In the spirit of keeping an eye out on the NBA, ESPN.COM decided a few weeks back to present to us #NBARank. The idea was rather simple: get a few writers and bloggers to rank each and every player in the league and then do a countdown. At this moment in time, they are currently delving into the top 200, which for the most part means the discussion has shifted towards starters. Bench players and rookies have already had their moment of glory, but now the attention turns towards the players who have the biggest impact in wins and losses.
The first Golden State player to make an appearance in the top 200 is Andris Biedrins who clocked in at 174. Some might feel that the spot is just about right whereas others might share the opinion that he was rated far too high, especially when we consider the fact that he played less than 25 minutes per game.
The 174 spot essentially means that Biedrins is better than at least half of the players in the league and to be quite frank, that seems rather unlikely.
John Hollinger uses his Player Efficiency Rankings (PER) in order to attribute a set statistical value to what a player brings to the table on the court. The higher the number, the better the value of the player. Obviously, given the fact that it is a numerical value, it encompasses all of the statistical production of a player into one figure to help us determine just how useful and efficient a player is on the court (for a detailed explanation of PER, click here).
An average NBA player has a PER of 15.0. The Warriors starting center however had a PER of 12.11 for the 2010-11 regular season and saw his player efficiency ranking decline for the fourth straight season in a row. His value seems low, but let’s put it into context: Andris Biedrins has the 232nd best PER number in the NBA. Thus, there are 231 other players that are more productive than the Latvian center. Have a look at his averages from last season:
| PPG | RPG | APG | BPG | FG% | FT% |
| 5.0 | 7.2 | 1.0 | 0.9 | .534 | .323 |
Not exactly lighting the court on fire. Granted, PER numbers rely heavily on statistical outputs and thus do not necessarily reward gritty players that play within their role and help the team with defense, screens and other intangibles (think of Shane Battier for instance who has a PER of 12.37).
Consequently, it is worth having a look at how the team faired with their starting center on the court as well as off the court. Have a look below (information provided by 82games.com):
| On court | Off Court | Net |
| -8.1 | +0.8 | -9.0 |
The Warriors were outscored on average by 8.1 points with Biedrins on the court and scored 0.8 points more than their opposition with their starting center on the bench. Essentially, the Dubs were a better team with Andris Biedrins riding the pine. If we dig further, we will see that five of the Warriors’ six worst lineups during the course of the 2010-11 regular season featured the 6’11 player in the rotation. Look below (information obtained from 82games.com):
| Unit | Minutes | +/- |
| Curry-Ellis-D.Wright-Lee-Biedrins | 688 | -69 |
| Ellis-Williams-D.Wright-Lee-Biedrins | 150 | -55 |
| Curry-Ellis-D.Wright-Gadzuric-Biedrins | 36.6 | -39 |
| Ellis-Williams-D.Wright-Amundson-Lee | 54.8 | -28 |
| Curry-Ellis-D.Wright-Radmanovic-Biedrins | 61.1 | -22 |
| Law-Ellis-D.Wright-Lee-Biedrins | 38.5 | -18 |
Andris Biedrins is only 25 years old and thus has the chance to build on past performances to become a legit starting center in the NBA. Mind you that day is not today unfortunately for the Golden State Warriors. He is a serviceable role player but considering that he was paid approximately $9 million last season, it’s clear that more was expected from him in terms of his play.
#NBARank was extremely generous in ranking him as the 174th best player in the league, but the truth is that at that spot one would expect to get better results from a player.
Perhaps the next time we see him in a Warriors uniform he will make us all collectively change our minds and justify his ranking, but that time is not now.
Questions or comments? Feel free to leave them in the comments section or you can contact me by email at [email protected]. You can also find me on Twitter with the handle name @ShyneIV.
I came, I read this airctle, I conquered.
YMMD with that asnewr! TX
Great post with lots of impotrnat stuff.
I believe he can be good. When he had B. Diddy and Jax plopping him the ball 6 inches from the rim, he rarely missed (who would?). Unfortunately, those guys are gone and Biedrins is not the kind of guy who can get to the rim on his own. He certainly cannot shoot the ball with any reliable consistency. It doesn’t help that he can’t shoot a free-throw and refuses to get help for it, but maybe most importantly, his confidence is in the gutter. However, since Curry/Monta are not Baron Davis and Jax, Biedrins’ current effectiveness is greatly diminshed.
But, he is crafty and long and did some really good things during the We Believe Era (sad that we have to call the last winning season an “era”).
I believe Biedrins will be a good player. I’m not sure he can do it in Golden State any more.
He doesn’t get minutes because he’s not that good. Lousy footwork and keeps the ball too low causing lots of turnovers. Then, there is his pouty nature. Ugh.
I will be pttuing this dazzling insight to good use in no time.
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He is the worst starting player in the NBA. My 90 year old mother could out muscle and out shoot him.
People tend to forget to be a solid big man in this league a player needs two thing: minutes and the ball. Biendris barely sees the ball because he platys with a back court of ball-hoggs. The Warriors also play a perimeter centric game, which kind of shuts big men in the cold. Hopefully Mark Jackson will fix that.
That’s not just the best anwser. It’s the bestest answer!
Good pnoits all around. Truly appreciated.