"Taking the Charge" in NBA Basketball
There are some obvious individual measures that should without doubt be part of the official NBA statistics -- with some form of plus/minus data topping the list for us. However an even easier number to introduce would be foul drawing, and fans would relish and indeed have been clamoring to see data on which NBA players draw the most offensive fouls from their opponents.
If you can handle "un-official" statistics (which is to say we're missing video for parts of a handful of games and have some to be expected variance in data collection to begin with), then keep reading!
Leading NBA Players in drawing Offensive Fouls
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For the NBA 2005-06 season to this point and with the aforementioned caveats, here are your league leaders:
2005-06 Regular Season
| Rank |
Team |
Player |
Off.Fouls
Drawn |
| 1 |
PHO |
Bell |
76 |
| 2 |
CHI |
Nocioni |
67 |
| 3 |
MIL |
Bogut |
65 |
| 4 |
UTA |
Collins |
63 |
| 5 |
GSW |
Dunleavy |
63 |
| 6 |
DET |
B.Wallace |
50 |
| 7 |
NJN |
Krstic |
50 |
| 8 |
GSW |
Fisher |
49 |
| 9 |
NOK |
Mason |
49 |
| 10 |
MEM |
Battier |
48 |
| 11 |
SAS |
Ginobili |
48 |
| 12 |
TOR |
Peterson |
48 |
| 13 |
CHI |
Hinrich |
46 |
| 14 |
PHI |
Iverson |
44 |
| 15 |
TOR |
Bosh |
43 |
| 16 |
WAS |
Daniels |
41 |
| 17 |
NJN |
Collins |
39 |
| 18 |
SAS |
Bowen |
39 |
| 19 |
NOK |
Claxton |
38 |
| 20 |
WAS |
Haywood |
36 |
| 21 |
UTA |
Okur |
36 |
| 22 |
MIA |
Haslem |
36 |
| 23 |
PHO |
Nash |
36 |
| 24 |
SAC |
Miller |
35 |
| 25 |
IND |
O'Neal |
35 |
| 26 |
DEN |
Miller |
35 |
| 27 |
POR |
Khryapa |
35 |
| 28 |
PHO |
Thomas |
34 |
| 29 |
WAS |
Arenas |
33 |
| 30 |
PHI |
Korver |
32 |
| 30 |
CLE |
Varejao |
32 |
| 30 |
UTA |
Williams |
32 |
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When we ran this at midseason, we were expecting it to be very tight at the top, but as it turned out, there was a runaway leader in Raja Bell of the Suns, followed by one main chaser in part time player Jarron Collins of the Jazz, and Andres Nocioni a distant third.
For the full season, Bell is still on top, but Chicago's main flopper has quickly made up ground to finish second.
It's an interesting mix, so let's try a little grouping.
"Little Big Men" -- height challenged Offensive Stars with a reputation for toughness
- Iverson, Ginobili, Nash, Andre Miller
Real Deal all around talents with the built bodies to match their willingness to step up
- Brad Miller, Jermaine O'Neal, Bosh, Pierce
Defensive Specialists/Gritty guys who don't mind doing the "dirty work"
- Collins, Nocioni, Kurt Thomas, Battier, Haywood, Fisher, Ben Wallace, Haslem, Iguodala, Najera, Mo Taylor, Khryapa, Bruce Bowen
Often overlooked/Quiet game types
Bell, Dunleavy, Krstic, Mason, Bogut, Claxton, Hinrich, Hudson, Peterson
It's pretty safe to say that all of the players on this list are winners in a sense, with the right attitude to the game and thus good guys to have on a team.
The character of a player to "take one for the team" is often discussed, but hard to quantify...offensive fouls drawn may be a good place to start.
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Since a number of the "enforcers" of the NBA and hustle players who do often seem to be the first to put their bodies in the way of an oncoming player (and let's be honest, we're talking freight trains in some cases) don't play extensive minutes, it makes sense to look at the leaders on an Offensive Foul Drawn per X Minutes" basis.
Minimum: 10 Offensive Fouls Drawn
| Rank |
Team |
Player |
Off.Fouls
Drawn |
Minutes/
Off.Foul Drawn |
| 1 |
CLE |
Varejao |
32 |
23.7 |
| 2 |
DAL |
Armstrong |
25 |
24.9 |
| 3 |
UTA |
Collins |
63 |
27.4 |
| 4 |
SEA |
Fortson |
10 |
27.6 |
| 5 |
MIL |
Smith |
29 |
30.5 |
| 6 |
PHI |
Randolph |
15 |
32.5 |
| 7 |
CHI |
Nocioni |
67 |
33.4 |
| 8 |
MIN |
Madsen |
20 |
33.7 |
| 9 |
MIN |
Reed |
20 |
35.2 |
| 10 |
CHI |
Harrington |
23 |
35.8 |
| 11 |
MIL |
Bogut |
65 |
36.1 |
| 12 |
ATL |
Ivey |
27 |
36.1 |
| 13 |
SAS |
Ginobili |
48 |
37.7 |
| 14 |
MIN |
Hudson |
21 |
38.0 |
| 15 |
ORL |
Hill |
16 |
38.3 |
| 16 |
PHO |
Bell |
76 |
38.8 |
| 17 |
MEM |
Cardinal |
10 |
39.9 |
| 18 |
NYK |
Taylor |
30 |
40.3 |
| 19 |
NOK |
Vroman |
10 |
40.5 |
| 20 |
NOK |
Andersen |
14 |
40.7 |
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So Bell places a respectable 16th in the league on a "minutes per offensive foul drawn" basis, but Nocioni outpaces him which is why with the increased playing time the midseason gap shrunk!
