There has been some intelligent discussion circulating the internet lately on clutch players, with a particular emphasis on Kobe Bryant and his standing in this regard. The impetus for much of this discussion came from two recent such clutch performances by the Black Mamba, killing teams with his last second shots.
Henry Abbott at Truehoop is ever a level-headed voice of reason on such debates, I feel. He has weighed in on the debate and yesterday had this to say in response to some of the talk:
I don’t know who the best crunch time player is in the NBA. Before handing out an award like that, I’d dig into all kinds of stuff, like:
How many big points a player had made in key moments of games.
How many big turnovers or misses a player had made in the same setting.
Points per possession would matter. If you give it to player X, how many points does your team tend to end the play with? (Don’t want to punish a double-teamed guy for passing to an open teammate under the hoop. You want him to do that! Also, getting to the line, and hitting 3s matter.)
I’d give bonus points for buzzer beaters, especially those released when the shooter’s team is trailing. That’s scary pressure, right?
I’d give bonus points for other kinds of amazing plays, like steals, blocks, assists and the like.
I’d require many clutch shots. A few lucky makes don’t matter. (Bill Wennington never missed with Michael Jordan was on the floor, right?)
All that research would no doubt give you a short list of candidates. Then I’d go to the video, and actually watch all those clutch plays. Take notes, the whole deal. Was a certain play really amazing? Or, alternately, did the player in question miss a wide open teammate? I’d weigh all that kind of stuff.
Then, I suspect we’d have a pretty good idea which player or players deserved to be called the best clutch performers in the NBA.
The test would be: If your team was down one with ten seconds left, and you could give the ball to anyone to make you a basket, with your life hanging in the balance, whom would you pick?
Forget the guy who has the best highlights, or makes the toughest shots. You’d pick the guy with the greatest likelihood of getting your team points, however he gets them.
This research has not been done.
Among Laker fans, there’s a different measure. It’s not that we ought to figure out who’s the best in crunch time. It’s that Kobe Bryant is the best, and evidence to that effect need not be provided.
Now, I’d love to be the one to do this type of research. This type of stuff really interests me. Whilst the depth of data and statistics has grown immeasurably since I first started following the game, this type of analysis is still not really possible without either digging through every play-by-play of every NBA game (would be fun, if you paid me) or taking the much easier method and using Synergy Sports’ video analysis tools. Unfortunately, Synergy’s system is a very expensive subscription away.
As Lakers fans go, Don at With Malice is as moderate as they come — yes, I know that’s not saying much, given the fanboydom of many Lakers fans. He has been watching the recent kerfuffle surrounding Kobe and the constant comparisons made to Michael Jordan… and he has had enough.
Bring up Kobe’s amazingly clutch buzzer-beaters in a discussion or on a forum and it’s “Jordan was more clutch…”. Wax lyrical over the amazing array of circus shots and it’s “MJ’s were more incredible…”. Talk about how fantastic it is that Kobe’s always looking to take his game to new heights and it’s “Jordan’s post game was better.” Of late, it’s the concept of clutch. Some people just won’t let go of their need to compare the two, and even better – won’t apply the same parameters to both.
The thing I don’t understand, why does he have to be Jordan? Why can’t Kobe, simply be Kobe?
I do agree with Don, however, the whole comparison thing: it’s what we do. Sports fans love to make comparisons, they love to try and come up with a natural order of “who is the best.” We all do it, it’s a natural reaction to the way we’ve been brought up on sports. Whether it’s team records or individual player statistics, rankings have been built into us as part of sports — it’s one of the keys that distinguishes sports as contests as opposed to games (like ring-a-ring-a-rosie).
Don does make a very good point though — we should appreciate Kobe for what he is. Enjoy him whilst he’s playing. One day, much like Jordan, he will become a highlight reel on youtube and a feature on ESPN Classic and little else. Savour the treat of witnessing1 one of the greats of all time in his prime.
Speaking of clutch plays, an unexpected hero (of late) emerged with a clutch last-minute tap-in to snatch a win for the Philadelphia 76ers over the more-fancied Boston Celtics last night. Elton Brand, who has been out of sorts in recent times and pretty much accepted as on the downturn of his career after injuries have ravaged his previous all-star form, was the man of the moment. Ricky of Sixers4guidos has the glory of reporting on the win:
Will Eddie Jordan bench him again now?
Few minutes ago Elton Brand scored the decisive basket in Sixers’ shocking 97-98 W at Boston, a game I had the priviledge to watch live. It was a tap in over Paul Pierce, off a miss by Speights, with 7.7 seconds left. A veteran play from a guy that, for many reasons, got a lot of crap this year: some deserved, much not. I am happy for him and for the team.
It’s 4 AM while I’m typing this and I can’t be happier: I tweeted that last year I watched live another Celtics game and it ended with a three by Ray Allen with 0.5 seconds left.
This time Allen missed a jumper at the buzzer (uhm, maybe after it, actually), after Pierced had missed another shot, and we escaped with a well deserved victory (7-19, .269), to stop Boston’s 11 game winning streak and Celtics’ dominance in the series: they collected 9 W in the previous 10 games vs us, how annoying was that?
1 I apologise for using the verb “witnessing” in the same sentence as anyone other than LeBron James, to all Cavs fans.
