Your Newest JPoint King...

Derrick Williams of the Minnesota Timberwolves. Who, last night, beat the Los Angeles Clippers thanks to a wizardly fourth quarter and 27 points each from Williams and future Laker Michael Beasley.

D. Williams, F, MIN: 29 points, 9-10 FG, 4-4 3FG, 5-5 FT, 5 rebounds, 1 block, 86.2 JPoint


I mean, sweet Jesus Derrick, he's just a boy! (No clue who "he" is). In terms of offensive efficiency, this may be the best game of basketball we ever see. I don't see how this could physically be improved - make the tenth field goal, yes, but that's nearly impossible. This is ten points better than anyone we've ever seen in an actual game (to my knowledge). Even Kyrie Irving's performance in the rising stars game was only like an 84. I imagine Williams holds this crown for a long, long time.

Previous Champions:
Michael Beasley, F, MIN (January 30) - 74.6
Jeff Teague, PG, ATL (January 29) - 71.7
Kevin Love, PF, MIN (January 23) - 68.8
Deividas Dulkys, G, FSU (January 14) - 68.3

T'wolves Win, Beasley Sets JPoint Record

Minnesota beat the Houston Rockets tonight, 120-108. Coming into this game, Minny had been scoring an average of 95 points per game. But, as you know, any team can score more points if the just take better shots.

It's hard to lose a game when your team combines for a JPoint of 47.0 overall. That's very, very, VERY good. Let's look at some of the players who took the most shots:

Nikola Pekovic, C, MIN: 8 points, 4-6 FG, 7 rebounds, 41.4 JPoint
Ricky Rubio, PG, MIN: 18 points, 2-3 FG, 4-4 FT, 11 assists, 8 rebounds, 57.0 JPoint
Kevin Love, PF, MIN: 29 points, 10-15 FG, 7-8 FT, 7 rebounds, 57.2 JPoint


The only player who took a significant amount of shots and hurt the team:

Luke Ridnour, PG, MIN: 11 points, 5-11 FG, 0-3 3FG, 5 assists, 4 rebounds, 23.3 JPoint


But that was balanced out by this next line:

The JPoint Champion Crown Changes Hands

This time, it's a point guard:

Jeff Teague, of the Atlanta Hawks

Teague led the Hawks with 24 points in a win over the lowly Hornets last night. Teague's stat line:

24 points, 9-11 FG, 4-4 3FG, 2-2 FT, 4 assists, 1 rebound, steal


71.7 JPoint


So there you have it. Teague led the Hawks to a gritty win (Teague was really the only guy who played well) by taking good shots - and he also led the team in assists (with 4, just to show you how poor a game it really way). He's the first player to ever (officially) break a 70 JPoint. Granted, I haven't really checked every player and I don't count guys who take less than like 7-8 shots. In time, the qualifications for the crown will change. But for now, it's Teague. Congratulations.

Previous champions:
Kevin Love, PF, MIN (January 23) (68.8)
Deividas Dulkys, G, FSU (January 14) (68.3)

Check Out Your New JPoint Champion

And it might be a more familiar face than the Lithuanian (or whatever) that previously held the crown:

Minnesota lost tonight (107-92 to Houston), but it was not Kevin Love's fault. That blame falls on a combination of Rubio, Milicic, Williams, and Ellington.

That's irrelevant.

Kevin Love made history tonight, posting the most efficient night in recent memory. And actually, according to the Bullets Blog records, ever.

K. Love, PF, MIN: 39 points, 12 rebounds, 13/19 FG, 5/5 3FG, 8/10 FT, 68.8 JPoint


68.8. Wow. I'd love to see Coach Adelman give him 30-35 field goal attempts and see if he could put up 82 points. See what all of Kobe's fans have to say about that one.

The JPoint crown goes to the most well-rounded player in the NBA, Minnesota's Kevin Love.

The Atlantic Divison's JPoints

Here you go, Dave. Ask and you shall receive. Here's the current picture in the NBA's Atlantic Division, in terms of wins and losses:

1. Philadelphia (10-4) (0.714 Win%) (0.388 Strength of Schedule)
2. New York (6-8) (0.429 Win%) (0.403 SOS)
3. Boston (5-8) (0.386 Win%) (0.442 SOS)
4. New Jersey (4-11) (0.267 Win%) (0.524 SOS)
5. Toronto (4-11) (0.267 Win%) (0.508 SOS)

And here's the current picture in terms of offensive efficiency:

1. Boston (37.3 JPoint)
2. Philadelphia (36.2 JPoint)
3. New Jersey (35.4 JPoint)
4. New York (34.5 JPoint)
5. Toronto (33.0 JPoint)

Good News, Bullets Blog Fans: The JPoint is Relevant

To be honest, the night I made the JPoint I was just looking for a numerical way to prove Kobe's overratedness. However, I was fairly unbiased and we've adjusted the JPoint calculation method slightly to reflect offensive efficiency. I meant it to be an individual thing, but in last night's post I expanded it to entire teams as an explanation of why the Heat won.

Well in class today I was thinking. What if offensive efficiency is the single most important determinant of the winner of an NBA? Sounds absurd right, because I mean it's only a part of the game - there's assists, rebounds, defense, steals, substitutions, momentum, and the occasional brawl between players and fans.

But chew on this: I crunched some numbers from the games yesterday (there were only 3 - a small sample size, for sure) and look at my findings:

Game 1: Houston Rockets 90, New Orleans Hornets 88 (Final/OT)
To summarize this game in one ESPN headline, "Rockets survive awful 4th to top Hornets in OT." The fact that neither team scored more than 90 points in 53 minutes of play should reiterate that. But if you were looking for a statistical measure of offensive effectiveness, I have just the thing (see where I'm going with this?):
Houston: 30.5 JPoint (that's horrendous, in relation to averages)
New Orleans: 28.2 JPoint (and that would be even worse)

For those of you keeping track, that's 1/1 on JPoint reflecting final score.

Heat Beat Lakers.. But Why?

So tonight the Heat beat the Lakers convincingly - by 11 points - and (as usual) Lebron and Kobe were the two best players on the court.

The basic stats, which are impressive for both players:

James: 31 points, 8 rebounds, 8 assists, 4 steals, 3 blocks
Bryant: 24 points, 5 rebounds, 7 assists, 3 steals

The more advanced stats, which show that neither player really had a spectacular night:

James: 0.444 FG%, 0.714 FT%, 37.1 JPoint
Bryant: 0.381 FG%, 1.000 FT%, 37.5 JPoint

So, as Kobe fans may point out, Bryant was slightly more efficient than James. And, in a strange role reversal, James fans would respond by saying that the only stat that counts is a win. I disagree with that notion, as you probably know, and I love the statistical reasons for why teams win games. Let's look at the rest of the players (skipping every stat besides points and JPoint because what else do you really need?).

So.. Uh.. Check Out The Dude Who Now Holds The JPoint Single-Game Record

Meet Deividas Dulkys (I pronounce that day-vee-das dul-kees, but I could be wrong). He's from Lithuania and he plays for Florida State.

The JPoint and Some Thoughts on Kobe

So we got a lot of feedback about the Kobe/JPoint post last night. Some of it was logical and literate. So I took that feedback into account and would like to present you with a revision of the stat.

Why Kobe's 48 Was Not Really That Big Of A Deal

Wow, Kobe scored 48 points in one game!!!

Oh, wait. He took 31 shots from the field and 13 from the free throw line. That's nearly half of the Lakers' field goals and more than half of their free throws.