"Poor Dwight, sub out Lewis for an average player and Orlando should have at least won one championship."
I found this comment surprising since Dre's own Wins Produced Viewer shows that Rashard's production was above average (0.130 WP48) for the 2009 playoff run when the Orlando Magic came closer than they ever had to winning an NBA championship in Howard's career. I decided to investigate further by taking a look at Rashard Lewis' production in the NBA Finals against the LA Lakers. Was he really the reason the Magic lost 4-1 to the Lakers? This article will use Win Score and Estimated Wins Produced, statistical models created by Professor David Berri from the Wages of Wins Journal, to measure how much a player's box score statistics contributed to their team's performance.
An average player produces an estimated 0.100 wins per 48 minutes (EWP48), a star player produces 0.200+ EWP48 and a superstar produces 0.300+ EWP48. More information on these stats can be found at the following links:
Simple Models of Player Performance
Wins Produced vs. Win Score
What Wins Produced Says and What It Does Not Say
Introducing PAWSmin—and a Defense of Box Score Statistics Rashard Lewis is not the reason the Lakers beat the Magic in 2009. He produced an estimated 0.241 wins in the Finals (0.054 Est. WP48) going against Laker power forwards Pau Gasol and Lamar Odom (see the spreadsheets labeled 'MAGIC' HERE). An average power forward would've produced an estimated 0.286 wins (0.064 Est. WP48). So Rashard wasn't that bad compared to an average power forward going up against Gasol and Odom, as illustrated in the spreadsheets HERE. If I look at it game-by-game, then an average power f...
Article Source: Bleacher Report - Los Angeles Lakers