The box score era is over.
With SportVU cameras hanging in the rafters tracking millions of data points per game and statisticians crunching spreadsheets full of lineup information, we can look outside the box score and finally move into the 21st century in NBA player evaluation. Exit points per game, enter real plus-minus.
To recap, real plus-minus (RPM) is ESPN's value metric, developed by stat gurus Jeremias Engelmann and Steve Ilardi, which estimates a player's on-court impact on team performance on both ends of the floor. RPM factors in teammate and opponent quality among other factors, making it more nuanced than your typical all-in-one metric that strictly looks at box score contributions. With the first batch of real plus-minus coming out earlier this month, let's take a look at players who are overrated by conventional statistics found in the box score and give proper due to those who do the little things in the box score's blind spot.
Underrated role players
Chandler
Tyson Chandler, C, Dallas Mavericks
ORPM: +2.4 | DRPM: +3.6 | RPM: +6.0 | WAR: 3.8
How does a guy who barely takes six shots per game end up as one of the league's most impactful players? By owning the most sacred land in the game: the paint. He's shooting a baffling 67.9 percent from the floor, which creates spacing for his teammates via his ominous pick-and-roll dives to the rim. For fear of the towering alley-oop, defenses reflexively collapse to the paint after his hard screens, which affords shooters with just enough daylight to rain from downtown.
Chandler's job defensively is to put out fires. The 32-year-old has had the tough task of keeping the Mavericks afloat while starting next to four "minus" defenders. Rajon Rondo's arrival could help if the point guard puts in better effort than he has in Boston. Though Chandler's block rate isn't elite, he's incredibly skilled at defending without fouling (his 2.7 fouls per 36 minutes is a career low) and finishing defensive possessions by cleaning the glass. Dallas wouldn't sniff its current 57-win pace without him.