Sabin Productivity Rankings, part III

This is the 3rd installment of a 4 part series that examines the potential validity of the controversial Sabin Productivity Rankings with commentary by the author. Although it has limitations, the model suggests how much value a player adds to his team over the course of the tournament. Welcome to Group 2 of the SPR, better know as "Bs and Cs get degrees."

8) Hops - 81 points

Hops and I haven't played much together in PCTI, but he is always somebody that I enjoy competing against. There's a large contingent of players in PCTI that think Hops is among the smartest players that we have, and I'm a member of that group. I've told DK on a number of occasions that Hops just has this uncanny ability to always be in my way when I am trying to get to certain spots on the floor. But in addition to his normal sticky defending and help side play, he brought his jump shot with him to Cincinnati. Dude stroked 10-26 from deep over the weekend for a warm 39%. He also added an above-average 60% from the charity stripe to go along with a salty 56% EFG for the weekend. Hops also always contributes in other categories and this year was no different, adding 23 boards, 10 assists, and 4 steals to his tally. He also led his team with a low-turnover mark of 5. He slapped up terrific games 2, 3, and 6 with lines of 11-3-2, 12-3-0, and 13-4-1 in the clincher. In those games, he shot 8-14 from 3 and 6-7 from the free throw line. I can't confirm this statement, but this may have been one of Hop's best PCTI performances with timely triples and positive energy. I guess the "Moses parts the Red Sea" layup got a little traction over the weekend, especially with Danny, but this was an otherwise fine performance by one of PCTI's favorite sons.

7) TP - 87 points

Let me state for the record that I am not thrilled with TP's driving ability nor his choice of music, but those are small matters compared to the size of this guy's contribution to his team in Cincinnati. I think it is fair to say that TP started out the tournament a little bit slow given that he was trying to get a feel for his teammates and where he could add value. But the bigger theme is that he just kept getting better and better and better as the weekend continued. As an example, he posted a game 1 line of 3 points and 4 boards on 14% shooting. However, as he got more comfortable with his group, he was able to post a monster 13 and 15 in a crucial game 5 win. Without TP in that game, with a nod to BC, the Brats do not win that game and ultimately may have turned the series to the Snipers. Respect to Abe, BC, Bruise, and Donley, but we may have found PCTI's best rebounder. His numbers don't do justice to his overall impact, so I'm going to leave those to the side for this discussion. But let me just say that I would be shocked if this dude wasn't selected in round 2 of this year's draft. You can always do worse than a guy who puts his hard hat on, rebounds everything in sight, creates extra possessions for his team, and has a relentless motor. Reminds me a lot of a young Joakim Noah, only with a better haircut. I'd play with this dude any PCTI and would count myself lucky to be his teammate...I just don't want him to drive me to the gym.

6) Sabin - 89 points

I admit that I am surprised to find myself in this group. I did not think my impact was the same caliber as some of the players in groups 2 and 3, but the reality is that I typically shoot a decent percentage from the field, make my free throws, and don't turn the ball over. So some guys had better positives than me, but I had significantly fewer negatives than them if that makes sense. Although I only shot 38% for the weekend, I shot it well in game 1 with 14 points on 5-8 from the field and game 6 with 14 points on 5-11. I led the tourney in FT% at 88 and AT ratio at 4.5. Slapped up 18 assists for the weekend and added 8 steals for good measure. My jumper went to sleep in games 2-5, but that has given me all of the motivation that I needed to get back in the gym and get ready for 8. I'm super excited to be back in the PCTI family after a long winter of discontent. Thanks to you guys for having me back and I look forward to all of the offseason events we have coming up.

Sabin