Yeh Points: Musings on the White Mamba
Mad thanks to James Parker for the suggestion of “Yeh Points”, which will now be a regular piece on the Wages of Wins blog! The amazing Chris Yeh, from Adventures in Capitalism, will dispense his thoughts on the NBA. Today he’ll be going over the Yin to Kobe’s Yang: Brian Scalabrine!
Count…the…rings!
With the release of the ultimate Brian Scalabrine highlight reel, it seems a good time to look at the career of the White Mamba.
Stats
| SEA | Min | WP48 | WP | PTS | DRB | ORB | REB | AST | TO | BLK | STL | PF |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 11-12 CHI | 122 | .122 | 0.3 | 12.6 | 5.1 | 3.1 | 8.3 | 5.5 | 3.5 | 2.4 | 2.0 | 3.5 |
| 10-11 CHI | 90 | -.086 | -0.2 | 10.7 | 3.7 | 0.5 | 4.3 | 3.2 | 2.7 | 1.6 | 1.6 | 9.6 |
| 09-10 BOS | 472 | -.093 | -0.9 | 7.9 | 4.0 | 0.9 | 4.9 | 2.7 | 1.7 | 0.4 | 0.9 | 6.0 |
| 08-09 BOS | 504 | -.029 | -0.3 | 13.0 | 4.1 | 0.7 | 4.8 | 1.7 | 1.1 | 1.0 | 0.7 | 7.0 |
| 07-08 BOS | 512 | -.025 | -0.3 | 8.2 | 5.3 | 2.1 | 7.4 | 3.8 | 2.4 | 0.8 | 0.8 | 5.9 |
| 06-07 BOS | 1027 | -.024 | -0.5 | 10.1 | 3.8 | 1.1 | 4.9 | 2.8 | 2.1 | 0.8 | 1.1 | 6.1 |
| 05-06 BOS | 938 | -.067 | -1.3 | 10.5 | 4.5 | 1.4 | 5.8 | 2.6 | 2.6 | 1.0 | 1.1 | 6.5 |
| 04-05 NJN | 1167 | .059 | 1.4 | 13.9 | 6.6 | 3.4 | 10.0 | 3.6 | 2.7 | 0.7 | 1.4 | 4.6 |
| 03-04 NJN | 928 | .035 | 0.7 | 12.4 | 6.8 | 2.2 | 8.9 | 3.4 | 2.2 | 0.7 | 1.1 | 5.8 |
| 02-03 NJN | 724 | .048 | 0.7 | 11.9 | 6.7 | 2.7 | 9.3 | 3.0 | 3.0 | 1.2 | 1.1 | 5.1 |
| 01-02 NJN | 290 | -.103 | -0.6 | 9.9 | 6.5 | 2.0 | 8.4 | 3.5 | 4.0 | 0.3 | 1.5 | 6.5 |
| Career Avg | 615 | -.007 | -0.1 | 11.3 | 5.4 | 1.9 | 7.3 | 3.1 | 2.4 | 0.9 | 1.1 | 5.8 |
| Average PF | 1538 | .099 | 3.2 | 19.9 | 7.9 | 3.4 | 11.3 | 2.8 | 2.6 | 1.2 | 1.3 | 4.8 |
Shooting Stats
| FG% | 2FG% | 3FG% | FT% | eFG% | TS% | FGA | 3FGA | PPS | FTA | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Scalabrine 11-12 | 46.7% | 56.5% | 14.3% | 50.0% | 48.3% | 49.0% | 11.8 | 2.8 | 1.07 | 2.4 |
| Scalabrine 10-11 | 52.6% | 71.4% | 0.0% | 0.0% | 52.6% | 52.6% | 10.1 | 2.7 | 1.05 | 0.0 |
| Scalabrine 09-10 | 34.1% | 36.1% | 32.7% | 66.7% | 43.5% | 44.5% | 8.6 | 5.0 | 0.92 | 0.6 |
| Scalabrine 08-09 | 42.1% | 45.3% | 39.3% | 88.9% | 52.6% | 55.8% | 10.9 | 5.8 | 1.19 | 1.7 |
| Scalabrine 07-08 | 30.9% | 29.2% | 32.6% | 75.0% | 38.8% | 42.8% | 8.8 | 4.3 | 0.94 | 1.9 |
| Scalabrine 06-07 | 40.3% | 40.7% | 40.0% | 78.3% | 51.8% | 53.7% | 8.9 | 5.1 | 1.13 | 1.1 |
| Scalabrine 05-06 | 38.3% | 40.6% | 35.6% | 72.2% | 46.4% | 49.1% | 9.9 | 4.5 | 1.06 | 1.8 |
| Scalabrine 04-05 | 39.8% | 41.7% | 32.4% | 76.8% | 43.1% | 46.8% | 13.7 | 2.8 | 1.02 | 2.8 |
| Scalabrine 03-04 | 39.4% | 42.9% | 24.4% | 82.9% | 41.7% | 48.2% | 11.3 | 2.1 | 1.10 | 3.6 |
| Scalabrine 02-03 | 40.2% | 41.5% | 35.9% | 83.3% | 44.4% | 48.7% | 11.2 | 2.6 | 1.07 | 2.4 |
| Scalabrine 01-02 | 34.3% | 35.1% | 30.0% | 73.3% | 36.6% | 40.8% | 11.1 | 1.7 | 0.90 | 2.5 |
| Scalabrine (career) | 39.0% | 41.5% | 34.4% | 78.3% | 45.0% | 48.5% | 10.7 | 3.7 | 1.05 | 2.1 |
| Average PF | 46.9% | 48.7% | 34.8% | 73.8% | 49.1% | 53.4% | 16.3 | 2.0 | 1.22 | 5.2 |
Sadly, this is not a case of an underappreciated diamond in the rough. Scalabrine didn’t look good to conventional fans, and he looked just as bad to advanced stats lovers. Scalabrine played 11 seasons; he actually cost his team wins in 7 of those seasons, and he was only above average (0.122) in his final season, in which he only played 122 minutes. His career high for wins produced came in 2005, when he produced 1.4 wins for the Nets, at a 0.059 clip. Note that this was his second highest WP48 in his career!
Despite his play, the White Mamba managed to play 11 seasons in the NBA, earning over $20 million during that time. He did this without the skill, ability or stats of a good player. Not bad for a slow white guy!
-Chris