Here is the spreadsheet for the Brazilian team WBC stats, which includes Leandro Barbosa, as well as fellow NBA players Anderson Varejao and Tiago Splitter:
Let's take a look at Barbosa first:
Not bad, but I think everyone was hoping for a little more against international competition. He was close to average in most categories except for rebounding and steals, which were above average. His FGAtt were way more than average, which lead to his scoring being way more than average as well - but his shooting efficiency was a tiny bit below average and so his shooting wasn't all that helpful (although he did manage to pass the 1 PPS threshold). He played particularly poorly in Brazil's three losses against USA, Slovenia, and Argentina; in fact, take a look at the difference in Barbosa's production during wins and his production during losses:
Barbosa played incredibly well in victories (Iran, Tunisia, and Croatia) and quite terribly in losses (USA, Slovenia, and Argentina). Compounding this was the fact that he played fewer minutes in wins than in losses, presumably because when his team was ahead they felt that they would rest him, and when his team was behind they thought they 'needed him' to help them win.
Who's that A. Garcia? That would be former Spur (2003-04) and Hornet (2004-05) Alex Garcia. Garcia produced the most wins for the Brazilian team (1.03) and had a EWP40 of 0.256 (third best on the team). He shot more efficiently, rebounded better, turned the ball over less...did better than Barbosa in pretty much every category other than FG attempts and points. Garcia was the best guard on the team.
Now let's take a look at selected forwards and centres:
Machado was the team's best forward and best player overall (by EWP40). Despite putrid rebounding numbers, he scored so much and so efficently that he still managed to produce at an excellent rate. It's a shame that he only played the sixth-most minutes on the team, and as he is 35 years old, his international career is probably near its end.
Varejao, Splitter, and Becker split their time at forward and centre, so comparing their numbers isn't perfectly straightfoward. A couple of things stand out; for example, Varejao couldn't shoot. Interestingly, he seems to have known that because he did not take very many shots of any kind. The main thing he did well (and he did it amazingly well) was rebound; other than that, his low foul and turnover rates were positives, but not much else was. Splitter, on the other hand, was much more balanced; he didn't really stand out in any one area, but instead was slightly above average in most. Both produced at a similar rate - Varejao at an EWP40 of 0.157 and Splitter at 0.149 - but due to Varejao's injuries at the start of the tournament, Splitter player more minutes and so produced more wins.
Becker performed like a better version of Varejao - his main skill was rebounding, but he managed to outperform in every category other than fouls and steals, and was thus significantly more productive. If I was a centre-starved NBA team (*coughRaptorscough*), I'd probably consider giving him a look to see if he could maintain at least a portion of his efficiency in an NBA setting.
So, with all that out of the way, let me add a few more thoughts about the stats from these games:
- I find it interesting (but not totally surprising) that the three best players on an international team with three NBA players were non-NBA players
- Brazil kicked Croatia's butt - 1.339 EWins Produced to -0.339 EWins Produced.
- Brazil actually out-performed Argentina - 0.508 EWP to 0.492 EWP - but still lost a close game.
- Despite a very close score, the USA was clearly the better team in their game (0.625 EWP to 0.375 EWP)
- Huge games: Barbosa (0.553 EWP) vs Tunisia and Scola (0.522 EWP) vs Brazil
Lately I haven't been posting as often as I would like - blame it on moving. I hope to get back up to speed in the next little bit.
- Devin.
