Thursday, April 24, 2014

2014 NBA AWARDS: WHO SHOULD BE THE MVP ACCORDING TO STATISTICS?

This is the first of my two articles about the 2014 NBA AWARDS using statistics.
Today, we will focus on “who should be the MVP” before looking at the “the All-NBA teams / All-Defensive teams”.


A. 2014 MVP.
The widely accepted definition of the National Basketball Association Most Valuable Player (MVP) is an award given to the best performing player of the season, usually within one of the best team of the regular season.
Accordingly, I screened the 10 best players of the regular season in 5 different sets of statistics focused mainly on attack and efficiency [except for my statistic (A)] (see my  articles for February and March for the most effective players during these months).
  • The most important statistic used is (A) my benchmark of "all around/versatile player" (a similar benchmark to the one used to determine my G.O.A.T/per decade, while less focused on defense and efficiency; see my article: What do the statistics say about who should be the Greatest Of All Time (G.O.A.T)? PART 1.). There are 25 points for the first player in this statistic to 1 for the 25th.
  • I then screened (B) efficiency in term of plus/minus net points for players while they were on the floor, (C) most plus/minus points par 48 minutes while the player was on the floor, (D) players with the most triple-double, and I ended with a focus on (E) the most efficient shooters (see my article on the best efficient shooters ever in NBA history in the regular season).  For these 4 statistics, there are 10 points for the first player to 1 for the 10th.
  • Finally, there are points (F) for the position of every team from +15 (San Antonio which is the leader of the regular season) to -14 for the last (Milwaukee).
According to my benchmark of six statistics, Kevin Durant should be the MVP of the 2014 regular season. Joakim Noah, the defensive player of the year, is sixth in this ranking. There are 46 players that received points. A special mention to Tim Duncan who, at age 38, is still producing amazing numbers while leading his team to another 50+ season.

Rk
Player
A
B
C
D
E
F
TOTAL POINTS
1
24
9
2
7
9
14
65
2
22
1
10
7
5
-1
44
3
23
2
5


13
43
4
25
1



11
37
5
20



8
6
34
6
19


9

5
33
7
15

7


11
33
8


6
9
10
8
33
9
19




11
30
10
15
5



8
28
11
5


10

12
27
12
15




7
22
13
9

2


11
22
14
5
1

5

11
22
15
9




12
21
16

10


3
8
21
17

9



12
21
18

9



12
21
19
5




15
20
20

5



14
19
21



5

14
19
22
5

2


11
18
23

9
9


-1
17
24
9




7
16
25
17




-2
15
26
15




0
15
27

5
1


8
14
28




3
11
14
29
21




-8
13
30

1



12
13
31
15




-3
12
32

1



11
12
33


4

3
5
12
34



5

5
10
35




3
7
10
36
17


5

-13
9
37


4


5
9
38




7
2
9
39


8


-1
7
40



5

2
7
41




5
2
7
42




7
-2
5
43
9




-5
4
44
10




-9
1
45


2


-1
1
46
5




-8
-3



B. DETAILS OF THE STATISTICS.
Below, you can find the details of the different statistics used to determine the 2014 MVP.

a. In 2013-14, in the regular season, requiring Points >= 18 and Total Rebounds >= 6 and Assists >= 2.5 and Field Goal Pct >= 0.5, sorted by most games matching criteria.
Rk
Player
Count
1
2
3
4
5
6
7
8
9
10
11
12
13
14
15
16
17
18
19
20
21
9
22
9
23
9
24
9
25
9

b. In a single season, per 48 minutes, in 2013-14, in the regular season, requiring Net Points >= 20 and Minutes Played >= 24, sorted by most games in season matching criteria.
Rk
Player
Count
1
23
2
22
3
22
4
22
5
22
6
21
7
21
8
21
9
20
10
19
11
19
12
19
13
19
14
19

c. In a single season, per 48 minutes, in 2013-14, in the regular season, requiring Points >= 120 and Minutes Played >= 24, sorted by most games in season matching criteria.
Rk
Player
Count
1
25
2
24
3
20
4
19
5
18
6
17
7
16
8
16
9
15
10
15
11
15
12
15
13
15

d. In 2013-14, in the regular season, requiring player recorded triple-double, sorted by most games matching criteria.
Rk
Player
Count
1
5
2
4
3
4
4
3
5
3
6
2
7
2
8
2
9
2
10
2
11
2

e. In 2013-14, in the regular season, requiring 2-PT Field Goal Pct >= 0.5 and 3-Pt Field Goal Pct >= 0.4 and Free Throw Pct >= 0.9 and Minutes Played >= 24, sorted by most games matching criteria.
Rk
Player
Count
1
2
3
4
5
6
7
8
9
10
11


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