http://sports.espn.go.com/nba/columns/stor...john&id=2190165 Talk about optimisim... People can't seem to get enough of the Yao/T-mac sensation. Hollinger predicts the rockets will be a much bigger threat in the west than anticipated. With the way they're playing in the preseason, i'd have to agree. Spurs better watchout... John Hollinger from ESPN insider has made 2005/2006 projections on the top 10 Player Efficiency Rating. His source was from last year. Note, the stats are not based on average per game but on every 40 minutes gameplay average, so the stats are higher. He put Yao and T-mac as #5 and 6 respectively in projected 2005-2006 PER. That's HUGE, for being back to back on top 10, compared to O'Neal is #3 while Wade is #10 for projected PER. I think yao's rebound is projected too high even for 40 minutes, but his points could be higher though. Here's a what what's relevent to the rockets *note* this is the official 2004-2005 ESPN PER player stats, Yao is on #10 PER: Top 10 (minimum 500 minutes) Player Pts/40 Reb/40 Ast/40 PER Kevin Garnett, Minnesota 23.3 14.2 6.0 28.35 Tim Duncan, San Antonio 24.4 13.3 3.3 27.13 Shaquille O'Neal, Miami 26.8 12.2 3.2 26.95 Amare Stoudemire, Phoenix 28.8 9.9 1.8 26.69 Dirk Nowitzki, Dallas 26.9 10.0 3.2 26.18 LeBron James, Cleveland 25.7 6.9 6.8 25.75 Andrei Kirilenko, Utah 19.0 7.6 3.9 24.45 Kobe Bryant, L.A. Lakers 27.1 5.8 5.9 23.28 Allen Iverson, Philadelphia 29.0 3.8 7.5 23.23 Yao Ming, Houston 23.9 10.9 1.0 23.22 PER: Projected 2005-06 Top 10 Player Pts/40 Reb/40 Ast/40 PER Kevin Garnett, Minnesota 22.7 14.0 5.1 26.39 Tim Duncan, San Antonio 23.4 13.2 3.3 25.12 Shaquille O'Neal, Miami 22.1 11.9 2.7 24.24 LeBron James, Cleveland 26.7 6.2 7.1 24.09 Yao Ming, Houston 23.6 12.2 1.7 24.05 Tracy McGrady, Houston 27.3 6.1 5.7 24.03 Dirk Nowitzki, Dallas 23.9 9.6 2.9 23.52 Amare Stoudemire, Phoenix 25.9 10.2 1.9 23.51 Kobe Bryant, L.A. Lakers 25.7 5.7 5.7 22.46 Dwyane Wade, Miami 23.9 5.2 6.2 22.39
For anyone who has ESPN insider, if you go into any player's stat page, there's a tab exclusively with his analysis. It includes all his advanced statistics, projections, and his analysis of their performance last year and prospects for this year. I'm thinking it's the same as what he's publishing in his Basketball Forecast. It's pretty sweet.
