criteria: ability to put up a ton of points at an efficient rate. trying to balance those two things (volume and efficiency). other intangibles matter (ability to stretch the defense, ability to create your own shot- which matters more in crunch time, mismatch concerns etc... call it the "Dirk is gonna win this poll" part of the criteria).

statistical breakdown (2011 season)...

Points Per Game
Kevin Durant: 27.7 ppg
LeBron James: 26.7 ppg
Carmelo Anthony: 25.6 ppg
Dwyane Wade: 25.5 ppg
Kobe Bryant: 25.3 ppg
Derrick Rose: 25.0 ppg
Monta Ellis: 24.1 ppg
Kevin Martin: 23.5 ppg
Dirk Nowitzki: 23.0 ppg

True Shooting %
Dirk Nowitzki: .612
Kevin Martin: .601
LeBron James: .594
Kevin Durant: .589
Dwyane Wade: .581
Carmelo Anthony: .557
Derrick Rose: .550
Kobe Bryant: .548
Monta Ellis: .536

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Broken Down Percentages

eFG%
Dirk Nowitzki: .545
LeBron James: .541
Dwyane Wade: .523
Kevin Durant: .509
Kevin Martin: .506
Monta Ellis: .493
Kobe Bryant: .487
Carmelo Anthony: .487
Derrick Rose: .485

3 Point %
Dirk Nowitzki: .393
Kevin Martin: .383
Carmelo Anthony: .378
Monta Ellis: .361
Kevin Durant: .350
LeBron James: .350
Derrick Rose: .332
Kobe Bryant: .323
Dwyane Wade: .306

Free Throw %
Dirk Nowitzki: .892
Kevin Martin: .888
Kevin Durant: .880
Derrick Rose: .858
Carmelo Anthony: .838
Kobe Bryant: .828
Monta Ellis: .789
LeBron James: .759
Dwyane Wade: .758

---------

Free Throw Attempts
Kevin Durant: 8.7
Dwyane Wade: 8.6
Kevin Martin: 8.4
LeBron James: 8.4
Carmelo Anthony: 8.4
Kobe Bryant: 7.1
Derrick Rose: 6.9
Dirk Nowitzki: 6.1
Monta Ellis: 5.4

Ast'd % of FGs
Derrick Rose: 27%
LeBron James: 32%
Dwyane Wade: 37%
Kobe Bryant: 38%
Monta Ellis: 41%
Carmelo Anthony: 46%
Kevin Martin: 60%
Kevin Durant: 62%
Dirk Nowitzki: 63%


reasons i included the guys that you are wondering "why are they included"---
Kevin Martin: look at those percentages
Derrick Rose: his ability to create his own shot is amazing
Monta Ellis: easily the weakest guy here, but i didn't realize that until after the statistical breakdown and i'm not taking him off now (already did the work, too lazy to go back through... also explains the typos)

Something I find incredible about Kevin Durant is how often he gets fouled despite not really going to the basket all that much. 87% of his shots are jumpshots. That's the same percentage as Dirk Nowitzki (he actually drives to the basket less, but gets slightly more tip-ins).

i'm too drunk to navigate 82games' impossibly difficult layout. where did you get these shooting stats? best i could do is try to google them and got the stats from like 2009. other than that, it was going to take looking at every player's individual page. or else im an idiot and im missing something. either way, someone needs to "idiot-proof" 82games for me so i can find the sortable tables like this: http://www.82games.com/0809/FGSORT6.HTM or otherwise make Synergy's website free.

Sortable stats would be nice. I just clicked on Durants page: http://www.82games.com/1011/10OKC9.HTM

Dirk. Dirk is the most unguardable player in the league. Unlike Durant you can't deny him the ball. Unlike Melo he shoots consistently and efficiently from just about anywhere (both are impossible to deny a shot to). Dirk has the most unblockable shot in the league and he hits it even from long range 2 around 50%. The only reason his point totals are lower is because he plays in the system. I mean 12-15 with perfect free throw shooting and 48 points. That is dominance.

Btw that assisted percentage for Nowitzki is the flaw in the assist statistic. A lot of those "assisted" baskets involve Dirk getting off shots that only he can get off.

It's his ridiculously long arm and that awesome rip move he has.

Yeah, I know why. I just find it amazing.

i would think that applies to durant, too. anyways, dirk somewhat handily in this one. durant is still improving, though.

I don't care about statistics so much here, Kobe, Dirk, KD and Melo are my favorite guys to watch scoring-wise, in that order. I wanted to say Pau is another guy I really enjoy but it's more of an appreciation of his overall offensive skill level rather than scoring. He's not aggressive enough for my liking, re:bucketz.

dirk has the most unguardable shot in the league. love the durantula, though. idk