Blazers All-Time Value Team

[GrandpaBlaze]

You know me - the numbers guy. I thought I would see who of the Blazers are the highest on the all-time list.

I took their all-time ranking for Points, Rebounds, Assists, Steals and Blocks and added them together and divided by 5 to get their all-time value ranking. Not surprisingly, for the most part - guys with more games did better but Mychal Thompson did really well beating out LaMarcus in nearly 100 fewer games.

Point guards have a slight disadvantage as they tend to be lower on the rebounds/blocks ranking.

Person - their average all-time rank & the number of games played.

1. Clyde Drexler - 2.6 (867 games)
2. Jerome Kersey - 5.0 (831 games)
3. Mychal Thompson - 6.6 (551 games)
4. LaMarcus Aldridge - 7.6 (648 games)
5. Clifford Robinson - 8.0 (644 games)
6. Rasheed Wallace - 10.2 (544 games)
7. Terry Porter - 13.8 (758 games)
8. Sidney Wicks - 15.4 (398 games)
9. Arvydas Sabonis - 16.4 (470 games)
9. Nicolas Batum - 16.4 (481 games)
11. Buck Williams - 18.6 (557 games)
12. Jim Paxson - 19.8 (627 games)
13. Mo Lucas - 23.0 (330 games)
14. Kevin Duckworth - 24.0 (527 games)
15. Bill Walton - 25.0 (209 games) - heck of a spot for as few games as he played
16. Rod Strickland - 25.6 (312 games)
17. Damon Stoudamire - 26.0 (529 games)
18. Calvin Natt - 26.8 (333 games)
19. Brandon Roy - 27.4 (321 games)
19. Zach Randolph - 27.4 (387 games)
19. Lloyd Neal - 27.4 (435 games)
22. Geoff Petrie - 33.4 (446 games)
23. Wes Matthews - 33.8 (359 games)
24. Damian Lillard - 34.8 (255 games)
25. Kiki Vandeweghe - 43.0 (285 games)
26. Steve Blake - 49.8 (350 games)

No - I did not do this for EVERY player - just a sample of some of the higher ranked players and included some of our more recent players as well.

Damian will likely move up the list this year as he will probably pass both Nic and Wes on the scoring list before the end of the year and will also be moving up in the other categories as well.

Gramps...

 

[GrandpaBlaze]

By the way - if there are others you'd like to see me add to the list, let me know (within reason).

Gramps...

 

[GrandpaBlaze]

Nic Batum is an anomaly. Most everyone has certain areas where they are high and others where they are low (Clyde being an exception - he's high everywhere).

Nic gets his ranking through being well-rounded (consistently mediocre?)

20th in points, 18th in rebounds, 16th in assists, 15th in steals, 13th in blocks.

Compare to Buck Williams just after him on the list - 17th in points, 5th in rebounds, 40th in assists, 17th in steals, 14th in blocks. Also consistent but better in one category (rebounds) but significantly worse in another (assists).

I see this and I am reminded of what I often thought when he had one of those great games. "Nic, Nic! If only you would bring it EVERY night".

Gramps...

 

[BlazerCaravan]

Now... try this:

{50/(Average rank) * 991.848} / Number of Games Played

That should normalize their value per game... among one other thing.

 

[Natebishop3]

I hate you math people......

 

[BlazerCaravan]

I hate you math people......

Don't hate me; I was an English Lit major in college.

 

[SlyPokerDog]

It's funny how people always forget about Mychal Thompson when discussing past Blazer power forwards and centers. He was good, 6'10" so a little undersized for a center but I would rank him as the 3rd greatest Blazer center. His problem was coming after Bill Walton. It was impossible to fill those shoes.

 

[B-Roy]

It's funny how people always forget about Mychal Thompson when discussing past Blazer power forwards and centers. He was good, 6'10" so a little undersized for a center but I would rank him as the 3rd greatest Blazer center. His problem was coming after Bill Walton. It was impossible to fill those shoes.

But he also played for the Lakers, and does work for them now. So fuck him.

 

[GrandpaBlaze]

Now... try this:

{50/(Average rank) * 991.848} / Number of Games Played

That should normalize their value per game... among one other thing.

Ok, explain why the 50 & 991.848. (I like numbers but am not a stats guy per-se).

