In the Rotation: NBA Week 18

After this week, every team in the NBA will have played at least 75% of their games this season. If my math is correct (and it probably isn't), that means that if you count NBA seasons based on the year that they end (for example this would be the '09 season), 97.5% of the basketball that will be played this decade is in the books.

With the finish line in sight for the decade that, for a lack of a better term, we will dub the "2000s", now seems like as good a time as any to announce that at the end of the 2008-09 regular season there will be a special In the Rotation in which I will unveil my picks for the 2000's All-Decade Team.

And, let's face it, with only six more weeks left in this NBA decade, it'll be pretty tough to alter whether or not anyone makes the All-Decade Team, but it still seems premature to name the team.

However, that's not gonna stop us from having a little fun, trivia-style, with the decade of basketball that was the 2000s.

I've broken down this week's Starting Five into five categories: Scoring, Rebounding, Shooting, Passing, and Defense and given a 2000s-based question for each category. How much do you remember about the last 10 NBA seasons? Take today's quiz and find out.

First, a few housekeeping notes before we get into the questions. Totals are totals, and it doesn't matter how many games a player has played for his total stats to count. However, for the sake of using a good reference point, I think a player should have to have played at least half of the games possible this decade to qualify for the league leaders in per game averages.

Since there are 820 games played possible over the course of 10 NBA seasons, I set the minimum at 400 games to qualify for the league leaders. If a player were to average 30 points per game over the first 30 games of an NBA season and get hurt and miss the remainder of the season, I wouldn't consider them to be the best scorer in the league that year, so I'm applying the same logic towards counting stats accumulated over the span of 10 years.

Now that we got that out of the way, it's time for your quarterly NBA quiz.

Starting Five

1. Scoring

Q. There have been 18 players that have averaged over 20 points per game (minimum 400 games) during the 2000s. Name one of the only two players to average over 20 points per game despite going the entire decade without a 50-point game.

2. Rebounding

Q. Assuming that Dwight Howard plays another 15 games this season, his 12.5 rebounds per game will be good enough to qualify him to be the leading rebounder this decade. But despite averaging the most boards per game, Superman himself didn't even have the best rebounding game this decade. Which player had the most rebounds in a single game in the 2000s?

3. Shooting

Q. With 21 games still remaining in his decade, Ray Allen has buried 1,925 three-point field goals in the 2000s, by far the most threes ever made in one decade. Which player ranks second to only Allen in three-pointers made in the 2000s?

4. Passing

Q. As stated earlier, we are using the criteria of a minimum of 400 games played before a person qualifies for any per game leaders, effectively eliminating Chris Paul and his 9.8 assists per game from qualifying him from the assist per game leaders. Of the players who have met the minimum requirement, who has the highest assist per game average in the 2000s?

5. Defense

Q. We all know that defense wins championships, but that doesn't necessarily mean stealing the ball. Allen Iverson led the way over the past 10 seasons averaging 2.2 steals per game, but is still looking for his first NBA championship ring. In fact, there is only one player in the top 10 in steals per game in the 2000s that has won an NBA title. Who is that player?

Answers

1. Scoring

A. Carmelo Anthony's 24.1 and Kevin Garnett's 21.7 points per game have the two ranked 5th and 12th, respectively, in points per game over the past decade, yet neither has had a single 50-point game in their career.

Despite never blowing up for one monster game (although a career-high of 49 is nothing to sneeze at), Anthony has been able to remain amongst the top scorers in the league by scoring at a high rate with remarkable consistency. He has scored 20 points or more in 307 of the 423 games he has played in since he entered the league in 2003, or about 73% of the time.

Only Kobe Bryant at 83%, LeBron James at 81%, Allen Iverson at 79%, and Dirk Nowitzki at 77% have scored 20 or more points on a more consistent basis during that time than Carmelo.

And there's no better word than "consistency" to sum up Kevin Garnett's decade. K.G. has scored 40 points in a game only four times in his career, yet has still managed to average over 20 points per game over his 14-year NBA career.

2. Rebounding

A. Dikembe Mutombo finger-wagged his way to two different 29 rebound games for the Hawks at the turn of the century, narrowly edging out Ben Wallace's pair of 28 rebound games for the highest total in a game during the 2000s.

Mutombo has been in a far more diminished role lately, averaging just 17 minutes per game over the past seven seasons, but he established himself as one of the all-time great rebounders and shot blockers in NBA history, averaging 12.5 rebounds and 3.4 blocks per game in his first 11 seasons in the league.

His 12.2 rebounds per game in the '90s was third-best behind only Dennis Rodman and Shaq, and Mount Mutombo currently sits at 18th on the all-time rebound list with 12,333 career rebounds.

3. Shooting

A. With 1,497 three-pointers made (and counting), Peja Stojakovic ranks slightly ahead of Rashard Lewis (1,369) and Jason Terry (1,328) for the second most three-pointers made over the past 10 NBA seasons.

And while Peja has undoubtedly been one of the top marksmen in the league his entire career, he is still 428 makes behind Ray Allen for first place. To put it in perspective, a man known almost entirely for making three-pointers, "Big Shot Bob" himself, Robert Horry, only made 423 threes this decade.

In other words, Ray Allen is an entire decade's worth of Robert Horry three-pointers better than his next closest competition.

4. Passing

A. Despite winning two MVP awards this decade, Steve Nash and his 9.1 assists per game falls just short of Jason Kidd, who has averaged 9.2 assists per game over the past 10 seasons.

While both players have had a remarkable decade passing the ball, they both find themselves looking up some of the all-time greats in terms of greatest assist decades in history.

John Stockton dished out 11.9 assists per game in the '90s; Magic Johnson Showtime'd his way to 11.2 assists per game in the '80s; and Oscar Robertson tallied 10.5 dimes per game in the '50s (although they would have been worth closer to a nickel back then), all setting a standard that even two of the greatest assist men of all-time could not meet in the decade that was the 2000s.

5. Defense

A. Coming in at ninth on the list with 1.7 steals per game this decade, Kobe Bryant is the only player in the top 10 in steals that has won an NBA title. In fact, he, Eddie Jones, and Manu Ginobili are the only players inside the top 20 that won titles.

The same sort of titlelessness applies to the decade's block shot leaders, too. The only players in the top 20 in blocks this decade with rings are Tim Duncan, Ben Wallace, Shaq, and Kevin Garnett.

That can be looked at in two different ways. It could either mean that 16 of the 20 best shot-blockers over the past 10 seasons have not won a ring. Or that every NBA champion this decade had one of the top 20 shot blockers of the 2000s on their team.

In the Rotation

If you answered at least three of the five questions correct, consider yourself in the rotation for this week. It's been a long decade, but you've clearly paid enough attention to the greatest game in the world over the past 10 seasons that the rotation would be happy to have you.

Out of the Rotation

If you answered one or two questions right, consider yourself on rotation probation. Just like college, you can always get right back in the thick of things if you just ace the final exam. Just make sure you study a little extra over the next six weeks to be sure you don't repeat your mistakes once the season ends.

Inactive List

If you got zero right, you've probably spent the past few weeks down at Daytona, studying 40 times from the NFL combine or, God forbid, gearing up for the NCAA tournament. If any of those things excites you, then clearly the rotation isn't for you. Perhaps a look at our weekly NASCAR power rankings is a more appropriate way to spend your time.

Be sure to check back at Sports Central every Monday to see who cracks Scott Shepherd's rotation as he breaks down what is going on around the NBA.