Review of Abdel Nader’s seasonal statistics highlight his strengths and the areas where he could improve.
Regular Season Stats:
| Season | G | MP | FGA | FG% | 3PA | 3P% | 2PA | 2P% | eFG% | FTA | FT% | TRB | AST | STL | PTS |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2018-19 | 61 | 11.4 | 3.5 | .423 | 1.6 | .320 | 1.9 | .513 | .498 | 0.6 | .750 | 1.9 | 0.3 | 0.3 | 4.0 |
| Career | 109 | 11.2 | 3.3 | .387 | 1.5 | .333 | 1.8 | .432 | .463 | 0.7 | .667 | 1.7 | 0.4 | 0.3 | 3.6 |
Provided by Basketball-Reference.com: View Original Table
Generated 5/21/2019.
Diving into Nader’s stats from the season there is noticeable shifts compared to his previous season. Although his 3-point shooting dipped from the previous season his overall efficiency improved from the field. This may speak more to there not being other reserves capable of hitting the 3-ball consistently than Nader’s shortcomings.
The real area of concern might be his assist and steal rate which for his size should be higher than he posted this campaign.
Advanced Stats:
| Season | PER | TS% | 3PAr | FTr | ORB% | DRB% | TRB% | AST% | TOV% | USG% | OBPM | DBPM | BPM | VORP |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2018-19 | 8.8 | .522 | .465 | .167 | 2.0 | 15.7 | 8.6 | 3.8 | 10.1 | 15.1 | -4.2 | -0.9 | -5.1 | -0.5 |
| Career | 7.2 | .487 | .453 | .206 | 2.3 | 14.1 | 8.1 | 5.3 | 13.1 | 16.0 | -4.9 | -0.4 | -5.3 | -1.0 |
Provided by Basketball-Reference.com: View Original Table
Generated 5/21/2019.
Examining Nader’s advanced stats again highlights growth in key areas but once again the assist percentage jumps off the page. Since he doesn’t tend to play beside Westbrook, rather as a reserve with Dennis Schroder this either speaks to Schroder occupying the ball primarily or Nader not recognizing open teammates. His overall effectiveness on the court is also concerning, but again these stats are reflective of who Nader spends time on the court with.
Playoff Stats:
Provided by Basketball-Reference.com: View Original Table
Generated 5/21/2019.
In this case, I elected to include last season’s stats as well since Nader actually got more run in the postseason with the Celtics than he did this year with the OKC Thunder. When he did hit the court it was primarily in garbage time.
So, the takeaway here is Nader needs to earn the trust of Donovan (or whoever is at the helm). Likewise, this speaks to the need for Nader to improve his playmaking this summer so when he returns to the team with an improved handle (among other things) it will reinforce the need to keep him on the court.