Jinglin’ Joe has silently been the true 6th man of the year this season
While Jordan Clarkson is the odds-on favorite to win 6th man of the year in the NBA this season, so much so that Vegas has Clarkson’s odds to win set at (-1000), his fellow teammate, Joe Ingles, has quietly been the best Jazz role player this season. He is averaging 11.8 points, 3.7 rebounds, and 4.1 assists per game for the Utah Jazz this season. Additionally, Ingles has been the most effective player in terms of field-goal percentage in the entire league in 2021. Even more impressively, he is having the most historic shooting year in the NBA ever. Let’s take a look at the numbers:
True Shooting Percentage: 73.2% (1st in NBA History)
Effective Field Goal Percentage: 71.4% (1st in the NBA this season, 4th in NBA History)
3-Point Field Goal Percentage: 50.0% (2nd in the NBA, 10th in NBA history)
2-Point Field Goal Percentage: 62.2%
Overall Field Goal Percentage: 53.5%
Free Throw Percentage: 87.3%
Why is this so impressive?
Higher shooting percentages have always been dominated by the big men in the NBA and rightfully so. Traditionally, they are only feet from the basket on many of their shots. Effective field goal percentage looks to even the playing field a bit as the formula incorporates the knowledge that it is harder to make a three-pointer than it is to make a layup.
Effective Field Goal Percentage Formula: (2pt FGM + 1.5 x 3pt FGM) / FGA
Even with this advanced stat, effective field goal percentage still favors traditional bigs such as DeAndre Jordon, Rudy Gobert, and Wilt Chamberlain so much so that Joe Ingles is the only player who is not a Center in the top 12 all-time for effective field goal percentage. For reference, a 62% effective field goal rating has only been achieved 55 times in NBA history, 65% only achieved 18 times, and 70% only achieved 6 times. What Joe Ingles is doing is almost unheard of at 71.4%.
Then when you add free-throw shooting into the mix and look at true shooting percentage, Joe Ingles shoots up to #1 all-time in shooting effectiveness. The only other non-big who is even remotely close to Joe Ingles is the human sniper himself, Kyle Korver. During his lone all-star season with Atlanta, Korver had shooting splits of 48.7/49.2/89.8 and a true shooting percentage of 69.9%. If Joe Ingles can continue to avoid a shooting slump this season, he will be first non-big to ever achieve 70%+ and is actually on pace to annihilate the record.
Less has been more for Slow Mo Joe in 2020-2021
After primarily being a starter for the Utah Jazz the last three seasons, starting in 208 of their 236 games (88%), Ingles has primarily come off the bench this season and it has suited him well. He has 13 spot starts when Mike Conley or Donovan Mitchell missed games, but has come off the bench for all other games and is averaging a mere 26.5 minutes per game. With that being said, he is shooting career highs from all aspects of the game and averaging 16 points per 36 minutes this season. He is fitting into Utah’s system perfectly and also allowing his teammates to shine. Less minutes this season has actually led to more productivity for Ingles and an amazing season for the Jazz. Jordan Clarkson has been great this season, but Jinglin’ Joe is the 6th man of the season that no one is talking about.