Best Starting 5 Tournament

[kucoach7]

Nathan Sliver here with sevenfortyseven.com. I finally sat down recently and wrote some macros that allowed me to easily compile every player and team stat for every year of the league (I'll share it as an attachment later in this post). This new found almost omniscient data source (it doesn't have game or possession level data but I'll live) will be put to good use for seasons to come. I first used it to have a little fun by systematically compiling a list of the best starting five for each franchise. This is the methodology I used:

-The positions for which a player was eligible was limited to the position they were listed as playing in the index at the end of the season
-A player had to complete multiple seasons with a team in order to be eligible for that team's best starting five. If it is supposed to be the all-time greatest Lakers team, no rentals allowed.
-I then chose the player with the highest PER per position for that team
-For a season to be eligible for the highest PER the player had to play more than fifty games but seasons with fewer than 50 games played were considered for team eligibility. e.g. If a player completed two seasons with a team but was injured one of the seasons the player is eligible for that team's best starting five but the season with fewer than 50 games is not eligible to count as the highest PER for a given position.
-Once a player qualifies for a best starting five, the player's season with the highest PER for that team is used for the team total, even if it was at another position.
-If a single player recorded the highest PER at multiple positions for a single team, the player was used for the position in which the second best player PER was lowest.
-I eliminated all seasons with a PER below 14 to clean out the garbage

It isn't a perfect system but it was systematic, which allowed me to do a lot of work quickly. If you have a problem with the results, think of these as the communist best starting fives, equally unfair for everyone.

Once the teams were chosen I created a bracket and assigned seeds based on the team's winning percentage since the start of the league. I then "simmed" the first two rounds based on the combined PER of the starting five to get rid of the scrub squads. The league will get to vote on the final rounds. Before I introduce the squads and give the results of the first two rounds, here are a few awkward moments from the process:

-Steve Smith had the highest PER at three different positions for the Pistons.
-Magic Johnson made the Raptors starting five, not the Hawks squad.
-Only one season of one center qualified at the center position for the Magic.

Without further ado, let's meet the first round losers!

Representing the Western Conference:

Seattle Sonics
Vin Baker C 18.6
Charles Smith PF 25.5
Doug Christie SF 22
Wesley Person SG 19.1
Mike Iuzzolino PG 20.4
Easily the saddest bunch from the West. The team's inability to maintain active leadership really shows here.

San Antonio Spurs
Tom Chambers C 19.5
Shareef Abdur-Rahim PF 27.9
Danny Manning SF 25.1
Ray Allen SG 23.3
Mark Price PG 25.1
What? No Glenn Robinson! Proof that this list is bogus and that Danny Manning was a beast.

Portland Trail Blazers
Shawn Bradley C 25.5
Danny Manning PF 23.9
Mario Elie SF 19.7
Terry Porter SG 23.6
Kenny Smith PG 21.4
Manning again! Real American hero. Also, no one on this list has played in Portland for 4 seasons. Yikes.

Denver Nuggets
David Robinson C 26.9
Clarence Weatherspoon PF 19.3
Larry Bird SF 24.4
Kevin Gamble SG 20
Brian Shaw PG 22.7
What am I looking at? I think this pretty much sums up the Nuggets.

Houston Rockets
Shaquille O'Neal C 36.5
Joe Smith PF 20.2
Detlef Schrempf SF 19.3
Hersey Hawkins SG 21.7
Brian Shaw PG 19.1
For years they were the known as the Houston Shaqs. This list really validates that claim.

Los Angeles Clippers
Terry Mills C 20.1
Cliff Robinson PF 20.6
Latrell Sprewell SF 27.8
Jeff Hornacek SG 25.4
Nick Van Exel PG 26.3
The Clips have had some great players over the years, they just haven't had them all at the same time.

Phoenix Suns
Hakeem Olajuwon C 36.3
Armen Gilliam PF 16.9
Keith Van Horn SF 22.4
Allen Iverson SG 23.6
Dee Brown PG 21.7
Much like Houston and their one big man band, the Suns never could get a championship squad around The Dream but their recent hoard of young talent shows here.

Representing the Eastern Conference:

Chicago Bulls
Rony Seikaly C 17.5
Tim Thomas PF 22.4
Chris Mullin SF 28.1
Kobe Bryant SG 24.7
John Stockton PG 24.2
These are pretty much the names you'd expect from Chicago. The Bulls have paired some great players but have struggled to put together a solid 1-5.

Cleveland Cavs
Elden Campbell C 20.8
Charles Barkley PF 38.6
Eddie Jones SF 28.7
Jon Barry SG 20.4
Muggsy Bogues PG 20
A surprisingly good squad from the organization with the worst record since the league's inception.

Charlotte Hornets
Tom Gugliotta C 30.6
Rasheed Wallace PF 20.2
Nick Anderson SF 23.5
Johnny Newman SG 20.4
David Wesley PG 21.2
A lone awesome big man. I'm noticing a recurring theme here. . .

Detroit Piston
Hot Rod Williams C 16.1
Larry Johnson PF 19.8
Steve Smith SF 34.5
Reggie Miller SG 29.7
Michael Adams PG 20.6
Dat Reggie Miller/Steve Smith combo was lethal. The rest of the squad? Ouch.

Orlando Magic
Matt Geiger C 15.6
Horace Grant PF 20.3
Glen Rice SF 20
Jerry Stackhouse SG 24.1
Jason Kidd PG 24.4
For an organization with a conference championship this list is pretty sad. This list is probably more representative of the owner's tendency to blow things up than the success of the organization.

