Using 50-40-90 & 20-6-6 to find a star guard/SF

Wednesday, June 18, 2008, D69 —

You hear Kevin Pritchard use the terminology “50-40-90” like it is a combination to a lock of some secret formula. But in reality it is finding an offensive player with all-star qualities in 50% in Field Goal percentage, 40% in 3 point percentage and 90% in free throw percentage.

These numbers seem very basic, but are valuable numbers to evaluate a player’s offensive performance whether they are playing in the NCAA or in Europe as a guard or small forward. These numbers will give you a better ideal of the type of offensive player they will be in the NBA, then just looking for a player that averages 20+ PPG in college or Europe.

Here are some examples of current or future Blazers:

..FT%…..3P%…..FT%
50.8%….40.2%….81.0%….’05-’06….Brandon Roy, UofW, 33 games
56.5%….39.1%….94.1%….’07-’08….Rudy Fernandez, DKV Joventut, 15 gms
56.5%….43.4%….77.9%….’07-’08….Petteri Koponen, Espoon Honka, 45 gms

There is another combination I’m sure was handed down to Pritchard from other GMs in what they look for in college or European guards or SF players. It is “20-6-6”, 20+ ponts per game, 6+ rebounds per game and 6+ assists per game as it demostrates their all around skills and team player. Players who come close as in 16-18 PPG, 3-4 RPG, 3-4 APG in college or Europe will have a higher chance of being successful in the NBA averaging 20-6-6 in their professional career.

Lets take a look again at the current and future Blazers had done:

..FT%……3P%……..FT%……PPG…RPG…APG
50.8%…..40.2%…..81.0%…..20.2…..5.6…..4.1…..’05-’06……Brandon Roy
56.5%…..39.1%…..94.1%…..15.2…..3.4…..3.7…..’07-’08….. Rudy Fernandez
56.5%…..43.4%…..77.9%…..18.4…..3.3…..4.1…..’07-’08….. Petteri Koponen

Putting all 6 numbers together will get you closer to finding a star quality player. To understand why many consider Rudy the best player in Europe, we turn to the numbers. As former Blazer Asst. GM, Mark Warkentien used to say, “numbers don’t lie” when evaluating a player. Numbers will tell you more about a player then watching them in few games. Since Rudy is performing at the highest level of European ball you could assume he should do just fine in the NBA.

Just for historical data, here is what the past great all-stars and what their career averages as NBA players.

..FT%…..3P%……FT%…..PPG…RPG…APG
49.7%….32.7%….83.5%….30.1…..6.2…..5.3…..M. Jordan, CHI (13Y), WA (2Y)
52.0%….30.3%….84.8%….19.5…..7.2…11.2…..Magic Johnson, LA (13Y)
49.6%….37.6%….88.6%….20.2…10.0…..6.3…..Larry Bird, Boston (13Y)
47.2%….31.8%….78.8%….20.4…..6.1…..5.6…..C. Drexler, Ptld (12Y), Hous (3)
50.4%….32.2%….77.8%….28.7…12.1…..4.8…..Dr. J, VA / NJ (5Y) ABA
50.7%….26.1%….77.7%….22.0…..6.7…..3.9…..Dr. J, PHIL (11Y) NBA