Mario Chalmers Is Primed For a Breakout Season

Nov 5, 2013; Toronto, Ontario, CAN; Miami Heat point guard Mario Chalmers (15) is guarded by Toronto Raptors point guard

(7) at Air Canada Centre. The Heat beat the Raptors 104-95. Mandatory Credit: Tom Szczerbowski-USA TODAY Sports

Player Comparisons

Unlike Dwyane Wade, who has built a hall-of-fame career while still shooting historically poor from long range, Mario is pretty solid at everything. (Even just writing that sentence brings about mixed feelings, much like the player himself. Let’s just call that the “Chalmers Effect” from here on out.)

Rio’s overall impact has been reduced because of the presence of James, a diverse talent that controls a whole game by himself; while Chalmers can do it all, he rarely has had the opportunity to do so.

A comparison to top point guards (let’s say Damian Lillard, Chris Paul, Kyrie Irving, Tony Parker and Kyle Lowry) in the league supports this. He has a higher True Shooting Percentage than Irving, Lowry and Parker. His steal percentage is higher than all but Paul’s.

Given James’ impact on key statistical categories like assists and scoring, Chalmers stacks up reasonably well.

However, where Chalmers does struggle is with turnovers. Considering the frequency that James handled the ball, initiated the offense in half-court sets, or brought the ball downcourt, Mario’s turnover percentage was surprisingly high.

This seems more due to Chalmers’ willingness to take chances, gambling with the thread-the-needle pass in a high-paced offense that defined the “Big 3” era in Miami.

(Statistical data gathered from www.Basketball-Reference.com)