Gramps...

 

[BlazerCaravan]

Ok, explain why the 50 & 991.848. (I like numbers but am not a stats guy per-se).

Gramps...

Fifty because Blake is the lowest guy at 49.8, and 991.848 because... Run the formula on Clyde

 

[GrandpaBlaze]

Fifty because Blake is the lowest guy at 49.8, and 991.848 because... Run the formula on Clyde

Now that is funny.

 

[GrandpaBlaze]

Now... try this:

{50/(Average rank) * 991.848} / Number of Games Played

That should normalize their value per game... among one other thing.

Ok. Custom Value-Per-Game Rankings (I love the Clyde touch!):

1. Clyde Drexler - 22.0
2. Mychal Thompson - 13.64
3. Jerome Kersey - 11.94
4. LaMarcus Aldridge - 10.07
5. Cliff Robinson - 9.63
6. Bill Walton - 9.49
7. Rasheed Wallace - 8.94
8. Sidney Wicks - 8.09
9. Mo Lucas - 6.53
10. Arvydas Sabonis - 6.43
11. Nicolas Batum - 6.29
12. Rod Strickland - 6.21
13. Brandon Roy - 5.64
14. Damian Lillard - 5.59
15. Calvin Natt - 5.56
16. Buck Williams - 4.79
17. Terry Porter - 4.74
18. Zach Randolph - 4.68
19. Lloyd Neal - 4.16
20. Wes Matthews - 4.09
21. Kiki Vandeweghe - 4.05
22. Jim Paxson - 3.99
23. Kevin Duckworth - 3.92
24. Damon Stoudamire - 3.61
25. Geoff Petrie - 3.33
26. Steve Blake - 2.85

Gramps...

 

[BlazerCaravan]

That LA is ranked between Cliffy and Jerome feels right; putting those years in context, LA was a lot like Cliffy.

 

[BlazerCaravan]

Oh and thank you Gramps!

 

[PCmor7]

It's funny how people always forget about Mychal Thompson when discussing past Blazer power forwards and centers. He was good, 6'10" so a little undersized for a center but I would rank him as the 3rd greatest Blazer center. His problem was coming after Bill Walton. It was impossible to fill those shoes.

I thought his problem was being what we got back for Tom Owens ....

 

[Natebishop3]

Don't hate me; I was an English Lit major in college.

I'm curious, when you're majoring in English Lit, what is the end goal? Teaching?

 

[GrandpaBlaze]

Thinking about BlazerCaravan's per-game-value, I've revised my original list (ok, still have it but created a newer expanded list) which now also takes into account per-game averages for Points, Rebounds and Assists. Thus, players with a shorter career but with higher per-game averages are taken into account as well.

Advantage still goes to longevity but some equalization is provided.

Revised list:

1. Clyde Drexler - 7.88
2. Mychal Thompson - 10.88
3. Sidney Wicks - 13.0
4. LaMarcus Aldridge - 19.13
5. Bill Walton - 19.25
6. Terry Porter - 22.25
7. Rasheed Wallace - 23.38 (544 games)
8. Cliff Robinson - 23.38 (644 games)
9. Jerome Kersey - 24.5
10. Mo Lucas - 25.63
11. Rod Strickland - 26.25
12. Brandon Roy - 27.63
13. Nic Batum - 28.0
14. Arvydas Sabonis - 29.75
15. Calvin Natt - 32.0
16. Damian Lillard - 33.0
17. Damon Stoudamire - 33.25
18. Zach Randolph - 36.88
19. Jim Paxon - 37.13
20. Geoff Petrie - 37.63
21. Buck Williams - 40.75
22. Lloyd Neal - 41.5
23. Kevin Duckworth - 45.13
24. Wes Matthews - 45.88
25. Kiki Vandeweghe - 51.13
26. Steve Blake - 64.13

Gramps...

 

[GrandpaBlaze]

Using the expanded rankings and continuing to use (unaltered) BlazerCaravan's per-game-value formula, we get the following ranking of per-game value:

It should be noted that when you have a number of players together on a good team, the per-game averages of each will go down and so they are dropped further in this list (i.e., Terry Porter, Jerome Kersey, etc.)

