essential; having just one type without the other type would reduce the value of QFTR by MORE than half.

QFTR is considering some kind of labelling system for posts that will allow visitors to even more easily than ever get to content they want or need.

There are two things you can do to get the full value out of RPR Reports. First, you can read parts or all of the User Guide for them (the link to the Guide is below). Second, you can simply visit a lot and see a lot of Reports and then you will automatically become better at interpreting what you see.

During the regular season beginning in late January (when we can first validly calculate the hidden defending adjustments) QFTR posts Team Real Player Ratings for major contending teams and other selected teams as time permits. Between the end of the regular season and before the Conference Finals begin (in late April and in early May) QFTR posts the final ratings for approximately the ten best teams as of the beginning of the playoffs. If there is a major upset in round one and/or round two by a team whose ratings were not yet posted, QFTR will make sure to post those asap.

These final ratings can be used in team grids that are very important parts of any playoff series preview.

Unfortunately, production time limits that are caused partly by limited traffic mean that only a small number of playoff series previews can be produced. Remember, you can help QFTR get more production time by posting links to QFTR wherever you can, and then QFTR will link back to you on request (click the contact link under the banner).

Game Real Player Ratings Reports are produced for every NBA Championship game, every NBA Conference Final game, and for selected NBA semifinal games. For the semifinals, normally, the most interesting semifinal (round two) series will be selected (out of the four of them) and Real Player Ratings for every game in that series will be posted.

After the playoffs are completely over and the off-season arrives, QFTR has enough time to produce and publish a final annual Real Player Ratings Report for all thirty NBA teams. These annual records of who was really the best and who really did what are scheduled to be posted in late June and in early July. They are posted in alphabetic order by team starting with the Atlanta Hawks and ending with the Washington Wizards. The ones for the top teams that were posted in late April-early May are repeated so there is a complete set in alpha and chronological sequence.

If you ever spend quality time at QFTR you will discover that there are other types of Real Player Rating Reports. Many of these appear in the summer. Among the most important ones that come out in the summer are the League-Wide Real Player Ratings Reports. Also, don't miss the Real Player Ratings Reports by position if you are a serious basketball person.

This section was a limited and brief overview of Real Player Ratings Reports in general. What you need if you want to understand how the Ratings are constructed and why QFTR knows they are the best possible ratings is the User Guide for Real Player Ratings. This User Guide was last revised and updated in May 2010; a new revision is "on order" and is expected to be completed in May or June of 2011. The May 2010 edition is still very useful; the only section of it that is not completely accurate is the one where the specific factors are shown; the factors have been adjusted a little to reflect the latest information and understanding QFTR has about exactly how playoff games are won. There has also been a significant improvement in the calibration and validation of Real Player Ratings components.

So 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.

Real Player Ratings for the 2011 West Conference Final Game Five: Dallas Mavericks 100 Oklahoma Thunder 96

2011-06-02T20:56:00.000-07:00

2011 WEST CONFERENCE FINAL OKLAHOMA THUNDER VS DALLAS MAVERICKS GAME FIVE REAL PLAYER RATINGS
MAY 25 2011
DALLAS, TEXAS
DALLAS MAVERICKS 100 OKLAHOMA THUNDER 96
DALLAS WINS BEST OF SEVEN SERIES 4-1

KEY PLAYERS WHO DID NOT PLAY
--These are the above average players who would have or should have played but did not.

--The reason is shown after the player if and only if it is known with at least 85% certainty.

--Usually the reason is known with almost 100% certainty.

--If the reason is not known with at least 85% certainty, the reason "unknown" is given.

--Injuries are NEVER perfectly reported and information about them is archived nowhere on the Internet. Therefore, it is possible that when Quest for the Ring identifies "coaching error" or "unknown" as the reason, the real reason may have been an injury.

--If the reason "traded" is shown then in many cases a player who was obtained in that trade played instead.

THUNDER
Nazr Muhammed >>> Did not play due to apparent coaching error.

Daequan Cook >>> Played only 4 minutes due to apparent coaching error.

MAVERICKS
Caron Butler >>> Did not play due to injury.

REAL PLAYER RATINGS FOR THIS GAME
--Real Player Rating shows you the real basketball quality of players quickly and accurately.

--Players who played at least 7 minutes in the game are included.

--Each player's hidden defending rating from the regular season is used as the Hidden Defending Adjustment (HDA). Obviously, players in any individual game including this one were not exactly as good defenders as they were on the average during the regular season. But since there is no way to provide HDA for individual games and since it is better to have some reasonable HDA than none at all, we use the season HDA as a reasonable substitute.

--Beginning in 2011 we show just the combined listing; in prior years we separately showed the rank lists by team but this is now considered to be unnecessary.

Jose Juan Barea, PG 1.393 MAVERICKS
James Harden, SG 1.348 THUNDER
Shawn Marion, SF 1.186 MAVERICKS
Nick Collison, PF 1.151 THUNDER
Russell Westbrook, PG 1.043 THUNDER
Dirk Nowitzki, PF 0.996 MAVERICKS
Jason Kidd, PG 0.858 MAVERICKS
Peja Stojakovic, SF 0.847 MAVERICKS
Tyson Chandler, C 0.709 MAVERICKS
Kevin Durant, SF 0.708 THUNDER
Brendan Haywood, C 0.626 MAVERICKS
Kendrick Perkins, C 0.497 THUNDER
Thabo Sefolosha, SG 0.270 THUNDER
Jason Terry, SG 0.261 MAVERICKS
Serge Ibaka, PF 0.155 THUNDER
Eric Maynor, PG 0.130 THUNDER
DeShawn Stevenson, SG 0.018 MAVERICKS

SCALE FOR REGULAR SEASON REAL PLAYER RATINGS FOR A SINGLE GAME
Perfect Player for all Practical Purposes / Major Historic Super Star 1.200 and more
Historic Super Star 1.080 1.199
Super Star 0.960 1.079
A Star Player / A well above normal starter 0.860 0.959
Very Good Player / A solid starter 0.780 0.859
Major Role Player / Good enough to start 0.700 0.779
Good Role Player / Often a good 6th man, can possibly start 0.620 0.699
Satisfactory Role Player / Generally should not start 0.540 0.619
Marginal Role Player / Should not start except in an emergency 0.460 0.539
Poor Player / Should never start 0.380 0.459
Very Poor Player 0.300 0.379
Extremely Poor Player 0.299 and less

AVERAGE RATINGS BY POSITION
Not all positions are created equal. In pro basketball, point guard and center are the most important positions, power forward is in the middle, and small forward and shooting guard are the least important. (Some teams will have a different pattern.) The following are good estimates for average ratings by position among all NBA players who play 300 minutes or more. There are very few small forwards and shooting guards who don't fit at other positions who are superstars. Most superstars are players who can play point guard, power forward, or center.

Point Guard .750
Shooting Guard .635
Small Forward .645
Power Forward .715
Center .755
All Positions / All Players (NBA Overall Average) .700

To quickly and fairly compare two players who play different positions, convert their Ratings as follows:

Point Guards: Subtract .050; for example, .700 becomes .650
Shooting Guards: Add .065; for example, .700 becomes .765
Small Forwards: Add .055; for example, .700 becomes .755
Power Forwards: Subtract .015; for example, .700 becomes .685
Centers: Subtract .055; for example, .700 becomes .645

REAL PLAYER PRODUCTION FOR THIS GAME
--Shows the real basketball production (or quantity) of players.

--Players who played at least 7 minutes in the game are included.

--An estimate of the value of hidden defending production is included in the total production for all players shown; as described above hidden defending ratings from the regular season are used.

--Beginning in 2011 we show just the combined listing; in prior years we separately showed the rank lists by team but this is now considered to be unnecessary.

Shawn Marion, SF 47.45 MAVERICKS
Russell Westbrook, PG 45.88 THUNDER
James Harden, SG 45.83 THUNDER
Nick Collison, PF 43.73 THUNDER
Dirk Nowitzki, PF 39.84 MAVERICKS
Jose Juan Barea, PG 30.65 MAVERICKS
Kevin Durant, SF 30.43 THUNDER
Jason Kidd, PG 29.18 MAVERICKS
Tyson Chandler, C 17.01 MAVERICKS
Kendrick Perkins, C 13.93 THUNDER
Brendan Haywood, C 10.02 MAVERICKS
Jason Terry, SG 8.11 MAVERICKS
Peja Stojakovic, SF 7.63 MAVERICKS
Thabo Sefolosha, SG 3.78 THUNDER
Eric Maynor, PG 2.72 THUNDER
Serge Ibaka, PF 2.18 THUNDER
DeShawn Stevenson, SG 0.46 MAVERICKS

=============== OFFENSIVE AND DEFENSIVE SUB RATINGS FOR THIS GAME ===============

OFFENSIVE SUB RATINGS FOR THIS GAME
--Shows the real quality of players' offense.

--Players who played at least 7 minutes in the game are included.

--The hidden defending component is not a part of the offensive sub rating.

--Beginning in 2011 we show just the combined listing; in prior years we separately showed the rank lists by team but this is now considered to be unnecessary.

Jose Juan Barea, PG 0.972 MAVERICKS
James Harden, SG 0.935 THUNDER
Shawn Marion, SF 0.764 MAVERICKS
Russell Westbrook, PG 0.708 THUNDER
Jason Kidd, PG 0.564 MAVERICKS
Brendan Haywood, C 0.546 MAVERICKS
Nick Collison, PF 0.536 THUNDER
Dirk Nowitzki, PF 0.464 MAVERICKS
Peja Stojakovic, SF 0.335 MAVERICKS
Tyson Chandler, C 0.291 MAVERICKS
Kevin Durant, SF 0.279 THUNDER
Jason Terry, SG 0.093 MAVERICKS
Thabo Sefolosha, SG 0.000 THUNDER
Eric Maynor, PG -0.003 THUNDER
Kendrick Perkins, C -0.078 THUNDER
Serge Ibaka, PF -0.127 THUNDER
DeShawn Stevenson, SG -0.322 MAVERICKS

THE AVERAGE OFFENSIVE SUB RATING
for all NBA players who play 300 minutes or more is about .385

DEFENSIVE SUB RATINGS FOR THIS GAME
--Shows the real quality of players' defense.

--Players who played at least 7 minutes in the game are included.

--The hidden defending component is included as described above.

--Beginning in 2011 we show just the combined listing; in prior years we separately showed the rank lists by team but this is now considered to be unnecessary.

Nick Collison, PF 0.615 THUNDER
Kendrick Perkins, C 0.575 THUNDER
Dirk Nowitzki, PF 0.532 MAVERICKS
Peja Stojakovic, SF 0.513 MAVERICKS
Kevin Durant, SF 0.429 THUNDER
Shawn Marion, SF 0.422 MAVERICKS
Jose Juan Barea, PG 0.421 MAVERICKS
Tyson Chandler, C 0.418 MAVERICKS
James Harden, SG 0.413 THUNDER
DeShawn Stevenson, SG 0.340 MAVERICKS
Russell Westbrook, PG 0.335 THUNDER
Jason Kidd, PG 0.294 MAVERICKS
Serge Ibaka, PF 0.282 THUNDER
Thabo Sefolosha, SG 0.270 THUNDER
Jason Terry, SG 0.168 MAVERICKS
Eric Maynor, PG 0.133 THUNDER
Brendan Haywood, C 0.080 MAVERICKS

THE AVERAGE DEFENSIVE SUB RATING
for all NBA players who play 300 minutes or more is about .315

The breakdown between hidden and unhidden defending is available on request.

THE ALL IMPORTANT, AWARD WINNING REAL PLAYER RATINGS USER GUIDE
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.

ABOUT REAL PLAYER RATINGS REPORTS
Of the several dozen types of Reports that Quest for the Ring (QFTR) produces, Team Real Player Rating Reports are among the most important. A Real Player Rating Report gives you four very important ratings for every player in the Report:

--Overall Real Player Rating
--Real Player Production
--Offensive Sub Rating
--Defensive Sub Rating

These Reports are formatted reports. Formatted reports have a pre-set format and there is little or no custom commentary included. The whole idea of formatted reports is to provide a very large amount of important information very efficiently. The carefully planned and long evolved and perfected formatting eliminates the need for time-consuming custom text reporting in contexts where there is really no need for it and where there may be no time for it. But to fully understand a formatted Report you need to be familiar with the User Guide for it.

In contrast to formatted reports, QFTR breaks new ground in general and reveals its latest discoveries about basketball in particular in free form (non-formatted) text reports. While formatted posts are "on the reservation", non-formatted text reports are where QFTR "goes off the reservation". Both types of reports are essential; having just one type without the other type would reduce the value of QFTR by MORE than half.

QFTR is considering some kind of labelling system for posts that will allow visitors to even more easily than ever get to content they want or need.

There are two things you can do to get the full value out of RPR Reports. First, you can read parts or all of the User Guide for them (the link to the Guide is below). Second, you can simply visit a lot and see a lot of Reports and then you will automatically become better at interpreting what you see.

During the regular season beginning in late January (when we can first validly calculate the hidden defending adjustments) QFTR posts Team Real Player Ratings for major contending teams and other selected teams as time permits. Between the end of the regular season and before the Conference Finals begin (in late April and in early May) QFTR posts the final ratings for approximately the ten best teams as of the beginning of the playoffs. If there is a major upset in round one and/or round two by a team whose ratings were not yet posted, QFTR will make sure to post those asap.

These final ratings can be used in team grids that are very important parts of any playoff series preview.

Unfortunately, production time limits that are caused partly by limited traffic mean that only a small number of playoff series previews can be produced. Remember, you can help QFTR get more production time by posting links to QFTR wherever you can, and then QFTR will link back to you on request (click the contact link under the banner).

Game Real Player Ratings Reports are produced for every NBA Championship game, every NBA Conference Final game, and for selected NBA semifinal games. For the semifinals, normally, the most interesting semifinal (round two) series will be selected (out of the four of them) and Real Player Ratings for every game in that series will be posted.

After the playoffs are completely over and the off-season arrives, QFTR has enough time to produce and publish a final annual Real Player Ratings Report for all thirty NBA teams. These annual records of who was really the best and who really did what are scheduled to be posted in late June and in early July. They are posted in alphabetic order by team starting with the Atlanta Hawks and ending with the Washington Wizards. The ones for the top teams that were posted in late April-early May are repeated so there is a complete set in alpha and chronological sequence.

If you ever spend quality time at QFTR you will discover that there are other types of Real Player Rating Reports. Many of these appear in the summer. Among the most important ones that come out in the summer are the League-Wide Real Player Ratings Reports. Also, don't miss the Real Player Ratings Reports by position if you are a serious basketball person.

This section was a limited and brief overview of Real Player Ratings Reports in general. What you need if you want to understand how the Ratings are constructed and why QFTR knows they are the best possible ratings is the User Guide for Real Player Ratings. This User Guide was last revised and updated in May 2010; a new revision is "on order" and is expected to be completed in May or June of 2011. The May 2010 edition is still very useful; the only section of it that is not completely accurate is the one where the specific factors are shown; the factors have been adjusted a little to reflect the latest information and understanding QFTR has about exactly how playoff games are won. There has also been a significant improvement in the calibration and validation of Real Player Ratings components.

So 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.

Real Player Ratings for the 2011 West Conference Final Game Four: Dallas Mavericks 112 Oklahoma Thunder 105, Overtime

2011-06-02T20:16:00.000-07:00

2011 WEST CONFERENCE FINAL OKLAHOMA THUNDER VS DALLAS MAVERICKS GAME FOUR REAL PLAYER RATINGS
MAY 23 2011
OKLAHOMA CITY, OKLAHOMA
DALLAS MAVERICKS 112 OKLAHOMA THUNDER 105, OVERTIME
DALLAS LEADS BEST OF SEVEN SERIES 3-1

KEY PLAYERS WHO DID NOT PLAY
--These are the above average players who would have or should have played but did not.

--The reason is shown after the player if and only if it is known with at least 85% certainty.

--Usually the reason is known with almost 100% certainty.

--If the reason is not known with at least 85% certainty, the reason "unknown" is given.

--Injuries are NEVER perfectly reported and information about them is archived nowhere on the Internet. Therefore, it is possible that when Quest for the Ring identifies "coaching error" or "unknown" as the reason, the real reason may have been an injury.

--If the reason "traded" is shown then in many cases a player who was obtained in that trade played instead.

THUNDER
Nazr Muhammed >>> Did not play due to apparent coaching error.

Daequan Cook >>> Played only 6 minutes due to apparent coaching error.

MAVERICKS
Caron Butler >>> Did not play due to injury.

REAL PLAYER RATINGS FOR THIS GAME
--Real Player Rating shows you the real basketball quality of players quickly and accurately.

--Players who played at least 7 minutes in the game are included.

--Each player's hidden defending rating from the regular season is used as the Hidden Defending Adjustment (HDA). Obviously, players in any individual game including this one were not exactly as good defenders as they were on the average during the regular season. But since there is no way to provide HDA for individual games and since it is better to have some reasonable HDA than none at all, we use the season HDA as a reasonable substitute.

--Beginning in 2011 we show just the combined listing; in prior years we separately showed the rank lists by team but this is now considered to be unnecessary.

Dirk Nowitzki, PF 1.207 MAVERICKS
Nick Collison, PF 1.157 THUNDER
Jason Kidd, PG 1.112 MAVERICKS
Eric Maynor, PG 1.048 THUNDER
Thabo Sefolosha, SG 0.940 THUNDER
Brendan Haywood, C 0.796 MAVERICKS
Serge Ibaka, PF 0.736 THUNDER
Kevin Durant, SF 0.722 THUNDER
Kendrick Perkins, C 0.695 THUNDER
Jose Juan Barea, PG 0.685 MAVERICKS
Jason Terry, SG 0.666 MAVERICKS
Tyson Chandler, C 0.643 MAVERICKS
Shawn Marion, SF 0.573 MAVERICKS
Russell Westbrook, PG 0.551 THUNDER
James Harden, SG 0.483 THUNDER
Peja Stojakovic, SF 0.062 MAVERICKS
DeShawn Stevenson, SG -0.191 MAVERICKS

SCALE FOR REGULAR SEASON REAL PLAYER RATINGS FOR A SINGLE GAME
Perfect Player for all Practical Purposes / Major Historic Super Star 1.200 and more
Historic Super Star 1.080 1.199
Super Star 0.960 1.079
A Star Player / A well above normal starter 0.860 0.959
Very Good Player / A solid starter 0.780 0.859
Major Role Player / Good enough to start 0.700 0.779
Good Role Player / Often a good 6th man, can possibly start 0.620 0.699
Satisfactory Role Player / Generally should not start 0.540 0.619
Marginal Role Player / Should not start except in an emergency 0.460 0.539
Poor Player / Should never start 0.380 0.459
Very Poor Player 0.300 0.379
Extremely Poor Player 0.299 and less

AVERAGE RATINGS BY POSITION
Not all positions are created equal. In pro basketball, point guard and center are the most important positions, power forward is in the middle, and small forward and shooting guard are the least important. (Some teams will have a different pattern.) The following are good estimates for average ratings by position among all NBA players who play 300 minutes or more. There are very few small forwards and shooting guards who don't fit at other positions who are superstars. Most superstars are players who can play point guard, power forward, or center.

Point Guard .750
Shooting Guard .635
Small Forward .645
Power Forward .715
Center .755
All Positions / All Players (NBA Overall Average) .700

To quickly and fairly compare two players who play different positions, convert their Ratings as follows:

Point Guards: Subtract .050; for example, .700 becomes .650
Shooting Guards: Add .065; for example, .700 becomes .765
Small Forwards: Add .055; for example, .700 becomes .755
Power Forwards: Subtract .015; for example, .700 becomes .685
Centers: Subtract .055; for example, .700 becomes .645

REAL PLAYER PRODUCTION FOR THIS GAME
--Shows the real basketball production (or quantity) of players.

--Players who played at least 7 minutes in the game are included.

--An estimate of the value of hidden defending production is included in the total production for all players shown; as described above hidden defending ratings from the regular season are used.

--Beginning in 2011 we show just the combined listing; in prior years we separately showed the rank lists by team but this is now considered to be unnecessary.

Dirk Nowitzki, PF 54.32 MAVERICKS
Jason Kidd, PG 45.59 MAVERICKS
Nick Collison, PF 35.87 THUNDER
Kevin Durant, SF 35.40 THUNDER
Serge Ibaka, PF 34.61 THUNDER
Thabo Sefolosha, SG 28.19 THUNDER
Jason Terry, SG 27.98 MAVERICKS
Russell Westbrook, PG 23.16 THUNDER
Tyson Chandler, C 22.50 MAVERICKS
Shawn Marion, SF 21.79 MAVERICKS
Kendrick Perkins, C 17.37 THUNDER
Brendan Haywood, C 14.33 MAVERICKS
Eric Maynor, PG 11.53 THUNDER
James Harden, SG 11.11 THUNDER
Jose Juan Barea, PG 10.96 MAVERICKS
Peja Stojakovic, SF 1.05 MAVERICKS
DeShawn Stevenson, SG -2.48 MAVERICKS

=============== OFFENSIVE AND DEFENSIVE SUB RATINGS FOR THIS GAME ===============

OFFENSIVE SUB RATINGS FOR THIS GAME
--Shows the real quality of players' offense.

--Players who played at least 7 minutes in the game are included.

--The hidden defending component is not a part of the offensive sub rating.

--Beginning in 2011 we show just the combined listing; in prior years we separately showed the rank lists by team but this is now considered to be unnecessary.

Dirk Nowitzki, PF 0.887 MAVERICKS
Nick Collison, PF 0.823 THUNDER
Jason Kidd, PG 0.635 MAVERICKS
Brendan Haywood, C 0.594 MAVERICKS
Thabo Sefolosha, SG 0.506 THUNDER
Eric Maynor, PG 0.488 THUNDER
Kendrick Perkins, C 0.326 THUNDER
Kevin Durant, SF 0.297 THUNDER
Serge Ibaka, PF 0.293 THUNDER
Jason Terry, SG 0.245 MAVERICKS
Jose Juan Barea, PG 0.236 MAVERICKS
Russell Westbrook, PG 0.218 THUNDER
Tyson Chandler, C 0.202 MAVERICKS
Shawn Marion, SF 0.126 MAVERICKS
James Harden, SG 0.007 THUNDER
Peja Stojakovic, SF -0.025 MAVERICKS
DeShawn Stevenson, SG -0.184 MAVERICKS

THE AVERAGE OFFENSIVE SUB RATING
for all NBA players who play 300 minutes or more is about .385

DEFENSIVE SUB RATINGS FOR THIS GAME
--Shows the real quality of players' defense.

--Players who played at least 7 minutes in the game are included.

--The hidden defending component is included as described above.

--Beginning in 2011 we show just the combined listing; in prior years we separately showed the rank lists by team but this is now considered to be unnecessary.

Eric Maynor, PG 0.559 THUNDER
Jason Kidd, PG 0.477 MAVERICKS
James Harden, SG 0.476 THUNDER
Jose Juan Barea, PG 0.449 MAVERICKS
Shawn Marion, SF 0.447 MAVERICKS
Serge Ibaka, PF 0.443 THUNDER
Tyson Chandler, C 0.441 MAVERICKS
Thabo Sefolosha, SG 0.434 THUNDER
Kevin Durant, SF 0.425 THUNDER
Jason Terry, SG 0.421 MAVERICKS
Kendrick Perkins, C 0.369 THUNDER
Nick Collison, PF 0.334 THUNDER
Russell Westbrook, PG 0.334 THUNDER
Dirk Nowitzki, PF 0.320 MAVERICKS
Brendan Haywood, C 0.202 MAVERICKS
Peja Stojakovic, SF 0.087 MAVERICKS
DeShawn Stevenson, SG -0.007 MAVERICKS

THE AVERAGE DEFENSIVE SUB RATING
for all NBA players who play 300 minutes or more is about .315

The breakdown between hidden and unhidden defending is available on request.

THE ALL IMPORTANT, AWARD WINNING REAL PLAYER RATINGS USER GUIDE
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.

ABOUT REAL PLAYER RATINGS REPORTS
Of the several dozen types of Reports that Quest for the Ring (QFTR) produces, Team Real Player Rating Reports are among the most important. A Real Player Rating Report gives you four very important ratings for every player in the Report:

--Overall Real Player Rating
--Real Player Production
--Offensive Sub Rating
--Defensive Sub Rating

These Reports are formatted reports. Formatted reports have a pre-set format and there is little or no custom commentary included. The whole idea of formatted reports is to provide a very large amount of important information very efficiently. The carefully planned and long evolved and perfected formatting eliminates the need for time-consuming custom text reporting in contexts where there is really no need for it and where there may be no time for it. But to fully understand a formatted Report you need to be familiar with the User Guide for it.

In contrast to formatted reports, QFTR breaks new ground in general and reveals its latest discoveries about basketball in particular in free form (non-formatted) text reports. While formatted posts are "on the reservation", non-formatted text reports are where QFTR "goes off the reservation". Both types of reports are essential; having just one type without the other type would reduce the value of QFTR by MORE than half.

QFTR is considering some kind of labelling system for posts that will allow visitors to even more easily than ever get to content they want or need.

There are two things you can do to get the full value out of RPR Reports. First, you can read parts or all of the User Guide for them (the link to the Guide is below). Second, you can simply visit a lot and see a lot of Reports and then you will automatically become better at interpreting what you see.

During the regular season beginning in late January (when we can first validly calculate the hidden defending adjustments) QFTR posts Team Real Player Ratings for major contending teams and other selected teams as time permits. Between the end of the regular season and before the Conference Finals begin (in late April and in early May) QFTR posts the final ratings for approximately the ten best teams as of the beginning of the playoffs. If there is a major upset in round one and/or round two by a team whose ratings were not yet posted, QFTR will make sure to post those asap.

These final ratings can be used in team grids that are very important parts of any playoff series preview.

Unfortunately, production time limits that are caused partly by limited traffic mean that only a small number of playoff series previews can be produced. Remember, you can help QFTR get more production time by posting links to QFTR wherever you can, and then QFTR will link back to you on request (click the contact link under the banner).

Game Real Player Ratings Reports are produced for every NBA Championship game, every NBA Conference Final game, and for selected NBA semifinal games. For the semifinals, normally, the most interesting semifinal (round two) series will be selected (out of the four of them) and Real Player Ratings for every game in that series will be posted.

After the playoffs are completely over and the off-season arrives, QFTR has enough time to produce and publish a final annual Real Player Ratings Report for all thirty NBA teams. These annual records of who was really the best and who really did what are scheduled to be posted in late June and in early July. They are posted in alphabetic order by team starting with the Atlanta Hawks and ending with the Washington Wizards. The ones for the top teams that were posted in late April-early May are repeated so there is a complete set in alpha and chronological sequence.

If you ever spend quality time at QFTR you will discover that there are other types of Real Player Rating Reports. Many of these appear in the summer. Among the most important ones that come out in the summer are the League-Wide Real Player Ratings Reports. Also, don't miss the Real Player Ratings Reports by position if you are a serious basketball person.

This section was a limited and brief overview of Real Player Ratings Reports in general. What you need if you want to understand how the Ratings are constructed and why QFTR knows they are the best possible ratings is the User Guide for Real Player Ratings. This User Guide was last revised and updated in May 2010; a new revision is "on order" and is expected to be completed in May or June of 2011. The May 2010 edition is still very useful; the only section of it that is not completely accurate is the one where the specific factors are shown; the factors have been adjusted a little to reflect the latest information and understanding QFTR has about exactly how playoff games are won. There has also been a significant improvement in the calibration and validation of Real Player Ratings components.

So 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.

Real Player Ratings for the 2011 West Conference Final Game Three: Dallas Mavericks 93 Oklahoma Thunder 87

2011-06-02T18:51:00.000-07:00

2011 WEST CONFERENCE FINAL OKLAHOMA THUNDER VS DALLAS MAVERICKS GAME THREE REAL PLAYER RATINGS
MAY 21 2011
OKLAHOMA CITY, OKLAHOMA
DALLAS MAVERICKS 93 OKLAHOMA THUNDER 87
DALLAS LEADS BEST OF SEVEN SERIES 2-1

KEY PLAYERS WHO DID NOT PLAY
--These are the above average players who would have or should have played but did not.

--The reason is shown after the player if and only if it is known with at least 85% certainty.

--Usually the reason is known with almost 100% certainty.

--If the reason is not known with at least 85% certainty, the reason "unknown" is given.

--Injuries are NEVER perfectly reported and information about them is archived nowhere on the Internet. Therefore, it is possible that when Quest for the Ring identifies "coaching error" or "unknown" as the reason, the real reason may have been an injury.

--If the reason "traded" is shown then in many cases a player who was obtained in that trade played instead.

THUNDER
Nazr Muhammed >>> Did not play due to apparent coaching error.

Eric Maynor >>> Played only 6 minutes due to apparent coaching error.

MAVERICKS
Caron Butler >>> Did not play due to injury.

REAL PLAYER RATINGS FOR THIS GAME
--Real Player Rating shows you the real basketball quality of players quickly and accurately.

--Players who played at least 7 minutes in the game are included.

--Each player's hidden defending rating from the regular season is used as the Hidden Defending Adjustment (HDA). Obviously, players in any individual game including this one were not exactly as good defenders as they were on the average during the regular season. But since there is no way to provide HDA for individual games and since it is better to have some reasonable HDA than none at all, we use the season HDA as a reasonable substitute.

--Beginning in 2011 we show just the combined listing; in prior years we separately showed the rank lists by team but this is now considered to be unnecessary.

Nick Collison, PF 1.453 THUNDER
Jason Kidd, PG 1.061 MAVERICKS
Kevin Durant, SF 1.050 THUNDER
Tyson Chandler, C 0.983 MAVERICKS
Jason Terry, SG 0.930 MAVERICKS
Shawn Marion, SF 0.912 MAVERICKS
Serge Ibaka, PF 0.880 THUNDER
Thabo Sefolosha, SG 0.600 THUNDER
Russell Westbrook, PG 0.598 THUNDER
Peja Stojakovic, SF 0.589 MAVERICKS
Jose Juan Barea, PG 0.583 MAVERICKS
Kendrick Perkins, C 0.558 THUNDER
DeShawn Stevenson, SG 0.557 MAVERICKS
James Harden, SG 0.479 THUNDER
Brendan Haywood, C 0.232 MAVERICKS
Dirk Nowitzki, PF 0.200 MAVERICKS
Daequan Cook, SG -0.068 THUNDER

SCALE FOR REGULAR SEASON REAL PLAYER RATINGS FOR A SINGLE GAME
Perfect Player for all Practical Purposes / Major Historic Super Star 1.200 and more
Historic Super Star 1.080 1.199
Super Star 0.960 1.079
A Star Player / A well above normal starter 0.860 0.959
Very Good Player / A solid starter 0.780 0.859
Major Role Player / Good enough to start 0.700 0.779
Good Role Player / Often a good 6th man, can possibly start 0.620 0.699
Satisfactory Role Player / Generally should not start 0.540 0.619
Marginal Role Player / Should not start except in an emergency 0.460 0.539
Poor Player / Should never start 0.380 0.459
Very Poor Player 0.300 0.379
Extremely Poor Player 0.299 and less

AVERAGE RATINGS BY POSITION
Not all positions are created equal. In pro basketball, point guard and center are the most important positions, power forward is in the middle, and small forward and shooting guard are the least important. (Some teams will have a different pattern.) The following are good estimates for average ratings by position among all NBA players who play 300 minutes or more. There are very few small forwards and shooting guards who don't fit at other positions who are superstars. Most superstars are players who can play point guard, power forward, or center.

Point Guard .750
Shooting Guard .635
Small Forward .645
Power Forward .715
Center .755
All Positions / All Players (NBA Overall Average) .700

To quickly and fairly compare two players who play different positions, convert their Ratings as follows:

Point Guards: Subtract .050; for example, .700 becomes .650
Shooting Guards: Add .065; for example, .700 becomes .765
Small Forwards: Add .055; for example, .700 becomes .755
Power Forwards: Subtract .015; for example, .700 becomes .685
Centers: Subtract .055; for example, .700 becomes .645

REAL PLAYER PRODUCTION FOR THIS GAME
--Shows the real basketball production (or quantity) of players.

--Players who played at least 7 minutes in the game are included.

--An estimate of the value of hidden defending production is included in the total production for all players shown; as described above hidden defending ratings from the regular season are used.

--Beginning in 2011 we show just the combined listing; in prior years we separately showed the rank lists by team but this is now considered to be unnecessary.

Kevin Durant, SF 48.31 THUNDER
Jason Kidd, PG 39.27 MAVERICKS
Tyson Chandler, C 35.39 MAVERICKS
Nick Collison, PF 34.86 THUNDER
Shawn Marion, SF 34.64 MAVERICKS
Jason Terry, SG 28.83 MAVERICKS
Russell Westbrook, PG 25.13 THUNDER
Serge Ibaka, PF 21.12 THUNDER
James Harden, SG 17.26 THUNDER
Kendrick Perkins, C 16.73 THUNDER
DeShawn Stevenson, SG 12.25 MAVERICKS
Thabo Sefolosha, SG 11.39 THUNDER
Peja Stojakovic, SF 9.43 MAVERICKS
Jose Juan Barea, PG 8.17 MAVERICKS
Dirk Nowitzki, PF 7.40 MAVERICKS
Brendan Haywood, C 2.32 MAVERICKS
Daequan Cook, SG -0.96 THUNDER

=============== OFFENSIVE AND DEFENSIVE SUB RATINGS FOR THIS GAME ===============

OFFENSIVE SUB RATINGS FOR THIS GAME
--Shows the real quality of players' offense.

--Players who played at least 7 minutes in the game are included.

--The hidden defending component is not a part of the offensive sub rating.

--Beginning in 2011 we show just the combined listing; in prior years we separately showed the rank lists by team but this is now considered to be unnecessary.

Nick Collison, PF 0.699 THUNDER
Jose Juan Barea, PG 0.643 MAVERICKS
Jason Terry, SG 0.631 MAVERICKS
Jason Kidd, PG 0.590 MAVERICKS
Shawn Marion, SF 0.570 MAVERICKS
Kevin Durant, SF 0.562 THUNDER
Russell Westbrook, PG 0.406 THUNDER
Tyson Chandler, C 0.406 MAVERICKS
DeShawn Stevenson, SG 0.340 MAVERICKS
Peja Stojakovic, SF 0.304 MAVERICKS
Serge Ibaka, PF 0.248 THUNDER
Thabo Sefolosha, SG 0.182 THUNDER
James Harden, SG 0.001 THUNDER
Kendrick Perkins, C -0.003 THUNDER
Brendan Haywood, C -0.103 MAVERICKS
Dirk Nowitzki, PF -0.131 MAVERICKS
Daequan Cook, SG -0.145 THUNDER

THE AVERAGE OFFENSIVE SUB RATING
for all NBA players who play 300 minutes or more is about .385

DEFENSIVE SUB RATINGS FOR THIS GAME
--Shows the real quality of players' defense.

--Players who played at least 7 minutes in the game are included.

--The hidden defending component is included as described above.

--Beginning in 2011 we show just the combined listing; in prior years we separately showed the rank lists by team but this is now considered to be unnecessary.

Nick Collison, PF 0.754 THUNDER
Serge Ibaka, PF 0.632 THUNDER
Tyson Chandler, C 0.577 MAVERICKS
Kendrick Perkins, C 0.561 THUNDER
Kevin Durant, SF 0.488 THUNDER
James Harden, SG 0.478 THUNDER
Jason Kidd, PG 0.471 MAVERICKS
Thabo Sefolosha, SG 0.418 THUNDER
Shawn Marion, SF 0.341 MAVERICKS
Brendan Haywood, C 0.335 MAVERICKS
Dirk Nowitzki, PF 0.331 MAVERICKS
Jason Terry, SG 0.299 MAVERICKS
Peja Stojakovic, SF 0.285 MAVERICKS
DeShawn Stevenson, SG 0.217 MAVERICKS
Russell Westbrook, PG 0.192 THUNDER
Daequan Cook, SG 0.076 THUNDER
Jose Juan Barea, PG -0.059 MAVERICKS

THE AVERAGE DEFENSIVE SUB RATING
for all NBA players who play 300 minutes or more is about .315

The breakdown between hidden and unhidden defending is available on request.

THE ALL IMPORTANT, AWARD WINNING REAL PLAYER RATINGS USER GUIDE
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.

ABOUT REAL PLAYER RATINGS REPORTS
Of the several dozen types of Reports that Quest for the Ring (QFTR) produces, Team Real Player Rating Reports are among the most important. A Real Player Rating Report gives you four very important ratings for every player in the Report:

--Overall Real Player Rating
--Real Player Production
--Offensive Sub Rating
--Defensive Sub Rating

These Reports are formatted reports. Formatted reports have a pre-set format and there is little or no custom commentary included. The whole idea of formatted reports is to provide a very large amount of important information very efficiently. The carefully planned and long evolved and perfected formatting eliminates the need for time-consuming custom text reporting in contexts where there is really no need for it and where there may be no time for it. But to fully understand a formatted Report you need to be familiar with the User Guide for it.

