Halfway. Centers. Notes from NBA Stat Audit

Each NBA season, after all teams have played their 41st game, I do a statistical audit of the players in the league, looking specifically at efficiency per-minute. I analyze each player that has logged at least 300 minutes (plus a select few players of note). Here are some tidbits I found interesting about the current NBA landscape at the Center position...

Cuz is out for blood

Centers

The most efficient Center per minute played is, by far, DeMarcus Cousins. Following Cousins is Tim Duncan (yes, he is more a Center, than a Power Forward), Al Horford, Brook Lopez, and Al Jefferson completes the top-five. 

Who is in the top 30 in per-minute efficiency at Center, yet is not starting or playing playing heavy minutes? There are five players that fit that description: Timofey Mosgov .603 (14th), Chris Kamen .596 (19th), Chris Andersen .553 (22nd), Kosta Koufos .545 (25th), and Miroslav Raduljica .542 (26th). 

Among those five players, Mosgov, in particular, has shown the most flashes of brilliance. His defensive rating is also good. ...Andersen plays a large role in Miami's winning ways despite logging just 18.5 minutes per game. ...Kamen is seemingly wasting away playing for the Lakers. His EFR suggests he could be helping a team as opposed to receiving DNP-CD's. ...Koufos was given a brief shot while Marc Gasol was injured but the numbers Koufos responded with were nothing to write home about. ...Raduljica is the highest rated rookie Center. At age 26, the Serbian seven footer looks like he has a chance to be heard from in the NBA in the future. 

Which Centers are outside the top 30 in per minute efficiency but are starters or play heavy minutes? There are five here as well: Jonas Valanciunas (31st), Nene (32nd), Channing Frye (37th), Andrea Bargnani (48th), and Kendrick Perkins (54th). 

Bargs is a SF in a C body

Valanciunas is only 21 years old, so I'm not too concerned with his low efficiency relative to his position. ...Nene could be called a Power Forward too. I think he's more of a Center. He would be an ideal first big-man off the bench for a good team. As it stands, Nene gets 30 minutes a game on a decent team. 

Frye and Bargnani just don't rebound the ball well enough to be efficient Centers. Basically these two deep shooting tall guys are Small Forwards in their skill set but they are too slow and big to chase the quicker wing players so they are resigned to playing the position their physical size dictates. 

And Perkins... Perkins can still defend and bang but I'm certain OKC would be better off with the NBA's Kendrick playing less. 

LINKS to analysis of other positions: 
Read Point Guards
Read Shooting Guards
Read Small Forwards
Read Power Forwards

Moultrie would not benefit from a UTEP return + notes

I feel compelled to speak on a few things I’ve read recently. Chad Ford of ESPN.com had this to say about players who should go back to school. On Arnett Moultrie from UTEP: “Now that Tim Floyd is at UTEP running the show and Derrick Caracter has left for the NBA, Moultrie should be featured more offensively.” I’ll disagree. It’s not that I think Moultrie is a guy that should be drafted for sure but I would never say that going to a Tim Floyd coached team could help one’s draft stock. Floyd plays slow-ball and his players statistical output always reflects that. If Moultrie returns to UTEP - his already pedestrian numbers could take a hit and that will not improve his draft stock.

Two players I like more than the average scout: Luke Babbitt of Nevada, and Robert Glenn from IUPUI.

I feel bad for Tim Welsh - the former ESPN commentator who had just taken the head coaching gig at Hofstra. Welsh was arrested for driving drunk on Friday and he has since resigned as Hofstra’s coach. I’ve always enjoyed Welsh as one of the most honest analysts in the game and if he is honest with himself in this situation he will realize that as bad as his current predicament is it pales in comparison to what could have happened had he continued to drive drunk.

The first round of the NBA Playoffs had only one surprising result to me. The Utah Jazz beating the Denver Nuggets was not something I saw coming. Deron Williams continues to be the poster child for NBA guys that were good but not GREAT in college. Many considered Dee Brown the star of the Illinois team that also included Luther Head.

Who put Stephen Jackson fifth on their ballot for MVP in the NBA post-season voting? They should have their right to vote revoked for life. It was probably the same person who was the only one to list Lebron James third on their ballot. ...The voting also reveals that Tim Duncan is no longer viewed by the media as an elite player. He did not receive one point in the voting that allows for listing your top-five players in order. Duncan’s minutes may be down in the regular season but the truth is—he was more efficient (that’s per-minute across the board) than Dwight Howard was in the 2009-10 regular season. Howard finished fourth overall in the voting.