1. Bill Walton - 12.33
2. Sidney Wicks - 9.58
3. Mychal Thompson - 8.28
4. Clyde Drexler - 7.26
5. Rod Strickland - 6.06
6. Damian Lillard - 5.89
7. Mo Lucas - 5.86
8. Brandon Roy - 5.59
9. Calvin Natt - 4.65
10. LaMarcus Aldridge - 4.00
11. Rasheed Wallace - 3.90
12. Nic Batum - 3.68
13. Arvydas Sabonis - 3.55
14. Zach Randolph - 3.48
15. Kiki Vandeweghe - 3.40
16. Cliff Robinson - 3.29
17. Wes Matthews - 3.01
18. Geoff Petrie - 2.96
19. Terry Porter - 2.94
20. Damon Stoudamire - 2.82
21. Lloyd Neal - 2.75
22. Jerome Kersey - 2.44
23. Steve Blake - 2.21
24. Buck Williams - 2.18
25. Jim Paxson - 2.13
26. Kevin Duckworth - 2.09

Gramps...

 

[GrandpaBlaze]

Finally, a note on Lillard's per-game standings:

Points - 5th (Kiki, Sidney, Geoff & Clyde are ahead of him)
Assists - 7th (Rod & Terry are the only two ahead of him on this list)
Rebounds - 78 (ahead of Kiki, Wes, Geoff, TP, Damon Stoudamire, Steve Blake & Jim Paxon)

 

[BlazerCaravan]

I'm curious, when you're majoring in English Lit, what is the end goal? Teaching?

For me it was technical writing, with hopes of writing fiction professionally. When I applied there was a promise of an MFA in writing I could transfer into but the program never materialized.

Now I do analytics and data visualization for a living, working with numbers and formulas way more than I expected to!

 

[BlazerCaravan]

Man getting Rod Strickland was a coup. I wish we had done more with his drunk ass.

 

[PDXFonz]

I'm curious, when you're majoring in English Lit, what is the end goal? Teaching?

Extra time to drink during the school year.

Seriously though what bc said is probably pretty common. Not gonna find an English lit major who isn't looking to do some kind of writing.

 

[BlazerCaravan]

Extra time to drink during the school year.

Man that's the truth. There's a reason I took five years!

 

[GrandpaBlaze]

For me it was technical writing, with hopes of writing fiction professionally. When I applied there was a promise of an MFA in writing I could transfer into but the program never materialized.

Now I do analytics and data visualization for a living, working with numbers and formulas way more than I expected to!

Just curious, what analytics/visualization products do you use?

Are you traditional BI (Cognos/Business Objects/MicroStrategy, etc.) vs. Visualization (Qlikview/Tableau/Spotfire, etc.) vs. something else? Are strictly the analytics side or also in the data warehousing side?

Gramps...

 

[Natebishop3]

Just curious, what analytics/visualization products do you use?

Are you traditional BI (Cognos/Business Objects/MicroStrategy, etc.) vs. Visualization (Qlikview/Tableau/Spotfire, etc.) vs. something else? Are strictly the analytics side or also in the data warehousing side?

Gramps...

BC does all his work in MS Paint.

 

[MarAzul]

coming after Bill Walton. It was impossible to fill those shoes.

Well, I thought he did real well since Walton blew the Blazers off. Different game entirely though.

 

[GrandpaBlaze]

BC does all his work in MS Paint.

I see, unlike you who are a true artist and only use finger paints?

 

[Natebishop3]

I see, unlike you who are a true artist and only use finger paints?

I prefer silly putty.

 

[GrandpaBlaze]

I prefer silly putty.

Of course, how silly of me not to recognize true artistic greatness when I can't see it.

 

[BlazerCaravan]

Just curious, what analytics/visualization products do you use?

Are you traditional BI (Cognos/Business Objects/MicroStrategy, etc.) vs. Visualization (Qlikview/Tableau/Spotfire, etc.) vs. something else? Are strictly the analytics side or also in the data warehousing side?

Gramps...

I've developed for Microstrategy and Cognos in the past, but for my current project we're using mostly Cognos and a bit of Tableau. I'm the SME for our ad-hoc analysis group (my specialty is retail sales formulas) so these days I mostly manage the dev team and answer questions for the other BSA's in the group.