In contrast to formatted reports, QFTR breaks new ground in general and reveals its latest discoveries about basketball in particular in free form (non-formatted) text reports. While formatted posts are "on the reservation", non-formatted text reports are where QFTR "goes off the reservation". Both types of reports are essential; having just one type without the other type would reduce the value of QFTR by MORE than half.

QFTR is considering some kind of labelling system for posts that will allow visitors to even more easily than ever get to content they want or need.

There are two things you can do to get the full value out of RPR Reports. First, you can read parts or all of the User Guide for them (the link to the Guide is below). Second, you can simply visit a lot and see a lot of Reports and then you will automatically become better at interpreting what you see.

During the regular season beginning in late January (when we can first validly calculate the hidden defending adjustments) QFTR posts Team Real Player Ratings for major contending teams and other selected teams as time permits. Between the end of the regular season and before the Conference Finals begin (in late April and in early May) QFTR posts the final ratings for approximately the ten best teams as of the beginning of the playoffs. If there is a major upset in round one and/or round two by a team whose ratings were not yet posted, QFTR will make sure to post those asap.

These final ratings can be used in team grids that are very important parts of any playoff series preview.

Unfortunately, production time limits that are caused partly by limited traffic mean that only a small number of playoff series previews can be produced. Remember, you can help QFTR get more production time by posting links to QFTR wherever you can, and then QFTR will link back to you on request (click the contact link under the banner).

Game Real Player Ratings Reports are produced for every NBA Championship game, every NBA Conference Final game, and for selected NBA semifinal games. For the semifinals, normally, the most interesting semifinal (round two) series will be selected (out of the four of them) and Real Player Ratings for every game in that series will be posted.

After the playoffs are completely over and the off-season arrives, QFTR has enough time to produce and publish a final annual Real Player Ratings Report for all thirty NBA teams. These annual records of who was really the best and who really did what are scheduled to be posted in late June and in early July. They are posted in alphabetic order by team starting with the Atlanta Hawks and ending with the Washington Wizards. The ones for the top teams that were posted in late April-early May are repeated so there is a complete set in alpha and chronological sequence.

If you ever spend quality time at QFTR you will discover that there are other types of Real Player Rating Reports. Many of these appear in the summer. Among the most important ones that come out in the summer are the League-Wide Real Player Ratings Reports. Also, don't miss the Real Player Ratings Reports by position if you are a serious basketball person.

This section was a limited and brief overview of Real Player Ratings Reports in general. What you need if you want to understand how the Ratings are constructed and why QFTR knows they are the best possible ratings is the User Guide for Real Player Ratings. This User Guide was last revised and updated in May 2010; a new revision is "on order" and is expected to be completed in May or June of 2011. The May 2010 edition is still very useful; the only section of it that is not completely accurate is the one where the specific factors are shown; the factors have been adjusted a little to reflect the latest information and understanding QFTR has about exactly how playoff games are won. There has also been a significant improvement in the calibration and validation of Real Player Ratings components.

So 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.

Real Player Ratings for the 2011 East Conference Final Game Five Miami Heat 83 Chicago Bulls 80

2011-06-02T17:59:00.000-07:00

2011 EAST CONFERENCE FINAL CHICAGO BULLS VS MIAMI HEAT GAME FIVE REAL PLAYER RATINGS
MAY 26 2011
CHICAGO, ILLINOIS
MIAMI HEAT 83 CHICAGO BULLS 80
MIAMI WINS BEST OF SEVEN SERIES 4-1

KEY PLAYERS WHO DID NOT PLAY
--These are the above average players who would have or should have played but did not.

--The reason is shown after the player if and only if it is known with at least 85% certainty.

--Usually the reason is known with almost 100% certainty.

--If the reason is not known with at least 85% certainty, the reason "unknown" is given.

--Injuries are NEVER perfectly reported and information about them is archived nowhere on the Internet. Therefore, it is possible that when Quest for the Ring identifies "coaching error" or "unknown" as the reason, the real reason may have been an injury.

--If the reason "traded" is shown then in many cases a player who was obtained in that trade played instead.

BULLS
--C.J. Watson did not play due to apparent coaching error.

--Omer Asik did not play due to the fact that two better players at the center position did play; however, arguably Asik should have played as well.

HEAT
--Eddie House did not play due to apparent coaching error.

REAL PLAYER RATINGS FOR THIS GAME
--Real Player Rating shows you the real basketball quality of players quickly and accurately.

--Players who played at least 7 minutes in the game are included.

--Each player's hidden defending rating from the regular season is used as the Hidden Defending Adjustment (HDA). Obviously, players in any individual game including this one were not exactly as good defenders as they were on the average during the regular season. But since there is no way to provide HDA for individual games and since it is better to have some reasonable HDA than none at all, we use the season HDA as a reasonable substitute.

--Beginning in 2011 we show just the combined listing; in prior years we separately showed the rank lists by team but this is now considered to be unnecessary.

LeBron James, SF 1.237 HEAT
Chris Bosh, PF 1.088 HEAT
Ronnie Brewer, SG 0.981 BULLS
Kurt Thomas, C 0.971 BULLS
Joakim Noah, C 0.863 BULLS
Luol Deng, SF 0.795 BULLS
Derrick Rose, PG 0.785 BULLS
Mike Miller, SG 0.590 HEAT
Keith Bogans, SG 0.587 BULLS
Taj Gibson, PF 0.553 BULLS
Kyle Korver, SG 0.514 BULLS
Joel Anthony, C 0.408 HEAT
Dwyane Wade, SG 0.367 HEAT
Carlos Boozer, PF 0.341 BULLS
Mario Chalmers, PG 0.302 HEAT
Udonis Haslem, PF 0.169 HEAT
Mike Bibby, PG 0.061 HEAT

SCALE FOR REGULAR SEASON REAL PLAYER RATINGS FOR A SINGLE GAME
Perfect Player for all Practical Purposes / Major Historic Super Star 1.200 and more
Historic Super Star 1.080 1.199
Super Star 0.960 1.079
A Star Player / A well above normal starter 0.860 0.959
Very Good Player / A solid starter 0.780 0.859
Major Role Player / Good enough to start 0.700 0.779
Good Role Player / Often a good 6th man, can possibly start 0.620 0.699
Satisfactory Role Player / Generally should not start 0.540 0.619
Marginal Role Player / Should not start except in an emergency 0.460 0.539
Poor Player / Should never start 0.380 0.459
Very Poor Player 0.300 0.379
Extremely Poor Player 0.299 and less

AVERAGE RATINGS BY POSITION
Not all positions are created equal. In pro basketball, point guard and center are the most important positions, power forward is in the middle, and small forward and shooting guard are the least important. (Some teams will have a different pattern.) The following are good estimates for average ratings by position among all NBA players who play 300 minutes or more. There are very few small forwards and shooting guards who don't fit at other positions who are superstars. Most superstars are players who can play point guard, power forward, or center.

Point Guard .750
Shooting Guard .635
Small Forward .645
Power Forward .715
Center .755
All Positions / All Players (NBA Overall Average) .700

To quickly and fairly compare two players who play different positions, convert their Ratings as follows:

Point Guards: Subtract .050; for example, .700 becomes .650
Shooting Guards: Add .065; for example, .700 becomes .765
Small Forwards: Add .055; for example, .700 becomes .755
Power Forwards: Subtract .015; for example, .700 becomes .685
Centers: Subtract .055; for example, .700 becomes .645

REAL PLAYER PRODUCTION FOR THIS GAME
--Shows the real basketball production (or quantity) of players.

--Players who played at least 7 minutes in the game are included.

--An estimate of the value of hidden defending production is included in the total production for all players shown; as described above hidden defending ratings from the regular season are used.

--Beginning in 2011 we show just the combined listing; in prior years we separately showed the rank lists by team but this is now considered to be unnecessary.

LeBron James, SF 56.90 HEAT
Chris Bosh, PF 45.71 HEAT
Derrick Rose, PG 32.98 BULLS
Luol Deng, SF 28.62 BULLS
Ronnie Brewer, SG 26.49 BULLS
Joakim Noah, C 24.16 BULLS
Kurt Thomas, C 17.49 BULLS
Mike Miller, SG 14.15 HEAT
Dwyane Wade, SG 13.95 HEAT
Taj Gibson, PF 13.28 BULLS
Keith Bogans, SG 11.74 BULLS
Joel Anthony, C 11.41 HEAT
Carlos Boozer, PF 8.86 BULLS
Kyle Korver, SG 6.68 BULLS
Mario Chalmers, PG 5.73 HEAT
Udonis Haslem, PF 4.41 HEAT
Mike Bibby, PG 0.98 HEAT

=============== OFFENSIVE AND DEFENSIVE SUB RATINGS FOR THIS GAME ===============

OFFENSIVE SUB RATINGS FOR THIS GAME
--Shows the real quality of players' offense.

--Players who played at least 7 minutes in the game are included.

--The hidden defending component is not a part of the offensive sub rating.

--Beginning in 2011 we show just the combined listing; in prior years we separately showed the rank lists by team but this is now considered to be unnecessary.

LeBron James, SF 0.533 HEAT
Ronnie Brewer, SG 0.510 BULLS
Mike Miller, SG 0.466 HEAT
Derrick Rose, PG 0.455 BULLS
Chris Bosh, PF 0.395 HEAT
Kurt Thomas, C 0.385 BULLS
Luol Deng, SF 0.345 BULLS
Keith Bogans, SG 0.286 BULLS
Kyle Korver, SG 0.191 BULLS
Joakim Noah, C 0.133 BULLS
Mario Chalmers, PG 0.117 HEAT
Dwyane Wade, SG 0.021 HEAT
Carlos Boozer, PF 0.010 BULLS
Mike Bibby, PG -0.021 HEAT
Joel Anthony, C -0.041 HEAT
Taj Gibson, PF -0.100 BULLS
Udonis Haslem, PF -0.178 HEAT

THE AVERAGE OFFENSIVE SUB RATING
for all NBA players who play 300 minutes or more is about .385

DEFENSIVE SUB RATINGS FOR THIS GAME
--Shows the real quality of players' defense.

--Players who played at least 7 minutes in the game are included.

--The hidden defending component is included as described above.

--Beginning in 2011 we show just the combined listing; in prior years we separately showed the rank lists by team but this is now considered to be unnecessary.

Joakim Noah, C 0.730 BULLS
LeBron James, SF 0.704 HEAT
Chris Bosh, PF 0.694 HEAT
Taj Gibson, PF 0.653 BULLS
Kurt Thomas, C 0.586 BULLS
Ronnie Brewer, SG 0.471 BULLS
Luol Deng, SF 0.450 BULLS
Joel Anthony, C 0.449 HEAT
Udonis Haslem, PF 0.347 HEAT
Dwyane Wade, SG 0.347 HEAT
Carlos Boozer, PF 0.331 BULLS
Derrick Rose, PG 0.330 BULLS
Kyle Korver, SG 0.323 BULLS
Keith Bogans, SG 0.301 BULLS
Mario Chalmers, PG 0.185 HEAT
Mike Miller, SG 0.124 HEAT
Mike Bibby, PG 0.082 HEAT

THE AVERAGE DEFENSIVE SUB RATING
for all NBA players who play 300 minutes or more is about .315

The breakdown between hidden and unhidden defending is available on request.

THE ALL IMPORTANT, AWARD WINNING REAL PLAYER RATINGS USER GUIDE
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.

ABOUT REAL PLAYER RATINGS REPORTS
Of the several dozen types of Reports that Quest for the Ring (QFTR) produces, Team Real Player Rating Reports are among the most important. A Real Player Rating Report gives you four very important ratings for every player in the Report:

--Overall Real Player Rating
--Real Player Production
--Offensive Sub Rating
--Defensive Sub Rating

These Reports are formatted reports. Formatted reports have a pre-set format and there is little or no custom commentary included. The whole idea of formatted reports is to provide a very large amount of important information very efficiently. The carefully planned and long evolved and perfected formatting eliminates the need for time-consuming custom text reporting in contexts where there is really no need for it and where there may be no time for it. But to fully understand a formatted Report you need to be familiar with the User Guide for it.

In contrast to formatted reports, QFTR breaks new ground in general and reveals its latest discoveries about basketball in particular in free form (non-formatted) text reports. While formatted posts are "on the reservation", non-formatted text reports are where QFTR "goes off the reservation". Both types of reports are essential; having just one type without the other type would reduce the value of QFTR by MORE than half.

QFTR is considering some kind of labelling system for posts that will allow visitors to even more easily than ever get to content they want or need.

There are two things you can do to get the full value out of RPR Reports. First, you can read parts or all of the User Guide for them (the link to the Guide is below). Second, you can simply visit a lot and see a lot of Reports and then you will automatically become better at interpreting what you see.

During the regular season beginning in late January (when we can first validly calculate the hidden defending adjustments) QFTR posts Team Real Player Ratings for major contending teams and other selected teams as time permits. Between the end of the regular season and before the Conference Finals begin (in late April and in early May) QFTR posts the final ratings for approximately the ten best teams as of the beginning of the playoffs. If there is a major upset in round one and/or round two by a team whose ratings were not yet posted, QFTR will make sure to post those asap.

These final ratings can be used in team grids that are very important parts of any playoff series preview.

Unfortunately, production time limits that are caused partly by limited traffic mean that only a small number of playoff series previews can be produced. Remember, you can help QFTR get more production time by posting links to QFTR wherever you can, and then QFTR will link back to you on request (click the contact link under the banner).

Game Real Player Ratings Reports are produced for every NBA Championship game, every NBA Conference Final game, and for selected NBA semifinal games. For the semifinals, normally, the most interesting semifinal (round two) series will be selected (out of the four of them) and Real Player Ratings for every game in that series will be posted.

After the playoffs are completely over and the off-season arrives, QFTR has enough time to produce and publish a final annual Real Player Ratings Report for all thirty NBA teams. These annual records of who was really the best and who really did what are scheduled to be posted in late June and in early July. They are posted in alphabetic order by team starting with the Atlanta Hawks and ending with the Washington Wizards. The ones for the top teams that were posted in late April-early May are repeated so there is a complete set in alpha and chronological sequence.

If you ever spend quality time at QFTR you will discover that there are other types of Real Player Rating Reports. Many of these appear in the summer. Among the most important ones that come out in the summer are the League-Wide Real Player Ratings Reports. Also, don't miss the Real Player Ratings Reports by position if you are a serious basketball person.

This section was a limited and brief overview of Real Player Ratings Reports in general. What you need if you want to understand how the Ratings are constructed and why QFTR knows they are the best possible ratings is the User Guide for Real Player Ratings. This User Guide was last revised and updated in May 2010; a new revision is "on order" and is expected to be completed in May or June of 2011. The May 2010 edition is still very useful; the only section of it that is not completely accurate is the one where the specific factors are shown; the factors have been adjusted a little to reflect the latest information and understanding QFTR has about exactly how playoff games are won. There has also been a significant improvement in the calibration and validation of Real Player Ratings components.

So 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.

Real Player Ratings for the 2011 East Conference Final Game Four Miami Heat 101 Chicago Bulls 93, Overtime

2011-06-02T16:54:00.000-07:00

2011 EAST CONFERENCE FINAL CHICAGO BULLS VS MIAMI HEAT GAME FOUR REAL PLAYER RATINGS
MAY 24 2011
MIAMI, FLORIDA
MIAMI HEAT 101 CHICAGO BULLS 93
MIAMI LEADS BEST OF SEVEN SERIES 3-1

KEY PLAYERS WHO DID NOT PLAY
--These are the above average players who would have or should have played but did not.

--The reason is shown after the player if and only if it is known with at least 85% certainty.

--Usually the reason is known with almost 100% certainty.

--If the reason is not known with at least 85% certainty, the reason "unknown" is given.

--Injuries are NEVER perfectly reported and information about them is archived nowhere on the Internet. Therefore, it is possible that when Quest for the Ring identifies "coaching error" or "unknown" as the reason, the real reason may have been an injury.

--If the reason "traded" is shown then in many cases a player who was obtained in that trade played instead.

BULLS
--Kurt Thomas did not play due to apparent coaching error.

--Omer Asik did not play due to apparent coaching error.

Note: Thomas and Asik are both centers and so arguably only one of the two should have played (since one center and two power forwards did play). But it's clear that neither of them playing was a coaching error.

HEAT
--Eddie House did not play due to apparent coaching error.

REAL PLAYER RATINGS FOR THIS GAME
--Real Player Rating shows you the real basketball quality of players quickly and accurately.

--Players who played at least 7 minutes in the game are included.

--Each player's hidden defending rating from the regular season is used as the Hidden Defending Adjustment (HDA). Obviously, players in any individual game including this one were not exactly as good defenders as they were on the average during the regular season. But since there is no way to provide HDA for individual games and since it is better to have some reasonable HDA than none at all, we use the season HDA as a reasonable substitute.

--Beginning in 2011 we show just the combined listing; in prior years we separately showed the rank lists by team but this is now considered to be unnecessary.

C.J. Watson, PG 1.167 BULLS
Mario Chalmers, PG 1.153 HEAT
LeBron James, SF 1.107 HEAT
Mike Miller, SG 1.102 HEAT
Luol Deng, SF 1.031 BULLS
Carlos Boozer, PF 0.816 BULLS
Joakim Noah, C 0.794 BULLS
Chris Bosh, PF 0.751 HEAT
Ronnie Brewer, SG 0.742 BULLS
Joel Anthony, C 0.679 HEAT
Dwyane Wade, SG 0.633 HEAT
Derrick Rose, PG 0.463 BULLS
Keith Bogans, SG 0.450 BULLS
Udonis Haslem, PF 0.307 HEAT
Taj Gibson, PF 0.177 BULLS
Kyle Korver, SG -0.016 BULLS
Mike Bibby, PG -0.181 HEAT

SCALE FOR REGULAR SEASON REAL PLAYER RATINGS FOR A SINGLE GAME
Perfect Player for all Practical Purposes / Major Historic Super Star 1.200 and more
Historic Super Star 1.080 1.199
Super Star 0.960 1.079
A Star Player / A well above normal starter 0.860 0.959
Very Good Player / A solid starter 0.780 0.859
Major Role Player / Good enough to start 0.700 0.779
Good Role Player / Often a good 6th man, can possibly start 0.620 0.699
Satisfactory Role Player / Generally should not start 0.540 0.619
Marginal Role Player / Should not start except in an emergency 0.460 0.539
Poor Player / Should never start 0.380 0.459
Very Poor Player 0.300 0.379
Extremely Poor Player 0.299 and less

AVERAGE RATINGS BY POSITION
Not all positions are created equal. In pro basketball, point guard and center are the most important positions, power forward is in the middle, and small forward and shooting guard are the least important. (Some teams will have a different pattern.) The following are good estimates for average ratings by position among all NBA players who play 300 minutes or more. There are very few small forwards and shooting guards who don't fit at other positions who are superstars. Most superstars are players who can play point guard, power forward, or center.

Point Guard .750
Shooting Guard .635
Small Forward .645
Power Forward .715
Center .755
All Positions / All Players (NBA Overall Average) .700

To quickly and fairly compare two players who play different positions, convert their Ratings as follows:

Point Guards: Subtract .050; for example, .700 becomes .650
Shooting Guards: Add .065; for example, .700 becomes .765
Small Forwards: Add .055; for example, .700 becomes .755
Power Forwards: Subtract .015; for example, .700 becomes .685
Centers: Subtract .055; for example, .700 becomes .645

REAL PLAYER PRODUCTION FOR THIS GAME
--Shows the real basketball production (or quantity) of players.

--Players who played at least 7 minutes in the game are included.

--An estimate of the value of hidden defending production is included in the total production for all players shown; as described above hidden defending ratings from the regular season are used.

--Beginning in 2011 we show just the combined listing; in prior years we separately showed the rank lists by team but this is now considered to be unnecessary.

LeBron James, SF 54.25 HEAT
Luol Deng, SF 45.37 BULLS
Carlos Boozer, PF 39.99 BULLS
Joakim Noah, C 35.72 BULLS
Chris Bosh, PF 32.28 HEAT
Mike Miller, SG 28.66 HEAT
Dwyane Wade, SG 25.97 HEAT
Mario Chalmers, PG 24.21 HEAT
Derrick Rose, PG 22.71 BULLS
Joel Anthony, C 19.68 HEAT
Ronnie Brewer, SG 15.58 BULLS
Udonis Haslem, PF 10.43 HEAT
Keith Bogans, SG 10.36 BULLS
C.J. Watson, PG 8.17 BULLS
Taj Gibson, PF 1.77 BULLS
Kyle Korver, SG -0.26 BULLS
Mike Bibby, PG -3.98 HEAT

=============== OFFENSIVE AND DEFENSIVE SUB RATINGS FOR THIS GAME ===============

OFFENSIVE SUB RATINGS FOR THIS GAME
--Shows the real quality of players' offense.

--Players who played at least 7 minutes in the game are included.

--The hidden defending component is not a part of the offensive sub rating.

--Beginning in 2011 we show just the combined listing; in prior years we separately showed the rank lists by team but this is now considered to be unnecessary.

LeBron James, SF 0.683 HEAT
C.J. Watson, PG 0.672 BULLS
Mike Miller, SG 0.634 HEAT
Mario Chalmers, PG 0.482 HEAT
Chris Bosh, PF 0.458 HEAT
Luol Deng, SF 0.381 BULLS
Ronnie Brewer, SG 0.361 BULLS
Joakim Noah, C 0.342 BULLS
Carlos Boozer, PF 0.338 BULLS
Keith Bogans, SG 0.155 BULLS
Derrick Rose, PG 0.119 BULLS
Dwyane Wade, SG 0.094 HEAT
Taj Gibson, PF 0.015 BULLS
Joel Anthony, C -0.010 HEAT
Udonis Haslem, PF -0.094 HEAT
Kyle Korver, SG -0.135 BULLS
Mike Bibby, PG -0.166 HEAT

THE AVERAGE OFFENSIVE SUB RATING
for all NBA players who play 300 minutes or more is about .385

DEFENSIVE SUB RATINGS FOR THIS GAME
--Shows the real quality of players' defense.

--Players who played at least 7 minutes in the game are included.

--The hidden defending component is included as described above.

--Beginning in 2011 we show just the combined listing; in prior years we separately showed the rank lists by team but this is now considered to be unnecessary.

Joel Anthony, C 0.688 HEAT
Mario Chalmers, PG 0.671 HEAT
Luol Deng, SF 0.650 BULLS
Dwyane Wade, SG 0.540 HEAT
C.J. Watson, PG 0.496 BULLS
Carlos Boozer, PF 0.478 BULLS
Mike Miller, SG 0.469 HEAT
Joakim Noah, C 0.452 BULLS
LeBron James, SF 0.424 HEAT
Udonis Haslem, PF 0.400 HEAT
Ronnie Brewer, SG 0.381 BULLS
Derrick Rose, PG 0.345 BULLS
Keith Bogans, SG 0.295 BULLS
Chris Bosh, PF 0.292 HEAT
Taj Gibson, PF 0.162 BULLS
Kyle Korver, SG 0.119 BULLS
Mike Bibby, PG -0.015 HEAT

THE AVERAGE DEFENSIVE SUB RATING
for all NBA players who play 300 minutes or more is about .315

The breakdown between hidden and unhidden defending is available on request.

THE ALL IMPORTANT, AWARD WINNING REAL PLAYER RATINGS USER GUIDE
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.

ABOUT REAL PLAYER RATINGS REPORTS
Of the several dozen types of Reports that Quest for the Ring (QFTR) produces, Team Real Player Rating Reports are among the most important. A Real Player Rating Report gives you four very important ratings for every player in the Report:

--Overall Real Player Rating
--Real Player Production
--Offensive Sub Rating
--Defensive Sub Rating

These Reports are formatted reports. Formatted reports have a pre-set format and there is little or no custom commentary included. The whole idea of formatted reports is to provide a very large amount of important information very efficiently. The carefully planned and long evolved and perfected formatting eliminates the need for time-consuming custom text reporting in contexts where there is really no need for it and where there may be no time for it. But to fully understand a formatted Report you need to be familiar with the User Guide for it.

In contrast to formatted reports, QFTR breaks new ground in general and reveals its latest discoveries about basketball in particular in free form (non-formatted) text reports. While formatted posts are "on the reservation", non-formatted text reports are where QFTR "goes off the reservation". Both types of reports are essential; having just one type without the other type would reduce the value of QFTR by MORE than half.

QFTR is considering some kind of labelling system for posts that will allow visitors to even more easily than ever get to content they want or need.

There are two things you can do to get the full value out of RPR Reports. First, you can read parts or all of the User Guide for them (the link to the Guide is below). Second, you can simply visit a lot and see a lot of Reports and then you will automatically become better at interpreting what you see.

During the regular season beginning in late January (when we can first validly calculate the hidden defending adjustments) QFTR posts Team Real Player Ratings for major contending teams and other selected teams as time permits. Between the end of the regular season and before the Conference Finals begin (in late April and in early May) QFTR posts the final ratings for approximately the ten best teams as of the beginning of the playoffs. If there is a major upset in round one and/or round two by a team whose ratings were not yet posted, QFTR will make sure to post those asap.

These final ratings can be used in team grids that are very important parts of any playoff series preview.

Unfortunately, production time limits that are caused partly by limited traffic mean that only a small number of playoff series previews can be produced. Remember, you can help QFTR get more production time by posting links to QFTR wherever you can, and then QFTR will link back to you on request (click the contact link under the banner).

Game Real Player Ratings Reports are produced for every NBA Championship game, every NBA Conference Final game, and for selected NBA semifinal games. For the semifinals, normally, the most interesting semifinal (round two) series will be selected (out of the four of them) and Real Player Ratings for every game in that series will be posted.

After the playoffs are completely over and the off-season arrives, QFTR has enough time to produce and publish a final annual Real Player Ratings Report for all thirty NBA teams. These annual records of who was really the best and who really did what are scheduled to be posted in late June and in early July. They are posted in alphabetic order by team starting with the Atlanta Hawks and ending with the Washington Wizards. The ones for the top teams that were posted in late April-early May are repeated so there is a complete set in alpha and chronological sequence.

If you ever spend quality time at QFTR you will discover that there are other types of Real Player Rating Reports. Many of these appear in the summer. Among the most important ones that come out in the summer are the League-Wide Real Player Ratings Reports. Also, don't miss the Real Player Ratings Reports by position if you are a serious basketball person.

This section was a limited and brief overview of Real Player Ratings Reports in general. What you need if you want to understand how the Ratings are constructed and why QFTR knows they are the best possible ratings is the User Guide for Real Player Ratings. This User Guide was last revised and updated in May 2010; a new revision is "on order" and is expected to be completed in May or June of 2011. The May 2010 edition is still very useful; the only section of it that is not completely accurate is the one where the specific factors are shown; the factors have been adjusted a little to reflect the latest information and understanding QFTR has about exactly how playoff games are won. There has also been a significant improvement in the calibration and validation of Real Player Ratings components.

So 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.

Real Player Ratings for the 2011 East Conference Final Game Three Miami Heat 96 Chicago Bulls 85

2011-06-02T15:51:00.000-07:00

2011 EAST CONFERENCE FINAL CHICAGO BULLS VS MIAMI HEAT GAME THREE REAL PLAYER RATINGS
MAY 22 2011
MIAMI, FLORIDA
MIAMI HEAT 96 CHICAGO BULLS 85
MIAMI LEADS BEST OF SEVEN SERIES 2-1

KEY PLAYERS WHO DID NOT PLAY
--These are the above average players who would have or should have played but did not.

--The reason is shown after the player if and only if it is known with at least 85% certainty.

--Usually the reason is known with almost 100% certainty.

--If the reason is not known with at least 85% certainty, the reason "unknown" is given.

--Injuries are NEVER perfectly reported and information about them is archived nowhere on the Internet. Therefore, it is possible that when Quest for the Ring identifies "coaching error" or "unknown" as the reason, the real reason may have been an injury.

--If the reason "traded" is shown then in many cases a player who was obtained in that trade played instead.

BULLS
--Kurt Thomas did not play due to apparent coaching error.

HEAT
--Eddie House did not play due to apparent coaching error.

REAL PLAYER RATINGS FOR THIS GAME
--Real Player Rating shows you the real basketball quality of players quickly and accurately.

--Players who played at least 7 minutes in the game are included.

--Each player's hidden defending rating from the regular season is used as the Hidden Defending Adjustment (HDA). Obviously, players in any individual game including this one were not exactly as good defenders as they were on the average during the regular season. But since there is no way to provide HDA for individual games and since it is better to have some reasonable HDA than none at all, we use the season HDA as a reasonable substitute.

--Beginning in 2011 we show just the combined listing; in prior years we separately showed the rank lists by team but this is now considered to be unnecessary.

LeBron James, SF 1.451 HEAT
Chris Bosh, PF 1.326 HEAT
Taj Gibson, PF 1.303 BULLS
Carlos Boozer, PF 1.251 BULLS
Derrick Rose, PG 0.938 BULLS
C.J. Watson, PG 0.851 BULLS
Joel Anthony, C 0.779 HEAT
Udonis Haslem, PF 0.747 HEAT
Mario Chalmers, PG 0.691 HEAT
Luol Deng, SF 0.635 BULLS
Ronnie Brewer, SG 0.630 BULLS
Dwyane Wade, SG 0.558 HEAT
Joakim Noah, C 0.462 BULLS
Mike Bibby, PG 0.318 HEAT
Kyle Korver, SG 0.270 BULLS
Omer Asik, C 0.224 BULLS
Keith Bogans, SG 0.046 BULLS
Mike Miller, SG -0.421 HEAT

SCALE FOR REGULAR SEASON REAL PLAYER RATINGS FOR A SINGLE GAME
Perfect Player for all Practical Purposes / Major Historic Super Star 1.200 and more
Historic Super Star 1.080 1.199
Super Star 0.960 1.079
A Star Player / A well above normal starter 0.860 0.959
Very Good Player / A solid starter 0.780 0.859
Major Role Player / Good enough to start 0.700 0.779
Good Role Player / Often a good 6th man, can possibly start 0.620 0.699
Satisfactory Role Player / Generally should not start 0.540 0.619
Marginal Role Player / Should not start except in an emergency 0.460 0.539
Poor Player / Should never start 0.380 0.459
Very Poor Player 0.300 0.379
Extremely Poor Player 0.299 and less

AVERAGE RATINGS BY POSITION
Not all positions are created equal. In pro basketball, point guard and center are the most important positions, power forward is in the middle, and small forward and shooting guard are the least important. (Some teams will have a different pattern.) The following are good estimates for average ratings by position among all NBA players who play 300 minutes or more. There are very few small forwards and shooting guards who don't fit at other positions who are superstars. Most superstars are players who can play point guard, power forward, or center.

Point Guard .750
Shooting Guard .635
Small Forward .645
Power Forward .715
Center .755
All Positions / All Players (NBA Overall Average) .700

To quickly and fairly compare two players who play different positions, convert their Ratings as follows:

Point Guards: Subtract .050; for example, .700 becomes .650
Shooting Guards: Add .065; for example, .700 becomes .765
Small Forwards: Add .055; for example, .700 becomes .755
Power Forwards: Subtract .015; for example, .700 becomes .685
Centers: Subtract .055; for example, .700 becomes .645

REAL PLAYER PRODUCTION FOR THIS GAME
--Shows the real basketball production (or quantity) of players.

--Players who played at least 7 minutes in the game are included.

--An estimate of the value of hidden defending production is included in the total production for all players shown; as described above hidden defending ratings from the regular season are used.

--Beginning in 2011 we show just the combined listing; in prior years we separately showed the rank lists by team but this is now considered to be unnecessary.

LeBron James, SF 63.86 HEAT
Chris Bosh, PF 57.03 HEAT
Carlos Boozer, PF 48.79 BULLS
Derrick Rose, PG 36.57 BULLS
Luol Deng, SF 26.65 BULLS
Joel Anthony, C 22.58 HEAT
Dwyane Wade, SG 21.75 HEAT
Udonis Haslem, PF 17.93 HEAT
Ronnie Brewer, SG 15.75 BULLS
Taj Gibson, PF 15.63 BULLS
Mario Chalmers, PG 14.52 HEAT
Joakim Noah, C 13.41 BULLS
Mike Bibby, PG 8.59 HEAT
C.J. Watson, PG 7.66 BULLS
Omer Asik, C 3.36 BULLS
Kyle Korver, SG 2.97 BULLS
Keith Bogans, SG 0.83 BULLS
Mike Miller, SG -5.48 HEAT

=============== OFFENSIVE AND DEFENSIVE SUB RATINGS FOR THIS GAME ===============

OFFENSIVE SUB RATINGS FOR THIS GAME
--Shows the real quality of players' offense.

--Players who played at least 7 minutes in the game are included.

--The hidden defending component is not a part of the offensive sub rating.

--Beginning in 2011 we show just the combined listing; in prior years we separately showed the rank lists by team but this is now considered to be unnecessary.

Taj Gibson, PF 1.113 BULLS
LeBron James, SF 0.979 HEAT
Chris Bosh, PF 0.828 HEAT
Carlos Boozer, PF 0.699 BULLS
C.J. Watson, PG 0.616 BULLS
Derrick Rose, PG 0.548 BULLS
Mario Chalmers, PG 0.421 HEAT
Udonis Haslem, PF 0.350 HEAT
Kyle Korver, SG 0.263 BULLS
Joel Anthony, C 0.213 HEAT
Dwyane Wade, SG 0.205 HEAT
Luol Deng, SF 0.139 BULLS
Joakim Noah, C 0.122 BULLS
Ronnie Brewer, SG 0.111 BULLS
Mike Bibby, PG 0.099 HEAT
Keith Bogans, SG -0.174 BULLS
Omer Asik, C -0.231 BULLS
Mike Miller, SG -0.339 HEAT

THE AVERAGE OFFENSIVE SUB RATING
for all NBA players who play 300 minutes or more is about .385

DEFENSIVE SUB RATINGS FOR THIS GAME
--Shows the real quality of players' defense.

--Players who played at least 7 minutes in the game are included.

--The hidden defending component is included as described above.

--Beginning in 2011 we show just the combined listing; in prior years we separately showed the rank lists by team but this is now considered to be unnecessary.

Joel Anthony, C 0.566 HEAT
Carlos Boozer, PF 0.552 BULLS
Ronnie Brewer, SG 0.519 BULLS
Chris Bosh, PF 0.499 HEAT
Luol Deng, SF 0.496 BULLS
LeBron James, SF 0.473 HEAT
Omer Asik, C 0.456 BULLS
Udonis Haslem, PF 0.397 HEAT
Derrick Rose, PG 0.389 BULLS
Dwyane Wade, SG 0.352 HEAT
Joakim Noah, C 0.341 BULLS
Mario Chalmers, PG 0.270 HEAT
C.J. Watson, PG 0.235 BULLS
Keith Bogans, SG 0.220 BULLS
Mike Bibby, PG 0.219 HEAT
Taj Gibson, PF 0.190 BULLS
Kyle Korver, SG 0.007 BULLS
Mike Miller, SG -0.082 HEAT

THE AVERAGE DEFENSIVE SUB RATING
for all NBA players who play 300 minutes or more is about .315

The breakdown between hidden and unhidden defending is available on request.

THE ALL IMPORTANT, AWARD WINNING REAL PLAYER RATINGS USER GUIDE
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.

ABOUT REAL PLAYER RATINGS REPORTS
Of the several dozen types of Reports that Quest for the Ring (QFTR) produces, Team Real Player Rating Reports are among the most important. A Real Player Rating Report gives you four very important ratings for every player in the Report:

--Overall Real Player Rating
--Real Player Production
--Offensive Sub Rating
--Defensive Sub Rating

These Reports are formatted reports. Formatted reports have a pre-set format and there is little or no custom commentary included. The whole idea of formatted reports is to provide a very large amount of important information very efficiently. The carefully planned and long evolved and perfected formatting eliminates the need for time-consuming custom text reporting in contexts where there is really no need for it and where there may be no time for it. But to fully understand a formatted Report you need to be familiar with the User Guide for it.

In contrast to formatted reports, QFTR breaks new ground in general and reveals its latest discoveries about basketball in particular in free form (non-formatted) text reports. While formatted posts are "on the reservation", non-formatted text reports are where QFTR "goes off the reservation". Both types of reports are essential; having just one type without the other type would reduce the value of QFTR by MORE than half.

QFTR is considering some kind of labelling system for posts that will allow visitors to even more easily than ever get to content they want or need.

There are two things you can do to get the full value out of RPR Reports. First, you can read parts or all of the User Guide for them (the link to the Guide is below). Second, you can simply visit a lot and see a lot of Reports and then you will automatically become better at interpreting what you see.

