Over the past few NBA seasons I have worked to create a statistic to evaluate offensive players.  The traditional stats are antiquated and inaccurate. 

My complaints about traditional stats run from if a player is playing on a higher paced team he will get more opportunities so his points per game will be up to if a player is using a ton of possessions (shots or free throws) he will score points, but it could be detrimental to his team (read: Chris Webber and Alan Iverson).

The other statistic that is worthless is FG%.  If a player shots a lot of three point attempts his shooting percentage may be low, but the more important number is his pts per shot.   A 40% shooter from three is getting his team 1.2 points per shot and it takes a 60% from inside the arch to do the same.

Finally, going to the free throw line is the key to winning basketball.  It is the most efficient way to score.  It also helps your defense and it hurts the other team. 

My original work took a variation of ESPN’s John Hollinger (before he was ESPN) to create something called Stud and Dud%.  This simply evaluated a player’s offensive efficiency.

Over the past year, with the assistance of Supersonics.com brainiac Kevin Pelton a new variation has been created.

The premise behind the stat is as follows. 

            A player should be rewarded for two things.  The ability to score efficiently is the first one.  This is calculated by points per scoring opportunity.  (Scoring opportunity is a field goal attempt or a trip to the free throw line.)  Then a player is rewarded for his ability to create his own scoring opportunity.  It doesn’t do a team a great deal of good if you are efficient, but can’t get a shot off.   At the same time, you should be penalized if you take a ton of shots and are inefficient.

            The final step was to determine a level of evaluation.   For this a replacement level was created.  Replacement level is a popular new age baseball statistic.  It is designed to evaluate a player on what they contribute instead of a player who would be called up from AAA.  In the case of the NBA it is a player up from the D-League or an end of the bench offensive player. 

            On average 15 players played for a team last year.  The replacement level was set at 10 players per roster or 300 player’s league wide.  This is somewhat arbitrary.

            Put that all together and you have the Locke Offensive Rating System.

Understanding the Ratings in the Locke

The Top 30 players rate as 25 or higher

The League Average Rating is a 10.

If a player is rated below 0 he is below replacement level

Top 10 Players in the NBA

1.   Amare Stoudamire         42.7

2. Yao Ming                            39.6

3. Steve Nash                        39.6

4. Dirk Nowitzki                     37.8

5. Manu Ginobili                    34.5

6. Kobe Bryant                       34.1

7. Kevin Martin                       34.1

8. Dwyane Wade                   33.1

9. Michael Redd                    32.7

10. Brent Barry                       31.1

Bottom 10 Players in the NBA (must have played 800 mins)

10. Yakhouba Diawara           -8.5

9. Sebastian Telfair                 -8.8

8. Channing Frye                      -8.9

7. Antoine Walker                     -9.5     

6. Jamal Tinsley                       -10.0

5. Beno Udrich                         -10.3   

4. Clifford Robinson               -10.4

3. Willie Green                         -13.5

2. Adam Morrison                    -13.9

1. Speedy Claxton                   -25.4

Locke Stat Schedule

Thursday:  The Jazz Players Regular Season

 Friday:  The Jazz Players Playoffs

Monday:  The Point Guards

Tuesday:  The Shooting Guards

Wednesday:  The Small Forwards

Thursday:  The Power Forwards

Friday:  The Centers

Put your comments in the comment section.  I will be live in Boise with the Jazz so be sure to keep checking for updates.