Attached are John Hollinger's Player Efficiency Ratings (PER) for 2009. If you want to know more about PER ratings, you might want to the Wikipedia article about PER and how it works.
PER is an "all-in-one" metric and has the faults of an all-in-one metric. Whenever you try to describe a player using one numerical stat - even if that stat purports to sum up all that player accomplishes - there is the danger of losing information. Metrics suffer from what I call the "gamer's dilemma" - the fewer numbers, the greater the chance of losing information; the more numbers, the more complex and unwieldy the metric.
There are other problems with PER. It doesn't measure defensive statistics very well, but no basketball metric does. It is not an additive metric, which means that player who played limited minutes have a chance of scoring a very high PER. (See Sherill Baker.) It also rewards inefficient shooting.
So what's good about PER? First, PER takes into account individual team paces as well as how well players and teams perform against the WNBA average. Teams with a fast pace like the Mercury can't stack up points the way they would in an additive metric.
Furthermore, it's easy to understand. The league average player has a PER of 15.00. This is a deliberate choice; all PER ratings are normalized to force the league average player to be at 15.00. There is also a scale that Hollinger provides for PER:
A year for the ages: 35.0
Runaway MVP candidate: 30.0
Strong MVP candidate: 27.5
Weak MVP candidate: 25.0
Bona fide All-Star: 22.5
Borderline All-Star: 20.0
Solid 2nd option: 18.0
3rd Banana: 16.5
Pretty good player: 15.0
In the rotation: 13.0
Scrounging for minutes: 11.0
Definitely renting: 9.0
Next stop: Latvia: 5.0
So what can PER tell us about the 2009 season?
Sherill Baker - who played one game - is not the very best player in the WNBA this year. Baker shot 2-for-3 in her lone game and PER rewards her greatly. You have to keep in mind that PER only means something if the player has a lot of minutes.Seimone Augustus's injury hurt the Lynx a lot. If Augustus could have kept that 30+ PER all season, it would have been one of the WNBA's great seasons. Only eight WNBA players have managed a PER of 30+ while also playing significant minutes. The best? Lauren Jackson's PER of 34.72 in 2006.
Furthermore, the argument could be made that Jackson deserved the MVP over Taurasi. However, Taurasi played more minutes than Jackson (976 vs. 843) and also played the Mercury to a WNBA title. Despite Jackson's higher rating, the MVP voters made the correct decision.
Who was the real Rookie of the Year? If you believe PER, it's Angel McCoughtry, who makes it to the Top 10 in players with significant minutes.
You can even judge - or try to judge - trades if both players played enough minutes. Take the Tamera Young/Armintie Price trade. One problem with PER is since that it's based on performance relative to team/league, a player can have two different PERs if they played with two different teams. (I suppose you could weight each component PER by minutes played on each squad and built an overall PER for the player.)
Before the trade, Young had a 12.05 PER with the Dream and Price had a 10.48 PER with Chicago. They seemed to be fairly equal players. Afterwards, Young's PER went up to 14.34 during her time with the Sky. Price's PER, on the other hand, collapsed to 4.23 with the Dream. There were considerations other than talent that necessitated that trade - Young and her agent essentially forced the trade - but the trade was more of a bonus to the Sky than it was to the Dream.
So here are the 2009 Player Efficiency Ratings. If you have a problem with the results, don't call me - call John Hollinger. I hear he's on Twitter!
