C'mon, guys. We should all know by now that rebounds and assists are empty stats only accrued by selfish ballhogs.
Give me the kind of team player who takes twenty shots a game and doesn't do anything else on the floor.
Because, outside shooting is really all that matters in the game of basketball. They should do away with all this 5 on 5 team nonsense and just turn the NBA into a league of H.O.R.S.E.
Assists are achieved by player movement, picks, screens, cuts, ball movement, dribble penetration to get good shots.
The guy who gets the last pass gets the credit. Aint no stats for player movement, picks, screens, cuts, ball movement, dribble penetration.
No, the guy who makes the last pass gets credited for an assist IF his pass directly leads to a made shot. The guy who makes the actual shot gets credited for a made shot. I do agree that it is a shame that the guy who sets a great pick doesn't get a stat credited for that -- though I think there are some analysts who do track that for use by teams.
Yes, a shot opportunity is created by more than just the pass. It is indeed created by player and ball movement and picks, etc., as well as the actual pass. But none of those contribute more - influence the defense more -- to shot creation than the movement, vision and passing accuracy of the player who has the ball in his hand. He is the player the defense is watching the most and responding to the most.
It is a measured fact that not all players are equal at creating shot opportunities (whether directly shooting or by way of assist) for their team per touch of the ball. This can be seen with NBA player tracking data which tells us how often players touch the ball, how often they shoot and make the shot, how often they pass and how often their teammates get shot opportunities directly as a result from passes they make.
We also know that the efficiency of shots from assist opportunities from different players is not equal. In other words, the increase/decrease in FG% when shooting off the passes of some players is different from the change off passes from other players.
These facts tell us that assist-opportunity creation is an actual skill that players have to varying degree.
And the numbers for Rondo -- the amount of shots his team generates per his touch of the ball and the increase in efficiency of those shots compared to shots created otherwise -- tell us that he is elite at this skill. In fact, he literally is at a level with this skill that he has only a couple of peers in the NBA who compare in this.
These may sound like obscure 'advanced stats analytics' to some, but these stats are strongly confirming the consensus "eye test".
'Directly leading to a made shot' is applied very loosely in the Nba. Pass into the post. Couple of fakes, turnaround hook shot. You get an assist.
Pass to a wide open guy, who has just run off multiple screens to get open. Assist.
It isn't always the fault or credit to the guy who makes the last pass, but rather the teamplay that led to the final pass.
It is convenient for you to assert that (the bit in bold) since it allows you to waive your hands and completely dismiss the value of what Rondo brings to the court, but do you have any actual data to characterize just HOW 'loosely' the standard is applied?
Asserting that doesn't make it true.
While there is almost certainly some variance in how the assist stat is scored, my experience is that it is probably applied a LOT more consistently than you are trying to imply. I think that if you had every NBA stat scorer independently score every assist play, that they would probably agree on the ruling the vast majority of the time. Probably not 100%, but I would not be surprised if the number was well over 90%.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=exqWj9OXcwMAssist at: 0.16, 0.47, 1.00, 1.15, 2.10, 2.43, 3.00, 3.08, 3.30. The pass did not create the good look.
Topic: Should we start Smart over Rondo? (Read 25308 times)