Anti-Awards at the half-way point of the season
By Ian Levy
Just past the half-way point of the season it’s time to check in on The NBA Anti-Awards. This is the sixth (!!) season where I’ll be handing out these awards, recognizing some of the worst and most discouraging statistical achievements each year. You can find the full list of previous winners here. Some races already looked decided, while others may take until the very last game of the season to be resolved. Feel free to let me know your favorites in each race in the comments, on Twitter @NylonCalculus or at the Nylon Calculus Facebook page.
The Shawn Bradley Award – This award goes to the player 6’10″ or taller who has had the highest percentage of his own shot attempts blocked (minimum 500 minutes played).
Once again, Omer Asik is threatening to lap the field. He’s already won this award three times, including both of the last two seasons. He’s also the only player to win this award by having more than 20 percent of his shot attempts blocked (that was last season at 21.6 percent). Asik is just a hair behind that pace so far this season, having had 22 of his 107 shot attempts blocked so far, 20.5 percent. The closest player to passing him is Cody Zeller at 16 percent, not even close enough to be considered a realistic thread. It looks like this trophy is going back on the mantle at the Asik household this summer.
The Shawn Kemp Award – This award goes to the player who has fouled out of the most games. From 1986 up through 2011, Shawn Kemp was the NBA’s leader in foul outs with 115, 35 more than his next closest competitor.
DeMarcus Cousins is already a three-time Shawn Kemp Award-Winner and he seems poised to take home a fourth. This season he has fouled out of six of the 39 games he’s played, about 15 percent. Maintaining that pace, we’d expect him to foul out about five more times this season which would take him to 11 disqualifications and set a new career best. However, Cousins is tied right now with Giannis Antetokounmpo, who has also fouled out of six games this far. Antetokounmpo’s foul rate is roughly the same as last season and he’s a contender this season primarily by virtue of playing more minutes. In this battle, I tend to favor experience over youth and lean towards Cousins maintaining his stranglehold here.
The Jahidi White Award – This award goes to the player with the lowest ratio of Ast/FGA (minimum 500 minutes played). The award is named for White who assisted on just 1.7% of his teammates’ baskets over a 334 game career.
I think we can comfortably say that Hassan Whiteside has this award on lockdown. He’s already more than doubled his assist total from last season (from six assists to 15 assists) but he’s still, by far, the league leader in this category. In total this season, he has 15 assists against 349 field goal attempts, a ratio of 0.043. In fact, Whiteside’s career assist to field goal ratio of 0.027 would have won this award every season of its existence.
The Darrick Martin Award – This award goes to the player with the lowest FG% and a minimum of 350 attempts. The award is named for Darrick Martin, a career 38.2% shooter who played 514 games over 13 NBA seasons.
A different player has won this award every season and the current leaders represent the polar opposite kinds of candidates we’ve seen in the past. Deadlocked at 33.3 percent from the field are Paul Pierce and Emmanuel Mudiay. Pierce is an aging veteran whose jumper appears to have finally left them and whose declining athleticism means that are no longer a capable finisher at the rim. Emmanuel Mudiay is a rookie who hasn’t yet figured out how to turn talent and potential into production — he’s shooting 48.4 percent at the rim, 31.4 percent on long two-pointers, and 26.5 on three-pointers. Previous Darrick Martin Award-Winner Ricky Rubio is lurking at 34.9 percent and there are several other strong candidates, like Randy Foye, Nick Young and Kobe Bryant. If I had to pick now though, the favorite would be Mudiay.
The Jason Kidd Award – This award goes to the player with the most turnovers in a single game. Jason Kidd has had a Hall of Fame career with many terrific positive statistical contributions. He’s also had 3 career games with more than 12 turnovers.
This is another category currently in a dead heat. Russell Westbrook’s and Emmanuel Mudiay both have games of 11 turnovers so far this season. Kevin Durant and DeMarcus Cousins are nipping at their heels, each with games of 10. One would have to think this is finally Westbrook’s year to take this award. Mudiay’s game, and his game with nine turnovers, both came early in the season. As he has struggled his offensive responsibilities have been gradually reduced. Westbrook, on the other hand, is going to continue to have the ball in his hands the majority of the time, with an offense that is built on his unbridled aggressiveness. If that’s not a statue-winning recipe, I don’t know what is.
