Before the break on this blog I used ESPN’s play-by-play data to publish detailed information about fouls in the last 5 NBA seasons including shooting, personal and loose ball fouls committed and shooting, personal and loose fouls drawn with a couple of different topics in mind.
Surprisingly for me, two columnists from bleacherreport.com not only read those posts but also found them useful and beat me to the punch – Kelly Scaletta wrote about “12 players who get the most star treatment” and Raj Prashad wrote an article titled “top10 smartest defenders” – so in the process they saved me some time
[I would have done those topics somewhat differently and with a bigger sample size but angle would be similar and it’s my blogging philosophy not to repeat anybody’s work].
They covered personal and shooting fouls which left me with only one type to play with – loose ball fouls.
They occur when nobody is in a possession of the ball and players fight for a position or for a ball.
And for that reason I find them interesting, who does usually win those battles?
Is it a skill or is it a random event? Is it only about size and strength?
Unfortunately, I can’t answer those questions directly because play-by-play data doesn’t have so much details but we can talk about instances when referee had to make an argument for one side over the over…
Here’s a comparison of total Loose Ball Fouls Drawn, total Loose Ball Fouls Committed and Difference between them for the last 5 seasons combined.
I listed all players with such difference in double figures. “<0" means "seasons with difference below 0".
| Player | Drawn | Comm | Diff. | >=0 | <0 | Player | Drawn | Comm | Diff. | >=0 | <0 | |
| Dirk Nowitzki | 157 | 40 | 117 | 5 | 0 | Zydrunas Ilgauskas | 54 | 129 | -75 | 0 | 5 | |
| Dwight Howard | 239 | 126 | 113 | 5 | 0 | Jason Thompson | 48 | 117 | -69 | 0 | 3 | |
| Chris Andersen | 125 | 15 | 110 | 4 | 0 | Carlos Boozer | 65 | 127 | -62 | 0 | 5 | |
| Antawn Jamison | 139 | 48 | 91 | 5 | 0 | Johan Petro | 28 | 90 | -62 | 0 | 5 | |
| Chris Bosh | 137 | 49 | 88 | 5 | 0 | Emeka Okafor | 104 | 153 | -49 | 0 | 5 | |
| Ben Wallace | 111 | 30 | 81 | 5 | 0 | Carl Landry | 49 | 96 | -47 | 0 | 4 | |
| Pau Gasol | 149 | 69 | 80 | 5 | 0 | Chuck Hayes | 41 | 87 | -46 | 0 | 5 | |
| Kevin Love | 124 | 63 | 61 | 3 | 0 | Juwan Howard | 36 | 78 | -42 | 0 | 5 | |
| Antonio McDyess | 138 | 85 | 53 | 5 | 0 | Linas Kleiza | 26 | 66 | -40 | 1 | 3 | |
| Josh Smith | 109 | 61 | 48 | 5 | 0 | Amir Johnson | 52 | 91 | -39 | 0 | 5 | |
| Andrei Kirilenko | 68 | 21 | 47 | 5 | 0 | Amare Stoudemire | 90 | 128 | -38 | 0 | 5 | |
| Marcus Camby | 133 | 87 | 46 | 4 | 1 | Zaza Pachulia | 82 | 119 | -37 | 1 | 4 | |
| Brad Miller | 116 | 71 | 45 | 4 | 1 | Samuel Dalembert | 125 | 161 | -36 | 0 | 5 | |
| Tyson Chandler | 155 | 117 | 38 | 4 | 1 | Al Jefferson | 51 | 86 | -35 | 0 | 5 | |
| Jarron Collins | 60 | 26 | 34 | 5 | 0 | Nazr Mohammed | 32 | 67 | -35 | 0 | 5 | |
| Shelden Williams | 66 | 34 | 32 | 5 | 0 | Kendrick Perkins | 62 | 95 | -33 | 0 | 5 | |
| Gerald Wallace | 87 | 58 | 29 | 4 | 1 | DeSagana Diop | 30 | 62 | -32 | 1 | 4 | |
| Zach Randolph | 141 | 112 | 29 | 3 | 2 | Luis Scola | 95 | 127 | -32 | 1 | 3 | |