During the regular season beginning in late January (when we can first validly calculate the hidden defending adjustments) QFTR posts Team Real Player Ratings for major contending teams and other selected teams as time permits. Between the end of the regular season and before the Conference Finals begin (in late April and in early May) QFTR posts the final ratings for approximately the ten best teams as of the beginning of the playoffs. If there is a major upset in round one and/or round two by a team whose ratings were not yet posted, QFTR will make sure to post those asap.

These final ratings can be used in team grids that are very important parts of any playoff series preview.

Unfortunately, production time limits that are caused partly by limited traffic mean that only a small number of playoff series previews can be produced. Remember, you can help QFTR get more production time by posting links to QFTR wherever you can, and then QFTR will link back to you on request (click the contact link under the banner).

Game Real Player Ratings Reports are produced for every NBA Championship game, every NBA Conference Final game, and for selected NBA semifinal games. For the semifinals, normally, the most interesting semifinal (round two) series will be selected (out of the four of them) and Real Player Ratings for every game in that series will be posted.

After the playoffs are completely over and the off-season arrives, QFTR has enough time to produce and publish a final annual Real Player Ratings Report for all thirty NBA teams. These annual records of who was really the best and who really did what are scheduled to be posted in late June and in early July. They are posted in alphabetic order by team starting with the Atlanta Hawks and ending with the Washington Wizards. The ones for the top teams that were posted in late April-early May are repeated so there is a complete set in alpha and chronological sequence.

If you ever spend quality time at QFTR you will discover that there are other types of Real Player Rating Reports. Many of these appear in the summer. Among the most important ones that come out in the summer are the League-Wide Real Player Ratings Reports. Also, don't miss the Real Player Ratings Reports by position if you are a serious basketball person.

This section was a limited and brief overview of Real Player Ratings Reports in general. What you need if you want to understand how the Ratings are constructed and why QFTR knows they are the best possible ratings is the User Guide for Real Player Ratings. This User Guide was last revised and updated in May 2010; a new revision is "on order" and is expected to be completed in May or June of 2011. The May 2010 edition is still very useful; the only section of it that is not completely accurate is the one where the specific factors are shown; the factors have been adjusted a little to reflect the latest information and understanding QFTR has about exactly how playoff games are won. There has also been a significant improvement in the calibration and validation of Real Player Ratings components.

So 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.

2011 NBA Final Preview: Miami Heat Versus Dallas Mavericks

2011-06-01T22:59:00.000-07:00

USER GUIDE FOR PLAYOFF SERIES PREVIEWS
Like many high level Reports at Quest for the Ring (QFTR), playoff previews are a formatted type of Report. Formatted reports have a pre-set format and there is little or no custom commentary included. The whole idea of formatted reports is to provide a very large amount of important information very efficiently. The carefully planned and long evolved and perfected formatting eliminates the need for time-consuming custom text reporting in contexts where there is really no need for it. But to fully understand a formatted Report you need to be familiar with the User Guide for it.

In contrast to formatted reports, QFTR breaks new ground in general and reveals its latest discoveries about basketball in particular in free form (non-formatted) text reports. While formatted posts are "on the reservation", non-formatted text reports are where QFTR "goes off the reservation". Both types of reports are essential; having just one type without the other type would reduce the value of QFTR by MORE than half.

In Playoff Preview Reports (PPRs) Excel Team Grids are used for quick and easy comparisons between teams. Since Excel is ultimately a sophisticated way to format information, PPRs are technically one of the very most intensely formatted Reports in the entire QFTR arsenal of formatted Reports.

Team Grids on Excel are also actually the best foundational tool for managing a basketball team. For example, team grids allow managers, coaches, or anyone else to consider changes in players and/or in playing times that would improve the chances of winning playoff series and regular season games.

Partly because no one is perfect, partly because relatively incompetent coaches are all too common, and partly because basketball (like many things) is more complicated than most people think it is, coaching errors are commonplace. Team Grids on Excel allow for quick flagging of coaching errors, some of which can be big enough to cost a team a playoff series or as many as a dozen regular season wins.

We now proceed to detailed information about the content appearing in Team Playoff Previews in the Excel format.

============ SECTION ONE (AT THE TOP) OF PLAYOFF PREVIEW REPORTS USING EXCEL: HEAD TO HEAD COMPARISONS ============
Using Real Player Ratings (RPRs) Section One allows for quick and easy comparison of players by position. You can compare specific players for any position. For example, you can see which team has the better starting point guard. You can very easily and quickly see which team has the better second squad small forward. And so on and so forth for each of the five positions and each of the two squads.

Many young and some not so young basketball fans spend time arguing about who is the better player between two playoff starters at the same position. At QFTR we scientifically and accurately inform you of who was actually better in the current year.

SQUAD AVERAGES AND OVERALL TEAM AVERAGES
One of the most important things to observe in the Head to Head Comparison area (Section One) are the squad Real Player Rating (RPR) averages. Carefully comparing the squad averages is very important and if you skip this you really will not be able to properly preview a playoff series.

When you compare squad averages, you are essentially comparing the starters as a whole and the non-starters as a whole of the two teams. Since as everyone knows basketball is partly a team game and has stronger team dynamics at work than in many other sports, when the starters of one team are substantially better than the starters of the other team, this will often mean the advantaged team will likely win the series by virtue of that fact alone.

But keep in mind a smart coach may possibly have graduated one or two second squad players to starter for the playoffs. This will not show up on the team grids in the Report. Also, keep in mind that in the Report, players are placed into squads according to minutes played. So when a team intentionally has the best player at a position come in late in the first quarter "from off the bench" that player may be more of a second squad player out on the court even though he is shown as a first squad player in the Playoff Preview.

By looking at the squad averages you can see what the average rating of the players in that squad is for each team. By comparing the first squad with the second squad, you can see how much of a drop off there is between them. Since most of the players in the first squad are starters, this is approximately equivalent to comparing the starters and the bench. The bigger the drop off, the more minutes the starters should be playing.

TEAM REAL PLAYER RATING AVERAGES
At the very bottom of Section One you will see a row for “Team Average” and on that row you will find the Team Real Player Rating Average (TRPRA) for each of the two teams.

TRPPA is two times the first squad average plus the second squad average divided by three. In other words, it is a weighted average of the top two squads with the first squad counted twice and the second squad counted once, which roughly corresponds to typical playing time patterns. Players in the third squad (also known as "the reserves") the injured players, and the benched players are not counted in the team average.

You can put substantial stock but not an unlimited amount of stock in the team average number.

One weakness of TRPPA is that even among later round playoff teams there are still often going to be in the second squad a player with a very low rating from time to time. How much such players play in the playoffs is dependent on how strapped the team is at the position and on how dumb the coaching is.

Another weakness in the team real player rating average concept that sometimes can be significant is that as already indicated third squad ratings are completely ignored for the Team Real Player Rating Averages. But third squad players sometimes get fairly substantial playing time because sometimes they are fairly good players.

Despite the shortcomings, TRPRA very often correctly signals which team is going to win the series. TRPRA is likely to predict the winner when the difference between the two teams is .050 or more and it is especially likely to correctly predict the winner when the difference is .100 or more. QFTR uses TRPPA (along with other information of course) to help project which team will win playoff series.

TYPICAL POSITION, SQUAD AND TEAM REAL PLAYER RATING AVERAGES FOR THE VERY BEST TEAMS
The following discussion is limited to the very best teams, specifically the four final teams only (the teams in the Conference finals). Position, Squad and Team averages for non-playoff teams and for teams eliminated in the first and second rounds are beyond the scope of this User Guide.

POSITION AVERAGES FOR 4 CONFERENCE FINAL TEAMS
Point Guard .914
Shooting Guard .774
Small Forward .786
Power Forward .872
Center .920

SQUAD AVERAGES FOR 4 CONFERENCE FINAL TEAMS
1st Squad .853
2nd Squad .708

TEAM REAL PLAYER RATING AVERAGES FOR 4 CONFERENCE FINAL TEAMS
Final Four Teams .805
Teams in the NBA Championship .868

TEAMS IN THE CHAMPIONSHIP
Many Championship teams will have at least one position where the average RPR of the two players who play it the most is greater than .950. Championship teams will sometimes feature two positions where the average of the top two players is greater than .900 with the most common combos being point guard and either center or power forward. At the low end, Championship teams will very seldom have any position where the best two players average below .700.

But some mere playoff teams will have at least one position where the average of the top two players at the position is a little less than .700. The most common positions for this situation would be small forward and shooting guard. As you might expect, playoff teams that have even one position where the top two players who play it average less than .700 are generally the ones eliminated in the early rounds.

NBA OVERALL (ALL TEAMS) REAL PLAYER RATING EVALUATION SCALE
For comparison purposes this Guide now shows the overall Real Player Rating evaluation scale for ALL NBA players and ALL teams. This reminds you that many of the players on the four conference final teams are way above average players:

SCALE FOR REGULAR SEASON REAL PLAYER RATINGS
Perfect Player 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, can possibly start 0.640 0.699
Satisfactory Role Player / Generally should not start 0.580 0.639
Marginal Role Player / Should not start except in an emergency 0.520 0.579
Poor Player / Should never start 0.460 0.519
Very Poor Player 0.400 0.459
Extremely Poor Player 0.399 and less

AVERAGE RATINGS BY POSITION
Not all positions are created equal. In pro basketball, point guard and center are the most important positions, power forward is in the middle, and small forward and shooting guard are the least important. (Some teams will have a different pattern.) The following are good estimates for average ratings by position among all NBA players who play 300 minutes or more. There are very few small forwards and shooting guards who don't fit at other positions who are superstars. Most superstars are players who can play point guard, power forward, or center.

Point Guard .750
Shooting Guard .635
Small Forward .645
Power Forward .715
Center .755
All Positions / All Players (NBA Overall Average) .700

To quickly and fairly compare two players who play different positions, convert their Ratings as follows:

Point Guards: Subtract .050; for example, .700 becomes .650
Shooting Guards: Add .065; for example, .700 becomes .765
Small Forwards: Add .055; for example, .700 becomes .755
Power Forwards: Subtract .015; for example, .700 becomes .685
Centers: Subtract .055; for example, .700 becomes .645

TEAMS SHOULD AVOID PLAYING LOW RATING PLAYERS IN THE PLAYOFFS
Often, especially on the best coached teams and on the primary contenders, a second squad player with a relatively low rating will be strategically benched during the playoffs. Players at the nearest position can fill in at the position.

In general, centers and point guards with ratings below .650 should play sparingly in the playoffs or not at all. Power forwards with ratings below .615 should play sparingly or not at all in the playoffs. Small forwards and shooting guards with ratings below .545 and .535 respectively should play sparingly or not at all in the playoffs.

============ SECTION TWO (LOWER SECTION) OF PLAYOFF PREVIEWS USING EXCEL: TEAM GRIDS ============

FIRST SQUAD, SECOND SQUAD, AND RESERVES
A depth chart shows you team policy regarding who starts and who are the backups and in what order for the five positions. The team grid is based on the depth chart style. However, players (other than players acquired during the season from trades; see below regarding them) are placed into first squad, second squad, and third squad according to minutes played, not according to the latest ESPN or any other depth chart, or in other words not according to anyone's estimation of what the team policy is.

Instead of using depth charts, whoever has played the most minutes at a position is shown in the “1st Squad” whether or not that player starts at the position. Whoever has played the second most minutes at a position is shown in the "2nd Squad" regardless of that player's position on any depth chart. Whoever has played the third most minutes at a position is shown in the "Reserves" (which could have been labelled "3rd Squad" instead).

There is a notable exception to the rule for who goes in which squad. If a player has been acquired during the season and he is listed as the starter on the ESPN depth chart, he will be shown as first squad. Similarly, if a player acquired during the season is shown as the first backup to the starter in the depth chart he will be shown as second squad regardless of minutes. In other words, the depth chart prevails over minutes in the case of players acquired by trade during the season. This makes sense because minutes played for the prior team could not reasonably be counted for the current team.

PLAYERS WHO MOST LIKELY WILL NOT BE PLAYING
On a Team Grid, just to the right of the “3rd Squad" column you see two grey areas. From left to right the first one is for players who are most likely or definitely out for much or for all of the series for some reason, usually due to injury.

The rating for players who will not be played is shown as long as the player has played at least 300 minutes in either the current year or in the previous year. If the injured player didn't play at least 300 minutes in either of those years, then "none" will be shown for the rating for both years. Such players most likely would not play even if they were available to play.

The second grey shaded area to the right is for players who could play but almost certainly will not play because they played fewer than 300 minutes during the regular season. The 300 minutes threshold is the minimum needed for a hidden defending adjustment and therefore is the minimum needed for a player to get a Real Player Rating. It also is being used here as the threshold for determining whether a player was essentially benched for the season. 300 minutes is less than four minutes a game, which is a very good dividing line for saying whether a player was benched for the season or not. You can get close to 300 minutes with just garbage time, so if you don't play at least 300 minutes, you are basically benched.

PLAYERS ACQUIRED BY TRADE
We have already described how players acquired by trade are placed with respect to what squad they are in. Here we discuss how we determine what rating to show for them.

Players acquired by trade during the season who have played at least 300 minutes for their new team (during the regular season) are treated on the grid as if they were on the team the entire season. The rating you see for them is for their new, current team minutes. The previous team rating is considered to be irrelevant for the grid.

Players acquired by trade during the season who have NOT played at least 300 minutes for their new team are shown as "more or less benched" if they did play at least 300 minutes for the previous team this season but not at least 300 minutes for the new, current team. The rating you see for them in the "more or less benched" column would have to be and is their rating on their previous team this season.

If the player acquired by trade has never played at least 300 minutes for any team, he is treated like any other player who has never played 300 minutes or more. How those players are shown on the Team Grids immediately follows.

PLAYERS WHO HAVE NEVER PLAYED AT LEAST 300 MINUTES IN ANY SEASON
These players will be listed in the "More or Less Benched for the Season" column. No rating can be computed for them for any year so "none" is shown for prior year rating. Rookies who didn't get to play much in their first years are commonly shown this way. Other than garbage time, it is extraordinarily unlikely that any such players will play in any playoff game in the current year.

In the "More or less Benched" area, the Real Player Rating that is shown is the one from the most recent year the player played at least 300 minutes. What year that was is shown right next to their rating. Sometimes you can spot a player who should have played more than 300 minutes in this area. Generally, players in the More or Less Benched area of the Team Grid will not be playing in any playoff game except perhaps in garbage time.

COMPARING TEAMS BY POSITION
The position averages are shown ONLY on the Team Grids (in Section Two) of the Playoff Preview Report. They are not really relevant for the head to head comparison area (Section One). The header abbreviation used on the grids for the position average column is "POS AVGS".

By looking at position averages in Section Two you can compare the two teams position by position. For each position, only the ratings of the first squad and of the second squad player are considered for the position average. And the rating of the first squad player at each position counts twice as much as the rating of the second squad player at each position. In other words, for each position the position average is two times the rating of the first squad player plus the rating of the second squad player divided by three.

Reserves (third squad) players generally do not play and so their ratings are ignored for the position calculations.

WHAT IF THERE WAS ONLY ONE PLAYER WHO PLAYED AT LEAST 300 MINUTES AT A POSITION?
The position average calculation assumes that there were at least two players who played at least 300 minutes at each position, one in the first squad and one in the second squad. If there is only one player who played 300 minutes or more at a position (who is in the first squad) there is a special rule. For the second player at the position, 75% of that single player's rating is considered to be the rating for the player at that position in the second squad. The 25% reduction is justified because of the fact that one or more players at other positions will have to fill out the position that has only one player. Those other position players will obviously generally not be as valuable at the position as players dedicated to that position are.

What if there isn't much fill-in? If the single player consumes most of the playing time because he is a superstar, the 25% reduction is still justified because when any player plays most of a game, he is often not as good late in the game due to not being rested enough.

Notice of Banner Violation and the Quest for the Ring Response

2011-05-26T00:57:00.000-07:00

NOTICE OF BANNER VIOLATION
Issued by the Internet Police Department

Quest for the Ring (QFTR) is hereby charged with a banner violation for refusal to put the Dallas Mavericks banner on top of the Oklahoma Thunder banner following the Mavericks’ 4-1 series win over the Thunder in the 2011 West Conference Final. The banner rule is that the top two positions are occupied by the two teams in the NBA Championship from the time they are known until sometime in December. QFTR refuses to remove the Oklahoma Thunder banner from the top row and thus is in violation.

QFTR RESPONSE TO VIOLATION NOTICE
The short answer is that its’ my Site so if I want to violate the banner rule there isn’t anyone who is going to stop me. The Internet Police Department can take a hike.

The long answer is that I will NOT place the Mavericks banner on top of the Thunder banner for many reasons, the top ten ones being:

(1) The Oklahoma Thunder was and is the better team (as shown by Real Player Ratings) but Dallas was the much smarter team in the series. I reserve the right to place better over smarter even though QFTR is all about smart basketball. So it may be a paradox that I would prefer better over smarter on the banner but it is what it is and I’m not going to explain the paradox at this time. If you want to have the paradox explained read the multi-part Report on the series coming out this fall, the explanation will be there; or else you can always come back some day and put the word “paradox” in any of the custom search boxes and you will have a good chance of finding the paradox explained that way.

(2) Rounded to the nearest million dollars, Dallas had a 2010-11 payroll of 90 million dollars whereas Oklahoma had a 2010-11 payroll of 54 million dollars. Does that seem fair to you?

(3) Oklahoma had one of the all-time biggest collapses in playoffs history in game four of the series, blowing a 15 point lead with about 5 minutes left. Then in game five, they had one of the all-time most pathetic and lame (but smaller) collapses in history. I will NOT lower the banner of a team that had TWO games won but lost them to a very smart team with an extremely fat payroll chock loaded with smart veterans.

(4) Oklahoma clearly outplayed Dallas not only in game four (where they blew the 15 point lead with 5 minutes left) but also in game five (where a smaller lead was blown late in the 4th). I’ll grant you, the margin by which Oklahoma was better than Dallas was much smaller in game five than it was in game four (and it was indeed a small margin in game five). But for one thing, in game five, Oklahoma was the better team defensively and held Dallas to just 41.7% shooting and a reasonable 44 points in the paint. Meanwhile, Oklahoma shot 42.7% from the field and scored 50 points in the paint.

(5) The 50 points in the paint scored against Dallas in game five is a very good lead-in to the next reason why I refuse to put the Dallas banner at the top: with paint defending like that Dallas will be absolutely destroyed in the NBA Championship by either Miami or Chicago. We are looking at a 4-0 or a 4-1 Championship with Dallas on the short end of that stick. True, the Championship could easily have been 4-1 had it been Oklahoma versus Miami or Chicago, but just having a low payroll underdog type of team like Oklahoma IN the Championship would have been very satisfying and refreshing and entertaining and I am not at all happy about being denied all of that thanks to Marc Cuban's money and thanks to the strange way that Russell Westbrook thinks sometimes.

(6) Aside from the poor 2011 Championship that we will now get, obviously the 2011 West Final was also a poor one due to the rich and veteran team versus poor and young team dynamic involved. For one thing, the series was over in five games, whereas ALL Conference Championships should be either six or seven games. Now there won’t be any game on Friday May 27; Dallas Owner Marc Cuban can be counting his money rather than going to the game (which would have been in Oklahoma City had it taken place.)

(7) Scott Brooks is clearly a much better coach than Rick Carlisle but Brooks could not come up with a formula to get the Oklahoma offense to operate in the higher gears it is theoretically capable of operating in. Yet Brooks tried a lot of very smart things (much more about those things in the Report series coming this fall) and its’ a shame that he and the Thunder fell just short of slaying the dragon.

(8) Oklahoma easily and quickly defeated George “I can win in the regular season but won’t ever win much in the playoffs” Karl and his Denver “Yes we are way overrated but what are you going to do about it?” Nuggets. Just for that I am very grateful and appreciative of the young and extremely talented Thunder.

(9) I might officially change the banner rule in the near future and allow one of the two top banner positions to be occupied by the team that could most easily win a Championship if it could play smarter. Or, I might change the banner rule and have the banner positions dictated by the Real Player Ratings as opposed to who actually gets into and who actually wins the Conference Finals. The existing banner rule may be a little too slavish toward high payroll teams that tend to pull out the wins even when they are inferior teams. Changing the banner rule would signal that QFTR is a progressive type of Site rather than one slavishly devoted to the establishment and to big money. Because again, Dallas used it’s big money, long-time veteran players to outsmart the much more talented Thunder, and I’m not sure (to say the least) that I want to glorify that in any way.

(10) Keeping the Thunder at the top of the banner will keep me motivated to produce a huge multi-part Report on the 2011 West Final which will be chock loaded with advice for the Thunder on how they can win playoff series and even the Championship in the coming years.

So there you go, the top ten reasons why I am violating the banner rule. And I intend to get away with it, too, suckas!

The Internet Police Department? The Denver “Yes we are way overrated but what are you going to do about it?” Nuggets? Laugh out loud!

PS: Next year Dallas will be TOO OLD to beat hardly anyone in the playoffs whereas Oklahoma will be maturing nicely. There is no way Dallas beats Oklahoma next year so next year will most definitely be better than this year was with respect to Dallas versus Oklahoma. It won’t be sad like this year was.

Oklahoma Thunder and Fans of the Team: Help is on the Way

2011-05-24T07:06:00.000-07:00

Last year about this time (in May) Quest for the Ring (QFTR) pledged we would upgrade the Real Coach Ratings system and finally prove beyond any shadow of a doubt that certain coaches will almost certainly never win The Quest for the Ring. The result was the Playoff Series and Coaches Database and the resulting improvements in the Real Coach Ratings. That pledge was titled “Help is on the Way for Mavericks and Nuggets Fans,” or something similar to that.

QFTR was motivated to make the Help is on the Way Pledge a year ago when both Coach Rick Carlisle for the Dallas Mavericks and Coach George Karl for the Denver Nuggets were torched in the playoffs. It was obvious that the sorry performances of the Mavericks and of the Nuggets in the 2010 playoffs were partly due to bad coaching, and we wanted to go on record at the time promising that the Database would get done and that the improvements in the Coach Ratings would get done. These tools would prove beyond any shadow of a doubt that Carlisle and Karl were largely to blame for those and for many other playoffs flame-outs.

By late in 2010 all of what we promised in May 2010 was done. Help was delivered to Mavericks and Nuggets fans and managers in the form of proof that your coaches were and are poor playoffs coaches.

Of course, Mavericks Coach Rick Carlisle doesn’t look as bad right now because here in 2011 he swept the Los Angeles Lakers (coached by Phil Jackson no less, the all-time best playoffs coach) and as of this writing he is up 3-1 versus one of the best young teams in the history of the NBA. Well, either Carlisle’s usual playoff mistakes are not being made (due to Carlisle learning to not make them or due to sheer dumb luck) or else Coach Scott Brooks and the Thunder are losing out to the Mavericks due to the Thunder’s whopping payroll and experience deficits versus the Mavericks. I’d definitely bet the latter if I were betting, laugh out loud.

As for Carlisle winning the 2011 Quest? Please! I am afraid that at this point the West Conference is completely screwed and that either LeBron James or Derrick Rose is going to win his first Ring. Quite honestly, in the last few years, the West has gone from being the dominant Conference to more or less a joke when you compare it to the East.

QFTR has been known to fail to meet pledges in a timely fashion (and that is an understatement). But Help is on the Way pledges are special, and just as we met last year’s pledge, we WILL meet this year’s May Help is on the Way pledge. This May, as the Oklahoma Thunder collapse and burn in one of the biggest playoff series collapses in the history of the NBA (for example, blowing a 15 point lead late in the fourth quarter in game four against Dallas in the West final) QFTR is officially pledging right here and now that we WILL produce a multi-part Report on the Western Conference Final.

Actually, the Official QFTR Production Plan calls for three multi-part Reports, two on the Conference finals and one on the NBA Championship. But we are wisely limiting this Help is on the Way pledge to just one multi-part Report, on the West Conference Final. (QFTR is trying to once and for all put an end to pledges not kept, and we would for once like to exceed expectations and pledges rather than put up another air ball, laugh out loud.)

More specifically, we pledge that in the multi-part Report on the West Conference Final we will identify in detail every single reason why the Thunder were outclassed by the Mavericks and why specifically the Thunder blew a series that they could have and should have won. We will extensively discuss just how much of an advantage a big payroll and very experienced players are over a small payroll and very inexperienced players. Then, using this perfect example (Thunder versus Mavericks) we will explain exactly how a small payroll, inexperienced team can defeat the favored team. In other words, we will explain in great detail how Oklahoma could have (and should have) defeated the Mavericks.

Although Dallas was favored by “the establishment,” the truth is that Oklahoma is (was) the better team and should have won the series. QFTR has clear evidence that the Oklahoma Thunder is (was) a better team than the Dallas Mavericks in 2011. So although the Report that we produce later this year could in the future be used to produce an outright upset, with respect to the 2011 Thunder we will be reporting how they could have won a series that they should have won because they in truth were the real, true favorite.

To make a long story short, the Thunder, the better team, played foolishly and lost whereas the Mavericks played smart and won. QFTR is always warning that the better team can lose if it plays foolishly. If anyone thinks that correct management and correct strategy and tactics don’t count for very much this is yet another series clearly and beyond any shadow of a doubt proving that you are very, very wrong. The better but dumber team lost while the lesser but smarter team won.

All of the details will be in the multi-part Report that will most likely be at least 12,000 words long, which is more than ten times as long as a “blog post” in some ordinary blog. (And face facts, there are virtually and probably literally no blogs out there, high traffic or otherwise, that produce Reports even half that long.)

The Mavericks-Thunder 2011 West Conference Final is (was if you are reading this after the series is over) a classic rich team-poor team confrontation. It is (or was) also a classic old team-young team confrontation. Oklahoma Coach Scott Brooks is most definitely a better coach than Dallas Coach Rick Carlisle, yet Brooks is (was) unable to overcome the disadvantages of a low payroll and of a very young, inexperienced team.

Brooks should have and could have overcome those disadvantages. Brooks and the Thunder could fairly easily have won the 2011 West final, especially since Carlisle has a track record of being a poor playoffs coach. If the Thunder follow some or all of the guidance we will produce, they will in the future (including next year!) be able to avoid collapses like their 2011 collapse to the Mavericks.

QUEST FOR THE RING REPORTING ON CONFERENCE AND NBA FINALS
The current, state of the art Quest for the Ring Production Plan calls for Reports on each Conference final and on the NBA Championship to be produced and posted in the fall or at the latest in December. These are supposed to be extensive, multi-part Reports totaling 10,000-20,000 words. (That’s the equivalent of 10-25 typical blog posts and it is the equivalent of 10-20% of a lengthy book.)

We have for several years wanted to post at least three multi-part series Reports on the Conference and on the NBA finals, but due to the following things, all of which soak up large amounts of time, QFTR has never yet even come close to producing all three mega Reports in one year:

--We have been unable to free ourselves of using up a lot of valuable production time on the Denver Nuggets. QFTR started out as a Nuggets Site, but certainly as of 2011 we are supposed to be a full scale NBA site and the Nuggets are supposed to be in the rear view mirror. But like we have said before, we are like a loyal dog that does not run away from home even though our owner is a lousy one indeed. So we have continued to report on the Nuggets, a team that most people can see will not possibly win The Quest for the Ring doing what they are doing.

The truth is that we will always do some reporting on the Nuggets that we would never do for any other team; that is, we will never completely rid ourselves of our seeming compulsion to “cover” the Nuggets. But we WILL eventually have Nuggets coverage scaled back to a nice minimal level.

--Extensive time has been going into developing new features and resources, most of which are unique across the entire World Wide Web. You would be amazed at some of the things that no one else has ever been able to produce, leaving QFTR to do those things, as much for its’ own benefit as for anyone else’s.

--Features that we have deployed on the Internet are continually breaking down and self-destructing, necessitating very large amounts of maintenance time. To say that a feature rich Internet Site requires a lot of maintenance time is an understatement; it requires a massive amount of maintenance time.

--Even when they don’t break down or self-destruct features need to be updated; for example, links need to be updated at least annually.

--Content Back-up requirements. Just as you can’t depend on a single copy of your data on a hard drive you need to back up everything posted on the Internet as well because there are reasons (most of which are more or less secret or at least unknowable) as to why your content (or your whole site for that matter) could be here today and gone tomorrow.

--Occasionally Google (which hosts QFTR and we take this opportunity to thank them for that) needs some help or guidance from QFTR, and also, occasionally, Google commits some error or foul that forces QFTR to spend valuable time trying to make sure that damage caused by that error or foul is limited. You would not believe how many hours can be soaked up due to “the Google factor,” due to Google not being perfect, alone.

--Due to limited traffic QFTR is unable to command the full amount of production time we would really want to give to it. (But there is a minimum time that can not be interfered with regardless of how limited traffic is. And also, ultimately, unlike with so many other Internet sites operated by a tiny number of people, QFTR will never be discontinued due to having traffic much less than it should.

SOME NOTES REGARDING TRAFFIC
Incidentally, the traffic thing is ultimately both a “yes we care”, but also a “No we don’t care” type of issue. That is, we care in some limited respects but mainly we don't care about how much traffic QFTR gets.

QFTR has only a relatively small fraction of the traffic that it should have if traffic were distributed according to the real value of Sites. If traffic was the be all and the end all QFTR would have been scrapped at least a year and a half ago!

Assuming that low traffic really reflects the lack of interest in pro basketball looked at with no hype and with a lot of sophisticated and detailed information (call it anti-hype) we are very disappointed in the abstract. But in the practical sense QFTR has been proved to be correct in seemingly controversial claims so many times that we are going to continue on regardless of traffic, regardless of what Google does, and regardless of how limited the audience really is for high level, sophisticated, no hype basketball reporting.

Your primary QFTR producer has gained a lot from producing this Site despite the limited traffic. Aside from learning and teaching basketball at the highest level, your primary QFTR producer has and will continue to become expert at an ever lengthening list of programs, computer system skills, and Internet publishing skills. In other words, by producing QFTR, we are in effect getting a free degree in practical computer science. So if you think we are not getting paid for producing QFTR you are very wrong because when you make something that is extremely expensive free, you just got paid.

SNEAK PEAK AT OKLAHOMA THUNDER: HELP IS ON THE WAY
Obviously the Thunder can’t do anything about the fact that they are very young and have a very light payroll whereas the Mavericks are very experienced and have a very fat payroll. But the Thunder made really dumb and fairly dumb mistakes which allowed Dallas to use their basic advantages to win a series they should not have won. The biggest mistake the Thunder made was that they disrespected the point guard concept.

As the Report later this year will show in extensive detail, the Thunder most likely would have won the Series if they had simply avoided committing the worst offense against basketball you can: disrespecting the point guard concept. In this report we introduced you to how Oklahoma point guard Russell Westbrook sometimes disrespects the concept and essentially forfeits games. We did so before “the Westbrook Thing” became public knowledge due to it being fairly heavily reported by TNT and ESPN broadcasters.

For the sneak peak right here and now I’ll skip most of the evidence and most of the details (due obviously to lack of time at the moment) and get to the bottom line: When a point guard disrespects the point guard concept he starts promoting isolation plays by all his teammates and he also starts running them himself. In a playoff game, more so than in the regular season, this (a) completely ruins the offense and (b) makes it impossible to win a playoff series against a smart, veteran team that is following the point guard concept even if you actually have a better team and are supposed to win that series. In other words, when you disrespect the point guard concept you can in effect forfeit a playoff series.

Tell me for example how game four in Oklahoma was not essentially the Thunder forfeiting to the Mavericks. When Russell Westbrook quit playing point guard about half way through the fourth, the Thunder might as well have walked off the court right then and there and gone straight to the locker room and not come back.

The interesting thing about the monumental collapse of the Thunder in the last five minutes of game four is that Russell Westbrook apparently (and I would assume by accident) proved that there is one thing even worse than disrespecting the importance of the point guard concept for an entire game. Even worse than that is following the point guard concept for most of a game, building up a big lead and then deciding you can completely scrap the concept and run only isolation plays in the second half of the 4th quarter. So then, since you are in the freaking West Conference Final and you are playing a great team with a monster historical superstar (Dirk Nowitzki) you collapse and lose the game when you quit using the point guard concept and you try to go back over to isolation, gimmick, fast break, and random sheer luck plays for offense.

I mean, the Thunder would have had roughly as good a chance to win game four had Russell decided to not follow the point guard concept the entire night (which is more or less what happened in game three). At least then they would have had SOME offense late in the fourth. At least then major confusion could have been avoided. Whereas, what actually happened in game four was that when Westbrook quit trying to make plays the Thunder were out of rhythm, hopelessly confused, and not warmed up with the isolation and gimmick plays, which is to say the Thunder were left with essentially no offense at all, thus the complete collapse. I mean seriously, I saw the game, and I saw with my own eyes that after Russell quit there was basically nothing there in Oklahoma's offense but confusion and helplessness.

Or to put it another way, the only thing worse than Russell Westbrook not running the point correctly for a whole game is for him to quit running it during the fourth quarter with a big lead, and then the Thunder blow the game! Yikes that was miserable to watch. After the collapse I thought about smashing my monitor into about a dozen pieces but thought better of it, laugh out loud.

After Russell Westbrook decided he didn't need to run point anymore what did he produce in isolation in the last five minutes of the game? He made one shot out of five! Every one of his shots were mid-range jumpers and threes. He's a good jump shooter but those shots would not go in! He even missed BOTH free throws in a trip to the line! Well, you know what they say; "Ball don't lie"! The ball was saying: "Russell, you are disrespecting the point guard concept and trying to cheat basketball. Therefore, you are going to blow this game!" Gosh it's really true, that ball don't lie, laugh out loud!

QFTR Memo to Russell Westbrook and to all point guards: the point guard concept is like air; you need to use it ALL of the time and not just some of the time. You can not run point only when you want to; you have to run it all of the time if you want to defeat teams like the Dallas Mavericks.

A series forfeit due to refusal to follow the point guard concept is apparently what is going to happen in the 2011 Thunder-Mavericks series (which at the moment is 3-1 Mavericks).

Maybe the Thunder can learn the hard way? Maybe someone will read this or this preview right here or else this falls’ detailed Report and get the Thunder to change their ways? If after the details are produced and posted the Thunder continue to play dumb next year, if they in other words don’t follow the advice in the Report that comes out of this Help is on the Way pledge, at least no one will be able to say that QFTR didn’t fulfill its’ duties as the site that “explains exactly how Championships are won and lost”.

As for the here and now, I projected a Thunder win because I naively thought (I dream too much, it's true) that somehow Westbrook, Brooks, and the Thunder could “grow up in a hurry” and respect the point guard concept. (And in my defense they at least recognized and talked about the problem.) I thought that Westbrook would make more plays and get more assists than he did. I was wrong, but it’s ultimately just one lost year and obviously the Thunder are very, very young. They will very likely win at least one Championship if they eventually stop what they are doing and follow the number one rule of pro basketball offense in the playoffs: you WILL follow the point guard concept or you will definitely NOT be winning the Championship even if you could have won it otherwise.

Just as you don’t have any choice about how high the hoop is off the floor, you don’t have any choice regarding following the point guard concept. The point guard concept is just as much a fact of basketball that you can't do anything about as is how high the hoop is off the floor. Either a point guard (the starting one or a backup) or at the least a player at another position acting as if he was the point guard (or some combination of those players) makes (or make) a few plays EVERY SINGLE QUARTER and therefore prevent(s) the team from falling into the isolation trap and prevent(s) the offense from running down to next to nothing or the team forfeits any chance to win the Championship. In a playoff game against a great team, whenever you almost completely stop making plays you are toast and you will win only if you get very, very lucky.

If you don’t understand or if you don't believe that to win a Championship the ball absolutely must often move between players and that a few plays involving at least two players have to made every single quarter (but not every single play of course) you really need to find another sport.

For example, tennis is good if you don't agree with the point guard concept. I am sure Russell Westbrook would be at least a good tennis player, and probably an outstanding one. I am also sure he would be a great point guard if he just agreed to be one all of the time.

Real Player Ratings for the 2011 East Conference Final Game Two Miami Heat 85 Chicago Bulls 75

2011-05-21T08:59:00.000-07:00

2011 EAST CONFERENCE FINAL CHICAGO BULLS VS MIAMI HEAT GAME TWO REAL PLAYER RATINGS
MAY 18 2011
CHICAGO, ILLINOIS
MIAMI HEAT 85 CHICAGO BULLS 75
BEST OF SEVEN SERIES TIED 1-1

KEY PLAYERS WHO DID NOT PLAY
--These are the above average players who would have or should have played but did not.

--The reason is shown after the player if and only if it is known with at least 85% certainty.

--Usually the reason is known with almost 100% certainty.

--If the reason is not known with at least 85% certainty, the reason "unknown" is given.

--Injuries are NEVER perfectly reported and information about them is archived nowhere on the Internet. Therefore, it is possible that when Quest for the Ring identifies "coaching error" or "unknown" as the reason, the real reason may have been an injury.

--If the reason "traded" is shown then in many cases a player who was obtained in that trade played instead.

