Random Stat: Assisting Percentage

Q: I couldn't find anywhere in your stats a measure of PG "quality" calculated as assists divided by (Team FGM-PG FGM) while PG is on-court. In other words I'd like to know which PG is dominating his team's offense the most and what's more is very good at this. I believe this year it's Nash but would like to compare with classics like: Stockton, Magic or Kidd. Hope it's not too difficult -- Leszczur

A: Interesting idea...and something we can certainly look at for the current season, but sadly we only have data from 02-03 on so can't speak to the greats of the past. First up then the original idea on what percentage of a team's made baskets while on court (minus the player's own shots) come from specific player assists.

2006-07 Regular Season (thru 3/18) Player Team Ast T'Mate FGM Ast'd  Nash PHO 693 1481 46.8%  Rodriguez POR 165 361 45.7%  Ford TOR 470 1075 43.7%  Williams UTA 593 1472 40.3%  Paul NOK 431 1072 40.2%  Kidd NJN 593 1477 40.1%  Calderon TOR 317 796 39.8%  Wade MIA 362 937 38.6%  Tinsley IND 419 1114 37.6%  Knight CHA 191 523 36.5%  Davis GSW 402 1109 36.2%  Miller DEN 209 588 35.5%  Cassell LAC 256 739 34.6%  McGrady HOU 358 1057 33.9%  Miller PHI 312 949 32.9%  Iverson PHI 109 333 32.7%  Watson SEA 373 1144 32.6%  Billups DET 413 1278 32.3%  Felton CHA 452 1419 31.9%  Williams NJN 198 629 31.5% * Minimum 500 minutes (T'Mate FGM is on court Team FGM - Player's own shots)

So yes indeed Steve Nash is the tops in the league in terms of highest assisting percentage for teammate FGM while on court. Portland's exciting import distributor (and beloved by TrueHoop) Sergio Rodriguez is giving Nash a run for the money though, albeit in far fewer minutes. Then surprise! surprise! it's the Raptors T.J. Ford, hand picked by now GM of the Raptors Bryan Coangelo who came from Phoenix and has been modeling the Toronto rebirth to some extent on the the Suns "Nash Experiment". Now at the very bottom of the list you get folks like: 1.7% - Mutombo 2.0% - Mourning, Mohammed 2.5% - Hunter, Diop ...and it's interesting to see the big men who pass well (Brad Miller 20%, Garnett 20%, Webber 17%, Duncan 17%, Nowitzki 17%) and the high scoring guys who don't (Amare 4.6%, Curry 4.5%, Blount 4.2%).

Player Total FGM Activity

  FGM Activity = (Player's FGM + Player's Assists) / On Court Team FGM

That view gives more credit to the guys who can score and dish as opposed to pure passers.

2006-07 Regular Season (thru 3/18) Player Team Own FGM Ast Team FGM Active  Nash PHO 421 693 1902 58.6%  Wade MIA 445 362 1382 58.4%  Ford TOR 320 470 1395 56.6%  McGrady HOU 514 358 1571 55.5%  Rodriguez POR 70 165 431 54.5%  Iverson PHI 151 109 484 53.7%  Williams UTA 419 593 1891 53.5%  Paul NOK 295 431 1367 53.1%  Calderon TOR 219 317 1015 52.8%  Davis GSW 357 402 1466 51.8%  Parker SAS 476 344 1599 51.3%  James CLE 629 373 1961 51.1%  Kidd NJN 323 593 1800 50.9%  Tinsley IND 297 419 1411 50.7%  Cassell LAC 240 256 979 50.7%  Iverson DEN 297 248 1089 50.0%  Bryant LAL 613 344 1925 49.7%  Anthony DEN 535 194 1526 47.8%  Knight CHA 108 191 631 47.4%  Williams NJN 189 198 818 47.3%  Carter NJN 586 303 1901 46.8%  J.Johnson ATL 536 249 1691 46.4%  Miller DEN 117 209 705 46.2%  Miller PHI 228 312 1177 45.9%  Arenas WAS 572 378 2089 45.5%  Arroyo ORL 183 185 825 44.6%  Felton CHA 320 452 1739 44.4%  Billups DET 276 413 1554 44.3%  Jasikevicius IND 91 111 458 44.1%  O'Neal MIA 192 54 565 43.5%

From this view, you really get a better sense of the players who truly dominate the offense for a team, and Nash and D-Wade are a step above everyone else in the league, while prodigious scorers who also set up their teammates like T-Mac, Iverson, LeBron and Kobe also move up the leaderboard. We get an interesting take on the notion of how much circumstances dictate player contributions by the Iverson-Andre Miller trade, as we can see that Andre Miller's activity level is virtually unchanged between the two teams, whereas A.I. has dropped slightly in the new digs, and will possibly drop more now he's playing consistently with Carmelo. In regard to our two top players in this stat, one does wonder whether the 60% mark has been hit in the past, and surely it must have been with Chamberlain's 50 points per game season. In the 'modern era' though, maybe Stockton and Magic came close and Michael took a run at it (especially in his 37 pts per game year). The next question is whether it's a good thing to have a player who is such a big part of the offense or whether a more balanced attack is preferable? Dallas players are conspicuously absent, and you'd have to go to #45 in the ranks to find the first Mav (Nowitzki). On the other hand, if the season ended today, roughly 70% of the players in this list would be heading to the playoffs. Maybe the Phoenix/Toronto strategy will be a trend!

NBA 2005-06 Random Stat Archive
Player Stat Leaders by Quarter (4/17)
Game Winning Shots (updated 4/13)
"Hot Hand" -- Streak Shooting (4/10)
Clutch Free Throw Shooting (4/05)
Stolen Passes (4/03)
Most Dunks (3/28)
Does the team scoring first in OT usually win? (3/27)
How often does bad FT% cost a team a win? (3/24)
Alley Oop Leaders (3/22)
Who get called for Traveling? (3/13)
Technical Free Throws (3/10)
Two Way Players (3/08)
Jump Ball winning % (3/07)
"At the Rim" Shots (3/05)
Team Quarter by Quarter results (2/23)
Points per FGA (2/21)
Player Assisted% on FGM (2/15)
Types of Turnovers (2/12)
Goaltending "Leaders" (2/10)
Shot Clock Studs (2/09)
Team Starter/Bench stats (2/07)
Free Throw shooting home versus away (2/04)
Who gets their shot blocked the most? (2/03)
Plus/Minus stats over the last 30 days (2/02)
What percentage of the time has each team been leading? (2/01)