Odd Stats

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Both from NBA.com:

"75%: Rajon Rondo's shooting percentage per 36 minutes when Dwyane Wade is off the court in this series."

Huh? What is a "shooting percentage per 36 minutes"?

"the Spurs turned loose 36-year-old, 6-foot-11 Tim Duncan as the world's oldest, tallest point guard to put down the rebellion."

Since there are several point guards older than Duncan, this has to be a combined measure: when you multiply his age times his height, Duncan comes out as "oldest-tallest"... or something like that.

Comments

  1. Thomas L. Knapp8:13 AM

    "What is a 'shooting percentage per 36 minutes?'"

    That's sort of like asking what's a millime, and leaving off the ter.

    75%: Rajon Rondo's shooting percentage during the 36 minutes when Dwyane Wade has been off the court in this series.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. gcallah10:28 AM

      That probably is what they meant, Tom, but that is not the way the word "per" is standardly used in English: would you ever say "I went on a bender per the weekend my wife was away"? "I won't be working per the Christmas season"?

      No, the word "per" is used like this: "ninety miles per hour."

      Delete
  2. Thomas L. Knapp8:22 AM

    Gene,

    It's an odd usage, but I don't think it's formally incorrect. The strange unit of measurement associated with it ("36 minutes when Dwyane Wade has been off the court in this series") really does make it pop out though, doesn't it?

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. gcallah9:05 AM

      Here is the way I would expect "per" to be used in such a situation: "Rondo scores 3 points per minute when Dwayne Wade is off the floor": to describe a rate.

      As I said, I think your interpretation is probably what was meant. But why not just say "during," like you did, and make the meaning clear? I think what happened was that the author was writing thinking he had a rate at hand, even though he did not.

      Delete

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