Good Stats NBA

What's so good about GoodStats? Well, the intent is to be user-friendly, intuitively handy, relate-able. If I say a guy is a 21.0 scorer, that means you can expect 21 points, if you give him the minutes. If he's a 13.1 rebounder, he should get 31% more rebounds than a 10.0 guy will get.

We've seen a lot of NBA rating systems. Many are cooked up in college dorms; some predate the computer. I started with a handheld calculator in a house without electricity, back in the '80s. Among my first 'discoveries' was John Stockton, on the Utah Jazz bench. Since he 'developed' into a pretty good starter, I've been fond of improving my system. It's still a work in progress; but it's one of the best and getting better; and already, unequivocally Good.

Notes on the Top-200 list, and further ramblings

Since I'm new to blogging (and generally not very diligent about cleaning up my correspondences), I'll quickly try to patch up the missing explanatory info. In my first posted list (lists seem to be my 'thing'), after the player name is their first and last NBA (or ABA) season. A single number represents a season. For brevity, I only list the 2nd half of the '77-78 season, as "78". My solution to the y2k trauma was to list 21st-century seasons as "100", etc. Just add 1900 to any year, if you must.

The full explanation of my 'system' will require many, many posts. I may or may not try to explain everything at once. More likely, you will have to pick it up piecemeal, if at all. Maybe you'll just accept the results (or reject them). Notice some short, brilliant careers outrank some long, unspectacular ones. Some players who tended to be on winning teams outrank bigger-stat guys on non-contenders. Such things are clues to my system.

What I Don't consider in a player's rankings are awards, citations, popularity, electability, and how many people saw him come out of the tunnel in dramatic circumstances. Winning is rewarded; but no one is permanently top-10 or even top-100. No player-worship here. It's a statistically-generated list.

I'm not big on assigning position. Was Dan Issel a center? Is Duncan a forward? I don't care. So I don't try to assign 10 centers, 10 point guards, etc., to the Top 50. Good is good, and better is better.

Not-caring may be as important as caring, in attempting to be objective. Numbers don't lie; words do. You heard it here.

Some say I 'specialize' in historic rankings. Not true. It's just something I do that others seem not to do. Catering to the kids among the readership, more people seem to project highshoolers than to evaluate the alltime greats. That's cool.