BULLS
--C.J. Watson played only 6 minutes due to the coach following the one point guard on the court at a time guideline and due to PG Derek Rose being an historical superstar justifying 42 minutes playing time for him.

--Kurt Thomas did not play due to apparent coaching error.

HEAT
--Eddie House did not play due to apparent coaching error.

--Mario Chalmers played only 5 minutes due to apparent coaching error.

REAL PLAYER RATINGS FOR THIS GAME
--Real Player Rating shows you the real basketball quality of players quickly and accurately.

--Players who played at least 7 minutes in the game are included.

--Each player's hidden defending rating from the regular season is used as the Hidden Defending Adjustment (HDA). Obviously, players in any individual game including this one were not exactly as good defenders as they were on the average during the regular season. But since there is no way to provide HDA for individual games and since it is better to have some reasonable HDA than none at all, we use the season HDA as a reasonable substitute.

--Beginning in 2011 we show just the combined listing; in prior years we separately showed the rank lists by team but this is now considered to be unnecessary.

Ronnie Brewer, SG 1.491 BULLS
Udonis Haslem, PF 1.112 HEAT
Dwyane Wade, SG 1.051 HEAT
LeBron James, SF 1.035 HEAT
Derrick Rose, PG 0.805 BULLS
Carlos Boozer, PF 0.792 BULLS
Taj Gibson, PF 0.792 BULLS
Mike Miller, SG 0.712 HEAT
Joakim Noah, C 0.675 BULLS
Chris Bosh, PF 0.659 HEAT
Luol Deng, SF 0.422 BULLS
Mike Bibby, PG 0.375 HEAT
Joel Anthony, C 0.233 HEAT
Keith Bogans, SG 0.218 BULLS
Omer Asik, C 0.212 BULLS
Kyle Korver, SG 0.150 BULLS

SCALE FOR REGULAR SEASON REAL PLAYER RATINGS FOR A SINGLE GAME
Perfect Player for all Practical Purposes / Major Historic Super Star 1.200 and more
Historic Super Star 1.080 1.199
Super Star 0.960 1.079
A Star Player / A well above normal starter 0.860 0.959
Very Good Player / A solid starter 0.780 0.859
Major Role Player / Good enough to start 0.700 0.779
Good Role Player / Often a good 6th man, can possibly start 0.620 0.699
Satisfactory Role Player / Generally should not start 0.540 0.619
Marginal Role Player / Should not start except in an emergency 0.460 0.539
Poor Player / Should never start 0.380 0.459
Very Poor Player 0.300 0.379
Extremely Poor Player 0.299 and less

AVERAGE RATINGS BY POSITION
Not all positions are created equal. In pro basketball, point guard and center are the most important positions, power forward is in the middle, and small forward and shooting guard are the least important. (Some teams will have a different pattern.) The following are good estimates for average ratings by position among all NBA players who play 300 minutes or more. There are very few small forwards and shooting guards who don't fit at other positions who are superstars. Most superstars are players who can play point guard, power forward, or center.

Point Guard .750
Shooting Guard .635
Small Forward .645
Power Forward .715
Center .755
All Positions / All Players (NBA Overall Average) .700

To quickly and fairly compare two players who play different positions, convert their Ratings as follows:

Point Guards: Subtract .050; for example, .700 becomes .650
Shooting Guards: Add .065; for example, .700 becomes .765
Small Forwards: Add .055; for example, .700 becomes .755
Power Forwards: Subtract .015; for example, .700 becomes .685
Centers: Subtract .055; for example, .700 becomes .645

REAL PLAYER PRODUCTION FOR THIS GAME
--Shows the real basketball production (or quantity) of players.

--Players who played at least 7 minutes in the game are included.

--An estimate of the value of hidden defending production is included in the total production for all players shown; as described above hidden defending ratings from the regular season are used.

--Beginning in 2011 we show just the combined listing; in prior years we separately showed the rank lists by team but this is now considered to be unnecessary.

LeBron James, SF 47.60 HEAT
Dwyane Wade, SG 42.05 HEAT
Derrick Rose, PG 33.83 BULLS
Chris Bosh, PF 27.68 HEAT
Udonis Haslem, PF 25.57 HEAT
Ronnie Brewer, SG 23.86 BULLS
Joakim Noah, C 21.61 BULLS
Carlos Boozer, PF 21.39 BULLS
Luol Deng, SF 19.42 BULLS
Taj Gibson, PF 16.63 BULLS
Mike Bibby, PG 13.13 HEAT
Mike Miller, SG 12.81 HEAT
Joel Anthony, C 5.12 HEAT
Omer Asik, C 3.60 BULLS
Keith Bogans, SG 3.48 BULLS
Kyle Korver, SG 2.70 BULLS

=============== OFFENSIVE AND DEFENSIVE SUB RATINGS FOR THIS GAME ===============

OFFENSIVE SUB RATINGS FOR THIS GAME
--Shows the real quality of players' offense.

--Players who played at least 7 minutes in the game are included.

--The hidden defending component is not a part of the offensive sub rating.

--Beginning in 2011 we show just the combined listing; in prior years we separately showed the rank lists by team but this is now considered to be unnecessary.

Udonis Haslem, PF 0.759 HEAT
Ronnie Brewer, SG 0.569 BULLS
Dwyane Wade, SG 0.554 HEAT
Derrick Rose, PG 0.530 BULLS
LeBron James, SF 0.521 HEAT
Joakim Noah, C 0.333 BULLS
Taj Gibson, PF 0.315 BULLS
Mike Miller, SG 0.278 HEAT
Mike Bibby, PG 0.273 HEAT
Chris Bosh, PF 0.231 HEAT
Carlos Boozer, PF 0.151 BULLS
Kyle Korver, SG 0.150 BULLS
Luol Deng, SF 0.098 BULLS
Keith Bogans, SG -0.021 BULLS
Joel Anthony, C -0.106 HEAT
Omer Asik, C -0.251 BULLS

THE AVERAGE OFFENSIVE SUB RATING
for all NBA players who play 300 minutes or more is about .385

DEFENSIVE SUB RATINGS FOR THIS GAME
--Shows the real quality of players' defense.

--Players who played at least 7 minutes in the game are included.

--The hidden defending component is included as described above.

--Beginning in 2011 we show just the combined listing; in prior years we separately showed the rank lists by team but this is now considered to be unnecessary.

Ronnie Brewer, SG 0.922 BULLS
Carlos Boozer, PF 0.641 BULLS
LeBron James, SF 0.514 HEAT
Dwyane Wade, SG 0.497 HEAT
Taj Gibson, PF 0.477 BULLS
Omer Asik, C 0.463 BULLS
Mike Miller, SG 0.434 HEAT
Chris Bosh, PF 0.428 HEAT
Udonis Haslem, PF 0.353 HEAT
Joakim Noah, C 0.343 BULLS
Joel Anthony, C 0.338 HEAT
Luol Deng, SF 0.324 BULLS
Kyle Korver, SG 0.279 BULLS
Derrick Rose, PG 0.275 BULLS
Keith Bogans, SG 0.239 BULLS
Mike Bibby, PG 0.102 HEAT

THE AVERAGE DEFENSIVE SUB RATING
for all NBA players who play 300 minutes or more is about .315

The breakdown between hidden and unhidden defending is available on request.

THE ALL IMPORTANT, AWARD WINNING REAL PLAYER RATINGS USER GUIDE
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.

ABOUT REAL PLAYER RATINGS REPORTS
Of the several dozen types of Reports that Quest for the Ring (QFTR) produces, Team Real Player Rating Reports are among the most important. A Real Player Rating Report gives you four very important ratings for every player in the Report:

--Overall Real Player Rating
--Real Player Production
--Offensive Sub Rating
--Defensive Sub Rating

These Reports are formatted reports. Formatted reports have a pre-set format and there is little or no custom commentary included. The whole idea of formatted reports is to provide a very large amount of important information very efficiently. The carefully planned and long evolved and perfected formatting eliminates the need for time-consuming custom text reporting in contexts where there is really no need for it and where there may be no time for it. But to fully understand a formatted Report you need to be familiar with the User Guide for it.

In contrast to formatted reports, QFTR breaks new ground in general and reveals its latest discoveries about basketball in particular in free form (non-formatted) text reports. While formatted posts are "on the reservation", non-formatted text reports are where QFTR "goes off the reservation". Both types of reports are essential; having just one type without the other type would reduce the value of QFTR by MORE than half.

QFTR is considering some kind of labelling system for posts that will allow visitors to even more easily than ever get to content they want or need.

There are two things you can do to get the full value out of RPR Reports. First, you can read parts or all of the User Guide for them (the link to the Guide is below). Second, you can simply visit a lot and see a lot of Reports and then you will automatically become better at interpreting what you see.

During the regular season beginning in late January (when we can first validly calculate the hidden defending adjustments) QFTR posts Team Real Player Ratings for major contending teams and other selected teams as time permits. Between the end of the regular season and before the Conference Finals begin (in late April and in early May) QFTR posts the final ratings for approximately the ten best teams as of the beginning of the playoffs. If there is a major upset in round one and/or round two by a team whose ratings were not yet posted, QFTR will make sure to post those asap.

These final ratings can be used in team grids that are very important parts of any playoff series preview.

Unfortunately, production time limits that are caused partly by limited traffic mean that only a small number of playoff series previews can be produced. Remember, you can help QFTR get more production time by posting links to QFTR wherever you can, and then QFTR will link back to you on request (click the contact link under the banner).

Game Real Player Ratings Reports are produced for every NBA Championship game, every NBA Conference Final game, and for selected NBA semifinal games. For the semifinals, normally, the most interesting semifinal (round two) series will be selected (out of the four of them) and Real Player Ratings for every game in that series will be posted.

After the playoffs are completely over and the off-season arrives, QFTR has enough time to produce and publish a final annual Real Player Ratings Report for all thirty NBA teams. These annual records of who was really the best and who really did what are scheduled to be posted in late June and in early July. They are posted in alphabetic order by team starting with the Atlanta Hawks and ending with the Washington Wizards. The ones for the top teams that were posted in late April-early May are repeated so there is a complete set in alpha and chronological sequence.

If you ever spend quality time at QFTR you will discover that there are other types of Real Player Rating Reports. Many of these appear in the summer. Among the most important ones that come out in the summer are the League-Wide Real Player Ratings Reports. Also, don't miss the Real Player Ratings Reports by position if you are a serious basketball person.

This section was a limited and brief overview of Real Player Ratings Reports in general. What you need if you want to understand how the Ratings are constructed and why QFTR knows they are the best possible ratings is the User Guide for Real Player Ratings. This User Guide was last revised and updated in May 2010; a new revision is "on order" and is expected to be completed in May or June of 2011. The May 2010 edition is still very useful; the only section of it that is not completely accurate is the one where the specific factors are shown; the factors have been adjusted a little to reflect the latest information and understanding QFTR has about exactly how playoff games are won. There has also been a significant improvement in the calibration and validation of Real Player Ratings components.

So 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.

Real Player Ratings for the 2011 East Conference Final Game One: Chicago Bulls 103 Miami Heat 82

2011-05-21T07:35:00.000-07:00

2011 EAST CONFERENCE FINAL CHICAGO BULLS VS MIAMI HEAT GAME ONE REAL PLAYER RATINGS
MAY 15 2011
CHICAGO, ILLINOIS
CHICAGO BULLS 103 MIAMI HEAT 82
CHICAGO LEADS BEST OF SEVEN SERIES 1-0

KEY PLAYERS WHO DID NOT PLAY
--These are the above average players who would have or should have played but did not.

--The reason is shown after the player if and only if it is known with at least 85% certainty.

--Usually the reason is known with almost 100% certainty.

--If the reason is not known with at least 85% certainty, the reason "unknown" is given.

--Injuries are NEVER perfectly reported and information about them is archived nowhere on the Internet. Therefore, it is possible that when Quest for the Ring identifies "coaching error" or "unknown" as the reason, the real reason may have been an injury.

--If the reason "traded" is shown then in many cases a player who was obtained in that trade played instead.

BULLS
Kurt Thomas did not play due to apparent coaching error.

HEAT
Eddie House did not play due to apparent coaching error.
Udonis Haslem did not play due to injury.

REAL PLAYER RATINGS FOR THIS GAME
--Real Player Rating shows you the real basketball quality of players quickly and accurately.

--Players who played at least 7 minutes in the game are included.

--Each player's hidden defending rating from the regular season is used as the Hidden Defending Adjustment (HDA). Obviously, players in any individual game including this one were not exactly as good defenders as they were on the average during the regular season. But since there is no way to provide HDA for individual games and since it is better to have some reasonable HDA than none at all, we use the season HDA as a reasonable substitute.

--Beginning in 2011 we show just the combined listing; in prior years we separately showed the rank lists by team but this is now considered to be unnecessary.

C.J. Watson, PG 1.901 BULLS
Chris Bosh, PF 1.295 HEAT
Carlos Boozer, PF 1.260 BULLS
Luol Deng, SF 1.222 BULLS
Taj Gibson, PF 1.138 BULLS
Ronnie Brewer, SG 1.050 BULLS
Joakim Noah, C 1.017 BULLS
Derrick Rose, PG 0.951 BULLS
LeBron James, SF 0.895 HEAT
Dwyane Wade, SG 0.691 HEAT
Jamaal Magloire, C 0.647 HEAT
Joel Anthony, C 0.605 HEAT
Omer Asik, C 0.564 BULLS
Keith Bogans, SG 0.487 BULLS
Kyle Korver, SG 0.472 BULLS
James Jones, SF 0.354 HEAT
Mario Chalmers, PG 0.324 HEAT
Mike Bibby, PG 0.282 HEAT

SCALE FOR REGULAR SEASON REAL PLAYER RATINGS FOR A SINGLE GAME
Perfect Player for all Practical Purposes / Major Historic Super Star 1.200 and more
Historic Super Star 1.080 1.199
Super Star 0.960 1.079
A Star Player / A well above normal starter 0.860 0.959
Very Good Player / A solid starter 0.780 0.859
Major Role Player / Good enough to start 0.700 0.779
Good Role Player / Often a good 6th man, can possibly start 0.620 0.699
Satisfactory Role Player / Generally should not start 0.540 0.619
Marginal Role Player / Should not start except in an emergency 0.460 0.539
Poor Player / Should never start 0.380 0.459
Very Poor Player 0.300 0.379
Extremely Poor Player 0.299 and less

AVERAGE RATINGS BY POSITION
Not all positions are created equal. In pro basketball, point guard and center are the most important positions, power forward is in the middle, and small forward and shooting guard are the least important. (Some teams will have a different pattern.) The following are good estimates for average ratings by position among all NBA players who play 300 minutes or more. There are very few small forwards and shooting guards who don't fit at other positions who are superstars. Most superstars are players who can play point guard, power forward, or center.

Point Guard .750
Shooting Guard .635
Small Forward .645
Power Forward .715
Center .755
All Positions / All Players (NBA Overall Average) .700

To quickly and fairly compare two players who play different positions, convert their Ratings as follows:

Point Guards: Subtract .050; for example, .700 becomes .650
Shooting Guards: Add .065; for example, .700 becomes .765
Small Forwards: Add .055; for example, .700 becomes .755
Power Forwards: Subtract .015; for example, .700 becomes .685
Centers: Subtract .055; for example, .700 becomes .645

REAL PLAYER PRODUCTION FOR THIS GAME
--Shows the real basketball production (or quantity) of players.

--Players who played at least 7 minutes in the game are included.

--An estimate of the value of hidden defending production is included in the total production for all players shown; as described above hidden defending ratings from the regular season are used.

--Beginning in 2011 we show just the combined listing; in prior years we separately showed the rank lists by team but this is now considered to be unnecessary.

Luol Deng, SF 55.00 BULLS
Chris Bosh, PF 47.93 HEAT
LeBron James, SF 36.68 HEAT
Joakim Noah, C 36.61 BULLS
Derrick Rose, PG 36.15 BULLS
Carlos Boozer, PF 32.77 BULLS
Dwyane Wade, SG 26.97 HEAT
Taj Gibson, PF 26.18 BULLS
Ronnie Brewer, SG 19.96 BULLS
C.J. Watson, PG 19.01 BULLS
Joel Anthony, C 18.75 HEAT
James Jones, SF 8.49 HEAT
Kyle Korver, SG 8.03 BULLS
Mario Chalmers, PG 7.45 HEAT
Keith Bogans, SG 7.31 BULLS
Mike Bibby, PG 6.49 HEAT
Jamaal Magloire, C 6.47 HEAT
Omer Asik, C 6.20 BULLS

=============== OFFENSIVE AND DEFENSIVE SUB RATINGS FOR THIS GAME ===============

OFFENSIVE SUB RATINGS FOR THIS GAME
--Shows the real quality of players' offense.

--Players who played at least 7 minutes in the game are included.

--The hidden defending component is not a part of the offensive sub rating.

--Beginning in 2011 we show just the combined listing; in prior years we separately showed the rank lists by team but this is now considered to be unnecessary.

C.J. Watson, PG 1.334 BULLS
Chris Bosh, PF 0.888 HEAT
Carlos Boozer, PF 0.774 BULLS
Derrick Rose, PG 0.671 BULLS
Luol Deng, SF 0.578 BULLS
Taj Gibson, PF 0.574 BULLS
Ronnie Brewer, SG 0.454 BULLS
Joakim Noah, C 0.411 BULLS
LeBron James, SF 0.325 HEAT
Dwyane Wade, SG 0.254 HEAT
Kyle Korver, SG 0.228 BULLS
Keith Bogans, SG 0.191 BULLS
James Jones, SF 0.177 HEAT
Jamaal Magloire, C 0.170 HEAT
Mike Bibby, PG 0.120 HEAT
Mario Chalmers, PG 0.091 HEAT
Joel Anthony, C 0.047 HEAT
Omer Asik, C 0.022 BULLS

THE AVERAGE OFFENSIVE SUB RATING
for all NBA players who play 300 minutes or more is about .385

DEFENSIVE SUB RATINGS FOR THIS GAME
--Shows the real quality of players' defense.

--Players who played at least 7 minutes in the game are included.

--The hidden defending component is included as described above.

--Beginning in 2011 we show just the combined listing; in prior years we separately showed the rank lists by team but this is now considered to be unnecessary.

Luol Deng, SF 0.644 BULLS
Joakim Noah, C 0.606 BULLS
Ronnie Brewer, SG 0.596 BULLS
LeBron James, SF 0.570 HEAT
C.J. Watson, PG 0.567 BULLS
Taj Gibson, PF 0.564 BULLS
Joel Anthony, C 0.558 HEAT
Omer Asik, C 0.542 BULLS
Carlos Boozer, PF 0.487 BULLS
Jamaal Magloire, C 0.478 HEAT
Dwyane Wade, SG 0.437 HEAT
Chris Bosh, PF 0.407 HEAT
Keith Bogans, SG 0.296 BULLS
Derrick Rose, PG 0.280 BULLS
Kyle Korver, SG 0.244 BULLS
Mario Chalmers, PG 0.233 HEAT
James Jones, SF 0.177 HEAT
Mike Bibby, PG 0.163 HEAT

THE AVERAGE DEFENSIVE SUB RATING
for all NBA players who play 300 minutes or more is about .315

The breakdown between hidden and unhidden defending is available on request.

THE ALL IMPORTANT, AWARD WINNING REAL PLAYER RATINGS USER GUIDE
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.

ABOUT REAL PLAYER RATINGS REPORTS
Of the several dozen types of Reports that Quest for the Ring (QFTR) produces, Team Real Player Rating Reports are among the most important. A Real Player Rating Report gives you four very important ratings for every player in the Report:

--Overall Real Player Rating
--Real Player Production
--Offensive Sub Rating
--Defensive Sub Rating

These Reports are formatted reports. Formatted reports have a pre-set format and there is little or no custom commentary included. The whole idea of formatted reports is to provide a very large amount of important information very efficiently. The carefully planned and long evolved and perfected formatting eliminates the need for time-consuming custom text reporting in contexts where there is really no need for it and where there may be no time for it. But to fully understand a formatted Report you need to be familiar with the User Guide for it.

In contrast to formatted reports, QFTR breaks new ground in general and reveals its latest discoveries about basketball in particular in free form (non-formatted) text reports. While formatted posts are "on the reservation", non-formatted text reports are where QFTR "goes off the reservation". Both types of reports are essential; having just one type without the other type would reduce the value of QFTR by MORE than half.

QFTR is considering some kind of labelling system for posts that will allow visitors to even more easily than ever get to content they want or need.

There are two things you can do to get the full value out of RPR Reports. First, you can read parts or all of the User Guide for them (the link to the Guide is below). Second, you can simply visit a lot and see a lot of Reports and then you will automatically become better at interpreting what you see.

During the regular season beginning in late January (when we can first validly calculate the hidden defending adjustments) QFTR posts Team Real Player Ratings for major contending teams and other selected teams as time permits. Between the end of the regular season and before the Conference Finals begin (in late April and in early May) QFTR posts the final ratings for approximately the ten best teams as of the beginning of the playoffs. If there is a major upset in round one and/or round two by a team whose ratings were not yet posted, QFTR will make sure to post those asap.

These final ratings can be used in team grids that are very important parts of any playoff series preview.

Unfortunately, production time limits that are caused partly by limited traffic mean that only a small number of playoff series previews can be produced. Remember, you can help QFTR get more production time by posting links to QFTR wherever you can, and then QFTR will link back to you on request (click the contact link under the banner).

Game Real Player Ratings Reports are produced for every NBA Championship game, every NBA Conference Final game, and for selected NBA semifinal games. For the semifinals, normally, the most interesting semifinal (round two) series will be selected (out of the four of them) and Real Player Ratings for every game in that series will be posted.

After the playoffs are completely over and the off-season arrives, QFTR has enough time to produce and publish a final annual Real Player Ratings Report for all thirty NBA teams. These annual records of who was really the best and who really did what are scheduled to be posted in late June and in early July. They are posted in alphabetic order by team starting with the Atlanta Hawks and ending with the Washington Wizards. The ones for the top teams that were posted in late April-early May are repeated so there is a complete set in alpha and chronological sequence.

If you ever spend quality time at QFTR you will discover that there are other types of Real Player Rating Reports. Many of these appear in the summer. Among the most important ones that come out in the summer are the League-Wide Real Player Ratings Reports. Also, don't miss the Real Player Ratings Reports by position if you are a serious basketball person.

This section was a limited and brief overview of Real Player Ratings Reports in general. What you need if you want to understand how the Ratings are constructed and why QFTR knows they are the best possible ratings is the User Guide for Real Player Ratings. This User Guide was last revised and updated in May 2010; a new revision is "on order" and is expected to be completed in May or June of 2011. The May 2010 edition is still very useful; the only section of it that is not completely accurate is the one where the specific factors are shown; the factors have been adjusted a little to reflect the latest information and understanding QFTR has about exactly how playoff games are won. There has also been a significant improvement in the calibration and validation of Real Player Ratings components.

So 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.

Real Player Ratings for the 2011 West Conference Final Game Two: Oklahoma Thunder 106 Dallas Mavericks 100

2011-05-21T06:50:00.000-07:00

2011 WEST CONFERENCE FINAL OKLAHOMA THUNDER VS DALLAS MAVERICKS GAME TWO REAL PLAYER RATINGS
MAY 19 2011
DALLAS, TEXAS
OKLAHOMA THUNDER 106 DALLAS MAVERICKS 100
BEST OF SEVEN SERIES TIED 1-1

KEY PLAYERS WHO DID NOT PLAY
--These are the above average players who would have or should have played but did not.

--The reason is shown after the player if and only if it is known with at least 85% certainty.

--Usually the reason is known with almost 100% certainty.

--If the reason is not known with at least 85% certainty, the reason "unknown" is given.

--Injuries are NEVER perfectly reported and information about them is archived nowhere on the Internet. Therefore, it is possible that when Quest for the Ring identifies "coaching error" or "unknown" as the reason, the real reason may have been an injury.

--If the reason "traded" is shown then in many cases a player who was obtained in that trade played instead.

THUNDER
Nazr Muhammed >>> Did not play due to apparent coaching error.

MAVERICKS
Caron Butler >>> Did not play due to injury.

REAL PLAYER RATINGS FOR THIS GAME
--Real Player Rating shows you the real basketball quality of players quickly and accurately.

--Players who played at least 7 minutes in the game are included.

--Each player's hidden defending rating from the regular season is used as the Hidden Defending Adjustment (HDA). Obviously, players in any individual game including this one were not exactly as good defenders as they were on the average during the regular season. But since there is no way to provide HDA for individual games and since it is better to have some reasonable HDA than none at all, we use the season HDA as a reasonable substitute.

--Beginning in 2011 we show just the combined listing; in prior years we separately showed the rank lists by team but this is now considered to be unnecessary.

James Harden, SG 1.647 THUNDER
Jose Juan Barea, PG 1.478 MAVERICKS
Jason Kidd, PG 1.238 MAVERICKS
Dirk Nowitzki, PF 1.143 MAVERICKS
Eric Maynor, PG 1.071 THUNDER
Daequan Cook, SG 0.950 THUNDER
Tyson Chandler, C 0.880 MAVERICKS
Nick Collison, PF 0.817 THUNDER
Thabo Sefolosha, SG 0.759 THUNDER
Russell Westbrook, PG 0.667 THUNDER
Kevin Durant, SF 0.654 THUNDER
Kendrick Perkins, C 0.562 THUNDER
Peja Stojakovic, SF 0.560 MAVERICKS
Serge Ibaka, PF 0.426 THUNDER
Brendan Haywood, C 0.412 MAVERICKS
Shawn Marion, SF 0.362 MAVERICKS
DeShawn Stevenson, SG 0.173 MAVERICKS
Jason Terry, SG 0.025 MAVERICKS

SCALE FOR REGULAR SEASON REAL PLAYER RATINGS FOR A SINGLE GAME
Perfect Player for all Practical Purposes / Major Historic Super Star 1.200 and more
Historic Super Star 1.080 1.199
Super Star 0.960 1.079
A Star Player / A well above normal starter 0.860 0.959
Very Good Player / A solid starter 0.780 0.859
Major Role Player / Good enough to start 0.700 0.779
Good Role Player / Often a good 6th man, can possibly start 0.620 0.699
Satisfactory Role Player / Generally should not start 0.540 0.619
Marginal Role Player / Should not start except in an emergency 0.460 0.539
Poor Player / Should never start 0.380 0.459
Very Poor Player 0.300 0.379
Extremely Poor Player 0.299 and less

AVERAGE RATINGS BY POSITION
Not all positions are created equal. In pro basketball, point guard and center are the most important positions, power forward is in the middle, and small forward and shooting guard are the least important. (Some teams will have a different pattern.) The following are good estimates for average ratings by position among all NBA players who play 300 minutes or more. There are very few small forwards and shooting guards who don't fit at other positions who are superstars. Most superstars are players who can play point guard, power forward, or center.

Point Guard .750
Shooting Guard .635
Small Forward .645
Power Forward .715
Center .755
All Positions / All Players (NBA Overall Average) .700

To quickly and fairly compare two players who play different positions, convert their Ratings as follows:

Point Guards: Subtract .050; for example, .700 becomes .650
Shooting Guards: Add .065; for example, .700 becomes .765
Small Forwards: Add .055; for example, .700 becomes .755
Power Forwards: Subtract .015; for example, .700 becomes .685
Centers: Subtract .055; for example, .700 becomes .645

REAL PLAYER PRODUCTION FOR THIS GAME
--Shows the real basketball production (or quantity) of players.

--Players who played at least 7 minutes in the game are included.

--An estimate of the value of hidden defending production is included in the total production for all players shown; as described above hidden defending ratings from the regular season are used.

--Beginning in 2011 we show just the combined listing; in prior years we separately showed the rank lists by team but this is now considered to be unnecessary.

James Harden, SG 52.69 THUNDER
Dirk Nowitzki, PF 45.73 MAVERICKS
Jason Kidd, PG 44.58 MAVERICKS
Tyson Chandler, C 34.31 MAVERICKS
Kevin Durant, SF 28.76 THUNDER
Jose Juan Barea, PG 23.64 MAVERICKS
Eric Maynor, PG 21.41 THUNDER
Nick Collison, PF 21.24 THUNDER
Russell Westbrook, PG 18.67 THUNDER
Daequan Cook, SG 15.20 THUNDER
Thabo Sefolosha, SG 14.43 THUNDER
Kendrick Perkins, C 13.48 THUNDER
Serge Ibaka, PF 11.93 THUNDER
Peja Stojakovic, SF 10.65 MAVERICKS
Shawn Marion, SF 9.06 MAVERICKS
DeShawn Stevenson, SG 4.85 MAVERICKS
Brendan Haywood, C 3.29 MAVERICKS
Jason Terry, SG 0.74 MAVERICKS

=============== OFFENSIVE AND DEFENSIVE SUB RATINGS FOR THIS GAME ===============

OFFENSIVE SUB RATINGS FOR THIS GAME
--Shows the real quality of players' offense.

--Players who played at least 7 minutes in the game are included.

--The hidden defending component is not a part of the offensive sub rating.

--Beginning in 2011 we show just the combined listing; in prior years we separately showed the rank lists by team but this is now considered to be unnecessary.

Jose Juan Barea, PG 1.157 MAVERICKS
James Harden, SG 1.062 THUNDER
Dirk Nowitzki, PF 0.840 MAVERICKS
Eric Maynor, PG 0.819 THUNDER
Jason Kidd, PG 0.678 MAVERICKS
Daequan Cook, SG 0.675 THUNDER
Russell Westbrook, PG 0.576 THUNDER
Tyson Chandler, C 0.514 MAVERICKS
Kevin Durant, SF 0.420 THUNDER
Brendan Haywood, C 0.338 MAVERICKS
Thabo Sefolosha, SG 0.239 THUNDER
Nick Collison, PF 0.238 THUNDER
Shawn Marion, SF 0.219 MAVERICKS
Peja Stojakovic, SF 0.173 MAVERICKS
Serge Ibaka, PF 0.140 THUNDER
Kendrick Perkins, C 0.112 THUNDER
Jason Terry, SG -0.020 MAVERICKS
DeShawn Stevenson, SG -0.020 MAVERICKS

THE AVERAGE OFFENSIVE SUB RATING
for all NBA players who play 300 minutes or more is about .385

DEFENSIVE SUB RATINGS FOR THIS GAME
--Shows the real quality of players' defense.

--Players who played at least 7 minutes in the game are included.

--The hidden defending component is included as described above.

--Beginning in 2011 we show just the combined listing; in prior years we separately showed the rank lists by team but this is now considered to be unnecessary.

James Harden, SG 0.585 THUNDER
Nick Collison, PF 0.579 THUNDER
Jason Kidd, PG 0.561 MAVERICKS
Thabo Sefolosha, SG 0.521 THUNDER
Kendrick Perkins, C 0.450 THUNDER
Peja Stojakovic, SF 0.388 MAVERICKS
Tyson Chandler, C 0.365 MAVERICKS
Jose Juan Barea, PG 0.321 MAVERICKS
Dirk Nowitzki, PF 0.303 MAVERICKS
Serge Ibaka, PF 0.286 THUNDER
Daequan Cook, SG 0.275 THUNDER
Eric Maynor, PG 0.252 THUNDER
Kevin Durant, SF 0.233 THUNDER
DeShawn Stevenson, SG 0.193 MAVERICKS
Shawn Marion, SF 0.143 MAVERICKS
Russell Westbrook, PG 0.091 THUNDER
Brendan Haywood, C 0.074 MAVERICKS
Jason Terry, SG 0.045 MAVERICKS

THE AVERAGE DEFENSIVE SUB RATING
for all NBA players who play 300 minutes or more is about .315

The breakdown between hidden and unhidden defending is available on request.

THE ALL IMPORTANT, AWARD WINNING REAL PLAYER RATINGS USER GUIDE
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.

ABOUT REAL PLAYER RATINGS REPORTS
Of the several dozen types of Reports that Quest for the Ring (QFTR) produces, Team Real Player Rating Reports are among the most important. A Real Player Rating Report gives you four very important ratings for every player in the Report:

--Overall Real Player Rating
--Real Player Production
--Offensive Sub Rating
--Defensive Sub Rating

These Reports are formatted reports. Formatted reports have a pre-set format and there is little or no custom commentary included. The whole idea of formatted reports is to provide a very large amount of important information very efficiently. The carefully planned and long evolved and perfected formatting eliminates the need for time-consuming custom text reporting in contexts where there is really no need for it and where there may be no time for it. But to fully understand a formatted Report you need to be familiar with the User Guide for it.

In contrast to formatted reports, QFTR breaks new ground in general and reveals its latest discoveries about basketball in particular in free form (non-formatted) text reports. While formatted posts are "on the reservation", non-formatted text reports are where QFTR "goes off the reservation". Both types of reports are essential; having just one type without the other type would reduce the value of QFTR by MORE than half.

QFTR is considering some kind of labelling system for posts that will allow visitors to even more easily than ever get to content they want or need.

There are two things you can do to get the full value out of RPR Reports. First, you can read parts or all of the User Guide for them (the link to the Guide is below). Second, you can simply visit a lot and see a lot of Reports and then you will automatically become better at interpreting what you see.

During the regular season beginning in late January (when we can first validly calculate the hidden defending adjustments) QFTR posts Team Real Player Ratings for major contending teams and other selected teams as time permits. Between the end of the regular season and before the Conference Finals begin (in late April and in early May) QFTR posts the final ratings for approximately the ten best teams as of the beginning of the playoffs. If there is a major upset in round one and/or round two by a team whose ratings were not yet posted, QFTR will make sure to post those asap.

These final ratings can be used in team grids that are very important parts of any playoff series preview.

Unfortunately, production time limits that are caused partly by limited traffic mean that only a small number of playoff series previews can be produced. Remember, you can help QFTR get more production time by posting links to QFTR wherever you can, and then QFTR will link back to you on request (click the contact link under the banner).

Game Real Player Ratings Reports are produced for every NBA Championship game, every NBA Conference Final game, and for selected NBA semifinal games. For the semifinals, normally, the most interesting semifinal (round two) series will be selected (out of the four of them) and Real Player Ratings for every game in that series will be posted.

After the playoffs are completely over and the off-season arrives, QFTR has enough time to produce and publish a final annual Real Player Ratings Report for all thirty NBA teams. These annual records of who was really the best and who really did what are scheduled to be posted in late June and in early July. They are posted in alphabetic order by team starting with the Atlanta Hawks and ending with the Washington Wizards. The ones for the top teams that were posted in late April-early May are repeated so there is a complete set in alpha and chronological sequence.

If you ever spend quality time at QFTR you will discover that there are other types of Real Player Rating Reports. Many of these appear in the summer. Among the most important ones that come out in the summer are the League-Wide Real Player Ratings Reports. Also, don't miss the Real Player Ratings Reports by position if you are a serious basketball person.

This section was a limited and brief overview of Real Player Ratings Reports in general. What you need if you want to understand how the Ratings are constructed and why QFTR knows they are the best possible ratings is the User Guide for Real Player Ratings. This User Guide was last revised and updated in May 2010; a new revision is "on order" and is expected to be completed in May or June of 2011. The May 2010 edition is still very useful; the only section of it that is not completely accurate is the one where the specific factors are shown; the factors have been adjusted a little to reflect the latest information and understanding QFTR has about exactly how playoff games are won. There has also been a significant improvement in the calibration and validation of Real Player Ratings components.

So 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.

Real Player Ratings for the 2011 West Conference Final Game One: Dallas Mavericks 121 Oklahoma Thunder 112

2011-05-21T05:03:00.000-07:00

2011 WEST CONFERENCE FINAL OKLAHOMA THUNDER VS DALLAS MAVERICKS GAME ONE REAL PLAYER RATINGS
MAY 17 2011
DALLAS, TEXAS
DALLAS MAVERICKS 121 OKLAHOMA THUNDER 112
DALLAS LEADS BEST OF SEVEN SERIES 1-0

KEY PLAYERS WHO DID NOT PLAY
--These are the above average players who would have or should have played but did not.

--The reason is shown after the player if and only if it is known with at least 85% certainty.

--Usually the reason is known with almost 100% certainty.

--If the reason is not known with at least 85% certainty, the reason "unknown" is given.

--Injuries are NOT perfectly reported and information about them is archived nowhere on the Internet. Therefore, it is possible that when Quest for the Ring identifies "coaching error" or "unknown" as the reason, the real reason may have been an injury.

--If the reason "traded" is shown then in many cases a player who was obtained in that trade played instead.

THUNDER
Nazr Muhammed >>> Played only 5 minutes due to coaching error.

MAVERICKS
Caron Butler >>> injured.

REAL PLAYER RATINGS FOR THIS GAME
--Real Player Rating shows you the real basketball quality of players quickly and accurately.

--Players who played at least 7 minutes in the game are included.

--Each player's hidden defending rating from the regular season is used as the Hidden Defending Adjustment (HDA). Obviously, players in any individual game including this one were not exactly as good defenders as they were on the average during the regular season. But since there is no way to provide HDA for individual games and since it is better to have some reasonable HDA than none at all, we use the season HDA as a reasonable substitute.

