The NBA Stopper Rankings: January Update

joel embiid
The NBA Stopper Rankings: January Update
Dec 31, 2018; Oklahoma City, OK, USA; Dallas Mavericks guard Dennis Smith Jr. (1) shoots against Oklahoma City Thunder guard Russell Westbrook (0) and guard Terrance Ferguson (23) during the second half at Chesapeake Energy Arena. Oklahoma City won 122-102. Mandatory Credit: Alonzo Adams-USA TODAY Sports

It seems like every other day a new stat comes out to try to help us all understand the game of basketball a little better than we did the day before.  So, in that vein, The Hoops Manifesto introduces it’s NBA Stopper Rankings – a different sort of defensive ranking system for NBA players.

When you boil it right down to its essence, what is the goal of an NBA team on defense?  It’s to prevent the opponent from scoring.  And the ways that a team can achieve that goal is by: rebounding an opponent’s errant shot, blocking an opponent’s shot attempt, stealing the ball from the opponent, or drawing an offensive foul from the opponent.  That is what The Hoops Manifesto’s NBA Stopper Rankings are all about – discovering which players in the league are best at ending an opponent’s offensive possession.
(Since big men have more opportunities to rack up many of the stats we are tracking, we’ve also including a Top Five Guard ranking)

 

Overall Top 20

Rank Last Rank Boards Steals Blocks Charges Total Stops
1 1 Joel Embiid 463 23 82 0 568
2 3 Anthony Davis 387 69 101 3 560
3 6 Andre Drummond 411 68 72 1 552
4 2 Rudy Gobert 415 41 90 0 546
5 8 DeAndre Jordan 463 30 45 1 539
6 7 Karl-Anthony Towns 396 40 85 2 523
7 4 Giannis Antetokounmpo 407 55 59 1 522
8 10 Nikola Vucevic 394 42 46 0 482
9 9 Marc Gasol 322 54 60 12 448
10 NR Russell Westbrook 326 90 11 2 429
11 NR Jusuf Nurkic 315 51 61 0 427
12 12 Clint Capela 320 25 77 1 423
13 5 Hassan Whiteside 314 21 87 0 422
14 17 Deandre Ayton 336 34 43 0 413
15 13 Ben Simmons 318 58 34 0 410
16 13 Nikola Jokic 315 58 31 3 407
17 16 Paul George 275 95 22 1 393
18 11 Kevin Durant 299 35 47 2 383
19 NR Willie Cauley-Stein 288 52 29 1 370
20 20 Tobias Harris 315 32 18 0 365

 

 

Top Five Guards

Rank Last Rank Boards Steals Blocks Charges Total Stops
1 NR Russell Westbrook 326 90 11 2 429
2 1 Ben Simmons 318 58 34 0 410
3 2 James Harden 219 82 25 1 327
4 NR Lonzo Ball 188 67 18 0 273
5 4 Jrue Holiday 148 75 35 2 260

 

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