| Sherill Baker | DET | 33.26 |
| Seimone Augustus | MIN | 31.12 |
| Lauren Jackson | SEA | 26.08 |
| Diana Taurasi | PHO | 25.30 |
| Nicky Anosike | MIN | 24.38 |
| Becky Hammon | SAS | 23.54 |
| Khadijah Whittington | IND | 23.47 |
| Angel McCoughtry | ATL | 23.19 |
| Tamika Catchings | IND | 23.14 |
| Lisa Leslie | LAS | 22.86 |
| Rebekkah Brunson | SAC | 22.39 |
| Cappie Pondexter | PHO | 22.18 |
| Kara Braxton | DET | 22.14 |
| Janel McCarville | NYL | 22.01 |
| Charde Houston | MIN | 21.77 |
| Kristi Cirone | CON | 21.64 |
| Sophia Young | SAS | 21.50 |
| Nicole Powell | SAC | 21.32 |
| Sancho Lyttle | ATL | 21.32 |
| Jia Perkins | CHI | 21.10 |
| DeWanna Bonner | PHO | 21.04 |
| Candace Parker | LAS | 20.80 |
| Katie Douglas | IND | 20.53 |
| La'Tangela Atkinson | SEA | 20.08 |
| Erika Desouza | ATL | 19.97 |
| Lindsay Whalen | CON | 19.69 |
| Shay Murphy | IND | 19.59 |
| Penny Taylor | PHO | 19.52 |
| Shameka Christon | NYL | 19.44 |
| Courtney Paris | SAC | 18.91 |
| Candice Dupree | CHI | 18.91 |
| Crystal Langhorne | WAS | 18.85 |
| Kristi Toliver | CHI | 18.77 |
| Asjha Jones | CON | 18.75 |
| Mistie Williams | CHI | 18.25 |
| Le'coe Willingham | PHO | 18.06 |
| Shanna Crossley | SAS | 17.97 |
| Ann Wauters | SAS | 17.40 |
| Deanna Nolan | DET | 17.35 |
| Sylvia Fowles | CHI | 17.11 |
| Tan White | CON | 17.01 |
| Janell Burse | SEA | 16.91 |
| Alana Beard | WAS | 16.64 |
| Tanisha Wright | SEA | 16.24 |
| Shavonte Zellous | DET | 16.14 |
| Yolanda Griffith | IND | 16.14 |
| Tammy Sutton-Brown | IND | 16.07 |
| Megan Frazee | SAS | 16.05 |
| Betty Lennox | LAS | 16.00 |
| Noelle Quinn | LAS | 15.95 |
| Sue Bird | SEA | 15.63 |
| Taj McWilliams | DET | 15.59 |
| Hamchetou Maiga-Ba | SAC | 15.51 |
| Erin Thorn | CHI | 15.25 |
| Monique Currie | WAS | 15.10 |
| Shyra Ely | CHI | 14.93 |
| Sandrine Gruda | CON | 14.93 |
| Erin Phillips | CON | 14.92 |
| Marie Ferdinand-Harris | LAS | 14.89 |
| Chamique Holdsclaw | ATL | 14.85 |
| Roneeka Hodges | MIN | 14.78 |
| Tangela Smith | PHO | 14.69 |
| Amber Holt | CON | 14.63 |
| Michelle Snow | ATL | 14.61 |
| Lindsey Harding | WAS | 14.51 |
| Tiffany Jackson | NYL | 14.43 |
| Temeka Johnson | PHO | 14.38 |
| Tamera Young | CHI | 14.34 |
| Jessica Davenport | IND | 14.31 |
| Renee Montgomery | MIN | 14.17 |
| Edwige Lawson-Wade | SAS | 14.04 |
| Katie Smith | DET | 13.94 |
| Kerri Gardin | CON | 13.91 |
| Camille Little | SEA | 13.70 |
| Kara Lawson | SAC | 13.63 |
| Tasha Humphrey | MIN | 13.56 |
| Ivory Latta | ATL | 13.52 |
| Lindsay Wisdom-Hylton | LAS | 13.43 |
| Laura Harper | SAC | 13.05 |
| Kristin Haynie | DET | 13.05 |
| Quanitra Hollingsworth | MIN | 13.04 |
| Tina Thompson | LAS | 12.96 |
| Erlana Larkins | NYL | 12.86 |
| Swin Cash | SEA | 12.76 |
| Essence Carson | NYL | 12.64 |