--Beginning in 2011 we show just the combined listing; in prior years we separately showed the rank lists by team but this is now considered to be unnecessary.

Dirk Nowitzki, PF 2.076 MAVERICKS
Jose Juan Barea, PG 1.717 MAVERICKS
Kevin Durant, SF 1.542 THUNDER
Serge Ibaka, PF 1.007 THUNDER
Kendrick Perkins, C 0.938 THUNDER
Jason Terry, SG 0.915 MAVERICKS
James Harden, SG 0.869 THUNDER
Jason Kidd, PG 0.850 MAVERICKS
Daequan Cook, SG 0.820 THUNDER
Shawn Marion, SF 0.792 MAVERICKS
Thabo Sefolosha, SG 0.765 THUNDER
Tyson Chandler, C 0.525 MAVERICKS
Nick Collison, PF 0.422 THUNDER
Eric Maynor, PG 0.365 THUNDER
Russell Westbrook, PG 0.290 THUNDER
Peja Stojakovic, SF 0.285 MAVERICKS
Brendan Haywood, C 0.273 MAVERICKS
DeShawn Stevenson, SG 0.181 MAVERICKS

SCALE FOR REGULAR SEASON REAL PLAYER RATINGS FOR A SINGLE GAME
Perfect Player for all Practical Purposes / Major Historic Super Star 1.200 and more
Historic Super Star 1.080 1.199
Super Star 0.960 1.079
A Star Player / A well above normal starter 0.860 0.959
Very Good Player / A solid starter 0.780 0.859
Major Role Player / Good enough to start 0.700 0.779
Good Role Player / Often a good 6th man, can possibly start 0.620 0.699
Satisfactory Role Player / Generally should not start 0.540 0.619
Marginal Role Player / Should not start except in an emergency 0.460 0.539
Poor Player / Should never start 0.380 0.459
Very Poor Player 0.300 0.379
Extremely Poor Player 0.299 and less

AVERAGE RATINGS BY POSITION
Not all positions are created equal. In pro basketball, point guard and center are the most important positions, power forward is in the middle, and small forward and shooting guard are the least important. (Some teams will have a different pattern.) The following are good estimates for average ratings by position among all NBA players who play 300 minutes or more. There are very few small forwards and shooting guards who don't fit at other positions who are superstars. Most superstars are players who can play point guard, power forward, or center.

Point Guard .750
Shooting Guard .635
Small Forward .645
Power Forward .715
Center .755
All Positions / All Players (NBA Overall Average) .700

To quickly and fairly compare two players who play different positions, convert their Ratings as follows:

Point Guards: Subtract .050; for example, .700 becomes .650
Shooting Guards: Add .065; for example, .700 becomes .765
Small Forwards: Add .055; for example, .700 becomes .755
Power Forwards: Subtract .015; for example, .700 becomes .685
Centers: Subtract .055; for example, .700 becomes .645

REAL PLAYER PRODUCTION FOR THIS GAME
--Shows the real basketball production (or quantity) of players.

--Players who played at least 7 minutes in the game are included.

--An estimate of the value of hidden defending production is included in the total production for all players shown; as described above hidden defending ratings from the regular season are used.

--Beginning in 2011 we show just the combined listing; in prior years we separately showed the rank lists by team but this is now considered to be unnecessary.

Dirk Nowitzki, PF 85.12 MAVERICKS
Kevin Durant, SF 64.75 THUNDER
James Harden, SG 31.27 THUNDER
Serge Ibaka, PF 31.22 THUNDER
Jason Terry, SG 30.21 MAVERICKS
Jason Kidd, PG 29.73 MAVERICKS
Jose Juan Barea, PG 27.47 MAVERICKS
Kendrick Perkins, C 26.25 THUNDER
Shawn Marion, SF 21.39 MAVERICKS
Thabo Sefolosha, SG 14.54 THUNDER
Tyson Chandler, C 13.13 MAVERICKS
Russell Westbrook, PG 11.04 THUNDER
Daequan Cook, SG 7.38 THUNDER
Nick Collison, PF 7.18 THUNDER
Brendan Haywood, C 6.56 MAVERICKS
Peja Stojakovic, SF 5.98 MAVERICKS
Eric Maynor, PG 3.65 THUNDER
DeShawn Stevenson, SG 2.53 MAVERICKS

=============== OFFENSIVE AND DEFENSIVE SUB RATINGS FOR THIS GAME ===============

OFFENSIVE SUB RATINGS FOR THIS GAME
--Shows the real quality of players' offense.

--Players who played at least 7 minutes in the game are included.

--The hidden defending component is not a part of the offensive sub rating.

--Beginning in 2011 we show just the combined listing; in prior years we separately showed the rank lists by team but this is now considered to be unnecessary.

Dirk Nowitzki, PF 1.582 MAVERICKS
Jose Juan Barea, PG 1.419 MAVERICKS
Kevin Durant, SF 1.106 THUNDER
Jason Terry, SG 0.772 MAVERICKS
Serge Ibaka, PF 0.676 THUNDER
Daequan Cook, SG 0.659 THUNDER
James Harden, SG 0.556 THUNDER
Shawn Marion, SF 0.538 MAVERICKS
Thabo Sefolosha, SG 0.519 THUNDER
Jason Kidd, PG 0.494 MAVERICKS
Kendrick Perkins, C 0.460 THUNDER
Nick Collison, PF 0.289 THUNDER
Brendan Haywood, C 0.139 MAVERICKS
Russell Westbrook, PG 0.089 THUNDER
DeShawn Stevenson, SG 0.062 MAVERICKS
Eric Maynor, PG 0.060 THUNDER
Tyson Chandler, C 0.050 MAVERICKS
Peja Stojakovic, SF -0.001 MAVERICKS

THE AVERAGE OFFENSIVE SUB RATING
for all NBA players who play 300 minutes or more is about .385

DEFENSIVE SUB RATINGS FOR THIS GAME
--Shows the real quality of players' defense.

--Players who played at least 7 minutes in the game are included.

--The hidden defending component is included as described above.

--Beginning in 2011 we show just the combined listing; in prior years we separately showed the rank lists by team but this is now considered to be unnecessary.

Dirk Nowitzki, PF 0.494 MAVERICKS
Kendrick Perkins, C 0.477 THUNDER
Tyson Chandler, C 0.475 MAVERICKS
Kevin Durant, SF 0.436 THUNDER
Jason Kidd, PG 0.355 MAVERICKS
Serge Ibaka, PF 0.332 THUNDER
James Harden, SG 0.313 THUNDER
Eric Maynor, PG 0.305 THUNDER
Jose Juan Barea, PG 0.299 MAVERICKS
Peja Stojakovic, SF 0.285 MAVERICKS
Shawn Marion, SF 0.255 MAVERICKS
Thabo Sefolosha, SG 0.246 THUNDER
Russell Westbrook, PG 0.202 THUNDER
Daequan Cook, SG 0.161 THUNDER
Jason Terry, SG 0.143 MAVERICKS
Brendan Haywood, C 0.134 MAVERICKS
Nick Collison, PF 0.133 THUNDER
DeShawn Stevenson, SG 0.119 MAVERICKS

THE AVERAGE DEFENSIVE SUB RATING
for all NBA players who play 300 minutes or more is about .315

The breakdown between hidden and unhidden defending is available on request.

THE ALL IMPORTANT, AWARD WINNING REAL PLAYER RATINGS USER GUIDE
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.

ABOUT REAL PLAYER RATINGS REPORTS
Of the several dozen types of Reports that Quest for the Ring (QFTR) produces, Team Real Player Rating Reports are among the most important. A Real Player Rating Report gives you four very important ratings for every player in the Report:

--Overall Real Player Rating
--Real Player Production
--Offensive Sub Rating
--Defensive Sub Rating

These Reports are formatted reports. Formatted reports have a pre-set format and there is little or no custom commentary included. The whole idea of formatted reports is to provide a very large amount of important information very efficiently. The carefully planned and long evolved and perfected formatting eliminates the need for time-consuming custom text reporting in contexts where there is really no need for it and where there may be no time for it. But to fully understand a formatted Report you need to be familiar with the User Guide for it.

In contrast to formatted reports, QFTR breaks new ground in general and reveals its latest discoveries about basketball in particular in free form (non-formatted) text reports. While formatted posts are "on the reservation", non-formatted text reports are where QFTR "goes off the reservation". Both types of reports are essential; having just one type without the other type would reduce the value of QFTR by MORE than half.

QFTR is considering some kind of labelling system for posts that will allow visitors to even more easily than ever get to content they want or need.

There are two things you can do to get the full value out of RPR Reports. First, you can read parts or all of the User Guide for them (the link to the Guide is below). Second, you can simply visit a lot and see a lot of Reports and then you will automatically become better at interpreting what you see.

During the regular season beginning in late January (when we can first validly calculate the hidden defending adjustments) QFTR posts Team Real Player Ratings for major contending teams and other selected teams as time permits. Between the end of the regular season and before the Conference Finals begin (in late April and in early May) QFTR posts the final ratings for approximately the ten best teams as of the beginning of the playoffs. If there is a major upset in round one and/or round two by a team whose ratings were not yet posted, QFTR will make sure to post those asap.

These final ratings can be used in team grids that are very important parts of any playoff series preview.

Unfortunately, production time limits that are caused partly by limited traffic mean that only a small number of playoff series previews can be produced. Remember, you can help QFTR get more production time by posting links to QFTR wherever you can, and then QFTR will link back to you on request (click the contact link under the banner).

Game Real Player Ratings Reports are produced for every NBA Championship game, every NBA Conference Final game, and for selected NBA semifinal games. For the semifinals, normally, the most interesting semifinal (round two) series will be selected (out of the four of them) and Real Player Ratings for every game in that series will be posted.

After the playoffs are completely over and the off-season arrives, QFTR has enough time to produce and publish a final annual Real Player Ratings Report for all thirty NBA teams. These annual records of who was really the best and who really did what are scheduled to be posted in late June and in early July. They are posted in alphabetic order by team starting with the Atlanta Hawks and ending with the Washington Wizards. The ones for the top teams that were posted in late April-early May are repeated so there is a complete set in alpha and chronological sequence.

If you ever spend quality time at QFTR you will discover that there are other types of Real Player Rating Reports. Many of these appear in the summer. Among the most important ones that come out in the summer are the League-Wide Real Player Ratings Reports. Also, don't miss the Real Player Ratings Reports by position if you are a serious basketball person.

This section was a limited and brief overview of Real Player Ratings Reports in general. What you need if you want to understand how the Ratings are constructed and why QFTR knows they are the best possible ratings is the User Guide for Real Player Ratings. This User Guide was last revised and updated in May 2010; a new revision is "on order" and is expected to be completed in May or June of 2011. The May 2010 edition is still very useful; the only section of it that is not completely accurate is the one where the specific factors are shown; the factors have been adjusted a little to reflect the latest information and understanding QFTR has about exactly how playoff games are won. There has also been a significant improvement in the calibration and validation of Real Player Ratings components.

So 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.

Real Player Ratings for the 2011 West Semifinal Game Seven: Oklahoma Thunder 105 Memphis Grizzlies 90

2011-05-20T20:21:00.000-07:00

2011 SEMIFINAL OKLAHOMA THUNDER VS MEMPHIS GRIZZLIES GAME SEVEN REAL PLAYER RATINGS
MAY 15 2011
OKLAHOMA CITY, OKLAHOMA
OKLAHOMA THUNDER 105 MEMPHIS GRIZZLIES 90
OKLAHOMA WINS BEST OF SEVEN SERIES 4-3

KEY PLAYERS WHO DID NOT PLAY
--These are the above average players who would have or should have played but did not.

--The reason is shown after the player if and only if it is known with at least 85% certainty.

--Usually the reason is known with almost 100% certainty.

--If the reason is not known with at least 85% certainty, the reason "unknown" is given.

--Injuries are NOT perfectly reported and information about them is archived nowhere on the Internet. Therefore, it is possible that when Quest for the Ring identifies "coaching error" or "unknown" as the reason, the real reason may have been an injury.

--If the reason "traded" is shown then in many cases a player who was obtained in that trade played instead.

GRIZZLIES Rudy Gay >>> injured

THUNDER All above average players played in this game.

REAL PLAYER RATINGS FOR THIS GAME
--Real Player Rating shows you the real basketball quality of players quickly and accurately.

--Players who played at least 7 minutes in the game are included.

--Each player's hidden defending rating from the regular season is used as the Hidden Defending Adjustment (HDA). Obviously, players in any individual game including this one were not exactly as good defenders as they were on the average during the regular season. But since there is no way to provide HDA for individual games and since it is better to have some reasonable HDA than none at all, we use the season HDA as a reasonable substitute.

--Beginning in 2011 we show just the combined listing; in prior years we separately showed the rank lists by team but this is now considered to be unnecessary.

Kevin Durant, SF 1.494 THUNDER
James Harden, G 1.276 THUNDER
Nick Collison, PF 1.268 THUNDER
Russell Westbrook, PG 1.234 THUNDER
Zach Randolph, PF 0.884 GRIZZLIES
Tony Allen, SG 0.860 GRIZZLIES
Nazr Mohammed, C 0.837 THUNDER
Greivis Vasquez, G 0.733 GRIZZLIES
Mike Conley, PG 0.729 GRIZZLIES
Eric Maynor, PG 0.714 THUNDER
Marc Gasol, C 0.689 GRIZZLIES
O.J. Mayo, SG 0.544 GRIZZLIES
Shane Battier, SF 0.525 GRIZZLIES
Kendrick Perkins, C 0.471 THUNDER
Sam Young, SG 0.379 GRIZZLIES
Thabo Sefolosha, SG 0.367 THUNDER
Darrell Arthur, PF 0.360 GRIZZLIES
Serge Ibaka, PF 0.273 THUNDER
Daequan Cook, SG -0.319 THUNDER

SCALE FOR REGULAR SEASON REAL PLAYER RATINGS FOR A SINGLE GAME
Perfect Player for all Practical Purposes / Major Historic Super Star 1.200 and more
Historic Super Star 1.080 1.199
Super Star 0.960 1.079
A Star Player / A well above normal starter 0.860 0.959
Very Good Player / A solid starter 0.780 0.859
Major Role Player / Good enough to start 0.700 0.779
Good Role Player / Often a good 6th man, can possibly start 0.620 0.699
Satisfactory Role Player / Generally should not start 0.540 0.619
Marginal Role Player / Should not start except in an emergency 0.460 0.539
Poor Player / Should never start 0.380 0.459
Very Poor Player 0.300 0.379
Extremely Poor Player 0.299 and less

AVERAGE RATINGS BY POSITION
Not all positions are created equal. In pro basketball, point guard and center are the most important positions, power forward is in the middle, and small forward and shooting guard are the least important. (Some teams will have a different pattern.) The following are good estimates for average ratings by position among all NBA players who play 300 minutes or more. There are very few small forwards and shooting guards who don't fit at other positions who are superstars. Most superstars are players who can play point guard, power forward, or center.

Point Guard .750
Shooting Guard .635
Small Forward .645
Power Forward .715
Center .755
All Positions / All Players (NBA Overall Average) .700

To quickly and fairly compare two players who play different positions, convert their Ratings as follows:

Point Guards: Subtract .050; for example, .700 becomes .650
Shooting Guards: Add .065; for example, .700 becomes .765
Small Forwards: Add .055; for example, .700 becomes .755
Power Forwards: Subtract .015; for example, .700 becomes .685
Centers: Subtract .055; for example, .700 becomes .645

REAL PLAYER PRODUCTION FOR THIS GAME
--Shows the real basketball production (or quantity) of players.

--Players who played at least 7 minutes in the game are included.

--An estimate of the value of hidden defending production is included in the total production for all players shown; as described above hidden defending ratings from the regular season are used.

--Beginning in 2011 we show just the combined listing; in prior years we separately showed the rank lists by team but this is now considered to be unnecessary.

Kevin Durant, SF 58.25 THUNDER
Russell Westbrook, PG 43.17 THUNDER
Nick Collison, PF 41.84 THUNDER
James Harden, G 39.57 THUNDER
Zach Randolph, PF 33.57 GRIZZLIES
Mike Conley, PG 29.14 GRIZZLIES
Marc Gasol, C 25.50 GRIZZLIES
Tony Allen, SG 23.22 GRIZZLIES
O.J. Mayo, SG 17.42 GRIZZLIES
Shane Battier, SF 14.69 GRIZZLIES
Kendrick Perkins, C 14.59 THUNDER
Nazr Mohammed, C 12.55 THUNDER
Eric Maynor, PG 9.28 THUNDER
Darrell Arthur, PF 6.13 GRIZZLIES
Greivis Vasquez, G 5.87 GRIZZLIES
Thabo Sefolosha, SG 5.51 THUNDER
Serge Ibaka, PF 3.54 THUNDER
Sam Young, SG 3.03 GRIZZLIES
Daequan Cook, SG -6.29 THUNDER

=============== OFFENSIVE AND DEFENSIVE SUB RATINGS FOR THIS GAME ===============

OFFENSIVE SUB RATINGS FOR THIS GAME
--Shows the real quality of players' offense.

--Players who played at least 7 minutes in the game are included.

--The hidden defending component is not a part of the offensive sub rating.

--Beginning in 2011 we show just the combined listing; in prior years we separately showed the rank lists by team but this is now considered to be unnecessary.

Kevin Durant, SF 1.034 THUNDER
Russell Westbrook, PG 0.980 THUNDER
Greivis Vasquez, G 0.676 GRIZZLIES
James Harden, G 0.535 THUNDER
Nick Collison, PF 0.512 THUNDER
Zach Randolph, PF 0.477 GRIZZLIES
Nazr Mohammed, C 0.463 THUNDER
Eric Maynor, PG 0.452 THUNDER
Mike Conley, PG 0.429 GRIZZLIES
O.J. Mayo, SG 0.325 GRIZZLIES
Sam Young, SG 0.260 GRIZZLIES
Marc Gasol, C 0.254 GRIZZLIES
Tony Allen, SG 0.191 GRIZZLIES
Shane Battier, SF 0.137 GRIZZLIES
Darrell Arthur, PF 0.125 GRIZZLIES
Kendrick Perkins, C 0.112 THUNDER
Serge Ibaka, PF 0.041 THUNDER
Thabo Sefolosha, SG -0.024 THUNDER
Daequan Cook, SG -0.572 THUNDER

THE AVERAGE OFFENSIVE SUB RATING
for all NBA players who play 300 minutes or more is about .385

DEFENSIVE SUB RATINGS FOR THIS GAME
--Shows the real quality of players' defense.

--Players who played at least 7 minutes in the game are included.

--The hidden defending component is included as described above.

--Beginning in 2011 we show just the combined listing; in prior years we separately showed the rank lists by team but this is now considered to be unnecessary.

Nick Collison, PF 0.756 THUNDER
James Harden, G 0.742 THUNDER
Tony Allen, SG 0.669 GRIZZLIES
Kevin Durant, SF 0.460 THUNDER
Marc Gasol, C 0.435 GRIZZLIES
Zach Randolph, PF 0.406 GRIZZLIES
Thabo Sefolosha, SG 0.391 THUNDER
Shane Battier, SF 0.388 GRIZZLIES
Nazr Mohammed, C 0.374 THUNDER
Kendrick Perkins, C 0.359 THUNDER
Mike Conley, PG 0.300 GRIZZLIES
Eric Maynor, PG 0.261 THUNDER
Russell Westbrook, PG 0.253 THUNDER
Daequan Cook, SG 0.253 THUNDER
Darrell Arthur, PF 0.235 GRIZZLIES
Serge Ibaka, PF 0.231 THUNDER
O.J. Mayo, SG 0.219 GRIZZLIES
Sam Young, SG 0.119 GRIZZLIES
Greivis Vasquez, G 0.057 GRIZZLIES

THE AVERAGE DEFENSIVE SUB RATING
for all NBA players who play 300 minutes or more is about .315

The breakdown between hidden and unhidden defending is available on request.

THE ALL IMPORTANT, AWARD WINNING REAL PLAYER RATINGS USER GUIDE
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.

ABOUT REAL PLAYER RATINGS REPORTS
Of the several dozen types of Reports that Quest for the Ring (QFTR) produces, Team Real Player Rating Reports are among the most important. A Real Player Rating Report gives you four very important ratings for every player in the Report:

--Overall Real Player Rating
--Real Player Production
--Offensive Sub Rating
--Defensive Sub Rating

These Reports are formatted reports. Formatted reports have a pre-set format and there is little or no custom commentary included. The whole idea of formatted reports is to provide a very large amount of important information very efficiently. The carefully planned and long evolved and perfected formatting eliminates the need for time-consuming custom text reporting in contexts where there is really no need for it and where there may be no time for it. But to fully understand a formatted Report you need to be familiar with the User Guide for it.

In contrast to formatted reports, QFTR breaks new ground in general and reveals its latest discoveries about basketball in particular in free form (non-formatted) text reports. While formatted posts are "on the reservation", non-formatted text reports are where QFTR "goes off the reservation". Both types of reports are essential; having just one type without the other type would reduce the value of QFTR by MORE than half.

QFTR is considering some kind of labelling system for posts that will allow visitors to even more easily than ever get to content they want or need.

There are two things you can do to get the full value out of RPR Reports. First, you can read parts or all of the User Guide for them (the link to the Guide is below). Second, you can simply visit a lot and see a lot of Reports and then you will automatically become better at interpreting what you see.

During the regular season beginning in late January (when we can first validly calculate the hidden defending adjustments) QFTR posts Team Real Player Ratings for major contending teams and other selected teams as time permits. Between the end of the regular season and before the Conference Finals begin (in late April and in early May) QFTR posts the final ratings for approximately the ten best teams as of the beginning of the playoffs. If there is a major upset in round one and/or round two by a team whose ratings were not yet posted, QFTR will make sure to post those asap.

These final ratings can be used in team grids that are very important parts of any playoff series preview.

Unfortunately, production time limits that are caused partly by limited traffic mean that only a small number of playoff series previews can be produced. Remember, you can help QFTR get more production time by posting links to QFTR wherever you can, and then QFTR will link back to you on request (click the contact link under the banner).

Game Real Player Ratings Reports are produced for every NBA Championship game, every NBA Conference Final game, and for selected NBA semifinal games. For the semifinals, normally, the most interesting semifinal (round two) series will be selected (out of the four of them) and Real Player Ratings for every game in that series will be posted.

After the playoffs are completely over and the off-season arrives, QFTR has enough time to produce and publish a final annual Real Player Ratings Report for all thirty NBA teams. These annual records of who was really the best and who really did what are scheduled to be posted in late June and in early July. They are posted in alphabetic order by team starting with the Atlanta Hawks and ending with the Washington Wizards. The ones for the top teams that were posted in late April-early May are repeated so there is a complete set in alpha and chronological sequence.

If you ever spend quality time at QFTR you will discover that there are other types of Real Player Rating Reports. Many of these appear in the summer. Among the most important ones that come out in the summer are the League-Wide Real Player Ratings Reports. Also, don't miss the Real Player Ratings Reports by position if you are a serious basketball person.

This section was a limited and brief overview of Real Player Ratings Reports in general. What you need if you want to understand how the Ratings are constructed and why QFTR knows they are the best possible ratings is the User Guide for Real Player Ratings. This User Guide was last revised and updated in May 2010; a new revision is "on order" and is expected to be completed in May or June of 2011. The May 2010 edition is still very useful; the only section of it that is not completely accurate is the one where the specific factors are shown; the factors have been adjusted a little to reflect the latest information and understanding QFTR has about exactly how playoff games are won. There has also been a significant improvement in the calibration and validation of Real Player Ratings components.

So 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.

2011 East Conference Final Preview: Chicago Bulls versus Miami Heat

2011-05-18T22:19:00.000-07:00

2011 West Conference Final Preview: Oklahoma Thunder Versus Dallas Mavericks

2011-05-16T04:38:00.000-07:00

Real Player Ratings for the 2011 West Semifinal Game Six: Memphis Grizzlies 95 Oklahoma Thunder 83

2011-05-14T09:22:00.000-07:00

2011 SEMIFINAL OKLAHOMA THUNDER VS MEMPHIS GRIZZLIES GAME SIX REAL PLAYER RATINGS
MAY 13 2011
MEMPHIS, TENNESSEE
MEMPHIS GRIZZLIES 95 OKLAHOMA THUNDER 83
BEST OF SEVEN SERIES TIED 3-3

KEY PLAYERS WHO DID NOT PLAY
--These are the above average players who would have or should have played but did not.

--The reason is shown after the player if and only if it is known with at least 85% certainty.

--Usually the reason is known with 100% certainty.

--If the reason is not known with at least 85% certainty, the reason "unknown" is given.

--Injuries are NOT perfectly reported and information about them is archived nowhere on the Internet. Therefore, it is possible that when Quest for the Ring identifies "coaching error" or "unknown" as the reason, the real reason may have been an injury.

--If the reason "traded" is shown then in many cases a player who was obtained in that trade played instead.

GRIZZLIES Rudy Gay >>> injured

THUNDER All above average players played in this game.

REAL PLAYER RATINGS FOR THIS GAME
--Real Player Rating shows you the real basketball quality of players quickly and accurately.

--Players who played at least 7 minutes in the game are included.

--Each player's hidden defending rating from the regular season is used as the Hidden Defending Adjustment (HDA). Obviously, players in any individual game including this one were not exactly as good defenders as they were on the average during the regular season. But since there is no way to provide HDA for individual games and since it is better to have some reasonable HDA than none at all, we use the season HDA as a reasonable substitute.

--Beginning in 2011 we show just the combined listing; in prior years we separately showed the rank lists by team but this is now considered to be unnecessary.

Zach Randolph, PF 1.160 GRIZZLIES
Mike Conley, PG 1.050 GRIZZLIES
Marc Gasol, C 0.867 GRIZZLIES
Nick Collison, PF 0.864 THUNDER
Eric Maynor, PG 0.861 THUNDER
Russell Westbrook, PG 0.816 THUNDER
Kendrick Perkins, C 0.815 THUNDER
James Harden, SG 0.804 THUNDER
O.J. Mayo, SG 0.803 GRIZZLIES
Tony Allen, SG 0.732 GRIZZLIES
Darrell Arthur, PF 0.715 GRIZZLIES
Shane Battier, SF 0.576 GRIZZLIES
Serge Ibaka, PF 0.451 THUNDER
Sam Young, SG 0.410 GRIZZLIES
Thabo Sefolosha, SG 0.335 THUNDER
Daequan Cook, SG 0.300 THUNDER
Kevin Durant, SF 0.275 THUNDER
Greivis Vasquez, PG 0.268 GRIZZLIES
Nazr Mohammed, C 0.231 THUNDER

SCALE FOR REGULAR SEASON REAL PLAYER RATINGS FOR A SINGLE GAME
Perfect Player for all Practical Purposes / Major Historic Super Star 1.200 and more
Historic Super Star 1.080 1.199
Super Star 0.960 1.079
A Star Player / A well above normal starter 0.860 0.959
Very Good Player / A solid starter 0.780 0.859
Major Role Player / Good enough to start 0.700 0.779
Good Role Player / Often a good 6th man, can possibly start 0.620 0.699
Satisfactory Role Player / Generally should not start 0.540 0.619
Marginal Role Player / Should not start except in an emergency 0.460 0.539
Poor Player / Should never start 0.380 0.459
Very Poor Player 0.300 0.379
Extremely Poor Player 0.299 and less

AVERAGE RATINGS BY POSITION
Not all positions are created equal. In pro basketball, point guard and center are the most important positions, power forward is in the middle, and small forward and shooting guard are the least important. (Some teams will have a different pattern.) The following are good estimates for average ratings by position among all NBA players who play 300 minutes or more. There are very few small forwards and shooting guards who don't fit at other positions who are superstars. Most superstars are players who can play point guard, power forward, or center.

Point Guard .750
Shooting Guard .635
Small Forward .645
Power Forward .715
Center .755
All Positions / All Players (NBA Overall Average) .700

To quickly and fairly compare two players who play different positions, convert their Ratings as follows:

Point Guards: Subtract .050; for example, .700 becomes .650
Shooting Guards: Add .065; for example, .700 becomes .765
Small Forwards: Add .055; for example, .700 becomes .755
Power Forwards: Subtract .015; for example, .700 becomes .685
Centers: Subtract .055; for example, .700 becomes .645

REAL PLAYER PRODUCTION FOR THIS GAME
--Shows the real basketball production (or quantity) of players.

--Players who played at least 7 minutes in the game are included.

--An estimate of the value of hidden defending production is included in the total production for all players shown; as described above hidden defending ratings from the regular season are used.

--Beginning in 2011 we show just the combined listing; in prior years we separately showed the rank lists by team but this is now considered to be unnecessary.

Zach Randolph, PF 46.42 GRIZZLIES
Mike Conley, PG 42.00 GRIZZLIES
Marc Gasol, C 33.81 GRIZZLIES
James Harden, SG 31.36 THUNDER
O.J. Mayo, SG 31.32 GRIZZLIES
Russell Westbrook, PG 30.20 THUNDER
Kendrick Perkins, C 26.90 THUNDER
Nick Collison, PF 17.29 THUNDER
Shane Battier, SF 16.71 GRIZZLIES
Tony Allen, SG 15.37 GRIZZLIES
Serge Ibaka, PF 11.28 THUNDER
Kevin Durant, SF 10.19 THUNDER
Eric Maynor, PG 9.47 THUNDER
Darrell Arthur, PF 8.58 GRIZZLIES
Thabo Sefolosha, SG 5.35 THUNDER
Sam Young, SG 4.92 GRIZZLIES
Daequan Cook, SG 3.91 THUNDER
Greivis Vasquez, PG 2.14 GRIZZLIES
Nazr Mohammed, C 1.85 THUNDER

=============== OFFENSIVE AND DEFENSIVE SUB RATINGS FOR THIS GAME ===============

OFFENSIVE SUB RATINGS FOR THIS GAME
--Shows the real quality of players' offense.

--Players who played at least 7 minutes in the game are included.

--The hidden defending component is not a part of the offensive sub rating.

--Beginning in 2011 we show just the combined listing; in prior years we separately showed the rank lists by team but this is now considered to be unnecessary.

Mike Conley, PG 0.610 GRIZZLIES
Zach Randolph, PF 0.546 GRIZZLIES
Russell Westbrook, PG 0.516 THUNDER
James Harden, SG 0.437 THUNDER
Darrell Arthur, PF 0.437 GRIZZLIES
Eric Maynor, PG 0.412 THUNDER
O.J. Mayo, SG 0.405 GRIZZLIES
Tony Allen, SG 0.292 GRIZZLIES
Sam Young, SG 0.257 GRIZZLIES
Nick Collison, PF 0.243 THUNDER
Shane Battier, SF 0.234 GRIZZLIES
Greivis Vasquez, PG 0.211 GRIZZLIES
Marc Gasol, C 0.207 GRIZZLIES
Kendrick Perkins, C 0.193 THUNDER
Serge Ibaka, PF 0.175 THUNDER
Thabo Sefolosha, SG 0.056 THUNDER
Kevin Durant, SF 0.027 THUNDER
Nazr Mohammed, C -0.210 THUNDER
Daequan Cook, SG -0.252 THUNDER

THE AVERAGE OFFENSIVE SUB RATING
for all NBA players who play 300 minutes or more is about .385

DEFENSIVE SUB RATINGS FOR THIS GAME
--Shows the real quality of players' defense.

--Players who played at least 7 minutes in the game are included.

--The hidden defending component is included as described above.

--Beginning in 2011 we show just the combined listing; in prior years we separately showed the rank lists by team but this is now considered to be unnecessary.

Marc Gasol, C 0.660 GRIZZLIES
Kendrick Perkins, C 0.622 THUNDER
Nick Collison, PF 0.622 THUNDER
Zach Randolph, PF 0.614 GRIZZLIES
Daequan Cook, SG 0.553 THUNDER
Eric Maynor, PG 0.449 THUNDER
Nazr Mohammed, C 0.441 THUNDER
Mike Conley, PG 0.440 GRIZZLIES
Tony Allen, SG 0.440 GRIZZLIES
O.J. Mayo, SG 0.398 GRIZZLIES
James Harden, SG 0.367 THUNDER
Shane Battier, SF 0.342 GRIZZLIES
Russell Westbrook, PG 0.301 THUNDER
Thabo Sefolosha, SG 0.279 THUNDER
Darrell Arthur, PF 0.278 GRIZZLIES
Serge Ibaka, PF 0.276 THUNDER
Kevin Durant, SF 0.249 THUNDER
Sam Young, SG 0.153 GRIZZLIES
Greivis Vasquez, PG 0.057 GRIZZLIES

THE AVERAGE DEFENSIVE SUB RATING
for all NBA players who play 300 minutes or more is about .315

The breakdown between hidden and unhidden defending is available on request.

THE ALL IMPORTANT, AWARD WINNING REAL PLAYER RATINGS USER GUIDE
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.

ABOUT REAL PLAYER RATINGS REPORTS
Of the several dozen types of Reports that Quest for the Ring (QFTR) produces, Team Real Player Rating Reports are among the most important. A Real Player Rating Report gives you four very important ratings for every player in the Report:

--Overall Real Player Rating
--Real Player Production
--Offensive Sub Rating
--Defensive Sub Rating

These Reports are formatted reports. Formatted reports have a pre-set format and there is little or no custom commentary included. The whole idea of formatted reports is to provide a very large amount of important information very efficiently. The carefully planned and long evolved and perfected formatting eliminates the need for time-consuming custom text reporting in contexts where there is really no need for it and where there may be no time for it. But to fully understand a formatted Report you need to be familiar with the User Guide for it.

In contrast to formatted reports, QFTR breaks new ground in general and reveals its latest discoveries about basketball in particular in free form (non-formatted) text reports. While formatted posts are "on the reservation", non-formatted text reports are where QFTR "goes off the reservation". Both types of reports are essential; having just one type without the other type would reduce the value of QFTR by MORE than half.

QFTR is considering some kind of labelling system for posts that will allow visitors to even more easily than ever get to content they want or need.

There are two things you can do to get the full value out of RPR Reports. First, you can read parts or all of the User Guide for them (the link to the Guide is below). Second, you can simply visit a lot and see a lot of Reports and then you will automatically become better at interpreting what you see.

During the regular season beginning in late January (when we can first validly calculate the hidden defending adjustments) QFTR posts Team Real Player Ratings for major contending teams and other selected teams as time permits. Between the end of the regular season and before the Conference Finals begin (in late April and in early May) QFTR posts the final ratings for approximately the ten best teams as of the beginning of the playoffs. If there is a major upset in round one and/or round two by a team whose ratings were not yet posted, QFTR will make sure to post those asap.

These final ratings can be used in team grids that are very important parts of any playoff series preview.

Unfortunately, production time limits that are caused partly by limited traffic mean that only a small number of playoff series previews can be produced. Remember, you can help QFTR get more production time by posting links to QFTR wherever you can, and then QFTR will link back to you on request (click the contact link under the banner).

Game Real Player Ratings Reports are produced for every NBA Championship game, every NBA Conference Final game, and for selected NBA semifinal games. For the semifinals, normally, the most interesting semifinal (round two) series will be selected (out of the four of them) and Real Player Ratings for every game in that series will be posted.

After the playoffs are completely over and the off-season arrives, QFTR has enough time to produce and publish a final annual Real Player Ratings Report for all thirty NBA teams. These annual records of who was really the best and who really did what are scheduled to be posted in late June and in early July. They are posted in alphabetic order by team starting with the Atlanta Hawks and ending with the Washington Wizards. The ones for the top teams that were posted in late April-early May are repeated so there is a complete set in alpha and chronological sequence.

If you ever spend quality time at QFTR you will discover that there are other types of Real Player Rating Reports. Many of these appear in the summer. Among the most important ones that come out in the summer are the League-Wide Real Player Ratings Reports. Also, don't miss the Real Player Ratings Reports by position if you are a serious basketball person.

This section was a limited and brief overview of Real Player Ratings Reports in general. What you need if you want to understand how the Ratings are constructed and why QFTR knows they are the best possible ratings is the User Guide for Real Player Ratings. This User Guide was last revised and updated in May 2010; a new revision is "on order" and is expected to be completed in May or June of 2011. The May 2010 edition is still very useful; the only section of it that is not completely accurate is the one where the specific factors are shown; the factors have been adjusted a little to reflect the latest information and understanding QFTR has about exactly how playoff games are won. There has also been a significant improvement in the calibration and validation of Real Player Ratings components.

So 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.

Real Player Ratings for the 2011 West Semifinal Game Five: Oklahoma Thunder 99 Memphis Grizzlies 72

2011-05-14T08:38:00.000-07:00

2011 SEMIFINAL OKLAHOMA THUNDER VS MEMPHIS GRIZZLIES GAME FIVE REAL PLAYER RATINGS
MAY 11 2011
OKLAHOMA CITY, OKLAHOMA
OKLAHOMA THUNDER 99 MEMPHIS GRIZZLIES 72
OKLAHOMA LEADS BEST OF SEVEN SERIES TIED 3-2

KEY PLAYERS WHO DID NOT PLAY
--These are the above average players who would have or should have played but did not.

