Clutch Performers

From observing games last year, most fans would say that Baron Davis was our crunch time player, followed by Stephen Jackson, and besides that we didnt really have anyone else. As a team, most people would say we came through pretty good in the clutch, usually coming from behind and winning in the last minutes. A clutch stat would be defined as how well the team played in the last 5 minutes of the 4th quarter or overtime, when the teams are within 5 points of eachother.

Now if you were one of those people who thought that our team as a whole was extremely clutch, you would be exactly right. Imagine if the whole game was a "clutch situation". Looking at it this way, gives us the option of seeing how a team or player did, in 48 minutes of clutch time. The warriors were 1st in the league, averaging 128 points per 48 minutes in a clutch situation. That means if somehow the whole entire game could be considered a clutch situation, we would average 128 ppg. That number is incredible if you think about it. We significanty bumped up the total points we scored when the game was close in the last 5 minutes to 128 ppg. That number was the best in the league, but now lets look at the players we had.

Many people thought that Baron Davis was our most clutch player last year, in a way you would be correct, but not when looking at Points per 48 minutes in clutch time. Our most clutch scorer would actually be Stephen Jaskson. Jackson averaged 39.7 points per 48 minutes of clutch time last year. This number was 10th in the league. The number also is very decieving, because 85% of those points in clutch time were assisted. 85% is by far the highest percentage of anyone else in the top 10, and we all know who assisted him all those points... Baron Davis. Still though, this shouldn't be taking anything away from Stephen Jackson, who was an amazing and efficient scorer in clutch time last year. He also shot .474% from the field, and an amazing .457% from the 3 point line.

Now, taking a look at Baron Davis, he averaged 36.8 points per 48 minutes in clutch time. Just 2.9 points lower than Jackson, and also good for 17th in the league. More importantly however, he averaged 10.1 assists and shot .494% from the field. Another interesting stat, is that of the 36.8 points he scored, only 13% of those were assisted. This means that he was extremely good at creating his own shot.

Monta Ellis also made the list, at number 46. This number may seem low, but don't forget that he had 2 of the most efficient and effective scorers in the whole league on his team. Somehow he managed to average 27.5 points per 48 of clutch time, despite hardly getting any looks toward the end of games. He was even more efficient than Baron Davis or Stephen Jackson, and shot .534% from the field. Also, only 54% of his points were assisted, which is a decent number, and means he can create his own shot. My favorite stat he has, is that he averaged 10.5 Rebounds per 48 min of clutch time. For a 6'3 guard, that is unbelievable.

Lets take a look at our newest player, Corey Maggette. He finished in between Baron Davis and Monta Ellis on the list, at number 24. He averaged 34.3 points per 48 minutes of clutch time, however 76% of those were assisted. He was also extremely efficient, shooting .472% from the field, and .500% from the 3 point line. My favorite stat, is that he did all his scoring, while only attempting 16 shots per 48 minutes. This number was 2 shots less than Monta Ellis, and 11.4 shots less than Baron Davis.

Other clutch performers
Keleena Azubuike averaged 25.7 points per 48 minutes
Andris Biedrins averaged 13.3 points per 48 minutes, and 18.4 rebounds!

I was extremely pleased to see that Corey Maggette performs well in crunch time, because my main concern was that we would fall flat at the end of games. I doubt we will be as dominant as last year, but things don't look so bad anymore. Rest easy Warrior fans, we may not be as bad off as people expected.

82games.com check it out, some crazy helpful stats