The Matt Bullard Award – This award goes to the player 6’10″ or taller with the lowest Total Rebound Percentage. (Minimum 500 minutes)
Andrea Bargnani has been a contender in this category for years but has never quite been able to bring home the hardware. Well, this may be his year. Bargnani’s total rebound percentage currently sits at 8.5 percent, just a hair ahead of Danilo Gallinari at 9.0 and Jason Smith at 9.2. This actually not a career low for Bargs — he bottomed out at 7.6 percent in his last season with Toronto — but a lack of truly terrible performances in this category have to make him the favorite. For reference, the highest total rebound percentage to ever win this award was Donte Green at 7.4 percent during the 2010-11 season. Bargs would be well ahead of that and could conceivably get himself a trophy without having to trade in every shred of his rebounding dignity.
The Kobe Bryant Award – This award goes to the player who has missed the most shot attempts in a single game. The award is inspired by Kobe’s performance in Game 7 of the 09-10 Finals.
Kyle Lowry is currently holding pole position here, having missed 23 shots on December 17 against the Charlotte Hornets. Lowry is a somewhat surprising leader in this category. The only real defining elements here are usually a volume shooter on a bad night. Lowry has his bad nights just like everyone else but he’s never quite been in that top tier of usage to really make him a strong candidate here. If he does hold on, it likely will not be because he tops himself with an even worse shooting night. He can’t get complacent though, Derrick Rose, Carmelo Anthony, and Ish Smith all have games with 20 or more missed field goals and they’ll be gunning to knock Lowry out of the top spot.
The Nick Anderson Award – This award goes to the player who missed the most free throws in a single game. Anderson was actually a decent free throw shooter. But his four missed free throw attempts in the 1995 Finals against Houston kind of stand out in my memory.
One would think Andre Drummond had done enough here. His 23 missed free throws against the Houston Rockets on January 20 were a new NBA record. However, four-time Nick Anderson Award-Winner Dwight Howard is still out there laying bricks. DeAndre Jordan, who won this award last season, missed 22 free throws just six weeks before Drummond set the new mark. These three seem determined to keep pushing each other to extremes in this category and I have a feeling we haven’t seen anyone’s best (worst) just yet.
The Chris Childs Award – This award goes to the player who has posted the highest Turnover Percentage so far this season. It’s named after former New York Knick Chris Childs, who retired with a career Turnover Percentage of 22.8%. (Minimum 500 minutes)
Of all the different awards on our slate, this is probably the most unsettled. Sonny Weems is currently out in front, with a turnover percentage of 29.3. Pablo Prigioni and Marcelo Huertas are right there as well, clocking in at 29.1 and 28.1, respectively. However, none of those three are guaranteed to make the 500 minute minimum requirement to be eligible at the end of the season. Ultimately, who can stay on the floor may be just as important as sloppy ball-handling and carelessly optimistic passing. If any of these three drop out, T.J. McConnell likely becomes the favorite. He has turned the ball over on 25.6 percent of his possessions and, as an undrafted rookie, holds plenty of play-making responsibility in the league’s worst offense.
The Andrea Bargnani Award (Formerly the Darius Songaila Award) – This award goes to the player who has provided his team with the least overall production. I use VORP to determine the winner here. (Minimum 500 minutes)
Andrea Bargnani won this award in such convincing fashion in its first season, that the award was named after him. Now, five seasons later, he’s back near the top of the leaderboard. He trails rookie Emmanuel Mudiay by a tenth of a point, but Mudiay is a rookie and should, theoretically, be trending upwards as the season goes on. Bargnani is rigidly consistent pit of defensive passivity and offensive inefficiency. It’s hard to imagine his numbers sliding in a positive direction. I mean, he is who we thought he was. Come on, Andrea, come reclaim what’s rightfully yours.