Random Stat: 24-Second Violations

Q: I would like to know which teams/set of five players forces the most 24 second violations on opposing teams/opposing set of five players. How often can 24 second violations be attributed to good defensive play rather than offensive ineptitude? Are there certain players (either by raw defensive ability or "presence") that when on the floor contribute to forcing more 24 second violations on the opposing team? How often do 24 second violations occur? -- Tyler Allen

A: Well let's start with the easy part first...the team 24 second violations, and while we're at it we might as well try out a little sortable table with various team turnover types!

NBA '06-07 Team Turnovers on DEFENSE (thru 3/21)

Team	24 Secs	Off. Foul	Bad Pass	Lost Ball	Travel	Dbl/ Palm	3 Secs	OB	other
Orlando	54	137	393	223	118	28	32	32	20
Miami	51	168	385	213	94	15	24	17	5
Detroit	49	96	377	240	110	22	26	35	14
Denver	46	162	448	250	88	22	27	25	17
Indiana	46	192	380	275	92	30	19	31	15
L.A. Clippers	45	95	381	241	103	25	34	23	8
Chicago	44	204	433	282	113	26	31	36	19
Dallas	44	169	388	181	92	19	30	29	15
Golden State	44	198	439	337	122	19	48	31	11
Toronto	44	179	383	222	111	29	28	27	9
Cleveland	42	169	368	258	89	23	21	37	13
Washington	42	149	390	269	111	29	25	13	14
Atlanta	41	139	407	255	132	20	32	22	13
Boston	41	111	382	233	137	21	32	33	18
Seattle	41	85	447	255	96	19	26	32	19
New Jersey	40	195	353	203	100	19	31	40	17
Minnesota	39	115	392	209	120	25	26	32	10
Memphis	38	161	409	219	118	22	41	28	15
San Antonio	38	146	387	224	102	29	19	18	14
Charlotte	37	139	405	255	115	15	40	29	13
Houston	36	130	386	262	102	14	23	32	10
Phoenix	36	224	400	164	116	27	26	26	9
Philadelphia	35	159	428	231	87	28	33	49	17
Sacramento	34	143	469	278	100	24	28	40	13
Milwaukee	31	178	432	210	104	20	30	26	26
New Orleans	30	130	316	252	114	19	33	34	20
Portland	28	96	368	215	118	21	38	25	13
Utah	23	185	342	271	103	21	37	24	16
L.A. Lakers	22	127	409	232	106	27	29	26	18
New York	18	131	350	209	127	23	35	26	19

So there have been a total of 1159 24-second violations though 1013 games so far this season, so slightly more than one per game on average or 1.14 per game to be precise. Your top three teams in forcing the 24-second are Eastern Conference teams for what it's worth, but no team really stands that far apart from the rest of the league (compared to say something like "Lost Ball" turnovers forced, where the Golden Staters are way ahead of everyone else).

There are three teams at the bottom though who are distant from the norm: New York, the Lakers, and Utah...but all three may wind up in the playoffs!

As can be seen by the small number of instances we are dealing with, it probably doesn't make much sense to try and get to the "5-man unit level" but let's isolate individual players who were on court for defensive 24-second plays:

42 - Dwight Howard
39 - Hamilton
38 - Prince
37 - LeBron James
34 - Wade, Hinrich, Granger, Jermaine O'Neal
33 - Brand, Garnett, Caron Butler, Arenas, Baron Davis
32 - Haslem, Mobley, Billups, Maggette, Nelson
31 - Ray Allen, Mike Miller, Kidd
30 - Terry, Carter, Ben Wallace, Gordon, Ricky Davis, Turkoglu, Anthony Parker, Biedrins

If we look at it on a per 48 minutes basis (min: 1000 minutes with a team) the highest rate of on court 24-second defensive credits comes out as:

.91 - Wade, Gerald Green
.90 - Mourning
.89 - Stephen Jackson (Ind minutes)
.88 - Baron Davis
.87 - Buckner
.86 - Posey, Nene

What about on offense?

