Orlando Magic Daily
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Evan Fournier never found his consistency in 2019

By Seth Arora

SALT LAKE CITY, UT - JANUARY 09: Evan Fournier #10 of the Orlando Magic looks to shoot the ball against the Utah Jazz in the first half of a NBA game at Vivint Smart Home Arena on January 9, 2019 in Salt Lake City, Utah. NOTE TO USER: User expressly acknowledges and agrees that, by downloading and or using this photograph, User is consenting to the terms and conditions of the Getty Images License Agreement. (Photo by Gene Sweeney Jr./Getty Images)
SALT LAKE CITY, UT - JANUARY 09: Evan Fournier #10 of the Orlando Magic looks to shoot the ball against the Utah Jazz in the first half of a NBA game at Vivint Smart Home Arena on January 9, 2019 in Salt Lake City, Utah. NOTE TO USER: User expressly acknowledges and agrees that, by downloading and or using this photograph, User is consenting to the terms and conditions of the Getty Images License Agreement. (Photo by Gene Sweeney Jr./Getty Images) /
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Terrence Ross, Evan Fournier, Orlando Magic
ORLANDO, FL – FEBRUARY 7: Terrence Ross #31 of the Orlando Magic and Evan Fournier #10 of the Orlando Magic celebrate during the game against the Minnesota Timberwolves February 7, 2019 at Amway Center in Orlando, Florida. NOTE TO USER: User expressly acknowledges and agrees that, by downloading and or using this photograph, User is consenting to the terms and conditions of the Getty Images License Agreement. Mandatory Copyright Notice: Copyright 2019 NBAE (Photo by Fernando Medina/NBAE via Getty Images) /

What It Means

Out of the 44 players evaluated, Evan Fournier is 25th in this measure of consistency. This suggests he hovers around the middle — we knew that, right?

So why do we need the table and all this data?

A closer look tells a more nuanced story.

Fournier’s average Game Score is 9.706 while the standard deviation is 6.724, for a coefficient of 0.693.

Looking at the players further down the list, all but one (Terrence Ross himself) has a lower average Game Score.

With an average Game Score that high, one might expect the standard deviation to be lower. That is, for there to be less variance and more predictability of what Fournier could provide on any given game night.

Instead, many of the players in the ballpark of Evan Fournier’s average Game Score, like Joe Harris (9.851), Dwyane Wade (10.367) and Tim Hardaway, Jr. (10.871), had smaller deviations from the mean or made up for a larger deviation with improved overall play.

Similarly, with a standard deviation of 6.724, it might be easy to hope for a higher average Game Score that would leave added room for such variance in order to maintain a sliver of predictability or reliability, like the cases of Buddy Hield (standard deviation of 6.754 but with an average Game Score of 13.990) or Zach LaVine (6.998 standard deviation against an average Game Score 15.775).

Those figures highlight the importance of the players’ coefficients and also show what an aberration Evan Fournier is (sadly, so is his teammate Terrence Ross).

Ultimately, the data suggests the Magic really did not know what they would get out of Fournier night in and night out.

Even though his average Game Score suggests he would put up an average performance on any given night, his performances varied too wildly from game to game and swallowed whole any ability to anticipate what he could bring.