Want to help a great cause? Want to prove your prowess at basketball stats? Then welcome to the first annual "Yeh Points Challenge." All you need to do is donate at least $5 to Chris Yeh's "Cycle for Survival Challenge" page (proceeds go to Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Research), guess which player will have the best Net Points game by the All-Star break (and starting today February 6th 2017) and which date they'll have said game (put your guess in the comments on this page) The Boxscore Geeks will match all donations by our fans up to $250. And to sweeten the pot, we'll give the winner a vintage "Yay Points" T-Shirt (designed by the brilliant Jeremy Britton). So, you in?
This shirt could be yours! I assume the stock model at Zazzle is a fan.
The Rules
1. Submit your guess in the comment section below. We just need a player name and the date you think they'll score the most Net Points*.
2. Donate at least $5 to Chris Yeh's "Cycle for Survival" page (here's the link mskcc.convio.net/goto/chrisyeh), you have until February 12th to donate.
3. Obviously, your guess has to be for a game that starts after the time stamp of your comment.
4. Any game up until the All-Star break is fair game. We'll announce the winner during the All-Star break.
As a reminder, Net Points is the total number of points a player scores accounting for their shot attempts. The formula is simply:
Points - [FGA] - 0.44 * [FTA]
You'll recognize the math as the same underlying math of True Shooting Percentage.
Cheat Sheet
Below are the top ten Net Point performances (so far) this NBA season.
| Player | Date | Opponent | MP | FT | FTA | 2P | 2PA | 3P | 3PA | Net Points |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Klay Thompson | 12/5/2016 | IND (W+36) | 29.1 | 10 | 11 | 13 | 19 | 8 | 14 | 22.16 |
| Isaiah Thomas | 12/20/2016 | @MEM (W +3) | 38.3 | 17 | 17 | 3 | 6 | 7 | 10 | 20.52 |
| DeMarcus Cousins | 1/30/2017 | @PHI (L-3) | 32.3 | 20 | 22 | 7 | 10 | 4 | 6 | 20.32 |
| Isaiah Thomas | 12/30/2016 | MIA (W+3) | 37.2 | 13 | 13 | 6 | 13 | 9 | 13 | 20.28 |
| Kyle Lowry | 1/1/2017 | @LAL (W+9) | 39 | 11 | 11 | 6 | 9 | 6 | 7 | 20.16 |
| Kevin Durant | 1/18/2017 | OKC (W+21) | 33.8 | 9 | 10 | 8 | 9 | 5 | 7 | 19.6 |
| DeMarcus Cousins | 12/20/2016 | POR (W+5) | 40.6 | 16 | 17 | 12 | 20 | 5 | 8 | 19.52 |
| Stephen Curry | 11/7/2016 | NOP (W+10) | 35.7 | 1 | 2 | 3 | 9 | 13 | 17 | 19.12 |
| James Harden | 12/31/2016 | NYK (W+7) | 42.1 | 16 | 18 | 5 | 10 | 9 | 16 | 19.08 |
| Stephen Curry | 2/1/2017 | CHO (W+15) | 30.3 | 0 | 0 | 3 | 5 | 11 | 15 | 19.00 |
Side note, how darn impressive is it that Klay currently leads the charge in under thirty minutes of play?
Chris Yeh
Chris Yeah (@chrisyeh) is a friend of the site and one of the biggest Lakers fans there is. He's co-author of the New York Times bestseller "The Alliance," which, as we've discussed, we think a few NBA front offices would do well to read. You can follow his great blog "Adventures in Capitalism."