# Allen Iverson Shot Attempts



## Ras

I posted this in the General Forum, and I thought it'd be appropriate to post it here as well.




People always say Iverson's biggest fault is the amount of shots he takes. Well I did my homework, and this turns out to be not true. It seems the Sixers win more games when Iverson takes more shots. 

_*2004-2005*_*

_Less than 25 shot attempts:_ *18-20 / 47.4%* - Over an 82 game stretch, that equals a record of roughly 39-43.

_More than 25 shot attempts:_ *22-14 / 61.1%* - Over an 82 game stretch, that equals a record of roughly 50-32.

_More than 30 shot attempts: _*9-3 / 75.0%* - Over an 82 game stretch, that equals a record of roughly 62-20.

Some of you may believe that he's just shooting more in some games because he's actually hitting his shots, causing him to win more. Well that is not the case.

_Less than 25 shot attempts:_ *335/789 - 42.5%*

_More than 25 shot attempts:_ *431/1018 - 42.3%*

_More than 30 shot attempts: _*177/373 - 47.5%*

So his field goal percentage for "less than" and "more than" 25 shot attempts are roughly the same, yet he wins more when he shoots more than 25 shot attempts. It does look as if when he takes 30+ shot attempts, he's really hitting his shots.

Now I wanted to make sure this wasn't just a one year fluke, so I did the same research for his entire career.

_*CAREER*_

_Less than 25 shot attempts:_ *171-191 / 47.2%* - Over an 82 game stretch, that equals a record of roughly 39-43.

_More than 25 shot attempts:_ *141-101 / 58.3%* - Over an 82 game stretch, that equals a record of roughly 48-34.

_More than 30 shot attempts: _*51-30 / 63.0%* - Over an 82 game stretch, that equals a record of roughly 52-30.

So over his entire career, it follows roughly the same pattern. If Iverson shot roughly 25 or more shots per game for his entire career, he should theoretically have a better win-loss record than he currently has (*312-292 / 51.7%*).

_*Shot Average Per Season and Wins*_

*1996-1997:* 19.8 - 21-55 (27.6%)
*1997-1998:* 17.6 - 31-49 (38.8%)
*1998-1999:* 22.0 - 28-20 (58.3%)
*1999-2000:* 24.8 - 43-29 (61.4%)
*2000-2001:* 25.5 - 50-21 (70.4%)
*2001-2002:* 27.8 - 36-24 (60.0%)
*2002-2003:* 23.7 - 47-34 (57.3%)
*2003-2004:* 23.4 - 21-27 (43.8%)
*2004-2005:* 24.2 - 42-33 (56.0%)

So for the 4 seasons where he averaged 24 or more shot attempts, he had a combined record of 171-107 (61.5%) or an average season record of 50-32.

So therefore, Iverson shouldn't be criticized for taking so many shots, since he wins more if he chucks more.






I just recently talked to a poster in the Sixers forum, and they believe that the total shots isn't what makes Iverson hurt the team, it's the amount of plays begin and end with Iverson, so I'm going to dive into this matter a little bit deeper. I will be adding in the amount of assists and turnovers, since those are instances where the play would be beginning or ending with him.

_*2004-2005*_

_Less than 6 assists:_ *5-11 / 31.3%* - Over an 82 game stretch, that equals a record of roughly 26-56.

_More than or equal to 6 assists:_ *35-23 / 60.3%* - Over an 82 game stretch, that equals a record of roughly 50-32.

_More than or equal to 10 assists:_ *15-8 / 65.2%* - Over an 82 game stretch, that equals a record of roughly 54-28.

So now it's obvious that the more he passes, the more the team wins. Since he was talking possessions, I'll follow up by finding the win percentage with shots and assists intertwined.

_Less than 6 assists with less than 25 shot attempts:_ *2-5 / 28.6%* - Over an 82 game stretch, that equals a record of roughly 23-59.

_Less than 6 assists with more than or equal to 25 shot attempts:_ *3-6 / 33.3%* - Over an 82 game stretch, that equals a record of roughly 27-55.

No games were played where Iverson had less than 6 assists but more than, or equal to 30 shot attempts.


_More than or equal to 6 assists with less than 25 shot attempts:_ *16-15 / 51.6%* - Over an 82 game stretch, that equals a record of roughly 42-40.

_More than or equal to 6 assists with more than or equal to 25 shot attempts:_ *19-8 / 70.4%* - Over an 82 game stretch, that equals a record of roughly 58-24.

_More than or equal to 6 assists with more than or equal to 30 shot attempts:_ *9-3 / 75.0%* - Over an 82 game stretch, that equals a record of roughly 62-20.


_More than or equal to 10 assists with less than 25 shot attempts:_ *6-4 / 60.0%* - Over an 82 game stretch, that equals a record of roughly 49-33.

_More than or equal to 10 assists with more than or equal to 25 shot attempts:_ *9-4 / 69.2%* - Over an 82 game stretch, that equals a record of roughly 57-23.

_More than or equal to 10 assists with more than or equal to 30 shot attempts:_ *3-0 / 100.0%* - Over an 82 game stretch, that equals a record of roughly 82-0.

So now it shows that the more Iverson not only shoots, but has the ball in his hands leading to assists leads to an even more impressive win record. So pretty much, the more plays that begin and end with Iverson, the better the Sixers do.



I will be updating it again shortly to reflect the career numbers of this stat.


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## Kunlun

Thanks a lot for this, it's very useful information.


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## (-) 0 † § I-I () †

Very very impressive post. This data is quite interesting.

What else is funny is how you backed yourself wiht each question (the idea that he takes more when he makes more was something I always thought was the case). 

I think we may see Allen taking less shots this year. With Webber in, the pick and roll offense will be used a lot, which may open up Allen, but will also open up Korver, Sammy, and Webber. All of whom will be expected to contribute offensively.


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## SixersFan

I've read somethign similar to this before. And if you notice after the Webber trade when we went 17-11, Iverson's shot attempts increased. The year we went to the Finals, Iverson had the most shot attempts in his career.


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## LameR

If he gets in a groove, you know he's gonna keep puttin' them up. 

Very well done!


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## SirCharles34

Yeah, good post and good data. 

But, I don't think that will be the case this yr. We have some big question marks going into the season. The #1 question for me is: Will Cwebb stay healthy long enough to contribute anything significant. I say no. Without Webber, AI will instantly shoot more. He could possibly avg the most pts of his career.

Another distinction about your facts above is that when AI shot more, we also played good team DEFENSE, which I don't foresee us doing this yr.


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## Ras

Updated again.


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## Kunlun

Great work Ras! Thanks for putting in the time and effort to do this.


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## Sliccat

repped again, you mind if I use this?


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## Ras

sliccat said:


> repped again, you mind if I use this?


Be my guest.


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