Post by eric on Jul 24, 2020 21:13:07 GMT
don't know why but got to thinking about these today and looked 'em up on b-r, here are some statistical highlights from a really weird series:
Shaq had 100 rebounds, more than any other player and any other player
the next two highest were Dale Davis with 60 and Austin Croshere with 36 (off the bench!), that's a combined 96
Rik Smits was never a good rebounder for his size (a crisp 8 per 36 on his career)
but it didn't help that he put up a cool NINE fouls per 36 in the finals, severely curtailing his playing time
here's the list of players to outrebound the next two in the finals, ever:
2000 Shaq > Davis + Croshere
1983 Moses > Dr. J + Magic (yep! Magic outrebounded Kareem! nice work Cap)
1970 Wilt > DeBusschere + Reed
1963 Russell > Elgin + "Gene Wiley"
1962 Russell < Elgin + "Jim Krebs" BUT set the all time Finals record with a cool 189 rebounds. 27 a game. not bad
1961 Russell > Pettit + Hagan
1959 Russell > Foust + Mikkelsen
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the Lakers had two, count 'em, two 36 year old starters in A.C. Green and Ron "The Ohio Flyer" Harper
and Harper led the team in assists
the Pacers answered right back with a 38 year old Sam Perkins over the series hit a crisp 11 of 23 from three
or for Steph Curry, it was "Tuesday"
no shock Shaq also led all players with 30 points per 36
second place obviously went to... Austin Croshere? (again???)
a third year player after a wildly undistinguished four years at Providence (per wikipedia: "played college basketball for Providence College in Providence, Rhode Island.[1][2] Professional career:")
Croshere was the de facto sixth man due to Chris Mullin and Rik Smits having about one working leg between them, and in the Finals they played only 20 mpg combined so the door was wide open, and Croshere's 15 PPG on 71 TS% broke a record for 15 PPG scorers that had stood since 1965, when Bill Russell apparently got bored of rebounding records and rang up 18 PPG on 69 TS%... nice (the record was later broken by Kawhi Leonard's 18 on 75% in 2014)
hey, in 49 other states it's religion. in Indiana they wildly, WILDLY overpay white guys at the slightest provocation, and Croshere got a cool $51m / 7 deal in the offseason. that's chump change now but back when the cap was $34m(!!!!!!) dropping $7m a year on a guy was meaningful. he started 74 games the next season... wait, strike that, he started 74 games the next SEVEN seasons and the entire REST OF HIS CAREER
but flags fly forever, and you can never take that away from Indiana. hey, maybe one day they'll win a big boy championship, but an Eastern Conference championship is nothing to sneeze at. it IS something to laugh at, though
speaking of 15 PPG scorers, Kobe Bryant rang up 16 PPG on a brisk 37% from the field and 20% from the three
or for Kobe Bryant, it was "Tuesday"
this wasn't a record but his 41 TS% was the seventh worst ever and one of exactly two that bad since the merger:
2000 Kobe Bryant 36.7 FG% 20 3P%
1994 Patrick Ewing 36.3 FG% 20 3P%
since then, zero players have done as poorly
the closest anyone got in the 2010s was 2013 Tony Parker's 16 on 47 TS%
the % gap between #283 Parker and #330 Bryant is as big as between Parker and #168 Gary Payton
#168 also known as the exact midpoint of a 336 player sample
put another way, Bryant's worseness than the worst player in the past decade is as far below average as that player was
hey, any time you can be in a conversation with three Hall of Famers it's an honor
Shaq had 100 rebounds, more than any other player and any other player
the next two highest were Dale Davis with 60 and Austin Croshere with 36 (off the bench!), that's a combined 96
Rik Smits was never a good rebounder for his size (a crisp 8 per 36 on his career)
but it didn't help that he put up a cool NINE fouls per 36 in the finals, severely curtailing his playing time
here's the list of players to outrebound the next two in the finals, ever:
2000 Shaq > Davis + Croshere
1983 Moses > Dr. J + Magic (yep! Magic outrebounded Kareem! nice work Cap)
1970 Wilt > DeBusschere + Reed
1963 Russell > Elgin + "Gene Wiley"
1962 Russell < Elgin + "Jim Krebs" BUT set the all time Finals record with a cool 189 rebounds. 27 a game. not bad
1961 Russell > Pettit + Hagan
1959 Russell > Foust + Mikkelsen
the Lakers had two, count 'em, two 36 year old starters in A.C. Green and Ron "The Ohio Flyer" Harper
and Harper led the team in assists
the Pacers answered right back with a 38 year old Sam Perkins over the series hit a crisp 11 of 23 from three
or for Steph Curry, it was "Tuesday"
no shock Shaq also led all players with 30 points per 36
second place obviously went to... Austin Croshere? (again???)
a third year player after a wildly undistinguished four years at Providence (per wikipedia: "played college basketball for Providence College in Providence, Rhode Island.[1][2] Professional career:")
Croshere was the de facto sixth man due to Chris Mullin and Rik Smits having about one working leg between them, and in the Finals they played only 20 mpg combined so the door was wide open, and Croshere's 15 PPG on 71 TS% broke a record for 15 PPG scorers that had stood since 1965, when Bill Russell apparently got bored of rebounding records and rang up 18 PPG on 69 TS%... nice (the record was later broken by Kawhi Leonard's 18 on 75% in 2014)
hey, in 49 other states it's religion. in Indiana they wildly, WILDLY overpay white guys at the slightest provocation, and Croshere got a cool $51m / 7 deal in the offseason. that's chump change now but back when the cap was $34m(!!!!!!) dropping $7m a year on a guy was meaningful. he started 74 games the next season... wait, strike that, he started 74 games the next SEVEN seasons and the entire REST OF HIS CAREER
but flags fly forever, and you can never take that away from Indiana. hey, maybe one day they'll win a big boy championship, but an Eastern Conference championship is nothing to sneeze at. it IS something to laugh at, though
speaking of 15 PPG scorers, Kobe Bryant rang up 16 PPG on a brisk 37% from the field and 20% from the three
or for Kobe Bryant, it was "Tuesday"
this wasn't a record but his 41 TS% was the seventh worst ever and one of exactly two that bad since the merger:
2000 Kobe Bryant 36.7 FG% 20 3P%
1994 Patrick Ewing 36.3 FG% 20 3P%
since then, zero players have done as poorly
the closest anyone got in the 2010s was 2013 Tony Parker's 16 on 47 TS%
the % gap between #283 Parker and #330 Bryant is as big as between Parker and #168 Gary Payton
#168 also known as the exact midpoint of a 336 player sample
put another way, Bryant's worseness than the worst player in the past decade is as far below average as that player was
hey, any time you can be in a conversation with three Hall of Famers it's an honor