--The reason is shown after the player if and only if it is known with at least 85% certainty.

--Usually the reason is known with 100% certainty.

--If the reason is not known with at least 85% certainty, the reason "unknown" is given.

--Injuries are NOT perfectly reported and information about them is archived nowhere on the Internet. Therefore, it is possible that when Quest for the Ring identifies "coaching error" or "unknown" as the reason, the real reason may have been an injury.

--If the reason "traded" is shown then in many cases a player who was obtained in that trade played instead.

GRIZZLIES Rudy Gay >>> injured

THUNDER All above average players played in this game.

REAL PLAYER RATINGS FOR THIS GAME
--Real Player Rating shows you the real basketball quality of players quickly and accurately.

--Players who played at least 7 minutes in the game are included.

--Each player's hidden defending rating from the regular season is used as the Hidden Defending Adjustment (HDA). Obviously, players in any individual game including this one were not exactly as good defenders as they were on the average during the regular season. But since there is no way to provide HDA for individual games and since it is better to have some reasonable HDA than none at all, we use the season HDA as a reasonable substitute.

--Beginning in 2011 we show just the combined listing; in prior years we separately showed the rank lists by team but this is now considered to be unnecessary.

Daequan Cook, SG 1.674 THUNDER
Greivis Vasquez, PG 1.215 GRIZZLIES
Nazr Mohammed, C 1.131 THUNDER
Marc Gasol, C 0.994 GRIZZLIES
Nick Collison, PF 0.991 THUNDER
Darrell Arthur, PF 0.934 GRIZZLIES
Serge Ibaka, PF 0.904 THUNDER
James Harden, SG 0.874 THUNDER
Kevin Durant, SF 0.857 THUNDER
Russell Westbrook, PG 0.786 THUNDER
Eric Maynor, PG 0.688 THUNDER
O.J. Mayo, SG 0.454 GRIZZLIES
Mike Conley, PG 0.406 GRIZZLIES
Thabo Sefolosha, SG 0.286 THUNDER
Zach Randolph, PF 0.285 GRIZZLIES
Tony Allen, SG 0.271 GRIZZLIES
Sam Young, SG 0.208 GRIZZLIES
Kendrick Perkins, C 0.144 THUNDER
Shane Battier, SF 0.096 GRIZZLIES

SCALE FOR REGULAR SEASON REAL PLAYER RATINGS FOR A SINGLE GAME
Perfect Player for all Practical Purposes / Major Historic Super Star 1.200 and more
Historic Super Star 1.080 1.199
Super Star 0.960 1.079
A Star Player / A well above normal starter 0.860 0.959
Very Good Player / A solid starter 0.780 0.859
Major Role Player / Good enough to start 0.700 0.779
Good Role Player / Often a good 6th man, can possibly start 0.620 0.699
Satisfactory Role Player / Generally should not start 0.540 0.619
Marginal Role Player / Should not start except in an emergency 0.460 0.539
Poor Player / Should never start 0.380 0.459
Very Poor Player 0.300 0.379
Extremely Poor Player 0.299 and less

AVERAGE RATINGS BY POSITION
Not all positions are created equal. In pro basketball, point guard and center are the most important positions, power forward is in the middle, and small forward and shooting guard are the least important. (Some teams will have a different pattern.) The following are good estimates for average ratings by position among all NBA players who play 300 minutes or more. There are very few small forwards and shooting guards who don't fit at other positions who are superstars. Most superstars are players who can play point guard, power forward, or center.

Point Guard .750
Shooting Guard .635
Small Forward .645
Power Forward .715
Center .755
All Positions / All Players (NBA Overall Average) .700

To quickly and fairly compare two players who play different positions, convert their Ratings as follows:

Point Guards: Subtract .050; for example, .700 becomes .650
Shooting Guards: Add .065; for example, .700 becomes .765
Small Forwards: Add .055; for example, .700 becomes .755
Power Forwards: Subtract .015; for example, .700 becomes .685
Centers: Subtract .055; for example, .700 becomes .645

REAL PLAYER PRODUCTION FOR THIS GAME
--Shows the real basketball production (or quantity) of players.

--Players who played at least 7 minutes in the game are included.

--An estimate of the value of hidden defending production is included in the total production for all players shown; as described above hidden defending ratings from the regular season are used.

--Beginning in 2011 we show just the combined listing; in prior years we separately showed the rank lists by team but this is now considered to be unnecessary.

Marc Gasol, C 30.81 GRIZZLIES
Daequan Cook, SG 30.13 THUNDER
Kevin Durant, SF 26.58 THUNDER
Nazr Mohammed, C 24.88 THUNDER
Nick Collison, PF 24.77 THUNDER
James Harden, SG 22.72 THUNDER
Russell Westbrook, PG 19.65 THUNDER
Greivis Vasquez, PG 19.44 GRIZZLIES
Serge Ibaka, PF 18.98 THUNDER
Eric Maynor, PG 15.83 THUNDER
Darrell Arthur, PF 14.01 GRIZZLIES
Mike Conley, PG 12.99 GRIZZLIES
O.J. Mayo, SG 12.27 GRIZZLIES
Zach Randolph, PF 10.25 GRIZZLIES
Tony Allen, SG 7.32 GRIZZLIES
Thabo Sefolosha, SG 4.58 THUNDER
Sam Young, SG 4.57 GRIZZLIES
Kendrick Perkins, C 3.31 THUNDER
Shane Battier, SF 1.43 GRIZZLIES

=============== OFFENSIVE AND DEFENSIVE SUB RATINGS FOR THIS GAME ===============

OFFENSIVE SUB RATINGS FOR THIS GAME
--Shows the real quality of players' offense.

--Players who played at least 7 minutes in the game are included.

--The hidden defending component is not a part of the offensive sub rating.

--Beginning in 2011 we show just the combined listing; in prior years we separately showed the rank lists by team but this is now considered to be unnecessary.

Daequan Cook, SG 1.294 THUNDER
Greivis Vasquez, PG 0.881 GRIZZLIES
Russell Westbrook, PG 0.528 THUNDER
James Harden, SG 0.482 THUNDER
Nazr Mohammed, C 0.473 THUNDER
Nick Collison, PF 0.464 THUNDER
Kevin Durant, SF 0.377 THUNDER
Eric Maynor, PG 0.370 THUNDER
Serge Ibaka, PF 0.331 THUNDER
O.J. Mayo, SG 0.316 GRIZZLIES
Darrell Arthur, PF 0.309 GRIZZLIES
Marc Gasol, C 0.265 GRIZZLIES
Mike Conley, PG 0.072 GRIZZLIES
Thabo Sefolosha, SG -0.011 THUNDER
Tony Allen, SG -0.038 GRIZZLIES
Zach Randolph, PF -0.106 GRIZZLIES
Sam Young, SG -0.119 GRIZZLIES
Kendrick Perkins, C -0.124 THUNDER
Shane Battier, SF -0.284 GRIZZLIES

THE AVERAGE OFFENSIVE SUB RATING
for all NBA players who play 300 minutes or more is about .385

DEFENSIVE SUB RATINGS FOR THIS GAME
--Shows the real quality of players' defense.

--Players who played at least 7 minutes in the game are included.

--The hidden defending component is included as described above.

--Beginning in 2011 we show just the combined listing; in prior years we separately showed the rank lists by team but this is now considered to be unnecessary.

Marc Gasol, C 0.729 GRIZZLIES
Nazr Mohammed, C 0.658 THUNDER
Darrell Arthur, PF 0.624 GRIZZLIES
Serge Ibaka, PF 0.572 THUNDER
Nick Collison, PF 0.527 THUNDER
Kevin Durant, SF 0.480 THUNDER
James Harden, SG 0.391 THUNDER
Zach Randolph, PF 0.391 GRIZZLIES
Daequan Cook, SG 0.380 THUNDER
Shane Battier, SF 0.379 GRIZZLIES
Greivis Vasquez, PG 0.334 GRIZZLIES
Mike Conley, PG 0.334 GRIZZLIES
Sam Young, SG 0.327 GRIZZLIES
Eric Maynor, PG 0.318 THUNDER
Tony Allen, SG 0.309 GRIZZLIES
Thabo Sefolosha, SG 0.297 THUNDER
Kendrick Perkins, C 0.268 THUNDER
Russell Westbrook, PG 0.259 THUNDER
O.J. Mayo, SG 0.138 GRIZZLIES

THE AVERAGE DEFENSIVE SUB RATING
for all NBA players who play 300 minutes or more is about .315

The breakdown between hidden and unhidden defending is available on request.

THE ALL IMPORTANT, AWARD WINNING REAL PLAYER RATINGS USER GUIDE
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.

ABOUT REAL PLAYER RATINGS REPORTS
Of the several dozen types of Reports that Quest for the Ring (QFTR) produces, Team Real Player Rating Reports are among the most important. A Real Player Rating Report gives you four very important ratings for every player in the Report:

--Overall Real Player Rating
--Real Player Production
--Offensive Sub Rating
--Defensive Sub Rating

These Reports are formatted reports. Formatted reports have a pre-set format and there is little or no custom commentary included. The whole idea of formatted reports is to provide a very large amount of important information very efficiently. The carefully planned and long evolved and perfected formatting eliminates the need for time-consuming custom text reporting in contexts where there is really no need for it. But to fully understand a formatted Report you need to be familiar with the User Guide for it.

There are two things you can do to get the full value out of RPR Reports. First, you can read parts or all of the User Guide for them (the link to the Guide is below). Second, you can simply visit a lot and see a lot of Reports and then you will automatically become better at interpreting what you see.

In contrast to formatted reports, QFTR breaks new ground in general and reveals its latest discoveries about basketball in particular in free form (non-formatted) text reports. While formatted posts are "on the reservation", non-formatted text reports are where QFTR "goes off the reservation". Both types of reports are essential; having just one type without the other type would reduce the value of QFTR by MORE than half.

QFTR is considering some kind of labelling system for posts that will allow visitors to even more easily than ever get to content they want or need.

During the regular season beginning in late January (when we can first validly calculate the hidden defending adjustments) QFTR posts Team Real Player Ratings for major contending teams and other selected teams as time permits. Between the end of the regular season and before the Conference Finals begin (in late April and in early May) QFTR posts the final ratings for approximately the ten best teams as of the beginning of the playoffs. If there is a major upset in round one and/or round two by a team whose ratings were not yet posted, QFTR will make sure to post those asap.

These final ratings can be used in team grids that are very important parts of any playoff series preview.

Unfortunately, production time limits that are caused partly by limited traffic mean that only a small number of playoff series previews can be produced. Remember, you can help QFTR get more production time by posting links to QFTR wherever you can, and then QFTR will link back to you on request (click the contact link under the banner).

Game Real Player Ratings Reports are produced for every NBA Championship game, every NBA Conference Final game, and for selected NBA semifinal games. For the semifinals, normally, the most interesting semifinal (round two) series will be selected (out of the four of them) and Real Player Ratings for every game in that series will be posted.

After the playoffs are completely over and the off-season arrives, QFTR has enough time to produce and publish a final annual Real Player Ratings Report for all thirty NBA teams. These annual records of who was really the best and who really did what are scheduled to be posted in late June and in early July. They are posted in alphabetic order by team starting with the Atlanta Hawks and ending with the Washington Wizards. The ones for the top teams that were posted in late April-early May are repeated so there is a complete set in alpha and chronological sequence.

If you ever spend quality time at QFTR you will discover that there are other types of Real Player Rating Reports. Many of these appear in the summer. Among the most important ones that come out in the summer are the League-Wide Real Player Ratings Reports. Also, don't miss the Real Player Ratings Reports by position if you are a serious basketball person.

This section was a limited and brief overview of Real Player Ratings Reports in general. What you need if you want to understand how the Ratings are constructed and why QFTR knows they are the best possible ratings is the User Guide for Real Player Ratings. This User Guide was last revised and updated in May 2010; a new revision is "on order" and is expected to be completed in May or June of 2011. The May 2010 edition is still very useful; the only section of it that is not completely accurate is the one where the specific factors are shown; the factors have been adjusted a little to reflect the latest information and understanding QFTR has about exactly how playoff games are won. There has also been a significant improvement in the calibration and validation of Real Player Ratings components.

So 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.

Real Player Ratings for the 2011 East Semifinal Game Five: Miami Heat 97 Boston Celtics 87

2011-05-14T07:17:00.000-07:00

2011 EAST SEMIFINAL MIAMI HEAT VS BOSTON CELTICS GAME FIVE REAL PLAYER RATINGS
MAY 11 2011
MIAMI, FLORIDA
MIAMI HEAT 97 BOSTON CELTICS 87
MIAMI WINS BEST OF SEVEN SERIES 4-1

KEY PLAYERS WHO DID NOT PLAY
--These are the above average players who would have or should have played but did not.

--The reason is shown after the player if and only if it is known with at least 85% certainty.

--Usually the reason is known with 100% certainty.

--If the reason is not known with at least 85% certainty, the reason "unknown" is given.

--Injuries are NOT perfectly reported and information about them is archived nowhere on the Internet. Therefore, it is possible that when Quest for the Ring identifies "coaching error" or "unknown" as the reason, the real reason may have been an injury.

--If the reason "traded" is shown then in many cases a player who was obtained in that trade played instead.

CELTICS Marquis Daniels >>> traded
CELTICS Kendrick Perkins >>> traded
CELTICS Shaquille O'Neal >>> injured
CELTICS Von Wafer >>> Two better players at the position played

HEAT Udonis Haslem >>> coaching error or possibly effects of previous injury
HEAT Eddie House >>> coaching error

REAL PLAYER RATINGS FOR THIS GAME
--Real Player Rating shows you the real basketball quality of players quickly and accurately.

--Players who played at least 7 minutes in the game are included.

--Each player's hidden defending rating from the regular season is used as the Hidden Defending Adjustment (HDA). Obviously, players in any individual game including this one were not exactly as good defenders as they were on the average during the regular season. But since there is no way to provide HDA for individual games and since it is better to have some reasonable HDA than none at all, we use the season HDA as a reasonable substitute.

--Beginning in 2011 we show just the combined listing; in prior years we separately showed the rank lists by team but this is now considered to be unnecessary.

Dwyane Wade, SG 1.285 HEAT
LeBron James, SF 1.033 HEAT
Nenad Krstic, C 0.998 CELTICS
Chris Bosh, PF 0.988 HEAT
Ray Allen, SG 0.941 CELTICS
Glen Davis, PF 0.759 CELTICS
Jeff Green, F 0.729 CELTICS
Kevin Garnett, PF 0.711 CELTICS
Rajon Rondo, PG 0.596 CELTICS
Paul Pierce, SF 0.500 CELTICS
Mike Bibby, PG 0.381 HEAT
Jermaine O'Neal, C 0.355 CELTICS
James Jones, SF 0.347 HEAT
Delonte West, SG 0.321 CELTICS
Joel Anthony, C 0.275 HEAT
Juwan Howard, PF 0.263 HEAT
Mario Chalmers, PG 0.129 HEAT

SCALE FOR REGULAR SEASON REAL PLAYER RATINGS FOR A SINGLE GAME
Perfect Player for all Practical Purposes / Major Historic Super Star 1.200 and more
Historic Super Star 1.080 1.199
Super Star 0.960 1.079
A Star Player / A well above normal starter 0.860 0.959
Very Good Player / A solid starter 0.780 0.859
Major Role Player / Good enough to start 0.700 0.779
Good Role Player / Often a good 6th man, can possibly start 0.620 0.699
Satisfactory Role Player / Generally should not start 0.540 0.619
Marginal Role Player / Should not start except in an emergency 0.460 0.539
Poor Player / Should never start 0.380 0.459
Very Poor Player 0.300 0.379
Extremely Poor Player 0.299 and less

AVERAGE RATINGS BY POSITION
Not all positions are created equal. In pro basketball, point guard and center are the most important positions, power forward is in the middle, and small forward and shooting guard are the least important. (Some teams will have a different pattern.) The following are good estimates for average ratings by position among all NBA players who play 300 minutes or more. There are very few small forwards and shooting guards who don't fit at other positions who are superstars. Most superstars are players who can play point guard, power forward, or center.

Point Guard .750
Shooting Guard .635
Small Forward .645
Power Forward .715
Center .755
All Positions / All Players (NBA Overall Average) .700

To quickly and fairly compare two players who play different positions, convert their Ratings as follows:

Point Guards: Subtract .050; for example, .700 becomes .650
Shooting Guards: Add .065; for example, .700 becomes .765
Small Forwards: Add .055; for example, .700 becomes .755
Power Forwards: Subtract .015; for example, .700 becomes .685
Centers: Subtract .055; for example, .700 becomes .645

REAL PLAYER PRODUCTION FOR THIS GAME
--Shows the real basketball production (or quantity) of players.

--Players who played at least 7 minutes in the game are included.

--An estimate of the value of hidden defending production is included in the total production for all players shown; as described above hidden defending ratings from the regular season are used.

--Beginning in 2011 we show just the combined listing; in prior years we separately showed the rank lists by team but this is now considered to be unnecessary.

Dwyane Wade, SG 55.26 HEAT
LeBron James, SF 47.52 HEAT
Ray Allen, SG 41.39 CELTICS
Chris Bosh, PF 39.52 HEAT
Kevin Garnett, PF 27.02 CELTICS
Rajon Rondo, PG 17.89 CELTICS
Jeff Green, F 17.50 CELTICS
Paul Pierce, SF 17.48 CELTICS
Nenad Krstic, C 15.96 CELTICS
Glen Davis, PF 12.14 CELTICS
Mike Bibby, PG 7.62 HEAT
James Jones, SF 7.29 HEAT
Joel Anthony, C 6.61 HEAT
Delonte West, SG 6.42 CELTICS
Jermaine O'Neal, C 6.03 CELTICS
Juwan Howard, PF 5.00 HEAT
Mario Chalmers, PG 3.09 HEAT

=============== OFFENSIVE AND DEFENSIVE SUB RATINGS FOR THIS GAME ===============

OFFENSIVE SUB RATINGS FOR THIS GAME
--Shows the real quality of players' offense.

--Players who played at least 7 minutes in the game are included.

--The hidden defending component is not a part of the offensive sub rating.

--Beginning in 2011 we show just the combined listing; in prior years we separately showed the rank lists by team but this is now considered to be unnecessary.

Dwyane Wade, SG 0.717 HEAT
LeBron James, SF 0.604 HEAT
Nenad Krstic, C 0.548 CELTICS
Ray Allen, SG 0.502 CELTICS
Chris Bosh, PF 0.493 HEAT
Glen Davis, PF 0.481 CELTICS
Jeff Green, F 0.361 CELTICS
Rajon Rondo, PG 0.244 CELTICS
Paul Pierce, SF 0.212 CELTICS
Mike Bibby, PG 0.201 HEAT
Kevin Garnett, PF 0.069 CELTICS
Delonte West, SG 0.057 CELTICS
James Jones, SF 0.041 HEAT
Juwan Howard, PF 0.009 HEAT
Mario Chalmers, PG -0.021 HEAT
Jermaine O'Neal, C -0.084 CELTICS
Joel Anthony, C -0.118 HEAT

THE AVERAGE OFFENSIVE SUB RATING
for all NBA players who play 300 minutes or more is about .385

DEFENSIVE SUB RATINGS FOR THIS GAME
--Shows the real quality of players' defense.

--Players who played at least 7 minutes in the game are included.

--The hidden defending component is included as described above.

--Beginning in 2011 we show just the combined listing; in prior years we separately showed the rank lists by team but this is now considered to be unnecessary.

Kevin Garnett, PF 0.642 CELTICS
Dwyane Wade, SG 0.568 HEAT
Chris Bosh, PF 0.495 HEAT
Nenad Krstic, C 0.449 CELTICS
Jermaine O'Neal, C 0.439 CELTICS
Ray Allen, SG 0.439 CELTICS
LeBron James, SF 0.429 HEAT
Joel Anthony, C 0.394 HEAT
Jeff Green, F 0.368 CELTICS
Rajon Rondo, PG 0.353 CELTICS
James Jones, SF 0.306 HEAT
Paul Pierce, SF 0.287 CELTICS
Glen Davis, PF 0.278 CELTICS
Delonte West, SG 0.264 CELTICS
Juwan Howard, PF 0.254 HEAT
Mike Bibby, PG 0.180 HEAT
Mario Chalmers, PG 0.150

THE AVERAGE DEFENSIVE SUB RATING
for all NBA players who play 300 minutes or more is about .315

The breakdown between hidden and unhidden defending is available on request.

THE ALL IMPORTANT, AWARD WINNING REAL PLAYER RATINGS USER GUIDE
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.

ABOUT REAL PLAYER RATINGS REPORTS
Of the several dozen types of Reports that Quest for the Ring (QFTR) produces, Team Real Player Rating Reports are among the most important. A Real Player Rating Report gives you four very important ratings for every player in the Report:

--Overall Real Player Rating
--Real Player Production
--Offensive Sub Rating
--Defensive Sub Rating

These Reports are formatted reports. Formatted reports have a pre-set format and there is little or no custom commentary included. The whole idea of formatted reports is to provide a very large amount of important information very efficiently. The carefully planned and long evolved and perfected formatting eliminates the need for time-consuming custom text reporting in contexts where there is really no need for it. But to fully understand a formatted Report you need to be familiar with the User Guide for it.

There are two things you can do to get the full value out of RPR Reports. First, you can read parts or all of the User Guide for them (the link to the Guide is below). Second, you can simply visit a lot and see a lot of Reports and then you will automatically become better at interpreting what you see.

In contrast to formatted reports, QFTR breaks new ground in general and reveals its latest discoveries about basketball in particular in free form (non-formatted) text reports. While formatted posts are "on the reservation", non-formatted text reports are where QFTR "goes off the reservation". Both types of reports are essential; having just one type without the other type would reduce the value of QFTR by MORE than half.

QFTR is considering some kind of labelling system for posts that will allow visitors to even more easily than ever get to content they want or need.

During the regular season beginning in late January (when we can first validly calculate the hidden defending adjustments) QFTR posts Team Real Player Ratings for major contending teams and other selected teams as time permits. Between the end of the regular season and before the Conference Finals begin (in late April and in early May) QFTR posts the final ratings for approximately the ten best teams as of the beginning of the playoffs. If there is a major upset in round one and/or round two by a team whose ratings were not yet posted, QFTR will make sure to post those asap.

These final ratings can be used in team grids that are very important parts of any playoff series preview.

Unfortunately, production time limits that are caused partly by limited traffic mean that only a small number of playoff series previews can be produced. Remember, you can help QFTR get more production time by posting links to QFTR wherever you can, and then QFTR will link back to you on request (click the contact link under the banner).

Game Real Player Ratings Reports are produced for every NBA Championship game, every NBA Conference Final game, and for selected NBA semifinal games. For the semifinals, normally, the most interesting semifinal (round two) series will be selected (out of the four of them) and Real Player Ratings for every game in that series will be posted.

After the playoffs are completely over and the off-season arrives, QFTR has enough time to produce and publish a final annual Real Player Ratings Report for all thirty NBA teams. These annual records of who was really the best and who really did what are scheduled to be posted in late June and in early July. They are posted in alphabetic order by team starting with the Atlanta Hawks and ending with the Washington Wizards. The ones for the top teams that were posted in late April-early May are repeated so there is a complete set in alpha and chronological sequence.

If you ever spend quality time at QFTR you will discover that there are other types of Real Player Rating Reports. Many of these appear in the summer. Among the most important ones that come out in the summer are the League-Wide Real Player Ratings Reports. Also, don't miss the Real Player Ratings Reports by position if you are a serious basketball person.

This section was a limited and brief overview of Real Player Ratings Reports in general. What you need if you want to understand how the Ratings are constructed and why QFTR knows they are the best possible ratings is the User Guide for Real Player Ratings. This User Guide was last revised and updated in May 2010; a new revision is "on order" and is expected to be completed in May or June of 2011. The May 2010 edition is still very useful; the only section of it that is not completely accurate is the one where the specific factors are shown; the factors have been adjusted a little to reflect the latest information and understanding QFTR has about exactly how playoff games are won. There has also been a significant improvement in the calibration and validation of Real Player Ratings components.

So 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.

Real Player Ratings for the 2011 West Semifinal Game Four: Oklahoma Thunder 133 Memphis Grizzlies 123, 3 Overtimes

2011-05-11T20:00:00.000-07:00

2011 SEMIFINAL OKLAHOMA THUNDER VS MEMPHIS GRIZZLIES GAME FOUR REAL PLAYER RATINGS
MAY 9 2011
MEMPHIS, TENNESSEE
OKLAHOMA THUNDER 133 MEMPHIS GRIZZLIES 123, 3 OVERTIMES
BEST OF SEVEN SERIES TIED 2-2

KEY PLAYERS WHO DID NOT PLAY
--These are the above average players who would have or should have played but did not.

--The reason is shown after the player if and only if it is known with at least 85% certainty.

--Usually the reason is known with 100% certainty.

--If the reason is not known with at least 85% certainty, the reason "unknown" is given.

--Injuries are NOT perfectly reported and information about them is archived nowhere on the Internet. Therefore, it is possible that when Quest for the Ring identifies "coaching error" or "unknown" as the reason, the real reason may have been an injury.

--If the reason "traded" is shown then in many cases a player who was obtained in that trade played instead.

GRIZZLIES Rudy Gay >>> injured

THUNDER All above average players played in this game.

REAL PLAYER RATINGS FOR THIS GAME
--Real Player Rating shows you the real basketball quality of players quickly and accurately.

--Players who played at least 7 minutes in the game are included.

--Each player's hidden defending rating from the regular season is used as the Hidden Defending Adjustment (HDA). Obviously, players in any individual game including this one were not exactly as good defenders as they were on the average during the regular season. But since there is no way to provide HDA for individual games and since it is better to have some reasonable HDA than none at all, we use the season HDA as a reasonable substitute.

--Beginning in 2011 we show just the combined listing; in prior years we separately showed the rank lists by team but this is now considered to be unnecessary.

James Harden, SG 1.079 THUNDER
Marc Gasol, C 1.055 GRIZZLIES
Russell Westbrook, PG 1.042 THUNDER
Zach Randolph, PF 0.985 GRIZZLIES
Kevin Durant, SF 0.938 THUNDER
O.J. Mayo, SG 0.917 GRIZZLIES
Nazr Mohammed, C 0.851 THUNDER
Greivis Vasquez, PG 0.800 GRIZZLIES
Shane Battier, SF 0.690 GRIZZLIES
Nick Collison, PF 0.664 THUNDER
Mike Conley, PG 0.625 GRIZZLIES
Daequan Cook, SG 0.621 THUNDER
Thabo Sefolosha, SG 0.559 THUNDER
Serge Ibaka, PF 0.402 THUNDER
Eric Maynor, PG 0.332 THUNDER
Kendrick Perkins, C 0.256 THUNDER
Tony Allen, SG 0.221 GRIZZLIES
Sam Young, SG 0.178 GRIZZLIES
Darrell Arthur, PF -0.117 GRIZZLIES

SCALE FOR REGULAR SEASON REAL PLAYER RATINGS FOR A SINGLE GAME
Perfect Player for all Practical Purposes / Major Historic Super Star 1.200 and more
Historic Super Star 1.080 1.199
Super Star 0.960 1.079
A Star Player / A well above normal starter 0.860 0.959
Very Good Player / A solid starter 0.780 0.859
Major Role Player / Good enough to start 0.700 0.779
Good Role Player / Often a good 6th man, can possibly start 0.620 0.699
Satisfactory Role Player / Generally should not start 0.540 0.619
Marginal Role Player / Should not start except in an emergency 0.460 0.539
Poor Player / Should never start 0.380 0.459
Very Poor Player 0.300 0.379
Extremely Poor Player 0.299 and less

AVERAGE RATINGS BY POSITION
Not all positions are created equal. In pro basketball, point guard and center are the most important positions, power forward is in the middle, and small forward and shooting guard are the least important. (Some teams will have a different pattern.) The following are good estimates for average ratings by position among all NBA players who play 300 minutes or more. There are very few small forwards and shooting guards who don't fit at other positions who are superstars. Most superstars are players who can play point guard, power forward, or center.

Point Guard .750
Shooting Guard .635
Small Forward .645
Power Forward .715
Center .755
All Positions / All Players (NBA Overall Average) .700

To quickly and fairly compare two players who play different positions, convert their Ratings as follows:

Point Guards: Subtract .050; for example, .700 becomes .650
Shooting Guards: Add .065; for example, .700 becomes .765
Small Forwards: Add .055; for example, .700 becomes .755
Power Forwards: Subtract .015; for example, .700 becomes .685
Centers: Subtract .055; for example, .700 becomes .645

REAL PLAYER PRODUCTION FOR THIS GAME
--Shows the real basketball production (or quantity) of players.

--Players who played at least 7 minutes in the game are included.

--An estimate of the value of hidden defending production is included in the total production for all players shown; as described above hidden defending ratings from the regular season are used.

--Beginning in 2011 we show just the combined listing; in prior years we separately showed the rank lists by team but this is now considered to be unnecessary.

Marc Gasol, C 60.11 GRIZZLIES
Zach Randolph, PF 55.16 GRIZZLIES
Kevin Durant, SF 53.48 THUNDER
Russell Westbrook, PG 53.14 THUNDER
James Harden, SG 52.87 THUNDER
O.J. Mayo, SG 33.92 GRIZZLIES
Shane Battier, SF 26.91 GRIZZLIES
Mike Conley, PG 23.75 GRIZZLIES
Nick Collison, PF 23.24 THUNDER
Greivis Vasquez, PG 21.60 GRIZZLIES
Nazr Mohammed, C 17.02 THUNDER
Daequan Cook, SG 14.90 THUNDER
Kendrick Perkins, C 8.96 THUNDER
Thabo Sefolosha, SG 8.38 THUNDER
Tony Allen, SG 7.28 GRIZZLIES
Serge Ibaka, PF 6.83 THUNDER
Eric Maynor, PG 3.99 THUNDER
Sam Young, SG 2.85 GRIZZLIES
Darrell Arthur, PF -1.05 GRIZZLIES

=============== OFFENSIVE AND DEFENSIVE SUB RATINGS FOR THIS GAME ===============

OFFENSIVE SUB RATINGS FOR THIS GAME
--Shows the real quality of players' offense.

--Players who played at least 7 minutes in the game are included.

--The hidden defending component is not a part of the offensive sub rating.

--Beginning in 2011 we show just the combined listing; in prior years we separately showed the rank lists by team but this is now considered to be unnecessary.

O.J. Mayo, SG 0.787 GRIZZLIES
Russell Westbrook, PG 0.706 THUNDER
James Harden, SG 0.666 THUNDER
Greivis Vasquez, PG 0.570 GRIZZLIES
Zach Randolph, PF 0.547 GRIZZLIES
Marc Gasol, C 0.502 GRIZZLIES
Kevin Durant, SF 0.455 THUNDER
Shane Battier, SF 0.385 GRIZZLIES
Nazr Mohammed, C 0.379 THUNDER
Mike Conley, PG 0.375 GRIZZLIES
Thabo Sefolosha, SG 0.296 THUNDER
Serge Ibaka, PF 0.246 THUNDER
Nick Collison, PF 0.183 THUNDER
Daequan Cook, SG 0.171 THUNDER
Eric Maynor, PG 0.137 THUNDER
Kendrick Perkins, C -0.062 THUNDER
Tony Allen, SG -0.106 GRIZZLIES
Sam Young, SG -0.164 GRIZZLIES
Darrell Arthur, PF -0.343 GRIZZLIES

THE AVERAGE OFFENSIVE SUB RATING
for all NBA players who play 300 minutes or more is about .385

DEFENSIVE SUB RATINGS FOR THIS GAME
--Shows the real quality of players' defense.

--Players who played at least 7 minutes in the game are included.

--The hidden defending component is included as described above.

--Beginning in 2011 we show just the combined listing; in prior years we separately showed the rank lists by team but this is now considered to be unnecessary.

Marc Gasol, C 0.553 GRIZZLIES
Kevin Durant, SF 0.483 THUNDER
Nick Collison, PF 0.481 THUNDER
Nazr Mohammed, C 0.472 THUNDER
Daequan Cook, SG 0.450 THUNDER
Zach Randolph, PF 0.438 GRIZZLIES
James Harden, SG 0.413 THUNDER
Sam Young, SG 0.343 GRIZZLIES
Russell Westbrook, PG 0.336 THUNDER
Tony Allen, SG 0.327 GRIZZLIES
Kendrick Perkins, C 0.317 THUNDER
Shane Battier, SF 0.305 GRIZZLIES
Thabo Sefolosha, SG 0.262 THUNDER
Mike Conley, PG 0.250 GRIZZLIES
Greivis Vasquez, PG 0.230 GRIZZLIES
Darrell Arthur, PF 0.226 GRIZZLIES
Eric Maynor, PG 0.195 THUNDER
Serge Ibaka, PF 0.156 THUNDER
O.J. Mayo, SG 0.130 GRIZZLIES

THE AVERAGE DEFENSIVE SUB RATING
for all NBA players who play 300 minutes or more is about .315

The breakdown between hidden and unhidden defending is available on request.

THE ALL IMPORTANT, AWARD WINNING REAL PLAYER RATINGS USER GUIDE
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.

ABOUT REAL PLAYER RATINGS REPORTS
Of the several dozen types of Reports that Quest for the Ring (QFTR) produces, Team Real Player Rating Reports are among the most important. A Real Player Rating Report gives you four very important ratings for every player in the Report:

--Overall Real Player Rating
--Real Player Production
--Offensive Sub Rating
--Defensive Sub Rating

These Reports are formatted reports. Formatted reports have a pre-set format and there is little or no custom commentary included. The whole idea of formatted reports is to provide a very large amount of important information very efficiently. The carefully planned and long evolved and perfected formatting eliminates the need for time-consuming custom text reporting in contexts where there is really no need for it. But to fully understand a formatted Report you need to be familiar with the User Guide for it.

There are two things you can do to get the full value out of RPR Reports. First, you can read parts or all of the User Guide for them (the link to the Guide is below). Second, you can simply visit a lot and see a lot of Reports and then you will automatically become better at interpreting what you see.

In contrast to formatted reports, QFTR breaks new ground in general and reveals its latest discoveries about basketball in particular in free form (non-formatted) text reports. While formatted posts are "on the reservation", non-formatted text reports are where QFTR "goes off the reservation". Both types of reports are essential; having just one type without the other type would reduce the value of QFTR by MORE than half.

QFTR is considering some kind of labelling system for posts that will allow visitors to even more easily than ever get to content they want or need.

During the regular season beginning in late January (when we can first validly calculate the hidden defending adjustments) QFTR posts Team Real Player Ratings for major contending teams and other selected teams as time permits. Between the end of the regular season and before the Conference Finals begin (in late April and in early May) QFTR posts the final ratings for approximately the ten best teams as of the beginning of the playoffs. If there is a major upset in round one and/or round two by a team whose ratings were not yet posted, QFTR will make sure to post those asap.

These final ratings can be used in team grids that are very important parts of any playoff series preview.

Unfortunately, production time limits that are caused partly by limited traffic mean that only a small number of playoff series previews can be produced. Remember, you can help QFTR get more production time by posting links to QFTR wherever you can, and then QFTR will link back to you on request (click the contact link under the banner).

Game Real Player Ratings Reports are produced for every NBA Championship game, every NBA Conference Final game, and for selected NBA semifinal games. For the semifinals, normally, the most interesting semifinal (round two) series will be selected (out of the four of them) and Real Player Ratings for every game in that series will be posted.

After the playoffs are completely over and the off-season arrives, QFTR has enough time to produce and publish a final annual Real Player Ratings Report for all thirty NBA teams. These annual records of who was really the best and who really did what are scheduled to be posted in late June and in early July. They are posted in alphabetic order by team starting with the Atlanta Hawks and ending with the Washington Wizards. The ones for the top teams that were posted in late April-early May are repeated so there is a complete set in alpha and chronological sequence.

If you ever spend quality time at QFTR you will discover that there are other types of Real Player Rating Reports. Many of these appear in the summer. Among the most important ones that come out in the summer are the League-Wide Real Player Ratings Reports. Also, don't miss the Real Player Ratings Reports by position if you are a serious basketball person.

This section was a limited and brief overview of Real Player Ratings Reports in general. What you need if you want to understand how the Ratings are constructed and why QFTR knows they are the best possible ratings is the User Guide for Real Player Ratings. This User Guide was last revised and updated in May 2010; a new revision is "on order" and is expected to be completed in May or June of 2011. The May 2010 edition is still very useful; the only section of it that is not completely accurate is the one where the specific factors are shown; the factors have been adjusted a little to reflect the latest information and understanding QFTR has about exactly how playoff games are won. There has also been a significant improvement in the calibration and validation of Real Player Ratings components.

