Get a Glimpse of the NBA’s Best, Strat-O-Matically
By Glenn Guzzo
Chris Paul dazzles like no other. Mike Conley and Tony Allen defend like Johnnie Cochran and have no peers among guard tandems. Andre Drummond says “Mine” like the Nemo seagulls whenever there’s an offensive rebound. And DeAndre Jordan is the baddest, not-in-my-house all-around defender in the game.
These and plenty of other eye-opening ratings soon will be in the hands of Strat-O-Matic Basketball gamers.
In the preview of carded players below, you’ll see that six gunners have “3” shooting frequencies. Carmelo Anthony, Kevin Durant and Dirk Nowitzki are no surprises here. They are joined by LaMarcus Aldridge, DeMarcus Cousins and DeMar DeRozan (three guys with two capital letters in their first names).
While such powerful defensive rebounders as Cousins, Dwight Howard, Omer Asik, Kevin Garnett, Kevin Love have lots of company, Drummond literally jumps out with rebounding ratings of 20 / 5 at center and 29 / 19 at power forward – making him the unchallenged leader for offensive rebounding.
Invisible in the charts below, but worth waiting for:
- Chris Paul’s dazzlers (1-20 in Normal passing, 1-18 Fastbreak). Rickey Rubio (18 / 15) is not far behind. Thirteen other carded players have double-figure dazzlers for both Normal and Fastbreak passing, led by Kendall Marshall (17 / 13).
- While no carded player has a 1-20 block rating, extra player Rudy Gobert of Utah is 1-19, Philly sub Jarvis Varnado is 1-17 and starters Anthony Davis and Serge Ibaka are among four at 1-16. Indy’s Roy Hibbert combines a 1-15 block with blank X-defense columns Inside and on the Fastbreak.
- The Clippers DeAndre Jordan dominates defensively with blank X-defense columns Inside and on the Fastbreak, 1-14 block and rebound ratings of 3 / 14 at center and 4 / 34 at power forward. Foes are going to have to have some serious chops to get their stats against this guy.
- Conley and Allen, Memphis backcourt mates, both have blank X-defense columns for Penetration and Fastbreak, the only teammates with that distinction. There are only four others in the whole set of cards with those ratings.
- Indy’s Paul George has an enviable all-around game: 2 Shooting frequency, defensive rebound ratings of 38 at guard and 17 at small forward, and a blank X-defense column Outside. That’s a LeBron James-quality game (2 Shooting frequency, defensive rebounding of 34 at guard and 13 at small forward, and blank X-defense Outside).
Click here to download the 2014 SOM Basketball Ratings Preview.
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