| Vickie Johnson | SAS | 12.60 |
| Ebony Hoffman | IND | 12.53 |
| Olayinka Sanni | DET | 12.44 |
| Cheryl Ford | DET | 12.43 |
| Matee Ajavon | WAS | 12.37 |
| Tully Bevilaqua | IND | 12.37 |
| Chasity Melvin | WAS | 12.12 |
| Belinda Snell | SAS | 12.07 |
| Tamera Young | ATL | 12.05 |
| Katie Gearlds | SEA | 12.02 |
| Ashley Battle | NYL | 11.95 |
| Ruth Riley | SAS | 11.93 |
| Kia Vaughn | NYL | 11.90 |
| DeMya Walker | SAC | 11.80 |
| Briann January | IND | 11.80 |
| Vanessa Hayden | LAS | 11.74 |
| Crystal Kelly | SAC | 11.66 |
| Anete Jekabsone-Zogota | CON | 11.54 |
| Ticha Penicheiro | SAC | 11.53 |
| DeLisha Milton-Jones | LAS | 11.52 |
| Cathrine Kraayeveld | NYL | 11.44 |
| Katie Feenstra | SAS | 11.36 |
| Kiesha Brown | CON | 11.23 |
| LaToya Pringle | MIN | 11.22 |
| Nicole Ohlde | PHO | 11.09 |
| Kristin Haynie | SAC | 11.06 |
| Loree Moore | NYL | 11.05 |
| Dominique Canty | CHI | 10.98 |
| Anna Montañana | MIN | 10.94 |
| Sidney Spencer | NYL | 10.85 |
| Marissa Coleman | WAS | 10.72 |
| A'Quonesia Franklin | SEA | 10.60 |
| Armintie Price | CHI | 10.48 |
| Coco Miller | ATL | 10.37 |
| Alexis Hornbuckle | DET | 10.33 |
| Chante Black | CON | 10.11 |
| Chelsea Newton | SAC | 9.91 |
| Nakia Sanford | WAS | 9.81 |
| Iziane Castro Marques | ATL | 9.77 |
| Tamecka Dixon | IND | 9.76 |
| Scholanda Robinson | SAC | 9.65 |
| Crystal Kelly | DET | 9.18 |
| Kristen Mann | WAS | 9.15 |
| Lauren Ervin | CON | 9.03 |
| Erica White | IND | 9.01 |
| Kristi Harrower | LAS | 9.01 |
| Nikki Teasley | ATL | 8.87 |
| Shalee Lehning | ATL | 8.73 |
| Chen Nan | CHI | 8.73 |
| Jessica Moore | IND | 8.61 |
| Shannon Johnson | SEA | 8.52 |
| Whitney Boddie | SAC | 8.40 |
| Kelly Miller | MIN | 8.04 |
| Kelly Mazzante | PHO | 7.74 |
| Ketia Swanier | PHO | 7.67 |
| Helen Darling | SAS | 7.64 |
| K. B. Sharp | CHI | 7.62 |
| Rashanda McCants | MIN | 7.54 |
| Leilani Mitchell | NYL | 7.49 |
| Christina Wirth | IND | 7.45 |
| Brooke Wyckoff | CHI | 7.44 |
| Nikki Teasley | DET | 7.29 |
| Bernice Mosby | WAS | 6.69 |
| Tamika Whitmore | CON | 6.67 |
| Shannon Bobbitt | LAS | 6.67 |
| Katie Feenstra | CHI | 6.63 |
| Nikki Blue | WAS | 6.42 |
| Jennifer Lacy | ATL | 5.84 |
| Erin Buescher | SAS | 5.83 |
| Candice Wiggins | MIN | 5.76 |
| Barbara Turner | CON | 5.72 |
| Brooke Smith | PHO | 5.45 |
| Suzy Batkovic | SEA | 5.00 |
| Barbara Farris | DET | 4.63 |
| Anna DeForge | DET | 4.47 |
| Armintie Price | ATL | 4.23 |
| Ashley Walker | SEA | 3.79 |
| Tasha Humphrey | WAS | 1.53 |
| Allie Quigley | PHO | 1.51 |
| Kelly Schumacher | DET | -0.29 |
| Britany Miller | DET | -0.59 |
| Tanae Davis-Cain | DET | -0.83 |
| Ashley Robinson | SEA | -1.56 |
| Plenette Pierson | DET | -5.16 |
| Christi Thomas | MIN | -6.99 |
| Lisa Willis | SAC | -31.25 |