So 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.

Real Player Ratings for the 2011 East Semifinal Game Four: Miami Heat 98 Boston Celtics 90, Overtime

2011-05-11T18:57:00.000-07:00

2011 EAST SEMIFINAL MIAMI HEAT VS BOSTON CELTICS GAME FOUR REAL PLAYER RATINGS
MAY 9 2011
BOSTON, MASSACHUSETTS
MIAMI HEAT 98 BOSTON CELTICS 90, OVERTIME
MIAMI LEADS BEST OF SEVEN SERIES 3-1

KEY PLAYERS WHO DID NOT PLAY
--These are the above average players who would have or should have played but did not.

--The reason is shown after the player if and only if it is known with at least 85% certainty.

--Usually the reason is known with 100% certainty.

--If the reason is not known with at least 85% certainty, the reason "unknown" is given.

--Injuries are NOT perfectly reported and information about them is archived nowhere on the Internet. Therefore, it is possible that when Quest for the Ring identifies "coaching error" or "unknown" as the reason, the real reason may have been an injury.

--If the reason "traded" is shown then in many cases a player who was obtained in that trade played instead.

CELTICS Marquis Daniels >>> traded
CELTICS Kendrick Perkins >>> traded
CELTICS Shaquille O'Neal >>> played only 4 minutes > coaching error or possibly effects of previous injury
CELTICS Nenad Kristic >>> Two players as good or better at the position played
CELTICS Von Wafer >>> Two better players at the position played

HEAT Udonis Haslem >>> played only 3 minutes > coaching error or possibly effects of previous injury
HEAT Eddie House >>> played only 3 minutes > coaching error

REAL PLAYER RATINGS FOR THIS GAME
--Real Player Rating shows you the real basketball quality of players quickly and accurately.

--Players who played at least 7 minutes in the game are included.

--Each player's hidden defending rating from the regular season is used as the Hidden Defending Adjustment (HDA). Obviously, players in any individual game including this one were not exactly as good defenders as they were on the average during the regular season. But since there is no way to provide HDA for individual games and since it is better to have some reasonable HDA than none at all, we use the season HDA as a reasonable substitute.

--Beginning in 2011 we show just the combined listing; in prior years we separately showed the rank lists by team but this is now considered to be unnecessary.

LeBron James, SF 1.147 HEAT
Paul Pierce, SF 1.023 CELTICS
Chris Bosh, PF 0.939 HEAT
Dwyane Wade, SG 0.929 HEAT
Jermaine O'Neal, C 0.902 CELTICS
Delonte West, SG 0.645 CELTICS
Rajon Rondo, PG 0.643 CELTICS
Ray Allen, SG 0.639 CELTICS
Kevin Garnett, PF 0.606 CELTICS
Joel Anthony, C 0.549 HEAT
Jeff Green, F 0.524 CELTICS
Mario Chalmers, PG 0.445 HEAT
James Jones, SF 0.403 HEAT
Glen Davis, PF 0.143 CELTICS
Mike Bibby, PG -0.158 HEAT
Mike Miller, SG -0.362 HEAT

SCALE FOR REGULAR SEASON REAL PLAYER RATINGS FOR A SINGLE GAME
Perfect Player for all Practical Purposes / Major Historic Super Star 1.200 and more
Historic Super Star 1.080 1.199
Super Star 0.960 1.079
A Star Player / A well above normal starter 0.860 0.959
Very Good Player / A solid starter 0.780 0.859
Major Role Player / Good enough to start 0.700 0.779
Good Role Player / Often a good 6th man, can possibly start 0.620 0.699
Satisfactory Role Player / Generally should not start 0.540 0.619
Marginal Role Player / Should not start except in an emergency 0.460 0.539
Poor Player / Should never start 0.380 0.459
Very Poor Player 0.300 0.379
Extremely Poor Player 0.299 and less

AVERAGE RATINGS BY POSITION
Not all positions are created equal. In pro basketball, point guard and center are the most important positions, power forward is in the middle, and small forward and shooting guard are the least important. (Some teams will have a different pattern.) The following are good estimates for average ratings by position among all NBA players who play 300 minutes or more. There are very few small forwards and shooting guards who don't fit at other positions who are superstars. Most superstars are players who can play point guard, power forward, or center.

Point Guard .750
Shooting Guard .635
Small Forward .645
Power Forward .715
Center .755
All Positions / All Players (NBA Overall Average) .700

To quickly and fairly compare two players who play different positions, convert their Ratings as follows:

Point Guards: Subtract .050; for example, .700 becomes .650
Shooting Guards: Add .065; for example, .700 becomes .765
Small Forwards: Add .055; for example, .700 becomes .755
Power Forwards: Subtract .015; for example, .700 becomes .685
Centers: Subtract .055; for example, .700 becomes .645

REAL PLAYER PRODUCTION FOR THIS GAME
--Shows the real basketball production (or quantity) of players.

--Players who played at least 7 minutes in the game are included.

--An estimate of the value of hidden defending production is included in the total production for all players shown; as described above hidden defending ratings from the regular season are used.

--Beginning in 2011 we show just the combined listing; in prior years we separately showed the rank lists by team but this is now considered to be unnecessary.

LeBron James, SF 57.35 HEAT
Paul Pierce, SF 46.04 CELTICS
Chris Bosh, PF 42.27 HEAT
Dwyane Wade, SG 41.81 HEAT
Ray Allen, SG 28.77 CELTICS
Jermaine O'Neal, C 25.26 CELTICS
Kevin Garnett, PF 24.86 CELTICS
Rajon Rondo, PG 24.44 CELTICS
Delonte West, SG 19.36 CELTICS
Joel Anthony, C 17.03 HEAT
James Jones, SF 12.08 HEAT
Mario Chalmers, PG 11.57 HEAT
Jeff Green, F 8.91 CELTICS
Glen Davis, PF 2.43 CELTICS
Mike Miller, SG -2.54 HEAT
Mike Bibby, PG -3.31 HEAT

=============== OFFENSIVE AND DEFENSIVE SUB RATINGS FOR THIS GAME ===============

OFFENSIVE SUB RATINGS FOR THIS GAME
--Shows the real quality of players' offense.

--Players who played at least 7 minutes in the game are included.

--The hidden defending component is not a part of the offensive sub rating.

--Beginning in 2011 we show just the combined listing; in prior years we separately showed the rank lists by team but this is now considered to be unnecessary.

Dwyane Wade, SG 0.609 HEAT
LeBron James, SF 0.561 HEAT
Paul Pierce, SF 0.458 CELTICS
Jermaine O'Neal, C 0.451 CELTICS
Chris Bosh, PF 0.390 HEAT
Rajon Rondo, PG 0.385 CELTICS
Jeff Green, F 0.296 CELTICS
Ray Allen, SG 0.284 CELTICS
Delonte West, SG 0.163 CELTICS
Joel Anthony, C 0.094 HEAT
Mario Chalmers, PG 0.090 HEAT
James Jones, SF 0.015 HEAT
Glen Davis, PF -0.018 CELTICS
Kevin Garnett, PF -0.085 CELTICS
Mike Bibby, PG -0.156 HEAT
Mike Miller, SG -0.289 HEAT

THE AVERAGE OFFENSIVE SUB RATING
for all NBA players who play 300 minutes or more is about .385

DEFENSIVE SUB RATINGS FOR THIS GAME
--Shows the real quality of players' defense.

--Players who played at least 7 minutes in the game are included.

--The hidden defending component is included as described above.

--Beginning in 2011 we show just the combined listing; in prior years we separately showed the rank lists by team but this is now considered to be unnecessary.

Kevin Garnett, PF 0.691 CELTICS
LeBron James, SF 0.586 HEAT
Paul Pierce, SF 0.565 CELTICS
Chris Bosh, PF 0.549 HEAT
Delonte West, SG 0.483 CELTICS
Joel Anthony, C 0.455 HEAT
Jermaine O'Neal, C 0.451 CELTICS
James Jones, SF 0.387 HEAT
Ray Allen, SG 0.355 CELTICS
Mario Chalmers, PG 0.355 HEAT
Dwyane Wade, SG 0.320 HEAT
Rajon Rondo, PG 0.258 CELTICS
Jeff Green, F 0.228 CELTICS
Glen Davis, PF 0.161 CELTICS
Mike Bibby, PG -0.002 HEAT
Mike Miller, SG -0.073 HEAT

THE AVERAGE DEFENSIVE SUB RATING
for all NBA players who play 300 minutes or more is about .315

The breakdown between hidden and unhidden defending is available on request.

THE ALL IMPORTANT, AWARD WINNING REAL PLAYER RATINGS USER GUIDE
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.

ABOUT REAL PLAYER RATINGS REPORTS
Of the several dozen types of Reports that Quest for the Ring (QFTR) produces, Team Real Player Rating Reports are among the most important. A Real Player Rating Report gives you four very important ratings for every player in the Report:

--Overall Real Player Rating
--Real Player Production
--Offensive Sub Rating
--Defensive Sub Rating

These Reports are formatted reports. Formatted reports have a pre-set format and there is little or no custom commentary included. The whole idea of formatted reports is to provide a very large amount of important information very efficiently. The carefully planned and long evolved and perfected formatting eliminates the need for time-consuming custom text reporting in contexts where there is really no need for it. But to fully understand a formatted Report you need to be familiar with the User Guide for it.

There are two things you can do to get the full value out of RPR Reports. First, you can read parts or all of the User Guide for them (the link to the Guide is below). Second, you can simply visit a lot and see a lot of Reports and then you will automatically become better at interpreting what you see.

In contrast to formatted reports, QFTR breaks new ground in general and reveals its latest discoveries about basketball in particular in free form (non-formatted) text reports. While formatted posts are "on the reservation", non-formatted text reports are where QFTR "goes off the reservation". Both types of reports are essential; having just one type without the other type would reduce the value of QFTR by MORE than half.

QFTR is considering some kind of labelling system for posts that will allow visitors to even more easily than ever get to content they want or need.

During the regular season beginning in late January (when we can first validly calculate the hidden defending adjustments) QFTR posts Team Real Player Ratings for major contending teams and other selected teams as time permits. Between the end of the regular season and before the Conference Finals begin (in late April and in early May) QFTR posts the final ratings for approximately the ten best teams as of the beginning of the playoffs. If there is a major upset in round one and/or round two by a team whose ratings were not yet posted, QFTR will make sure to post those asap.

These final ratings can be used in team grids that are very important parts of any playoff series preview.

Unfortunately, production time limits that are caused partly by limited traffic mean that only a small number of playoff series previews can be produced. Remember, you can help QFTR get more production time by posting links to QFTR wherever you can, and then QFTR will link back to you on request (click the contact link under the banner).

Game Real Player Ratings Reports are produced for every NBA Championship game, every NBA Conference Final game, and for selected NBA semifinal games. For the semifinals, normally, the most interesting semifinal (round two) series will be selected (out of the four of them) and Real Player Ratings for every game in that series will be posted.

After the playoffs are completely over and the off-season arrives, QFTR has enough time to produce and publish a final annual Real Player Ratings Report for all thirty NBA teams. These annual records of who was really the best and who really did what are scheduled to be posted in late June and in early July. They are posted in alphabetic order by team starting with the Atlanta Hawks and ending with the Washington Wizards. The ones for the top teams that were posted in late April-early May are repeated so there is a complete set in alpha and chronological sequence.

If you ever spend quality time at QFTR you will discover that there are other types of Real Player Rating Reports. Many of these appear in the summer. Among the most important ones that come out in the summer are the League-Wide Real Player Ratings Reports. Also, don't miss the Real Player Ratings Reports by position if you are a serious basketball person.

This section was a limited and brief overview of Real Player Ratings Reports in general. What you need if you want to understand how the Ratings are constructed and why QFTR knows they are the best possible ratings is the User Guide for Real Player Ratings. This User Guide was last revised and updated in May 2010; a new revision is "on order" and is expected to be completed in May or June of 2011. The May 2010 edition is still very useful; the only section of it that is not completely accurate is the one where the specific factors are shown; the factors have been adjusted a little to reflect the latest information and understanding QFTR has about exactly how playoff games are won. There has also been a significant improvement in the calibration and validation of Real Player Ratings components.

So 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.

Real Player Ratings for the 2011 East Semifinal Game Three: Boston Celtics 97 Miami Heat 81

2011-05-09T02:50:00.000-07:00

2011 SEMIFINAL OKLAHOMA THUNDER VS MEMPHIS GRIZZLIES GAME THREE REAL PLAYER RATINGS
MAY 7 2011
BOSTON, MASSACHUSETTS
BOSTON CELTICS 97 MIAMI HEAT 81
MIAMI LEADS BEST OF SEVEN SERIES 2-1

KEY PLAYERS WHO DID NOT PLAY
--These are the above average players who would have or should have played but did not.

--The reason is shown after the player if and only if it is known with at least 85% certainty.

--Usually the reason is known with 100% certainty.

--If the reason is not known with at least 85% certainty, the reason "unknown" is given.

--Injuries are NOT perfectly reported and information about them is archived nowhere on the Internet. Therefore, it is possible that when Quest for the Ring identifies "coaching error" or "unknown" as the reason, the real reason may have been an injury.

--If the reason "traded" is shown then in many cases a player who was obtained in that trade played instead.

CELTICS Marquis Daniels >>> traded
CELTICS Kendrick Perkins >>> traded
CELTICS Nenad Kristic >>> Two players as good or better at the position played
CELTICS Von Wafer >>> two better players at the position played

HEAT Udonis Haslem >>> injured
HEAT Eddie House >>> coaching error

REAL PLAYER RATINGS FOR THIS GAME
--Real Player Rating shows you the real basketball quality of players quickly and accurately.

--Players who played at least 7 minutes in the game are included.

--Each player's hidden defending rating from the regular season is used as the Hidden Defending Adjustment (HDA). Obviously, players in any individual game including this one were not exactly as good defenders as they were on the average during the regular season. But since there is no way to provide HDA for individual games and since it is better to have some reasonable HDA than none at all, we use the season HDA as a reasonable substitute.

--Beginning in 2011 we show just the combined listing; in prior years we separately showed the rank lists by team but this is now considered to be unnecessary.

Kevin Garnett, PF 1.722 CELTICS
Mario Chalmers, PG 1.381 HEAT
Paul Pierce, SF 1.306 CELTICS
Joel Anthony, C 1.072 HEAT
Dwyane Wade, SG 1.012 HEAT
Jermaine O'Neal, C 0.799 CELTICS
Rajon Rondo, PG 0.779 CELTICS
Jeff Green, F 0.731 CELTICS
Ray Allen, SG 0.712 CELTICS
Delonte West, SG 0.707 CELTICS
LeBron James, SF 0.671 HEAT
Glen Davis, PF 0.633 CELTICS
Zydrunas Ilgauskas, C 0.615 HEAT
Chris Bosh, PF 0.534 HEAT
James Jones, SF 0.354 HEAT
Shaquille O'Neal, C 0.298 CELTICS
Mike Bibby, PG -0.326 HEAT

SCALE FOR REGULAR SEASON REAL PLAYER RATINGS FOR A SINGLE GAME
Perfect Player for all Practical Purposes / Major Historic Super Star 1.200 and more
Historic Super Star 1.080 1.199
Super Star 0.960 1.079
A Star Player / A well above normal starter 0.860 0.959
Very Good Player / A solid starter 0.780 0.859
Major Role Player / Good enough to start 0.700 0.779
Good Role Player / Often a good 6th man, can possibly start 0.620 0.699
Satisfactory Role Player / Generally should not start 0.540 0.619
Marginal Role Player / Should not start except in an emergency 0.460 0.539
Poor Player / Should never start 0.380 0.459
Very Poor Player 0.300 0.379
Extremely Poor Player 0.299 and less

AVERAGE RATINGS BY POSITION
Not all positions are created equal. In pro basketball, point guard and center are the most important positions, power forward is in the middle, and small forward and shooting guard are the least important. (Some teams will have a different pattern.) The following are good estimates for average ratings by position among all NBA players who play 300 minutes or more. There are very few small forwards and shooting guards who don't fit at other positions who are superstars. Most superstars are players who can play point guard, power forward, or center.

Point Guard .750
Shooting Guard .635
Small Forward .645
Power Forward .715
Center .755
All Positions / All Players (NBA Overall Average) .700

To quickly and fairly compare two players who play different positions, convert their Ratings as follows:

Point Guards: Subtract .050; for example, .700 becomes .650
Shooting Guards: Add .065; for example, .700 becomes .765
Small Forwards: Add .055; for example, .700 becomes .755
Power Forwards: Subtract .015; for example, .700 becomes .685
Centers: Subtract .055; for example, .700 becomes .645

REAL PLAYER PRODUCTION FOR THIS GAME
--Shows the real basketball production (or quantity) of players.

--Players who played at least 7 minutes in the game are included.

--An estimate of the value of hidden defending production is included in the total production for all players shown; as described above hidden defending ratings from the regular season are used.

--Beginning in 2011 we show just the combined listing; in prior years we separately showed the rank lists by team but this is now considered to be unnecessary.

Kevin Garnett, PF 65.43 CELTICS
Paul Pierce, SF 53.55 CELTICS
Mario Chalmers, PG 42.80 HEAT
Dwyane Wade, SG 40.47 HEAT
Joel Anthony, C 39.66 HEAT
LeBron James, SF 28.87 HEAT
Ray Allen, SG 27.75 CELTICS
Rajon Rondo, PG 27.28 CELTICS
Delonte West, SG 17.68 CELTICS
Jermaine O'Neal, C 17.58 CELTICS
Chris Bosh, PF 16.01 HEAT
Jeff Green, F 15.35 CELTICS
James Jones, SF 9.55 HEAT
Glen Davis, PF 6.96 CELTICS
Zydrunas Ilgauskas, C 6.15 HEAT
Shaquille O'Neal, C 2.39 CELTICS
Mike Bibby, PG -5.54 HEAT

=============== OFFENSIVE AND DEFENSIVE SUB RATINGS FOR THIS GAME ===============

OFFENSIVE SUB RATINGS FOR THIS GAME
--Shows the real quality of players' offense.

--Players who played at least 7 minutes in the game are included.

--The hidden defending component is not a part of the offensive sub rating.

--Beginning in 2011 we show just the combined listing; in prior years we separately showed the rank lists by team but this is now considered to be unnecessary.

Kevin Garnett, PF 0.976 CELTICS
Paul Pierce, SF 0.839 CELTICS
Mario Chalmers, PG 0.796 HEAT
Dwyane Wade, SG 0.702 HEAT
Delonte West, SG 0.536 CELTICS
Joel Anthony, C 0.488 HEAT
Ray Allen, SG 0.446 CELTICS
Rajon Rondo, PG 0.408 CELTICS
Jermaine O'Neal, C 0.168 CELTICS
Chris Bosh, PF 0.126 HEAT
Jeff Green, F 0.124 CELTICS
James Jones, SF 0.112 HEAT
Glen Davis, PF 0.111 CELTICS
Zydrunas Ilgauskas, C 0.106 HEAT
LeBron James, SF 0.062 HEAT
Shaquille O'Neal, C -0.063 CELTICS
Mike Bibby, PG -0.337 HEAT

THE AVERAGE OFFENSIVE SUB RATING
for all NBA players who play 300 minutes or more is about .385

DEFENSIVE SUB RATINGS FOR THIS GAME
--Shows the real quality of players' defense.

--Players who played at least 7 minutes in the game are included.

--The hidden defending component is included as described above.

--Beginning in 2011 we show just the combined listing; in prior years we separately showed the rank lists by team but this is now considered to be unnecessary.

Kevin Garnett, PF 0.746 CELTICS
Jermaine O'Neal, C 0.631 CELTICS
LeBron James, SF 0.609 HEAT
Jeff Green, F 0.607 CELTICS
Joel Anthony, C 0.584 HEAT
Mario Chalmers, PG 0.584 HEAT
Glen Davis, PF 0.522 CELTICS
Zydrunas Ilgauskas, C 0.509 HEAT
Paul Pierce, SF 0.467 CELTICS
Chris Bosh, PF 0.408 HEAT
Rajon Rondo, PG 0.372 CELTICS
Shaquille O'Neal, C 0.362 CELTICS
Dwyane Wade, SG 0.310 HEAT
Ray Allen, SG 0.265 CELTICS
James Jones, SF 0.241 HEAT
Delonte West, SG 0.171 CELTICS
Mike Bibby, PG 0.011 HEAT

THE AVERAGE DEFENSIVE SUB RATING
for all NBA players who play 300 minutes or more is about .315

The breakdown between hidden and unhidden defending is available on request.

THE ALL IMPORTANT, AWARD WINNING REAL PLAYER RATINGS USER GUIDE
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.

ABOUT REAL PLAYER RATINGS REPORTS
Of the several dozen types of Reports that Quest for the Ring (QFTR) produces, Team Real Player Rating Reports are among the most important. A Real Player Rating Report gives you four very important ratings for every player in the Report:

--Overall Real Player Rating
--Real Player Production
--Offensive Sub Rating
--Defensive Sub Rating

These Reports are formatted reports. Formatted reports have a pre-set format and there is little or no custom commentary included. The whole idea of formatted reports is to provide a very large amount of important information very efficiently. The carefully planned and long evolved and perfected formatting eliminates the need for time-consuming custom text reporting in contexts where there is really no need for it. But to fully understand a formatted Report you need to be familiar with the User Guide for it.

There are two things you can do to get the full value out of RPR Reports. First, you can read parts or all of the User Guide for them (the link to the Guide is below). Second, you can simply visit a lot and see a lot of Reports and then you will automatically become better at interpreting what you see.

In contrast to formatted reports, QFTR breaks new ground in general and reveals its latest discoveries about basketball in particular in free form (non-formatted) text reports. While formatted posts are "on the reservation", non-formatted text reports are where QFTR "goes off the reservation". Both types of reports are essential; having just one type without the other type would reduce the value of QFTR by MORE than half.

QFTR is considering some kind of labelling system for posts that will allow visitors to even more easily than ever get to content they want or need.

During the regular season beginning in late January (when we can first validly calculate the hidden defending adjustments) QFTR posts Team Real Player Ratings for major contending teams and other selected teams as time permits. Between the end of the regular season and before the Conference Finals begin (in late April and in early May) QFTR posts the final ratings for approximately the ten best teams as of the beginning of the playoffs. If there is a major upset in round one and/or round two by a team whose ratings were not yet posted, QFTR will make sure to post those asap.

These final ratings can be used in team grids that are very important parts of any playoff series preview.

Unfortunately, production time limits that are caused partly by limited traffic mean that only a small number of playoff series previews can be produced. Remember, you can help QFTR get more production time by posting links to QFTR wherever you can, and then QFTR will link back to you on request (click the contact link under the banner).

Game Real Player Ratings Reports are produced for every NBA Championship game, every NBA Conference Final game, and for selected NBA semifinal games. For the semifinals, normally, the most interesting semifinal (round two) series will be selected (out of the four of them) and Real Player Ratings for every game in that series will be posted.

After the playoffs are completely over and the off-season arrives, QFTR has enough time to produce and publish a final annual Real Player Ratings Report for all thirty NBA teams. These annual records of who was really the best and who really did what are scheduled to be posted in late June and in early July. They are posted in alphabetic order by team starting with the Atlanta Hawks and ending with the Washington Wizards. The ones for the top teams that were posted in late April-early May are repeated so there is a complete set in alpha and chronological sequence.

If you ever spend quality time at QFTR you will discover that there are other types of Real Player Rating Reports. Many of these appear in the summer. Among the most important ones that come out in the summer are the League-Wide Real Player Ratings Reports. Also, don't miss the Real Player Ratings Reports by position if you are a serious basketball person.

This section was a limited and brief overview of Real Player Ratings Reports in general. What you need if you want to understand how the Ratings are constructed and why QFTR knows they are the best possible ratings is the User Guide for Real Player Ratings. This User Guide was last revised and updated in May 2010; a new revision is "on order" and is expected to be completed in May or June of 2011. The May 2010 edition is still very useful; the only section of it that is not completely accurate is the one where the specific factors are shown; the factors have been adjusted a little to reflect the latest information and understanding QFTR has about exactly how playoff games are won. There has also been a significant improvement in the calibration and validation of Real Player Ratings components.

So 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.

Real Player Ratings for the 2011 West Semifinal Game Three: Memphis Grizzlies 101 Oklahoma Thunder 93, Overtime

2011-05-08T15:01:00.000-07:00

2011 SEMIFINAL OKLAHOMA THUNDER VS MEMPHIS GRIZZLIES GAME THREE REAL PLAYER RATINGS
MAY 7 2011
MEMPHIS, TENNESSEE
MEMPHIS GRIZZLIES 101 OKLAHOMA THUNDER 93, OVERTIME
MEMPHIS LEADS BEST OF SEVEN SERIES 2-1

KEY PLAYERS WHO DID NOT PLAY
--These are the above average players who would have or should have played but did not.

--The reason is shown after the player if and only if it is known with at least 85% certainty.

--Usually the reason is known with 100% certainty.

--If the reason is not known with at least 85% certainty, the reason "unknown" is given.

--Injuries are NOT perfectly reported and information about them is archived nowhere on the Internet. Therefore, it is possible that when Quest for the Ring identifies "coaching error" or "unknown" as the reason, the real reason may have been an injury.

--If the reason "traded" is shown then in many cases a player who was obtained in that trade played instead.

GRIZZLIES Rudy Gay >>> injured

THUNDER Nazr Muhammed >>> played only 6 minutes; coaching error

REAL PLAYER RATINGS FOR THIS GAME
--Real Player Rating shows you the real basketball quality of players quickly and accurately.

--Players who played at least 7 minutes in the game are included.

--Each player's hidden defending rating from the regular season is used as the Hidden Defending Adjustment (HDA). Obviously, players in any individual game including this one were not exactly as good defenders as they were on the average during the regular season. But since there is no way to provide HDA for individual games and since it is better to have some reasonable HDA than none at all, we use the season HDA as a reasonable substitute.

--Beginning in 2011 we show just the combined listing; in prior years we separately showed the rank lists by team but this is now considered to be unnecessary.

James Harden, G 1.053 THUNDER
Zach Randolph, PF 0.889 GRIZZLIES
O.J. Mayo, SG 0.884 GRIZZLIES
Kendrick Perkins, C 0.866 THUNDER
Serge Ibaka, PF 0.822 THUNDER
Russell Westbrook, PG 0.809 THUNDER
Mike Conley, PG 0.787 GRIZZLIES
Marc Gasol, C 0.751 GRIZZLIES
Eric Maynor, PG 0.688 THUNDER
Tony Allen, SG 0.638 GRIZZLIES
Nick Collison, PF 0.614 THUNDER
Kevin Durant, SF 0.600 THUNDER
Shane Battier, SF 0.585 GRIZZLIES
Thabo Sefolosha, SG 0.563 THUNDER
Sam Young, SG 0.362 GRIZZLIES
Darrell Arthur, PF 0.355 GRIZZLIES
Daequan Cook, SG -0.333 THUNDER

SCALE FOR REGULAR SEASON REAL PLAYER RATINGS FOR A SINGLE GAME
Perfect Player for all Practical Purposes / Major Historic Super Star 1.200 and more
Historic Super Star 1.080 1.199
Super Star 0.960 1.079
A Star Player / A well above normal starter 0.860 0.959
Very Good Player / A solid starter 0.780 0.859
Major Role Player / Good enough to start 0.700 0.779
Good Role Player / Often a good 6th man, can possibly start 0.620 0.699
Satisfactory Role Player / Generally should not start 0.540 0.619
Marginal Role Player / Should not start except in an emergency 0.460 0.539
Poor Player / Should never start 0.380 0.459
Very Poor Player 0.300 0.379
Extremely Poor Player 0.299 and less

AVERAGE RATINGS BY POSITION
Not all positions are created equal. In pro basketball, point guard and center are the most important positions, power forward is in the middle, and small forward and shooting guard are the least important. (Some teams will have a different pattern.) The following are good estimates for average ratings by position among all NBA players who play 300 minutes or more. There are very few small forwards and shooting guards who don't fit at other positions who are superstars. Most superstars are players who can play point guard, power forward, or center.

Point Guard .750
Shooting Guard .635
Small Forward .645
Power Forward .715
Center .755
All Positions / All Players (NBA Overall Average) .700

To quickly and fairly compare two players who play different positions, convert their Ratings as follows:

Point Guards: Subtract .050; for example, .700 becomes .650
Shooting Guards: Add .065; for example, .700 becomes .765
Small Forwards: Add .055; for example, .700 becomes .755
Power Forwards: Subtract .015; for example, .700 becomes .685
Centers: Subtract .055; for example, .700 becomes .645

REAL PLAYER PRODUCTION FOR THIS GAME
--Shows the real basketball production (or quantity) of players.

--Players who played at least 7 minutes in the game are included.

--An estimate of the value of hidden defending production is included in the total production for all players shown; as described above hidden defending ratings from the regular season are used.

--Beginning in 2011 we show just the combined listing; in prior years we separately showed the rank lists by team but this is now considered to be unnecessary.

Zach Randolph, PF 39.09 GRIZZLIES
O.J. Mayo, SG 37.11 GRIZZLIES
Mike Conley, PG 37.01 GRIZZLIES
Serge Ibaka, PF 35.34 THUNDER
Russell Westbrook, PG 34.78 THUNDER
Marc Gasol, C 29.29 GRIZZLIES
Kevin Durant, SF 28.80 THUNDER
Kendrick Perkins, C 26.85 THUNDER
James Harden, G 26.32 THUNDER
Tony Allen, SG 18.50 GRIZZLIES
Thabo Sefolosha, SG 15.75 THUNDER
Shane Battier, SF 14.62 GRIZZLIES
Nick Collison, PF 14.12 THUNDER
Sam Young, SG 5.78 GRIZZLIES
Eric Maynor, PG 4.54 THUNDER
Darrell Arthur, PF 3.91 GRIZZLIES
Daequan Cook, SG -2.67 THUNDER

=============== OFFENSIVE AND DEFENSIVE SUB RATINGS FOR THIS GAME ===============

OFFENSIVE SUB RATINGS FOR THIS GAME
--Shows the real quality of players' offense.

--Players who played at least 7 minutes in the game are included.

--The hidden defending component is not a part of the offensive sub rating.

--Beginning in 2011 we show just the combined listing; in prior years we separately showed the rank lists by team but this is now considered to be unnecessary.

Russell Westbrook, PG 0.610 THUNDER
James Harden, G 0.525 THUNDER
O.J. Mayo, SG 0.515 GRIZZLIES
Eric Maynor, PG 0.454 THUNDER
Mike Conley, PG 0.363 GRIZZLIES
Kendrick Perkins, C 0.358 THUNDER
Serge Ibaka, PF 0.322 THUNDER
Zach Randolph, PF 0.318 GRIZZLIES
Nick Collison, PF 0.258 THUNDER
Marc Gasol, C 0.253 GRIZZLIES
Shane Battier, SF 0.247 GRIZZLIES
Tony Allen, SG 0.218 GRIZZLIES
Thabo Sefolosha, SG 0.216 THUNDER
Kevin Durant, SF 0.202 THUNDER
Darrell Arthur, PF 0.114 GRIZZLIES
Sam Young, SG -0.232 GRIZZLIES
Daequan Cook, SG -0.380 THUNDER

THE AVERAGE OFFENSIVE SUB RATING
for all NBA players who play 300 minutes or more is about .385

DEFENSIVE SUB RATINGS FOR THIS GAME
--Shows the real quality of players' defense.

--Players who played at least 7 minutes in the game are included.

--The hidden defending component is included as described above.

--Beginning in 2011 we show just the combined listing; in prior years we separately showed the rank lists by team but this is now considered to be unnecessary.

Sam Young, SG 0.593 GRIZZLIES
Zach Randolph, PF 0.571 GRIZZLIES
James Harden, G 0.528 THUNDER
Kendrick Perkins, C 0.508 THUNDER
Serge Ibaka, PF 0.500 THUNDER
Marc Gasol, C 0.498 GRIZZLIES
Mike Conley, PG 0.424 GRIZZLIES
Tony Allen, SG 0.420 GRIZZLIES
Kevin Durant, SF 0.398 THUNDER
O.J. Mayo, SG 0.369 GRIZZLIES
Nick Collison, PF 0.356 THUNDER
Thabo Sefolosha, SG 0.346 THUNDER
Shane Battier, SF 0.338 GRIZZLIES
Darrell Arthur, PF 0.241 GRIZZLIES
Eric Maynor, PG 0.234 THUNDER
Russell Westbrook, PG 0.199 THUNDER
Daequan Cook, SG 0.047 THUNDER

THE AVERAGE DEFENSIVE SUB RATING
for all NBA players who play 300 minutes or more is about .315

The breakdown between hidden and unhidden defending is available on request.

THE ALL IMPORTANT, AWARD WINNING REAL PLAYER RATINGS USER GUIDE
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.

ABOUT REAL PLAYER RATINGS REPORTS
Of the several dozen types of Reports that Quest for the Ring (QFTR) produces, Team Real Player Rating Reports are among the most important. A Real Player Rating Report gives you four very important ratings for every player in the Report:

--Overall Real Player Rating
--Real Player Production
--Offensive Sub Rating
--Defensive Sub Rating

These Reports are formatted reports. Formatted reports have a pre-set format and there is little or no custom commentary included. The whole idea of formatted reports is to provide a very large amount of important information very efficiently. The carefully planned and long evolved and perfected formatting eliminates the need for time-consuming custom text reporting in contexts where there is really no need for it. But to fully understand a formatted Report you need to be familiar with the User Guide for it.

There are two things you can do to get the full value out of RPR Reports. First, you can read parts or all of the User Guide for them (the link to the Guide is below). Second, you can simply visit a lot and see a lot of Reports and then you will automatically become better at interpreting what you see.

In contrast to formatted reports, QFTR breaks new ground in general and reveals its latest discoveries about basketball in particular in free form (non-formatted) text reports. While formatted posts are "on the reservation", non-formatted text reports are where QFTR "goes off the reservation". Both types of reports are essential; having just one type without the other type would reduce the value of QFTR by MORE than half.

QFTR is considering some kind of labelling system for posts that will allow visitors to even more easily than ever get to content they want or need.

During the regular season beginning in late January (when we can first validly calculate the hidden defending adjustments) QFTR posts Team Real Player Ratings for major contending teams and other selected teams as time permits. Between the end of the regular season and before the Conference Finals begin (in late April and in early May) QFTR posts the final ratings for approximately the ten best teams as of the beginning of the playoffs. If there is a major upset in round one and/or round two by a team whose ratings were not yet posted, QFTR will make sure to post those asap.

These final ratings can be used in team grids that are very important parts of any playoff series preview.

Unfortunately, production time limits that are caused partly by limited traffic mean that only a small number of playoff series previews can be produced. Remember, you can help QFTR get more production time by posting links to QFTR wherever you can, and then QFTR will link back to you on request (click the contact link under the banner).

Game Real Player Ratings Reports are produced for every NBA Championship game, every NBA Conference Final game, and for selected NBA semifinal games. For the semifinals, normally, the most interesting semifinal (round two) series will be selected (out of the four of them) and Real Player Ratings for every game in that series will be posted.

After the playoffs are completely over and the off-season arrives, QFTR has enough time to produce and publish a final annual Real Player Ratings Report for all thirty NBA teams. These annual records of who was really the best and who really did what are scheduled to be posted in late June and in early July. They are posted in alphabetic order by team starting with the Atlanta Hawks and ending with the Washington Wizards. The ones for the top teams that were posted in late April-early May are repeated so there is a complete set in alpha and chronological sequence.

If you ever spend quality time at QFTR you will discover that there are other types of Real Player Rating Reports. Many of these appear in the summer. Among the most important ones that come out in the summer are the League-Wide Real Player Ratings Reports. Also, don't miss the Real Player Ratings Reports by position if you are a serious basketball person.

This section was a limited and brief overview of Real Player Ratings Reports in general. What you need if you want to understand how the Ratings are constructed and why QFTR knows they are the best possible ratings is the User Guide for Real Player Ratings. This User Guide was last revised and updated in May 2010; a new revision is "on order" and is expected to be completed in May or June of 2011. The May 2010 edition is still very useful; the only section of it that is not completely accurate is the one where the specific factors are shown; the factors have been adjusted a little to reflect the latest information and understanding QFTR has about exactly how playoff games are won. There has also been a significant improvement in the calibration and validation of Real Player Ratings components.

So 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.

Real Player Ratings for the 2011 West Semifinal Game Two Oklahoma Thunder 111 Memphis Grizzlies 102

2011-05-08T14:07:00.000-07:00

2011 SEMIFINAL OKLAHOMA THUNDER VS MEMPHIS GRIZZLIES GAME TWO REAL PLAYER RATINGS
MAY 3 2011
OKLAHOMA CITY, OKLAHOMA
OKLAHOMA THUNDER 111 MEMPHIS GRIZZLIES 102
BEST OF SEVEN SERIES IS TIED 1-1

KEY PLAYERS WHO DID NOT PLAY
--These are the above average players who would have or should have played but did not.