There are some notable role players who pile them up at an even fast clip, headed by Anderson Varejao, who one day may get substantial minutes and thus be a threat for raw total leader.
We do also add a few of the names that would be most guessed for this kind of activity -- the Madsen, Fortson, and Othella Harringtons of the NBA.
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Team by Team Leaders in drawing Offensive Fouls
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All right, the league leaders are fun, but you want to know who's been getting knocked to the floor most often on a team by team basis, and also whether offensive fouls have any correlation with team success.
| Team |
Off.Fouls
Drawn |
Off.Fouls
Committed |
Net
Off.Foul |
Top Three in drawing the Offensive Foul |
| Chicago |
273 |
211 |
+62 |
Nocioni 67 - Hinrich 46 - Chandler 25 |
| Utah |
252 |
200 |
+52 |
Collins 63 - Okur 36 - Williams 32 |
| Phoenix |
247 |
133 |
+114 |
Bell 76 - Nash 36 - K.Thomas 34 |
| Golden State |
216 |
197 |
+19 |
Dunleavy 63 - Fisher 49 - Richardson 27 |
| Toronto |
215 |
194 |
+21 |
Peterson 48 - Bosh 43 - James 24 |
| Washington |
213 |
200 |
+13 |
Daniels 41 - Haywood 36 - Arenas 33 |
| New Orleans |
199 |
179 |
+20 |
Mason 49 - Claxton 38 - Paul 22 |
| Milwaukee |
193 |
183 |
+10 |
Bogut 65 - Smith 29 - Simmons 16 |
| Charlotte |
192 |
169 |
+23 |
Wallace 29 - Felton 28 - Jones 25 |
| New Jersey |
190 |
165 |
+25 |
Krstic 50 - Collins 39 - Jefferson 24 |
| Sacramento |
185 |
134 |
+51 |
Miller 35 - Bibby 29 - Martin 27 |
| Atlanta |
183 |
216 |
-33 |
Pachulia 31 - J.Smith 27 - Ivey 27 |
| Denver |
179 |
180 |
-1 |
Miller 35 - Camby 27 - Buckner 26 |
| Memphis |
178 |
165 |
+13 |
Battier 48 - Gasol 23 - E.Jones 23 |
| New York |
177 |
295 |
-118 |
Taylor 30 - Robinson 23 - Marbury 20 |
| Philadelphia |
176 |
122 |
+54 |
Iverson 44 - Korver 32 - Iguodala 26 |
| San Antonio |
176 |
138 |
+38 |
Ginobili 48 - Bowen 39 - Nesterovic 12 |
| Miami |
171 |
192 |
-21 |
Haslem 36 - Posey 31 - Wade 18 |
| Orlando |
165 |
194 |
-29 |
Stevenson 31 - Battie 20 - Hill 16 |
| Dallas |
155 |
169 |
-14 |
Armstrong 25 - Harris 21 - Howard 17 |
| Cleveland |
155 |
185 |
-30 |
Varejao 32 - Snow 25 - Gooden 20 |
| L.A. Lakers |
154 |
189 |
-35 |
Brown 25 - Vujacic 25 - Cook 24 |
| Minnesota |
145 |
212 |
-67 |
Hudson 21 - Madsen 20 - Reed 20 |
| Detroit |
144 |
128 |
+16 |
B.Wallace 50 - Hamilton 26 - R.Wallace 14 |
| Boston |
144 |
199 |
-55 |
Pierce 25 - Jefferson 19 - LaFrentz 18 |
| Portland |
140 |
189 |
-49 |
Khryapa 35 - Ratliff 19 - Jack 13 |
| Seattle |
126 |
196 |
-70 |
Collison 18 - Ridnour 16 - Allen 14 |
| Indiana |
122 |
220 |
-98 |
O'Neal 35 - Granger 15 - Croshere 15 |
| L.A. Clippers |
112 |
182 |
-70 |
Cassell 18 - Brand 14 - Ross 11 |
| Houston |
106 |
165 |
-59 |
Wesley 16 - Yao 12 - Howard 12 |
And so it's the Chicago Bulls with their torrid defensive intensity in the second half of the season who come out on top for most offensive fouls drawn. The Utah Jazz with their bruising "big" lineup are also adept at drawing the charge.
The Phoenix Suns though have really been one of the two top team stories of the season along with Detroit's magnificent performance. The thing is that the mainstream is still thinking Phoenix is the uber-offense, no defense team of a year ago, when in fact they are playing a different style of game nowadays. Last year for instance, we had them drawing 135 offensive fouls on the season, which they nearly doubled this season! They also lead in "best net" for offensive fouls by a wide margin.
...and if we couldn't have guessed anyway, the Knicks were worst in the league in net offensive fouls, thanks in part to the league leader in committing the offensive foul, Eddy Curry.
We'll have more to say about fouls in future articles (picture things like "Flop %" and "Kings of the Loose Ball collisions"), but to summarize it looks like this:
- players who are among the leaders in offensive fouls drawn are likely to have positive on court/off court influence
- the correlation between team totals for drawing offensive fouls and net offensive fouls to wins is limited
- it takes one bad ass/crazy dude to stand in the way of an NBA superstar driving full speed to the basket!
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