| Blake Griffin | 59 | 31 | 28 | 1 | 0 | Aaron Gray | 18 | 46 | -28 | 0 | 4 | |
| Martell Webster | 41 | 13 | 28 | 5 | 0 | Charlie Villanueva | 38 | 66 | -28 | 0 | 5 | |
| Paul Millsap | 99 | 72 | 27 | 3 | 2 | DeJuan Blair | 32 | 60 | -28 | 0 | 2 | |
| Rasheed Wallace | 56 | 29 | 27 | 3 | 1 | Matt Bonner | 42 | 70 | -28 | 0 | 5 | |
| Darko Milicic | 59 | 33 | 26 | 3 | 2 | Rashard Lewis | 30 | 57 | -27 | 1 | 4 | |
| Shane Battier | 54 | 28 | 26 | 5 | 0 | Boris Diaw | 41 | 67 | -26 | 0 | 5 | |
| Andrew Bogut | 107 | 83 | 24 | 5 | 0 | Brian Skinner | 14 | 39 | -25 | 1 | 4 | |
| Kevin Durant | 32 | 8 | 24 | 4 | 0 | David Lee | 87 | 112 | -25 | 1 | 4 | |
| Kevin Garnett | 63 | 39 | 24 | 5 | 0 | Andrea Bargnani | 49 | 73 | -24 | 1 | 4 | |
| Andre Iguodala | 46 | 23 | 23 | 5 | 0 | Brian Scalabrine | 9 | 32 | -23 | 0 | 5 | |
| Derek Fisher | 43 | 20 | 23 | 5 | 0 | Joey Graham | 14 | 37 | -23 | 1 | 4 | |
| Ronny Turiaf | 76 | 53 | 23 | 4 | 1 | Udonis Haslem | 74 | 97 | -23 | 2 | 3 | |
| Kris Humphries | 72 | 50 | 22 | 3 | 2 | Lamar Odom | 76 | 98 | -22 | 1 | 4 | |
| Yao Ming | 68 | 46 | 22 | 4 | 0 | Hedo Turkoglu | 32 | 53 | -21 | 0 | 5 | |
| Anthony Parker | 33 | 12 | 21 | 4 | 1 | Dahntay Jones | 22 | 41 | -19 | 1 | 4 | |
| Chris Kaman | 60 | 39 | 21 | 4 | 1 | Ike Diogu | 24 | 43 | -19 | 1 | 3 | |
| Shawn Marion | 47 | 26 | 21 | 5 | 0 | Kurt Thomas | 64 | 83 | -19 | 1 | 4 | |
| Vince Carter | 52 | 31 | 21 | 4 | 1 | Taj Gibson | 25 | 44 | -19 | 0 | 2 | |
| Walter Herrmann | 25 | 4 | 21 | 3 | 0 | Arron Afflalo | 14 | 32 | -18 | 1 | 3 | |
| Brian Cardinal | 27 | 7 | 20 | 5 | 0 | Craig Smith | 57 | 75 | -18 | 2 | 3 | |
| Greg Monroe | 27 | 8 | 19 | 1 | 0 | Fabricio Oberto | 32 | 50 | -18 | 1 | 4 | |
| Hakim Warrick | 85 | 66 | 19 | 3 | 2 | Ron Artest | 50 | 68 | -18 | 1 | 4 | |
| LaMarcus Aldridge | 71 | 52 | 19 | 4 | 1 | Devin Brown | 9 | 26 | -17 | 0 | 4 | |
| Nene Hilario | 114 | 95 | 19 | 3 | 2 | Jameer Nelson | 18 | 35 | -17 | 0 | 5 | |
| Chauncey Billups | 39 | 22 | 17 | 4 | 1 | Jason Kapono | 8 | 25 | -17 | 2 | 3 | |
| DeAndre Jordan | 58 | 41 | 17 | 2 | 1 | Josh McRoberts | 13 | 30 | -17 | 1 | 3 | |
| Grant Hill | 50 | 33 | 17 | 5 | 0 | Leon Powe | 54 | 71 | -17 | 0 | 5 | |
| Jason Kidd | 35 | 18 | 17 | 5 | 0 | Maurice Evans | 24 | 41 | -17 | 1 | 4 | |
| Joe Smith | 68 | 51 | 17 | 4 | 1 | Paul Pierce | 35 | 52 | -17 | 2 | 3 | |
| Kevin Martin | 35 | 18 | 17 | 5 | 0 | Earl Barron | 7 | 23 | -16 | 1 | 3 | |
| Anderson Varejao | 128 | 112 | 16 | 4 | 1 | Sasha Vujacic | 18 | 34 | -16 | 0 | 5 | |
| Tim Duncan | 85 | 69 | 16 | 4 | 1 | Brandon Roy | 20 | 35 | -15 | 1 | 4 | |
| Tony Battie | 36 | 21 | 15 | 3 | 1 | Chris Paul | 37 | 52 | -15 | 3 | 2 | |
| Joel Przybilla | 91 | 77 | 14 | 3 | 2 | Jon Brockman | 31 | 46 | -15 | 0 | 2 | |
| Elton Brand | 67 | 54 | 13 | 3 | 2 | Keith Bogans | 11 | 26 | -15 | 1 | 4 | |
| Ersan Ilyasova | 62 | 49 | 13 | 3 | 0 | Nate Robinson | 15 | 30 | -15 | 0 | 5 | |
| Louis Amundson | 38 | 25 | 13 | 5 | 0 | P.J. Brown | 8 | 23 | -15 | 0 | 2 | |
| Omri Casspi | 19 | 6 | 13 | 2 | 0 | T.J. Ford | 10 | 25 | -15 | 1 | 4 | |
| Quinton Ross | 30 | 17 | 13 | 3 | 2 | Corey Brewer | 14 | 28 | -14 | 1 | 3 | |