NBA '06-07 Team Turnovers on OFFENSE (thru 3/21)

Team	24 Secs	Off. Foul	Bad Pass	Lost Ball	Travel	Dbl/ Palm	3 Secs	OB	other
Seattle	63	136	410	236	99	16	21	35	18
New York	54	216	405	212	119	30	42	25	19
New Orleans	51	143	320	262	105	30	34	28	23
Miami	50	152	352	234	84	24	37	22	12
Dallas	49	128	358	215	79	17	44	24	17
Boston	49	168	397	254	145	36	24	37	14
Portland	49	189	326	226	123	27	36	35	10
Atlanta	47	176	381	269	137	20	20	33	10
New Jersey	44	132	407	223	95	15	27	28	17
Orlando	43	152	433	280	133	24	51	30	15
Memphis	42	147	455	281	111	28	16	26	10
L.A. Clippers	41	185	349	264	112	20	26	20	14
Philadelphia	41	131	441	221	97	20	32	36	23
Chicago	39	175	439	227	125	32	32	35	20
Minnesota	39	159	402	211	115	33	56	29	12
Houston	37	116	435	200	100	25	39	25	6
Charlotte	36	152	415	253	91	25	23	48	9
Milwaukee	36	142	420	213	111	18	17	24	24
Phoenix	35	141	464	171	100	13	17	41	13
Cleveland	34	137	384	222	103	25	34	20	18
Sacramento	34	146	376	250	116	21	28	24	14
Washington	33	157	304	233	103	20	19	21	9
San Antonio	33	117	369	246	89	13	31	22	8
L.A. Lakers	32	146	455	255	94	17	34	27	12
Utah	31	153	445	237	98	17	35	24	13
Detroit	30	124	327	209	65	11	10	24	14
Toronto	30	134	310	233	97	25	33	42	20
Indiana	20	160	414	267	138	22	37	30	12
Denver	19	167	421	249	108	30	40	37	18
Golden State	18	131	433	315	148	27	9	26	16

You might have guessed the "shoot in 7 seconds" Phoenix Suns would have the fewest shot clock violations, but that's not the case as the Suns are actually closer to middle of the pack. No the fewest "languishing" turnovers comes from the truly frenetic Don Nelson Warriors, with the Nuggets right there in second (insert Allen Iverson joke here).

On the opposite end it's the Seattle Sonics who have committed the most by a sizeable margin. You might think there's more of relationship between 24-second turnovers on offense and W-L record given that conceivably seven of the ten highest may miss the post-season, but since Miami is #4 and Dallas tied for #5, it's a little hasty to ascribe much meaning to this.

For individual players who were on court for offensive 24-second turnovers it's like this:

47 - Ray Allen
44 - Collison
40 - Joe Johnson
39 - Al Jefferson, Haslem
38 - Eddy Curry (see Random Stat #29 for more on Eddy's wonderous turnover skills)
37 - Mike Miller, Wilcox
36 - Iguodala, Watson
35 - Desmond Mason, Chandler, Crawford, Wilkins
34 - Kidd, Marbury
33 - Terry, Nowitzki, Brand, Jack

If we look at it on a per 48 minutes basis, here are the players with the fewest on court 24-second demerits:

.18 - Anthony
.19 - Baron Davis, Biedrins
.22 - Barnes, Ellis

NBA 2006-07 Random Stat Archive
Player Turnovers by Type (3/20/07)
Player Assisting % (3/19/07)

NBA 2005-06 Random Stat Archive
Player Stat Leaders by Quarter (4/17/06)
Game Winning Shots (updated 4/13)
"Hot Hand" -- Streak Shooting (4/10)
Clutch Free Throw Shooting (4/05)
Stolen Passes (4/03)
Most Dunks (3/28)
Does the team scoring first in OT usually win? (3/27)
How often does bad FT% cost a team a win? (3/24)
Alley Oop Leaders (3/22)
Who get called for Traveling? (3/13)
Technical Free Throws (3/10)
Two Way Players (3/08)
Jump Ball winning % (3/07)
"At the Rim" Shots (3/05)
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)