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Random Stat: "In Close" Shots

Q: Who has the most dunks and layups? -- munkel

A: Another frequently asked question, perhaps in response to the tease we gave at the end of the classic Shooting by Location article. In that one we listed last season's top ten:

If you add the at the rim layups and dunk attempts together, the league leaders are:
1. Shaq
2. Stoudemire
3. Wade
4. Iverson
5. LeBron
6. Parker
7. Anthony
8. Marion
9. Marbury
10. J-Rich

Who will climb into the top ten (and higher) for 05-06? We'd guess that Dwight Howard (#13 in at the rim FGA last year) will make some big noise inside!

Let's see what the 2005-06 numbers say through the games played up to 3/05, but this time we'll broaden the definition slightly to include all close shots except for tips -- coming off offensive rebounds, the tips are a different breed.

Most "close" shots
Player
Team
Fgm
Fga
Fg%
 Anthony DEN 322  520  .619 
 Howard ORL 289  486  .595 
 James CLE 330  477  .692 
 Iverson PHI 245  424  .578 
 Gasol MEM 272  420  .648 
 Parker SAS 298  420  .710 
 Pierce BOS 256  416  .615 
 Webber PHI 229  406  .564 
 O'Neal MIA 275  405  .679 
 Wade MIA 268  403  .665 
 Magloire MIL 197  358  .550 
 Marion PHO 278  356  .781 
 Curry NYK 212  347  .611 
 Carter NJN 188  337  .558 
 Duncan SAS 225  335  .672 
 Bosh TOR 204  333  .613 
 Odom LAL 198  330  .600 
 Jefferson NJN 204  328  .622 
 Randolph POR 168  327  .514 
 Ilgauskas CLE 189  323  .585 
 Richardson GSW 210  318  .660 
 Bryant LAL 181  308  .588 
 Krstic NJN 161  308  .523 
 Kaman LAC 185  304  .609 
 Ming HOU 190  300  .633 



It's Carmelo Anthony week at 82games! Our last random stat looked at Game Winning Shots and Mr. Anthony was tied for the lead with the best conversion rate. Here we display his formidable ability to get to the rim.

Still, it's not over yet for the grand title as our preseason pick of Dwight Howard is within striking range, as is the "in every leaderboard look" hero LeBron James.

The truth is that things haven't changed much from this season compared to last -- Amare's been injured, and only Dwight, Pau Gasol and Chris Webber are newcomers to the top ten party.

The players dropping out from the very top are Marion, J-Rich, and Marbury.

As you can tell from the nifty FG percentages, these shots are the ones that teams and players covet!

The league as a whole is shooting a very healthy .596 on these "at close range" shot attempts, a stark contrast to the jumpers that fall to the tune of .378 (albeit with a large number of 3-pointers in the mix).

Perhaps though are questioner was really asking who has the most made close buckets...

Most made "close" shots
Player
Team
Fgm
Fga
Fg%
 James CLE 330  477  .692 
 Anthony DEN 322  520  .619 
 Parker SAS 298  420  .710 
 Howard ORL 289  486  .595 
 Marion PHO 278  356  .781 
 O'Neal MIA 275  405  .679 
 Gasol MEM 272  420  .648 
 Wade MIA 268  403  .665 
 Pierce BOS 256  416  .615 
 Iverson PHI 245  424  .578 



The tables are turned between the two players likely to be forever linked (along with Wade and Darko) from their shared draft class: LeBron has a slim edge over Carmelo but this is wide open going down the last quarter of the regular season.

Mighty Tony Parker has been arguably more of a force this season than Duncan and his constant drives to the hoop and huge conversion percentage have served the Spurs very well in their quest for a repeat.

If it's leading FG% player from in close you're after, the ranks there are: (min 100 close FGM)

1. Marion .781
2. Parker .710
3. Camby .701
4. LeBron .692
5. Nash .685

The Matrix has delived in close far better than anyone else in the league, and his recent string of amazing games puts us to shame for pondering whether Kirilenko didn't deserve his spot at the All-Star game.

Ah, but there's another area where Marion leads which has a bearing on all this -- highest assisted% on made close field goals (of the 93 players with 100 made close shots):

1. Marion 78% assisted
2. Brezec 75%
3. Richard Jefferson 75%
4. Jermaine O'Neal 75%
5. Richard Hamilton 74%
...
89. Iverson 21%
90. Baron Davis 21%
91. Nash 16%
92. Marbury 15%
93. Paul 14%

It helps to play alongside Steve Nash!


Do you have an idea for a cool "random stat" you would like to see? If so, drop us a line

Random Stat Archive
Game Winning Shots (2/27)
Team Quarter by Quarter results (2/23)
Points per FGA (2/21)
Player Assisted% on FGM (2/15)
Types of Turnovers (2/12)
Goaltending "Leaders" (2/10)
Shot Clock Studs (2/09)
Team Starter/Bench stats (2/07)
Free Throw shooting home versus away (2/04)
Who gets their shot blocked the most? (2/03)
Plus/Minus stats over the last 30 days (2/02)
What percentage of the time has each team been leading? (2/01)


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