200 greatest NBA careers, 1952-2005

1	Michael	Jordan	85	03
2	Kareem	AbdulJabbar	70	89
3	Wilt	Chamberlain	60	73
4	Karl	Malone	86	04
5	Shaquille	O'Neal	93	05
6	Hakeem	Olajuwon	85	02
7	Magic	Johnson	80	96
8	Larry	Bird	80	92
9	Bill	Russell	57	69
10	David	Robinson	90	03
11	Julius	Erving	72	87
12	Tim	Duncan	98	05
13	Charles	Barkley	85	00
14	Jerry	West	61	74
15	Elgin	Baylor	59	72
16	Bob	Pettit	55	65
17	Scottie	Pippen	88	04
18	Patrick	Ewing	86	02
19	Oscar	Robertson	61	74
20	John	Stockton	85	03
21	Kevin	Garnett	96	05
22	Clyde	Drexler	84	98
23	Moses	Malone	75	95
24	John	Havlicek	63	78
25	Dolph	Schayes	52	64
26	Elvin	Hayes	69	84
27	Rick	Barry	66	80
28	Artis	Gilmore	72	88
29	Robert	Parish	77	97
30	Bob	Cousy	52	63
31	Bob	Lanier	71	84
32	Isiah	Thomas	82	94
33	Kobe	Bryant	97	05
34	George	Mikan	52	56
35	Chris	Webber	94	05
36	Gary	Payton	91	05
37	Dave	Cowens	71	83
38	George	McGinnis	72	82
39	Jason	Kidd	95	05
40	Dan	Issel	71	85
41	Kevin	McHale	81	93
42	Shawn	Kemp	90	03
43	Allen	Iverson	97	05
44	Walt	Frazier	68	79
45	Bob	McAdoo	73	86
46	Dominique	Wilkins	83	99
47	Reggie	Miller	88	15
48	George	Gervin	73	86
49	Tracy	McGrady	98	05
50	Billy	Cunningham	66	76
51	Alonzo	Mourning	93	05
52	Larry	Nance	82	94
53	James	Worthy	83	94
54	Jack	Sikma	78	91
55	Vlade	Divac	90	05
56	Alex	English	77	91
57	Terry	Cummings	83	00
58	Neil	Johnston	52	59
59	Jerry	Lucas	64	74
60	Kevin	Johnson	88	00
61	Paul	Pierce	99	05
62	Dirk	Nowitzki	99	05
63	Walt	Bellamy	62	74
64	Cliff	Hagan	57	69
65	Alvan	Adams	76	88
66	Horace	Grant	88	04
67	Wes	Unseld	69	81
68	Grant	Hill	95	05
69	Adrian	Dantley	77	91
70	Tom	Heinsohn	57	65
71	Clyde	Lovellette	54	64
72	Nate	Thurmond	64	77
73	Gus	Williams	76	87
74	Dennis	Johnson	77	90
75	Bob	Dandridge	70	82
76	Dikembe	Mutombo	92	05
77	Dave	DeBusschere	63	74
78	Sam	Jones	58	69
79	Maurice	Lucas	75	88
80	Marques	Johnson	78	87
81	Mark	Jackson	89	04
82	Tim	Hardaway	90	03
83	Mark	Aguirre	82	94
84	Terry	Porter	86	02
85	Jeff	Hornacek	87	00
86	Larry	Foust	52	62
87	Derrick	Coleman	91	05
88	Zelmo	Beaty	63	75
89	Paul	Arizin	52	62
90	Bill	Walton	75	87
91	Rod	Strickland	89	05
92	Anfernee	Hardaway	94	05
93	Bailey	Howell	60	71
94	Bobby	Jones	75	86
95	Rasheed	Wallace	96	05
96	Willis	Reed	65	74
97	Chet	Walker	63	75
98	Ray	Allen	97	05
99	Maurice	Cheeks	79	93
100	Bill	Laimbeer	81	94
101	Detlef	Schrempf	86	01
102	Brad	Daugherty	87	94
103	Lenny	Wilkens	61	75
104	Sam	Cassell	94	05
105	Mookie	Blaylock	90	02
106	Vince	Carter	99	05
107	Walter	Davis	78	92
108	Charles	Oakley	86	04
109	Bernard	King	78	93
110	Antoine	Walker	98	05
111	Hal	Greer	59	73
112	Ron	Harper	87	01
113	Rik	Smits	89	00
114	Vern	Mikkelsen	52	59
115	Bill	Bridges	63	75
116	Tom	Chambers	82	97
117	Otis	Thorpe	85	01
118	Mel	Daniels	68	77
119	Spencer	Haywood	70	83
120	Johnny	Kerr	55	66
121	Jerome	Kersey	85	00
122	Sam	Perkins	85	01
123	Ed	Macauley	52	59
124	Billy	Paultz	71	85
125	Buck	Williams	82	98
126	Harry	Gallatin	52	58
127	Chris	Mullin	86	01
128	Toni	Kukoc	94	05
129	Jamaal	Wilkes	75	86
130	Robert	Horry	93	05
131	Lafayette	Lever	83	94
132	Latrell	Sprewell	93	05
133	Gail	Goodrich	66	79
134	George	Yardley	54	60
135	Terrell	Brandon	92	02
136	Eddie	Jones	95	00
137	Sam	Lacey	71	83
138	Dan	Roundfield	76	87
139	Sidney	Moncrief	80	91
140	Ben	Wallace	97	05
141	Kevin	Willis	85	05
142	Mark	Price	87	98
143	Dave	Bing	67	78
144	Baron	Davis	00	05
145	JoJo	White	70	81
146	Bill	Sharman	52	61
147	Clifford	Robinson	95	05
148	Mychal	Thompson	79	91
149	Jermaine	O'Neal	97	05
150	Chauncey	Billups	98	05
151	Earl	Monroe	68	80
152	Mitch	Richmond	89	02
153	Stephon	Marbury	97	05
154	Derek	Harper	84	99
155	Shawn	Marion	00	05
156	Danny	Manning	89	03
157	Steve	Smith	92	05
158	Connie	Hawkins	68	76
159	Richie	Guerin	57	70
160	Glenn	Rivers	84	96
161	Lou	Hudson	67	79
162	Byron	Scott	84	97
163	Jack	Twyman	56	66
164	Mickey	Johnson	75	86
165	Dennis	Rodman	87	00
166	Alvin	Robertson	85	96
167	Hersey	Hawkins	89	01
168	Larry	Kenon	74	83
169	Fred	Brown	72	84
170	Paul	Silas	65	80
171	Arvydas	Sabonis	96	03
172	Joe	Dumars	86	99
173	Steve	Nash	97	05
174	Christian	Laettner	93	05
175	Larry	Johnson	92	01
176	Anthony	Mason	90	03
177	Paul	Westphal	73	84
178	Glenn	Robinson	95	05
179	Michael	Finley	96	05
180	Don	Nelson	63	76
181	Elden	Campbell	91	05
182	Calvin	Murphy	71	83
183	Glen	Rice	90	00
184	John	Starks	89	02
185	Randy	Smith	72	83
186	Xavier	McDaniel	86	97
187	Steve	Francis	100	05
188	Norm	Nixon	78	89
189	Nick	Van Exel	94	05
190	Jamal	Mashburn	94	04
191	Pete	Maravich	71	80
192	David	Thompson	76	84
193	A.C .	Green	86	01
194	Roger	Brown	68	75
195	Willie	Wise	70	77
196	Cedric	Maxwell	78	88
197	John	Drew	75	85
198	Nate	Archibald	71	84
199	Ralph	Sampson	84	92
200	Ron	Boone	69	81