After I ran it for a few years they gave me a free premium membership as long as I ran it. Hang in there. I understand the flack about the MVG but it is unwarranted. You run it in a transparent way so anybody can calculate it. I might not agree with the metric you chose but it is a published metric and posters can read it before making their picks. I think it undervalues defense that doesn't show up on the stat sheet but that is really hard to quantify with only a box score and really can't be calculated as a number easily. As an example is good D that denies the ball to a good scorer doesn't show up as a stat other than the guy that scores a lot scored less than usual. Much like a defensive back that gets almost no INTs because his coverage is so good. Defensive backs that have a lot of picks are guys that are thrown at a lot and usually for good reason. And it ain't because they are good.
Well dang, I'm already pretty bad at the pic 'em contest without adding in defensive stats? Are and blocks figured into the points? Either/or fine with me...
Yep - blocks are figured in. It's why players like Samuel & Handlogten have a chance at MVG. Blocks also give a bump to players like Clayton/Kugel/Richard, who might get one or two in a game. And fwiw, I agree with @GatorLurker about the defensive contributions of players that don't get accounted for in the boxscore. Like he mentioned, there's no easy way to capture that data. Here's the formula: Pts + rebounds + 2(asst + steals + blocks) = subtotal Take that # and divide by: FTmiss + 2(miss + fouls + TOs)