Washington Wizards
Wayman Tisdale C 21.4
Joe Smith PF 23.3
Scottie Pippen SF 26.1
Jerry Stackhouse SG 23.6
David Wesley PG 25.2
This list just screems Wizards. Value players.

New Jersey Nets
Elden Campbell C 19.1
Tom Gugliotta PF 31.9
Reggie Lewis SF 22
Isaiah Rider SG 22.7
Rod Strickland PG 21.6
A solid team from a generally successful franchise that just ran into trouble in the first round.

Philadelphia 76ers
Vlade Divac C 21.5
Terry Cummings PF 21.8
Glen Rice SF 25.7
Anthony Peeler SG 24.9
Tim Hardaway PG 23.9
This is a feel good squad for all the old-timer GMs in the leagues. "Remember When Anthony Peeler was good? That Glen Rice could play. They don't make 'em like Terry Cummings anymore. I tell you what."

Well, that wraps up the first round losers. Next up, the second round losers!

[kucoach7]

First round.GIF (45.5 KiB) Viewed 2017 times

[IamQuailman]

this is awesome man. I really love look back pieces that put the history of our league into perspective

[Bowtothebill23]

I'm sure the Sacramento Kings' starting Power Forward's PER will be totally reasonable and not OP at all.

PS. Very cool man. Looking forward to the rest of it.

[Xist2Inspire]

Lol I always get matched up against Sound...surprised to see Joe at PF and Stack beating out Nick at SG. Wayman at C is no surprise.

Great job man!

[NOLa.]

I'm sure the Sacramento Kings' starting Power Forward's PER will be totally reasonable and not OP at all.

PS. Very cool man. Looking forward to the rest of it.

Oh stfu kemp

Sent via Morse code

[Inner_GI]

I'm more interested in these fancy macros you built. I recently started a project to pull game day stats.


This is awesome btw, also depressing when I look back on Hakeem. I gave up way to soon on that dream.

[NickMalone77]

If we were compiling best teams, I would probably put it at subjectively speaking and I'm not sure if this was based on single season PER or not but it'd be...

Patrick Ewing
Gugs
Nick Anderson or Steve Smith
Ron Artest
Mookie Blaylock

Melting a majority of my 1994 team that made it to the ECF with Artest of the last few seasons and Nick Anderson for what he meant to my squad when I first started playing back in 90-91.

[NOLa.]

Guys, the Kings won. It's okay.

Sent via Morse code

[kucoach7]

Representing the Western Conference in the second round:

Utah Jazz
Otis Thorpe C 16.5
Tim Duncan PF 36.8
Allan Houston SF 16.7
Michael Jordan SG 39.7
Sherman Douglas PG 21.7
Two generational players on this list. Too bad they are from different generations and the other 3 guys are, um, not good.

Los Angeles Lakers
Vin Baker C 18.8
Kevin Garnett PF 30.7
Cedric Ceballos SF 26.4
Larry Hughes SG 17
Kevin Johnson PG 28
I know this must be a disappointment for one of the few championship pedigree organizations but it isn't entirely unexpected. The Lakers are known for getting the most out of well built teams, not stacking rosters with super stars.

Van Memphis Grizzlies
Brad Daugherty C 32.9
Chris Gatling PF 26.8
Shawn Marion SF 19.4
Vince Carter SG 26.3
Mark Jackson PG 21.9
Wow! Look at that Brad Daugherty season! I was really glad when Gatling made this team. We'll never forget the good word of Gatling.

And now for our Eastern Conference second round representatives:

New York Knicks
David Robinson C 43.5
Larry Johnson PF 23.7
George McCloud SF 19
Brent Price SG 17.5
Michael Williams PG 21.2
I think sometimes we forget how good the early Knicks teams were, well, how good the early Admiral was. The lone big man strikes again.

Toronto Raptors
Pervis Ellison C 21.8
Elton Brand PF 29.8
Magic Johnson SF 23.4
Michael Finley SG 24.7
Chauncey Billups PG 20.3
For the looks of this lineup, I'd guess the Raptors are really good right now. I'd be right.

Miami Heat
Hakeem Olajuwon C 29.1
Cliff Robinson PF 24
Jim Jackson SF 22.6
Tony Delk SG 18.6
Gary Payton PG 30.5
It is hard to believe that The Dream and The Glove didn't do more damage.

Well that wraps up the second round losers and the "simmed" portion of our program. Next up I'll introduce the remaining teams and open up the match-ups to a league vote.

Round 2.GIF (61.64 KiB) Viewed 1981 times

[JNR]

Glad the Kings and Wolves could doubleteam the Lakers.

[NOLa.]

Glad the Kings and Wolves could doubleteam the Lakers.

London Bridge tag-teaming dem hos

Sent via Morse code

[IamQuailman]

Celtics Bucks... we all know how this turns out... :/ (if longstanding history has anything to say about this)

[Bowtothebill23]

Lol is this gonna turn into Warriors vs Wolves in the Western Conference Semi's?

[IamQuailman]

Lol is this gonna turn into Warriors vs Wolves in the Western Conference Semi's?

LOL here's my premature "sorry Raby "

[IamQuailman]

AWARDED 5 POINTS (for the whole shebang)! THANKS FOR YOUR CONTRIBUTION!