STAT’s Stats

Is Amar’e Stoudemire really as improved this season as everyone is making him out to be?  This probably seems like a strange time to ask such a question, considering he is currently in the midst of nine straight games of scoring 30 points or more, but it turns out to be a relevant question nonetheless.  The main reason this has to be asked is because of where Amar’e is playing now – New York City, where things get amplified 1000%, for better or worse.

So has Stoudemire taken the step from superstar to super-duper star this season or is it just the glare of NYC’s lights making him appear to shine brighter?  When you check STAT’s stats, it appears the latter is true.  The one thing you could always depend on Stoudemire bringing every night is his singular offensive talent, and that is still the case this season.  While his current average of 26.7 ppg is his best of his career, it isn’t by much – he put up 26.0 ppg over the course of the 2004/05 season in Phoenix.  And most of those extra points this season are due to him being “The Man” for the Knicks  and, subsequently, averaging a career high 18.7 shots per game.  While shooting .540 from the field is nothing to sneeze at, it is slightly below his career average of .543 – in fact, his true shooting % stat this year is his lowest since 2003/04 (not counting 2005/06 when he only played three games).  The main reason for his increase in scoring this season is due to him being the focal point of the Knicks offense and not surrounded by as much talent as he was while with the Suns.

How about rebounding, an aspect of his game I’ve always been critical of?  I’ve always thought that if you want to be considered a truly elite NBA big man, you better get me 10 boards a game.  Stoudemire is grabbing 9.1 this season, a slight increase over his average of 8.9 per game.  And, using advanced stats (total rebound rate – the % of rebounds a player gets while on the floor), Stoudemire is slightly above average for a power forward and slightly below average for a center.  His TRR is also worse this year than it was last year in Phoenix.  So Stoudemire is still an average rebounder at best.

The big thing that is being mentioned about Amar’e this season is his increased effort and ability on defense.  While we can’t measure effort, we can take a peek at his defensive stats.  His defensive plays (charges+blocks+steals) are more than double the league average for big men this year, but they are still lower than his 2008 average in Phoenix.  And the Knicks team defense rankings is about the same this year with Amar’e than it was last year without him.  So while Stoudemire might really be giving more effort this season, he appears to be pretty much the same defender he has always been throughout his career.

While it is impossible to measure the intangibles that Stoudemire has brought to the Knicks (the most importantly being a more positive, winning mindset), when looking at the stats he is still the same player he always has been.  Which is to say, he is still one of the best big men in the League, and probably the best offensive big man.  But that is what he’s always been – it’s just that he’s doing it for the NBA’s flagship franchise now.  It’s just STAT being STAT.