--The reason is shown after the player if and only if it is known with at least 85% certainty.

--Usually the reason is known with 100% certainty.

--If the reason is not known with at least 85% certainty, the reason "unknown" is given.

--Injuries are NOT perfectly reported and information about them is archived nowhere on the Internet. Therefore, it is possible that when Quest for the Ring identifies "coaching error" or "unknown" as the reason, the real reason may have been an injury.

--If the reason "traded" is shown then in many cases a player who was obtained in that trade played instead.

GRIZZLIES Rudy Gay >>> injured

THUNDER All above average players played in this game

REAL PLAYER RATINGS FOR THIS GAME
--Real Player Rating shows you the real basketball quality of players quickly and accurately.

--Players who played at least 7 minutes in the game are included.

--Each player's hidden defending rating from the regular season is used as the Hidden Defending Adjustment (HDA). Obviously, players in any individual game including this one were not exactly as good defenders as they were on the average during the regular season. But since there is no way to provide HDA for individual games and since it is better to have some reasonable HDA than none at all, we use the season HDA as a reasonable substitute.

--Beginning in 2011 we show just the combined listing; in prior years we separately showed the rank lists by team but this is now considered to be unnecessary.

Eric Maynor, PG 1.988 THUNDER
James Harden, G 1.518 THUNDER
Marc Gasol, C 1.134 GRIZZLIES
Mike Conley, PG 1.127 GRIZZLIES
Russell Westbrook, PG 1.016 THUNDER
Nick Collison, PF 1.000 THUNDER
Daequan Cook, SG 0.945 THUNDER
Sam Young, SG 0.875 GRIZZLIES
Zach Randolph, PF 0.705 GRIZZLIES
Kevin Durant, SF 0.689 THUNDER
O.J. Mayo, SG 0.654 GRIZZLIES
Serge Ibaka, PF 0.627 THUNDER
Darrell Arthur, PF 0.617 GRIZZLIES
Tony Allen, SG 0.544 GRIZZLIES
Kendrick Perkins, C 0.488 THUNDER
Greivis Vasquez, G 0.351 GRIZZLIES
Shane Battier, SF 0.304 GRIZZLIES
Thabo Sefolosha, SG 0.151 THUNDER
Nazr Mohammed, C -0.275 THUNDER

SCALE FOR REGULAR SEASON REAL PLAYER RATINGS FOR A SINGLE GAME
Perfect Player for all Practical Purposes / Major Historic Super Star 1.200 and more
Historic Super Star 1.080 1.199
Super Star 0.960 1.079
A Star Player / A well above normal starter 0.860 0.959
Very Good Player / A solid starter 0.780 0.859
Major Role Player / Good enough to start 0.700 0.779
Good Role Player / Often a good 6th man, can possibly start 0.620 0.699
Satisfactory Role Player / Generally should not start 0.540 0.619
Marginal Role Player / Should not start except in an emergency 0.460 0.539
Poor Player / Should never start 0.380 0.459
Very Poor Player 0.300 0.379
Extremely Poor Player 0.299 and less

AVERAGE RATINGS BY POSITION
Not all positions are created equal. In pro basketball, point guard and center are the most important positions, power forward is in the middle, and small forward and shooting guard are the least important. (Some teams will have a different pattern.) The following are good estimates for average ratings by position among all NBA players who play 300 minutes or more. There are very few small forwards and shooting guards who don't fit at other positions who are superstars. Most superstars are players who can play point guard, power forward, or center.

Point Guard .750
Shooting Guard .635
Small Forward .645
Power Forward .715
Center .755
All Positions / All Players (NBA Overall Average) .700

To quickly and fairly compare two players who play different positions, convert their Ratings as follows:

Point Guards: Subtract .050; for example, .700 becomes .650
Shooting Guards: Add .065; for example, .700 becomes .765
Small Forwards: Add .055; for example, .700 becomes .755
Power Forwards: Subtract .015; for example, .700 becomes .685
Centers: Subtract .055; for example, .700 becomes .645

REAL PLAYER PRODUCTION FOR THIS GAME
--Shows the real basketball production (or quantity) of players.

--Players who played at least 7 minutes in the game are included.

--An estimate of the value of hidden defending production is included in the total production for all players shown; as described above hidden defending ratings from the regular season are used.

--Beginning in 2011 we show just the combined listing; in prior years we separately showed the rank lists by team but this is now considered to be unnecessary.

Mike Conley, PG 46.20 GRIZZLIES
James Harden, G 45.55 THUNDER
Marc Gasol, C 41.96 GRIZZLIES
Russell Westbrook, PG 33.53 THUNDER
Eric Maynor, PG 29.82 THUNDER
Zach Randolph, PF 27.50 GRIZZLIES
Nick Collison, PF 25.00 THUNDER
Kevin Durant, SF 23.43 THUNDER
Sam Young, SG 22.76 GRIZZLIES
Serge Ibaka, PF 18.81 THUNDER
O.J. Mayo, SG 18.30 GRIZZLIES
Kendrick Perkins, C 15.63 THUNDER
Tony Allen, SG 15.23 GRIZZLIES
Darrell Arthur, PF 12.34 GRIZZLIES
Daequan Cook, SG 9.45 THUNDER
Shane Battier, SF 4.25 GRIZZLIES
Thabo Sefolosha, SG 3.32 THUNDER
Greivis Vasquez, G 2.46 GRIZZLIES
Nazr Mohammed, C -2.20 THUNDER

=============== OFFENSIVE AND DEFENSIVE SUB RATINGS FOR THIS GAME ===============

OFFENSIVE SUB RATINGS FOR THIS GAME
--Shows the real quality of players' offense.

--Players who played at least 7 minutes in the game are included.

--The hidden defending component is not a part of the offensive sub rating.

--Beginning in 2011 we show just the combined listing; in prior years we separately showed the rank lists by team but this is now considered to be unnecessary.

Eric Maynor, PG 1.250 THUNDER
James Harden, G 0.989 THUNDER
Mike Conley, PG 0.828 GRIZZLIES
Russell Westbrook, PG 0.631 THUNDER
Daequan Cook, SG 0.574 THUNDER
O.J. Mayo, SG 0.519 GRIZZLIES
Kevin Durant, SF 0.500 THUNDER
Sam Young, SG 0.457 GRIZZLIES
Nick Collison, PF 0.346 THUNDER
Serge Ibaka, PF 0.344 THUNDER
Marc Gasol, C 0.344 GRIZZLIES
Zach Randolph, PF 0.314 GRIZZLIES
Darrell Arthur, PF 0.278 GRIZZLIES
Tony Allen, SG 0.204 GRIZZLIES
Shane Battier, SF 0.035 GRIZZLIES
Kendrick Perkins, C 0.033 THUNDER
Thabo Sefolosha, SG 0.030 THUNDER
Greivis Vasquez, G -0.320 GRIZZLIES
Nazr Mohammed, C -0.767 THUNDER

THE AVERAGE OFFENSIVE SUB RATING
for all NBA players who play 300 minutes or more is about .385

DEFENSIVE SUB RATINGS FOR THIS GAME
--Shows the real quality of players' defense.

--Players who played at least 7 minutes in the game are included.

--The hidden defending component is included as described above.

--Beginning in 2011 we show just the combined listing; in prior years we separately showed the rank lists by team but this is now considered to be unnecessary.

Marc Gasol, C 0.790 GRIZZLIES
Eric Maynor, PG 0.738 THUNDER
Greivis Vasquez, G 0.671 GRIZZLIES
Nick Collison, PF 0.654 THUNDER
James Harden, G 0.529 THUNDER
Nazr Mohammed, C 0.492 THUNDER
Kendrick Perkins, C 0.455 THUNDER
Sam Young, SG 0.419 GRIZZLIES
Zach Randolph, PF 0.391 GRIZZLIES
Russell Westbrook, PG 0.385 THUNDER
Daequan Cook, SG 0.371 THUNDER
Tony Allen, SG 0.340 GRIZZLIES
Darrell Arthur, PF 0.339 GRIZZLIES
Mike Conley, PG 0.299 GRIZZLIES
Serge Ibaka, PF 0.283 THUNDER
Shane Battier, SF 0.269 GRIZZLIES
Kevin Durant, SF 0.189 THUNDER
O.J. Mayo, SG 0.135 GRIZZLIES
Thabo Sefolosha, SG 0.121 THUNDER

THE AVERAGE DEFENSIVE SUB RATING
for all NBA players who play 300 minutes or more is about .315

The breakdown between hidden and unhidden defending is available on request.

THE ALL IMPORTANT, AWARD WINNING REAL PLAYER RATINGS USER GUIDE
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.

ABOUT REAL PLAYER RATINGS REPORTS
Of the several dozen types of Reports that Quest for the Ring (QFTR) produces, Team Real Player Rating Reports are among the most important. A Real Player Rating Report gives you four very important ratings for every player in the Report:

--Overall Real Player Rating
--Real Player Production
--Offensive Sub Rating
--Defensive Sub Rating

These Reports are formatted reports. Formatted reports have a pre-set format and there is little or no custom commentary included. The whole idea of formatted reports is to provide a very large amount of important information very efficiently. The carefully planned and long evolved and perfected formatting eliminates the need for time-consuming custom text reporting in contexts where there is really no need for it. But to fully understand a formatted Report you need to be familiar with the User Guide for it.

There are two things you can do to get the full value out of RPR Reports. First, you can read parts or all of the User Guide for them (the link to the Guide is below). Second, you can simply visit a lot and see a lot of Reports and then you will automatically become better at interpreting what you see.

In contrast to formatted reports, QFTR breaks new ground in general and reveals its latest discoveries about basketball in particular in free form (non-formatted) text reports. While formatted posts are "on the reservation", non-formatted text reports are where QFTR "goes off the reservation". Both types of reports are essential; having just one type without the other type would reduce the value of QFTR by MORE than half.

QFTR is considering some kind of labelling system for posts that will allow visitors to even more easily than ever get to content they want or need.

During the regular season beginning in late January (when we can first validly calculate the hidden defending adjustments) QFTR posts Team Real Player Ratings for major contending teams and other selected teams as time permits. Between the end of the regular season and before the Conference Finals begin (in late April and in early May) QFTR posts the final ratings for approximately the ten best teams as of the beginning of the playoffs. If there is a major upset in round one and/or round two by a team whose ratings were not yet posted, QFTR will make sure to post those asap.

These final ratings can be used in team grids that are very important parts of any playoff series preview.

Unfortunately, production time limits that are caused partly by limited traffic mean that only a small number of playoff series previews can be produced. Remember, you can help QFTR get more production time by posting links to QFTR wherever you can, and then QFTR will link back to you on request (click the contact link under the banner).

Game Real Player Ratings Reports are produced for every NBA Championship game, every NBA Conference Final game, and for selected NBA semifinal games. For the semifinals, normally, the most interesting semifinal (round two) series will be selected (out of the four of them) and Real Player Ratings for every game in that series will be posted.

After the playoffs are completely over and the off-season arrives, QFTR has enough time to produce and publish a final annual Real Player Ratings Report for all thirty NBA teams. These annual records of who was really the best and who really did what are scheduled to be posted in late June and in early July. They are posted in alphabetic order by team starting with the Atlanta Hawks and ending with the Washington Wizards. The ones for the top teams that were posted in late April-early May are repeated so there is a complete set in alpha and chronological sequence.

If you ever spend quality time at QFTR you will discover that there are other types of Real Player Rating Reports. Many of these appear in the summer. Among the most important ones that come out in the summer are the League-Wide Real Player Ratings Reports. Also, don't miss the Real Player Ratings Reports by position if you are a serious basketball person.

This section was a limited and brief overview of Real Player Ratings Reports in general. What you need if you want to understand how the Ratings are constructed and why QFTR knows they are the best possible ratings is the User Guide for Real Player Ratings. This User Guide was last revised and updated in May 2010; a new revision is "on order" and is expected to be completed in May or June of 2011. The May 2010 edition is still very useful; the only section of it that is not completely accurate is the one where the specific factors are shown; the factors have been adjusted a little to reflect the latest information and understanding QFTR has about exactly how playoff games are won. There has also been a significant improvement in the calibration and validation of Real Player Ratings components.

So 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.

Real Player Ratings for the 2011 West Semifinal Game One: Memphis Grizzlies 114 Oklahoma Thunder 101

2011-05-06T16:41:00.000-07:00

2011 SEMIFINAL OKLAHOMA THUNDER VS MEMPHIS GRIZZLIES GAME ONE REAL PLAYER RATINGS
MAY 1 2011
OKLAHOMA CITY, OKLAHOMA
MEMPHIS GRIZZLIES 114 OKLAHOMA THUNDER 101
MEMPHIS LEADS THE BEST OF SEVEN SERIES 1-0

KEY PLAYERS WHO DID NOT PLAY
--These are the above average players who would have or should have played but did not.

--The reason is shown after the player if and only if it is known with at least 85% certainty.

--Usually the reason is known with 100% certainty.

--If the reason is not known with at least 85% certainty, the reason "unknown" is given.

--Injuries are NOT perfectly reported and information about them is archived nowhere on the Internet. Therefore, it is possible that when Quest for the Ring identifies "coaching error" or "unknown" as the reason, the real reason may have been an injury.

--If the reason "traded" is shown then in many cases a player who was obtained in that trade played instead.

GRIZZLIES Rudy Gay >>> injured

THUNDER All above average players played in this game

REAL PLAYER RATINGS FOR THIS GAME
--Real Player Rating shows you the real basketball quality of players quickly and accurately.

--Players who played at least 7 minutes in the game are included.

--Each player's hidden defending rating from the regular season is used as the Hidden Defending Adjustment (HDA). Obviously, players in any individual game including this one were not exactly as good defenders as they were on the average during the regular season. But since there is no way to provide HDA for individual games and since it is better to have some reasonable HDA than none at all, we use the season HDA as a reasonable substitute.

--Beginning in 2011 we show just the combined listing; in prior years we separately showed the rank lists by team but this is now considered to be unnecessary.

Marc Gasol, C 1.659 GRIZZLIES
Zach Randolph, PF 1.640 GRIZZLIES
Kevin Durant, SF 1.132 THUNDER
Shane Battier, SF 1.068 GRIZZLIES
Serge Ibaka, PF 1.063 THUNDER
Greivis Vasquez, G 0.997 GRIZZLIES
Darrell Arthur, PF 0.933 GRIZZLIES
Mike Conley, PG 0.908 GRIZZLIES
Eric Maynor, PG 0.799 THUNDER
Russell Westbrook, PG 0.738 THUNDER
Nick Collison, PF 0.735 THUNDER
Tony Allen, SG 0.671 GRIZZLIES
Sam Young, SG 0.491 GRIZZLIES
Daequan Cook, SG 0.477 THUNDER
Kendrick Perkins, C 0.452 THUNDER
James Harden, G 0.383 THUNDER
Nazr Mohammed, C 0.355 THUNDER
O.J. Mayo, SG 0.354 GRIZZLIES
Thabo Sefolosha, SG 0.252 THUNDER

SCALE FOR REGULAR SEASON REAL PLAYER RATINGS FOR A SINGLE GAME
Perfect Player for all Practical Purposes / Major Historic Super Star 1.200 and more
Historic Super Star 1.080 1.199
Super Star 0.960 1.079
A Star Player / A well above normal starter 0.860 0.959
Very Good Player / A solid starter 0.780 0.859
Major Role Player / Good enough to start 0.700 0.779
Good Role Player / Often a good 6th man, can possibly start 0.620 0.699
Satisfactory Role Player / Generally should not start 0.540 0.619
Marginal Role Player / Should not start except in an emergency 0.460 0.539
Poor Player / Should never start 0.380 0.459
Very Poor Player 0.300 0.379
Extremely Poor Player 0.299 and less

AVERAGE RATINGS BY POSITION
Not all positions are created equal. In pro basketball, point guard and center are the most important positions, power forward is in the middle, and small forward and shooting guard are the least important. (Some teams will have a different pattern.) The following are good estimates for average ratings by position among all NBA players who play 300 minutes or more. There are very few small forwards and shooting guards who don't fit at other positions who are superstars. Most superstars are players who can play point guard, power forward, or center.

Point Guard .750
Shooting Guard .635
Small Forward .645
Power Forward .715
Center .755
All Positions / All Players (NBA Overall Average) .700

To quickly and fairly compare two players who play different positions, convert their Ratings as follows:

Point Guards: Subtract .050; for example, .700 becomes .650
Shooting Guards: Add .065; for example, .700 becomes .765
Small Forwards: Add .055; for example, .700 becomes .755
Power Forwards: Subtract .015; for example, .700 becomes .685
Centers: Subtract .055; for example, .700 becomes .645

REAL PLAYER PRODUCTION FOR THIS GAME
--Shows the real basketball production (or quantity) of players.

--Players who played at least 7 minutes in the game are included.

--An estimate of the value of hidden defending production is included in the total production for all players shown; as described above hidden defending ratings from the regular season are used.

--Beginning in 2011 we show just the combined listing; in prior years we separately showed the rank lists by team but this is now considered to be unnecessary.

Zach Randolph, PF 62.33 GRIZZLIES
Marc Gasol, C 58.05 GRIZZLIES
Kevin Durant, SF 49.82 THUNDER
Serge Ibaka, PF 39.33 THUNDER
Mike Conley, PG 35.41 GRIZZLIES
Shane Battier, SF 29.92 GRIZZLIES
Russell Westbrook, PG 28.03 THUNDER
Darrell Arthur, PF 17.73 GRIZZLIES
Tony Allen, SG 15.44 GRIZZLIES
Kendrick Perkins, C 13.12 THUNDER
Sam Young, SG 12.27 GRIZZLIES
Nick Collison, PF 11.02 THUNDER
James Harden, G 9.19 THUNDER
Greivis Vasquez, G 8.97 GRIZZLIES
O.J. Mayo, SG 8.49 GRIZZLIES
Eric Maynor, PG 7.99 THUNDER
Thabo Sefolosha, SG 6.31 THUNDER
Daequan Cook, SG 4.77 THUNDER
Nazr Mohammed, C 2.84 THUNDER

=============== OFFENSIVE AND DEFENSIVE SUB RATINGS FOR THIS GAME ===============

OFFENSIVE SUB RATINGS FOR THIS GAME
--Shows the real quality of players' offense.

--Players who played at least 7 minutes in the game are included.

--The hidden defending component is not a part of the offensive sub rating.

--Beginning in 2011 we show just the combined listing; in prior years we separately showed the rank lists by team but this is now considered to be unnecessary.

Zach Randolph, PF 1.088 GRIZZLIES
Marc Gasol, C 0.930 GRIZZLIES
Greivis Vasquez, G 0.889 GRIZZLIES
Kevin Durant, SF 0.691 THUNDER
Mike Conley, PG 0.596 GRIZZLIES
Russell Westbrook, PG 0.508 THUNDER
Serge Ibaka, PF 0.500 THUNDER
Tony Allen, SG 0.437 GRIZZLIES
Nick Collison, PF 0.413 THUNDER
Shane Battier, SF 0.409 GRIZZLIES
Darrell Arthur, PF 0.401 GRIZZLIES
Sam Young, SG 0.302 GRIZZLIES
Daequan Cook, SG 0.188 THUNDER
Thabo Sefolosha, SG 0.180 THUNDER
Eric Maynor, PG 0.167 THUNDER
James Harden, G 0.129 THUNDER
Kendrick Perkins, C 0.063 THUNDER
O.J. Mayo, SG -0.034 GRIZZLIES
Nazr Mohammed, C -0.145 THUNDER

THE AVERAGE OFFENSIVE SUB RATING
for all NBA players who play 300 minutes or more is about .385

DEFENSIVE SUB RATINGS FOR THIS GAME
--Shows the real quality of players' defense.

--Players who played at least 7 minutes in the game are included.

--The hidden defending component is included as described above.

--Beginning in 2011 we show just the combined listing; in prior years we separately showed the rank lists by team but this is now considered to be unnecessary.

Marc Gasol, C 0.728 GRIZZLIES
Shane Battier, SF 0.660 GRIZZLIES
Eric Maynor, PG 0.632 THUNDER
Serge Ibaka, PF 0.563 THUNDER
Zach Randolph, PF 0.553 GRIZZLIES
Darrell Arthur, PF 0.532 GRIZZLIES
Nazr Mohammed, C 0.500 THUNDER
Kevin Durant, SF 0.441 THUNDER
Kendrick Perkins, C 0.389 THUNDER
O.J. Mayo, SG 0.387 GRIZZLIES
Nick Collison, PF 0.322 THUNDER
Mike Conley, PG 0.312 GRIZZLIES
Daequan Cook, SG 0.289 THUNDER
James Harden, G 0.254 THUNDER
Tony Allen, SG 0.234 GRIZZLIES
Russell Westbrook, PG 0.230 THUNDER
Sam Young, SG 0.189 GRIZZLIES
Greivis Vasquez, G 0.108 GRIZZLIES
Thabo Sefolosha, SG 0.072 THUNDER

THE AVERAGE DEFENSIVE SUB RATING
for all NBA players who play 300 minutes or more is about .315

The breakdown between hidden and unhidden defending is available on request.

THE ALL IMPORTANT, AWARD WINNING REAL PLAYER RATINGS USER GUIDE
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.

ABOUT REAL PLAYER RATINGS REPORTS
Of the several dozen types of Reports that Quest for the Ring (QFTR) produces, Team Real Player Rating Reports are among the most important. A Real Player Rating Report gives you four very important ratings for every player in the Report:

--Overall Real Player Rating
--Real Player Production
--Offensive Sub Rating
--Defensive Sub Rating

These Reports are formatted reports. Formatted reports have a pre-set format and there is little or no custom commentary included. The whole idea of formatted reports is to provide a very large amount of important information very efficiently. The carefully planned and long evolved and perfected formatting eliminates the need for time-consuming custom text reporting in contexts where there is really no need for it. But to fully understand a formatted Report you need to be familiar with the User Guide for it.

There are two things you can do to get the full value out of RPR Reports. First, you can read parts or all of the User Guide for them (the link to the Guide is below). Second, you can simply visit a lot and see a lot of Reports and then you will automatically become better at interpreting what you see.

In contrast to formatted reports, QFTR breaks new ground in general and reveals its latest discoveries about basketball in particular in free form (non-formatted) text reports. While formatted posts are "on the reservation", non-formatted text reports are where QFTR "goes off the reservation". Both types of reports are essential; having just one type without the other type would reduce the value of QFTR by MORE than half.

QFTR is considering some kind of labelling system for posts that will allow visitors to even more easily than ever get to content they want or need.

During the regular season beginning in late January (when we can first validly calculate the hidden defending adjustments) QFTR posts Team Real Player Ratings for major contending teams and other selected teams as time permits. Between the end of the regular season and before the Conference Finals begin (in late April and in early May) QFTR posts the final ratings for approximately the ten best teams as of the beginning of the playoffs. If there is a major upset in round one and/or round two by a team whose ratings were not yet posted, QFTR will make sure to post those asap.

These final ratings can be used in team grids that are very important parts of any playoff series preview.

Unfortunately, production time limits that are caused partly by limited traffic mean that only a small number of playoff series previews can be produced. Remember, you can help QFTR get more production time by posting links to QFTR wherever you can, and then QFTR will link back to you on request (click the contact link under the banner).

Game Real Player Ratings Reports are produced for every NBA Championship game, every NBA Conference Final game, and for selected NBA semifinal games. For the semifinals, normally, the most interesting semifinal (round two) series will be selected (out of the four of them) and Real Player Ratings for every game in that series will be posted.

After the playoffs are completely over and the off-season arrives, QFTR has enough time to produce and publish a final annual Real Player Ratings Report for all thirty NBA teams. These annual records of who was really the best and who really did what are scheduled to be posted in late June and in early July. They are posted in alphabetic order by team starting with the Atlanta Hawks and ending with the Washington Wizards. The ones for the top teams that were posted in late April-early May are repeated so there is a complete set in alpha and chronological sequence.

If you ever spend quality time at QFTR you will discover that there are other types of Real Player Rating Reports. Many of these appear in the summer. Among the most important ones that come out in the summer are the League-Wide Real Player Ratings Reports. Also, don't miss the Real Player Ratings Reports by position if you are a serious basketball person.

This section was a limited and brief overview of Real Player Ratings Reports in general. What you need if you want to understand how the Ratings are constructed and why QFTR knows they are the best possible ratings is the User Guide for Real Player Ratings. This User Guide was last revised and updated in May 2010; a new revision is "on order" and is expected to be completed in May or June of 2011. The May 2010 edition is still very useful; the only section of it that is not completely accurate is the one where the specific factors are shown; the factors have been adjusted a little to reflect the latest information and understanding QFTR has about exactly how playoff games are won. There has also been a significant improvement in the calibration and validation of Real Player Ratings components.

So 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.

Real Player Ratings for the 2011 East Semifinal Game Two: Miami Heat 102 Boston Celtics 91

2011-05-06T13:40:00.000-07:00

2011 SEMIFINAL BOSTON CELTICS VS MIAMI HEAT GAME TWO REAL PLAYER RATINGS
MAY 3 2011
MIAMI FLORIDA
MIAMI HEAT 102 BOSTON CELTICS 91
MIAMI LEADS THE BEST OF SEVEN SERIES 2-0

KEY PLAYERS WHO DID NOT PLAY
--These are the above average players who would have or should have played but did not.

--The reason is shown after the player if and only if it is known with at least 85% certainty.

--Usually the reason is known with 100% certainty.

--If the reason is not known with at least 85% certainty, the reason "unknown" is given.

--Injuries are NOT perfectly reported and information about them is archived nowhere on the Internet. Therefore, it is possible that when Quest for the Ring identifies "coaching error" or "unknown" as the reason, the real reason may have been an injury.

--If the reason "traded" is shown then in many cases a player who was obtained in that trade played instead.

CELTICS Shaquille O'Neal >>> injured
CELTICS Marquis Daniels >>> traded
CELTICS Kendrick Perkins >>> traded
CELTICS Von Wafer >>> two better players at the position played

HEAT Udonis Haslem >>> injured
HEAT Eddie House >>> coaching error

REAL PLAYER RATINGS FOR THIS GAME
--Real Player Rating shows you the real basketball quality of players quickly and accurately.

--Players who played at least 7 minutes in the game are included.

--Each player's hidden defending rating from the regular season is used as the Hidden Defending Adjustment (HDA). Obviously, players in any individual game including this one were not exactly as good defenders as they were on the average during the regular season. But since there is no way to provide HDA for individual games and since it is better to have some reasonable HDA than none at all, we use the season HDA as a reasonable substitute.

--Beginning in 2011 we show just the combined listing; in prior years we separately showed the rank lists by team but this is now considered to be unnecessary.

Delonte West, SG 1.235 CELTICS
LeBron James, SF 1.204 HEAT
Jeff Green, PF 1.189 CELTICS
Rajon Rondo, PG 1.130 CELTICS
Chris Bosh, PF 1.039 HEAT
Jermaine O'Neal, C 1.008 CELTICS
Mike Bibby, PG 0.949 HEAT
Dwyane Wade, SG 0.867 HEAT
Joel Anthony, C 0.751 HEAT
Paul Pierce, SF 0.569 CELTICS
Glen Davis, PF 0.534 CELTICS
Kevin Garnett, PF 0.529 CELTICS
Ray Allen, SG 0.489 CELTICS
Mario Chalmers, PG 0.440 HEAT
Nenad Krstic, C 0.203 CELTICS
James Jones, SF 0.186 HEAT
Zydrunas Ilgauskas, C -0.075 HEAT

SCALE FOR REGULAR SEASON REAL PLAYER RATINGS FOR A SINGLE GAME
Perfect Player for all Practical Purposes / Major Historic Super Star 1.200 and more
Historic Super Star 1.080 1.199
Super Star 0.960 1.079
A Star Player / A well above normal starter 0.860 0.959
Very Good Player / A solid starter 0.780 0.859
Major Role Player / Good enough to start 0.700 0.779
Good Role Player / Often a good 6th man, can possibly start 0.620 0.699
Satisfactory Role Player / Generally should not start 0.540 0.619
Marginal Role Player / Should not start except in an emergency 0.460 0.539
Poor Player / Should never start 0.380 0.459
Very Poor Player 0.300 0.379
Extremely Poor Player 0.299 and less

AVERAGE RATINGS BY POSITION
Not all positions are created equal. In pro basketball, point guard and center are the most important positions, power forward is in the middle, and small forward and shooting guard are the least important. (Some teams will have a different pattern.) The following are good estimates for average ratings by position among all NBA players who play 300 minutes or more. There are very few small forwards and shooting guards who don't fit at other positions who are superstars. Most superstars are players who can play point guard, power forward, or center.

Point Guard .750
Shooting Guard .635
Small Forward .645
Power Forward .715
Center .755
All Positions / All Players (NBA Overall Average) .700

To quickly and fairly compare two players who play different positions, convert their Ratings as follows:

Point Guards: Subtract .050; for example, .700 becomes .650
Shooting Guards: Add .065; for example, .700 becomes .765
Small Forwards: Add .055; for example, .700 becomes .755
Power Forwards: Subtract .015; for example, .700 becomes .685
Centers: Subtract .055; for example, .700 becomes .645

REAL PLAYER PRODUCTION FOR THIS GAME
--Shows the real basketball production (or quantity) of players.

--Players who played at least 7 minutes in the game are included.

--An estimate of the value of hidden defending production is included in the total production for all players shown; as described above hidden defending ratings from the regular season are used.

--Beginning in 2011 we show just the combined listing; in prior years we separately showed the rank lists by team but this is now considered to be unnecessary.

LeBron James, SF 52.99 HEAT
Rajon Rondo, PG 47.48 CELTICS
Chris Bosh, PF 40.52 HEAT
Dwyane Wade, SG 33.83 HEAT
Joel Anthony, C 26.28 HEAT
Jeff Green, PF 26.16 CELTICS
Mike Bibby, PG 25.61 HEAT
Kevin Garnett, PF 19.57 CELTICS
Jermaine O'Neal, C 19.16 CELTICS
Paul Pierce, SF 18.79 CELTICS
Delonte West, SG 18.53 CELTICS
Ray Allen, SG 16.61 CELTICS
Glen Davis, PF 13.88 CELTICS
Mario Chalmers, PG 9.24 HEAT
James Jones, SF 3.54 HEAT
Zydrunas Ilgauskas, C -0.83 HEAT
Nenad Krstic, C -1.16 CELTICS

=============== OFFENSIVE AND DEFENSIVE SUB RATINGS FOR THIS GAME ===============

OFFENSIVE SUB RATINGS FOR THIS GAME
--Shows the real quality of players' offense.

--Players who played at least 7 minutes in the game are included.

--The hidden defending component is not a part of the offensive sub rating.

--Beginning in 2011 we show just the combined listing; in prior years we separately showed the rank lists by team but this is now considered to be unnecessary.

LeBron James, SF 0.804 HEAT
Delonte West, SG 0.781 CELTICS
Rajon Rondo, PG 0.743 CELTICS
Mike Bibby, PG 0.553 HEAT
Jeff Green, PF 0.543 CELTICS
Jermaine O'Neal, C 0.522 CELTICS
Dwyane Wade, SG 0.474 HEAT
Chris Bosh, PF 0.423 HEAT
Joel Anthony, C 0.330 HEAT
Paul Pierce, SF 0.172 CELTICS
Glen Davis, PF 0.139 CELTICS
Ray Allen, SG 0.132 CELTICS
Kevin Garnett, PF 0.123 CELTICS
Mario Chalmers, PG 0.095 HEAT
James Jones, SF -0.061 HEAT
Nenad Krstic, C -0.105 CELTICS
Zydrunas Ilgauskas, C -0.260 HEAT

THE AVERAGE OFFENSIVE SUB RATING
for all NBA players who play 300 minutes or more is about .385

DEFENSIVE SUB RATINGS FOR THIS GAME
--Shows the real quality of players' defense.

--Players who played at least 7 minutes in the game are included.

--The hidden defending component is included as described above.

--Beginning in 2011 we show just the combined listing; in prior years we separately showed the rank lists by team but this is now considered to be unnecessary.

Jeff Green, PF 0.646 CELTICS
Chris Bosh, PF 0.615 HEAT
Jermaine O'Neal, C 0.486 CELTICS
Delonte West, SG 0.454 CELTICS
Joel Anthony, C 0.421 HEAT
Kevin Garnett, PF 0.406 CELTICS
LeBron James, SF 0.401 HEAT
Paul Pierce, SF 0.397 CELTICS
Mike Bibby, PG 0.396 HEAT
Glen Davis, PF 0.395 CELTICS
Dwyane Wade, SG 0.393 HEAT
Rajon Rondo, PG 0.388 CELTICS
Ray Allen, SG 0.356 CELTICS
Mario Chalmers, PG 0.345 HEAT
Nenad Krstic, C 0.308 CELTICS
James Jones, SF 0.247 HEAT
Zydrunas Ilgauskas, C 0.185 HEAT

THE AVERAGE DEFENSIVE SUB RATING
for all NBA players who play 300 minutes or more is about .315

The breakdown between hidden and unhidden defending is available on request.

THE ALL IMPORTANT, AWARD WINNING REAL PLAYER RATINGS USER GUIDE
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.

ABOUT REAL PLAYER RATINGS REPORTS
Of the several dozen types of Reports that Quest for the Ring (QFTR) produces, Team Real Player Rating Reports are among the most important. A Real Player Rating Report gives you four very important ratings for every player in the Report:

--Overall Real Player Rating
--Real Player Production
--Offensive Sub Rating
--Defensive Sub Rating

These Reports are formatted reports. Formatted reports have a pre-set format and there is little or no custom commentary included. The whole idea of formatted reports is to provide a very large amount of important information very efficiently. The carefully planned and long evolved and perfected formatting eliminates the need for time-consuming custom text reporting in contexts where there is really no need for it. But to fully understand a formatted Report you need to be familiar with the User Guide for it.

There are two things you can do to get the full value out of RPR Reports. First, you can read parts or all of the User Guide for them (the link to the Guide is below). Second, you can simply visit a lot and see a lot of Reports and then you will automatically become better at interpreting what you see.

In contrast to formatted reports, QFTR breaks new ground in general and reveals its latest discoveries about basketball in particular in free form (non-formatted) text reports. While formatted posts are "on the reservation", non-formatted text reports are where QFTR "goes off the reservation". Both types of reports are essential; having just one type without the other type would reduce the value of QFTR by MORE than half.

QFTR is considering some kind of labelling system for posts that will allow visitors to even more easily than ever get to content they want or need.

During the regular season beginning in late January (when we can first validly calculate the hidden defending adjustments) QFTR posts Team Real Player Ratings for major contending teams and other selected teams as time permits. Between the end of the regular season and before the Conference Finals begin (in late April and in early May) QFTR posts the final ratings for approximately the ten best teams as of the beginning of the playoffs. If there is a major upset in round one and/or round two by a team whose ratings were not yet posted, QFTR will make sure to post those asap.

These final ratings can be used in team grids that are very important parts of any playoff series preview.

Unfortunately, production time limits that are caused partly by limited traffic mean that only a small number of playoff series previews can be produced. Remember, you can help QFTR get more production time by posting links to QFTR wherever you can, and then QFTR will link back to you on request (click the contact link under the banner).

Game Real Player Ratings Reports are produced for every NBA Championship game, every NBA Conference Final game, and for selected NBA semifinal games. For the semifinals, normally, the most interesting semifinal (round two) series will be selected (out of the four of them) and Real Player Ratings for every game in that series will be posted.

After the playoffs are completely over and the off-season arrives, QFTR has enough time to produce and publish a final annual Real Player Ratings Report for all thirty NBA teams. These annual records of who was really the best and who really did what are scheduled to be posted in late June and in early July. They are posted in alphabetic order by team starting with the Atlanta Hawks and ending with the Washington Wizards. The ones for the top teams that were posted in late April-early May are repeated so there is a complete set in alpha and chronological sequence.

If you ever spend quality time at QFTR you will discover that there are other types of Real Player Rating Reports. Many of these appear in the summer. Among the most important ones that come out in the summer are the League-Wide Real Player Ratings Reports. Also, don't miss the Real Player Ratings Reports by position if you are a serious basketball person.

This section was a limited and brief overview of Real Player Ratings Reports in general. What you need if you want to understand how the Ratings are constructed and why QFTR knows they are the best possible ratings is the User Guide for Real Player Ratings. This User Guide was last revised and updated in May 2010; a new revision is "on order" and is expected to be completed in May or June of 2011. The May 2010 edition is still very useful; the only section of it that is not completely accurate is the one where the specific factors are shown; the factors have been adjusted a little to reflect the latest information and understanding QFTR has about exactly how playoff games are won. There has also been a significant improvement in the calibration and validation of Real Player Ratings components.

So 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.