Wednesday, September 25, 2013

Dunk Leaders for 1996-97

This is just a data dump as I continue to work on my big project. I haven't been posting a lot lately because I've been trying to corral the 1997 play-by-play data. Right now I'm working out the kinks, but I'm close to the finish line.

The play-by-play data isn't entirely detailed, but the advantage is that you can compile non-traditional stats like dunks. There are actually three categories of dunks: dunk, slam dunk, and driving dunk. I'm not clear on what the distinction is between dunk and slam dunk (one is more powerful ... ?), but a driving dunk is distinct and more highlight worthy than a simple and open two-hand dunk under the basket. I imagine when people check these dunk lists they're thinking of the high-flyers, not big men who live near the rim.

Without further ado, the top dunkers list of 1996-97:
Rank
Name
Made dunks
Attempted dunks
Dunk %
Dunks/
40 mins
1
Chris Webber
177
182
97.3
2.52
2
Shawn Kemp
166
181
91.7
2.41
3
Shaquille O'Neal
157
161
97.5
3.24
4
Dikembo Mutombo
146
151
96.7
1.96
5
Alonzo Mourning
131
134
97.8
2.26
6
Marcus Camby
127
142
89.4
2.68
7
Otis Thorpe
125
135
92.6
1.88
8
Rasheed Wallace
118
132
89.4
2.49
9
Jerry Stackhouse
115
118
97.4
1.45
10
Antonio McDyess
115
135
85.2
1.79
11
Dale Davis
114
117
97.4
1.71
12
Vin Baker
109
112
97.3
1.38
13
Kevin Garnett
98
105
93.3
1.31
14
Rony Seikaly
90
95
94.7
1.38
15
Patrick Ewing
87
87
100.0
1.21
*The data only counts the regular season

It's surprising to see Webber number one, given that his game seems more ground-bound, but a lot of that is a clouded perception from his post-injury seasons of the mid-00's. Shaq and Kemp are two worthy dunks, and the rest of the list is packed with big men. But I'd give the undisputed top total dunker title to Shaq for his absurd dunks per minute. No one else was close (there were a few guys in the 2 to 2.5 range in dunks per 40 mins not listed.)  Shaq also completed a high percentage of his dunks, and only ranks third in total dunks because of significant missed time.

Top dunkers ranked by total driving dunks:
Rank
Name
Made dunks
Attempted dunks
Driving dunk /tot. dunks
Dunks/
40 mins
1
Chris Webber
33
33
18.6
0.47
2
Grant Hill
24
24
35.3
0.31
3
Glen Rice
24
24
28.9
0.29
4
Antoine Walker
23
24
29.9
0.31
5
Juwan Howard
21
21
27.6
0.25
6
Jerry Stackhouse
21
21
18.3
0.27
7
Vlade Divac
20
20
34.5
0.28
8
Rodney Rogers
20
20
29.9
0.32
9
Marcus Camby
19
19
15.0
0.40
10
Shareef Abdur-Rahim
19
20
22.4
0.27
11
Doug Christie
18
18
31.6
0.23
12
Bo Outlaw
17
17
22.7
0.31
13
Patrick Ewing
14
14
16.1
0.19
14
Mario Elie
13
14
33.3
0.19
15
Derrick Coleman
13
13
18.1
0.25

This is for driving dunks, which are distinct from the other two types (dunk and slam dunk.)  Webber is the clear winner here. In the 90's, he was sensational in transition, and he probably got a lot of these dunks starting from the high post where he logged a lot of time. He even beats everyone with dunks per minute, and no highflying guard is close. Oddly enough, the seven-foot Divac also has a lot of driving dunks, but like Webber I imagine a lot of those originate from high post plays. And Camby ranking so high, especially on dunks per minute, suggests that centers who can handle the ball dunk a lot in traffic (not exactly the most amazing discovery in basketball, however.)

And where's Jordan? He's ranked near 60th and he had 10 driving dunks with 49 total, despite 3106 minutes. It's good for a guard, but guys like Christie and Gary Trent are in his range. Second threepeat played closer to the ground and used his midrange game to punish opponents. NBA.com lists him with 1202 midrange shots at an elite 48.9 conversion percentage -- I didn't check, but that appears to be the highest volume of midrange shots in the database (at least that I've seen, and that includes guys like Kobe and Dirk.) Dunks are fun to talk about, but obviously there's more to the game.

And for fun, here's a list of all players without a dunk and at least 1000 minutes played:
Name
Minutes
Height
Mahmoud Abdul-Rauf
2131
6’ 1”
Kenny Anderson
3081
6’ 0”
Greg Anthony
1863
6’ 0”
B.J. Armstrong
1020
6’ 2”
Travis Best
2064
5’ 11”
Muggsy Bogues
1880
5’ 3”
Chris Childs
2076
6’ 3”
Marty Conlon
1614
6’ 10”
Vinny Del Negro
2243
6’ 4”
Sherman Douglas
2316
6’ 0”
Joe Dumars
2923
6’ 3”
Howard Eisley
1083
6’ 2”
Anthony Goldwire
1188
6’ 1”
Tim Hardaway
3136
6’ 0”
Jeff Hornacek
2592
6’ 3”
Jaren Jackson
1133
6’ 4”
Mark Jackson
3054
6’ 1”
Steve Kerr
1861
6’ 3”
Matt Maloney
2386
6’ 3”
Darrick Martin
1820
5’ 11”
Elliot Perry
1595
6’ 0”
Ricky Pierce
1250
6’ 4”
Terry Porter
1568
6’ 3”
Mark Price
1876
6’ 0”
Khalid Reeves
1432
6’ 3”
Pooh Richardson
1065
6’ 1”
Brian Shaw*
1867
6’ 6”
John Stockton
2896
6’ 1”
Damon Stoudamire
3311
5’ 10”
Brooks Thompson
1055
6’ 4”
Rex Walters
1041
6’ 4”
Charlie Ward
1763
6’ 2”
Chris Whitney
1117
6’ 0”
*One attempted dunk