| Tayshaun Prince | 34 | 21 | 13 | 5 | 0 | Sean Marks | 13 | 27 | -14 | 0 | 5 | |
| Bruce Bowen | 30 | 18 | 12 | 2 | 1 | Adam Morrison | 12 | 25 | -13 | 0 | 3 | |
| Devin Harris | 31 | 19 | 12 | 4 | 1 | Alexander Johnson | 13 | 26 | -13 | 0 | 2 | |
| Glen Davis | 45 | 33 | 12 | 3 | 1 | Antoine Walker | 6 | 19 | -13 | 0 | 2 | |
| Jorge Garbajosa | 14 | 2 | 12 | 2 | 0 | Corey Maggette | 61 | 74 | -13 | 1 | 4 | |
| Kwame Brown | 57 | 45 | 12 | 4 | 1 | Derrick Favors | 7 | 20 | -13 | 0 | 1 | |
| Luol Deng | 44 | 32 | 12 | 3 | 2 | Malik Rose | 9 | 22 | -13 | 1 | 2 | |
| Carlos Delfino | 26 | 15 | 11 | 3 | 1 | Stephen Graham | 5 | 18 | -13 | 1 | 4 | |
| Dan Gadzuric | 49 | 38 | 11 | 4 | 1 | Danny Granger | 50 | 62 | -12 | 2 | 3 | |
| David West | 87 | 76 | 11 | 3 | 2 | Etan Thomas | 15 | 27 | -12 | 2 | 2 | |
| Deron Williams | 22 | 11 | 11 | 3 | 2 | Jake Voskuhl | 24 | 36 | -12 | 1 | 2 | |
| Jeff Green | 53 | 42 | 11 | 3 | 1 | Kenyon Martin | 31 | 43 | -12 | 1 | 4 | |
| Josh Boone | 36 | 25 | 11 | 4 | 0 | Leandro Barbosa | 18 | 30 | -12 | 0 | 5 | |
| Josh Powell | 40 | 29 | 11 | 4 | 1 | Quentin Richardson | 16 | 28 | -12 | 1 | 4 | |
| Marco Belinelli | 15 | 4 | 11 | 4 | 0 | Rashad McCants | 9 | 21 | -12 | 1 | 2 | |
| Monta Ellis | 27 | 16 | 11 | 4 | 1 | Tony Parker | 7 | 19 | -12 | 1 | 4 | |
| Ramon Sessions | 13 | 2 | 11 | 4 | 0 | Brook Lopez | 60 | 71 | -11 | 2 | 1 | |
| Spencer Hawes | 45 | 34 | 11 | 3 | 1 | Daniel Gibson | 15 | 26 | -11 | 1 | 4 | |
| Allen Iverson | 14 | 4 | 10 | 4 | 0 | Mario Chalmers | 11 | 22 | -11 | 0 | 3 | |
| Charlie Bell | 23 | 13 | 10 | 4 | 1 | Sean Williams | 19 | 30 | -11 | 0 | 3 | |
| Desmond Mason | 28 | 18 | 10 | 3 | 1 | Serge Ibaka | 41 | 52 | -11 | 0 | 2 | |
| Jamal Crawford | 18 | 8 | 10 | 5 | 0 | Yakhouba Diawara | 8 | 19 | -11 | 2 | 2 | |
| Jamario Moon | 23 | 13 | 10 | 3 | 1 | Adonal Foyle | 9 | 19 | -10 | 1 | 2 | |
| Jose Calderon | 15 | 5 | 10 | 5 | 0 | Bobby Jackson | 8 | 18 | -10 | 1 | 2 | |
| Manu Ginobili | 42 | 32 | 10 | 4 | 1 | Eduardo Najera | 41 | 51 | -10 | 2 | 3 | |
| Mark Blount | 30 | 20 | 10 | 3 | 0 | James Johnson | 5 | 15 | -10 | 0 | 2 | |
| Mikki Moore | 82 | 72 | 10 | 2 | 2 | Joe Alexander | 1 | 11 | -10 | 1 | 1 | |
| Peja Stojakovic | 23 | 13 | 10 | 5 | 0 | Joey Dorsey | 6 | 16 | -10 | 1 | 2 | |
| Robin Lopez | 36 | 26 | 10 | 2 | 1 | Jordan Farmar | 9 | 19 | -10 | 1 | 4 | |
| Rodney Carney | 18 | 8 | 10 | 5 | 0 | Kosta Koufos | 9 | 19 | -10 | 1 | 2 | |
| Ronnie Brewer | 18 | 8 | 10 | 4 | 1 | Rafer Alston | 10 | 20 | -10 | 0 | 4 | |
| Solomon Jones | 39 | 29 | 10 | 5 | 0 |
That is what I love about playing with obscure and random data – by watching games I would have never ever guessed that difference between loose ball fouls drawn and committed is so consistent at the top and at the bottom. Pretty much all players there had regularly either positive or negative differential!
But frankly… I don’t know how to interpret it ;-) Do you?
Is it a good positioning for rebounds versus bad one?
Is it about knowledge when you should fight for a ball and when lay it off?
Is it about selling to the referees how hard other player was pushing?
Weak Side Awareness 