Then I stumbled on this great blog post about web scraping NBA stats with Python. I extrapolated the stats now from the entire 2014-2015 regular season and gathered another set of stats for late in the shot clock, which I defined as 5 seconds or less. I'll try to expand a bit on the results and also look at some implications for next season. Keep in mind all these stats are before a shot is attempted. Let's get to the numbers.
Longest Average Touch Time
--Out of the pick and roll, Chris Paul loves to probe the defense and then unleash a jumper from mid-range. An elite playmaker with some of the best handles in the game, it's no surprise this midrange maestro is at the top of the list for touch time before he unleashes a shot.
--Harden also dribbles his fair share and can break you down with his deadly crossover moves. Just ask Ricky Rubio. It will be interesting to see James Harden and Ty Lawson, both ball dominant players, share the rock next season.
--Kyrie and LeBron were able to figure it out last season even though it led to a lot of Kyrie isolation plays. If the ball is not with Uncle Drew, then give it to the "Chosen One". LBJ is self-explanatory. Put the ball in the man's hands and you give yourself the best chance to win. Even David Blatt knows that.
--Reggie Jackson is a ball hog so it's no surprise that he's second.
--In other news, the guy who is getting paid the same amount as Reggie Jackson and averaged nearly double digit assists last season is also up there.
Most Average Dribbles
--This stat is obviously intertwined with touch time. You want the ball in the hands of your best playmakers and point guards who run the offense. In my opinion, CP3 is the best playmaker in the league and it fits that he leads this category.
Furthest Average Defender Distance
--Mike Miller leads this category because he had LBJ on his team who is getting double and triple teamed, which left him wiiiide open for 3.
--Coming into the draft last year, Dante Exum was known as a notoriously bad shooter. He still is and teams were comfortable with letting him shoot.
--The rest of the leaders are all three point shooters, which makes sense. Yes, even Darrell Arthur is a 3pt shooter. He took nearly two a game last year...at a whopping 24%!!!
Furthest Average Shot Distance
--This goes hand in hand with defender distance. There are 3 point shooters galore including Mike Miller, Kyle Korver, and Channing Frye.
--Also, Hedo Turkoglu has never seen a bad shot. Maybe he's not as bad as someone like JR Smith but this fool will take a deep contested three with a hand in his face if he feels like it.
Fewest Average Dribbles
--Tyson Chandler, DeAndre Jordan, and Rudy Gobert are just a few of the players on this list who are on the finishing end of alley-oops.
--An interesting player is Pero Antic, who is a stretch big but he just likes to just catch and shoot. You won't see him put the ball on the floor too many times.
Shortest Average Touch Time
--The leaders mostly consist of big men who are catching, quickly gathering, and finishing at the rim.
--Robbie Hummel and Kyle Korver, the dictionary definition of a catch and shoot player, also have very quick releases which is backed up by their average touch times.
Shortest Shot Distance
--Again, this is directly related to average dribbles. The job description for these bodies is to catch and finish.
Nearest Average Defender Distance
--This demonstrates which players take the greatest contested shots. Bigs are finishing in tight spaces so it makes sense defenders are very close to them.
--Also, most of the bigs like Ed Davis, Dwight Howard, and Andre Drummond can't shoot from anywhere beyond five feet.
--Players like Greg Monroe and Bismack Biyombo are a little undersized so it makes sense that defenders are staying close.
Late Shot Clock
NBA.com defines a late shot clock as 4 seconds or less but I defied that and redefined it to be 5 seconds or less. Again, this only means that a shot was released with 5 seconds or less on the shot clock. Keep in mind, these stats are only for field goal attempts and do not take into account free throws.
Most Points
Thoughts:
--Harden and LeBron lead the pack with scoring on field goal attempts and it is not even close. Once again, this leaves out free throws so it doesn't tell the full story, but Harden and LBJ would still be at the top.
--Last season, Blake Griffin was getting relatively open mid-range jumpers out of the pick and roll with Chris Paul. After watching a good number of Clips games this year, teams are still living with Blake's jumper and the Clippers are comfortable going to it late in the clock.
--Trey Burke and Derrick Favors surprised me a bit appearing as leaders on this list, but then again I didn't watch to many Jazz games last year. Favors appears to catch and shoot from short range or finish at the rim with few dribbles.
--An intriguing situation is where Chief Markief Morris ends up playing next year if he doesn't stay with the Suns. Whichever team has him will have a go-to scorer with the shot clock winding down.
Most Dribbles
Here is the source which was modified from the post mentioned earlier. Next, I might take a look at the assist and rebound logs on NBA.com.
