Statistical Exploration: Carlos Boozer

Posted by Andy Larsen on December 08, 2008

This is the first in a 15 part series which will examine the statistical performance of each player on the Utah Jazz.

The statistical question with Boozer has always been to determine how much his strength on offense outweighs his relative weakness on defense. On offense, he’s a “grizzly bear down low”, on defense, he’s more of a contact-shy panda. Which influences the success of the Jazz more?

Offensively, its hard to emphasize strongly enough what a complete player Boozer is. Even in limited action this season, he’s averaged 20.5 PPG, 11.7 RPG, and even 2.7 APG. He averages 4 points on free throws per game, and draws fouls on 14.5% of his shots. He’s also averaged only 2 TO’s per game this season, a pretty good number for a player who touches the ball as much as Booz does in the offensive set.

He’s also an extraordinarily efficient offensive player. Boozer makes 55.9% of his field goals, and ranks 12th in the NBA in that category. On those layup drives and post up attempts – close shots – he shoots 62.1%. On his jumpshot, he shoots 42.1%, not very efficient. What Boozer has done in his 12 games this season, compared to last season, is adjust his shot usage. Last season, a majority of his shots were jumpers, this year, he’s cut way back so that a majority of his attempts are those close layups and post shots.

He’s also a surprisingly good passer for a big man. 2.7 APG puts him in the upper echelon of PF passers, along with Tim Duncan, Pau Gasol, and Chris Bosh. He has 32 assists this season compared to only 7 bad pass turnovers, a 4.6 A/BP ratio that Morris Almond could only dream of.

Boozer is also a fantastic rebounder, especially given his relatively small size in the key. According to Hollinger, he’s easily the best rebounding PF in the game, and he comes in #4 out of all players, behind three 7-footers. He is equally good on the offensive and defensive glass, getting a more than a third of all Jazz rebounds on both sides when he is in the game.

This all adds up to being a terrific offensive PF. According to Hollinger’s PER, he is the second best PF in the NBA, only behind Tim Duncan.

Players who play against Boozer, though, have a definite advantage. Players average about a 21 PER against him. For those who want a relative scale, that’s about where Shaq, Andrew Bynum, Marcus Camby, and Andrei Kirilenko have played this season. That’s a pretty high number defensively.

That being said, he’s simply better on offense than he is a liability on defense. According to 82games, he averages an offense-only PER of about 27, a positive difference of 6. In scoring terms, he averages about 29 points per 48 minutes, while only allowing his opponents around 22.

That difference is enough to make him an elite player. Last year, according to 82games, he was our best player, barely edging out Deron and Andrei because of that offensive advantage. When healthy, there is no question Boozer is worth the money he is currently paid.

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2 Comments

Annie Whittaker on December 08, 2008 said:

Andy, thank you so much for putting those stats in perspective, and for actually finding them so that I don’t have to. Looking forward to the next 14! (Can’t believe I’m saying that about STATS).

Boondock Saint on December 09, 2008 said:

Good stuff

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