Ryan Gomes: A Statistical Look

We all know Ryan Gomes is a “glue guy” and a “solid role player.” These are terms that get tossed around frequently when discussing Ryan Gomes, but what exactly does he bring, how has he developed and what can we expect in the future?

While a quick look at his player file reveals that Gomes has upped his scoring average every year in the league, it also shows an inverse relationship between his scoring average and field goal percentage, as he has a shot a worse percentage every year in the league. However, if we look a little deeper, we see that this isn’t necessarily the case.

While Gomes’ overall FG% has dipped each year in the league, he has also inched his range out to shoot three point shots at a higher rate each year. Per 36 minutes his average 3pt attempts have increased year to year from 0.2 to 0.9 to 2.6 to 3.9. So all things considered, while Gomes shot a career low 43.1% from the field this year, his effective field goal percentage, which weights 3pt shots, was 48.6% which is exactly on par with his career average.

As a by-product of Gomes playing farther from the basket each year, his rebounding has slipped accordingly. While his raw rebounding number have fluctuated a bit, the percentage of possible rebound he could have grabbed and did has dipped both offensively and defensively every year resulting in a total rebounding percentage decline from 13.2% in 2005-06 all the way down to 8.8% this past season.

Besides that, there aren’t many other consistent trends in Gomes’ numbers year-to-year. While Gomes came into the league as a tweener with no set position, he appears to have chosen to try to mold himself into a big small forward rather than an undersized power forward. While this trend with Gomes drifting more and more to the outside can only continue to a certain extent, he is undoubtedly working on polishing his perimeter shot again this summer and hopefully can bring 40%+ shooting from beyond the arc next season.