Here are the highlights of the DOTARS Ratings for this week. The DOTARS (Don’t Over - think This Ain’t Rocket Science) is an efficiency scoring system that calculates actual performance and assigns consistent values for shooting percentage, scoring, turnover, steals, and so on. There really is no accurate, unbiased measure of defensive prowess and there truly is no single objective method to fully calculate a players’ worth; so the DOTARS focuses on the hard numbers.

Player Rankings

Of the 422 players who have currently logged time this regular season, the Top 10 performers this week are (Ranking / Name / Efficiency Score): #1 - LeBron James - (28.75) #2 - Kevin Durant - (28.64) #3 - Kevin Love - (23.76) #4 - Anderson Varejao - (23.61) #5 - Kobe Bryant - (23.56) #6 - Tim Duncan - (22.58) #7 - Carmelo Anthony - (21.48) #8 - Russell Westbrook - (21.29) #9 - James Harden - (20.87) #10 - Dwight Howard - (20.82)

Knicks Ratings

#7 - Carmelo Anthony - (21.48) #43 - Tyson Chandler - (16.59) #61 - Jason Kidd - (14.86) #62 - Raymond Felton - (14.71) #97 - J.R. Smith - (12.30) #183 - Ronnie Brewer - (7.88) #200 - Steve Novak - (7.24) #205 - Rasheed Wallace - (7.16) #278 - Pablo Prigioni - (4.50) #317 - Kurt Thomas - (3.47) #354 - Chris Copeland - (2.11) #378 - Marcus Camby - (1.52) #386 - James White - (1.32)

Knicks Trending

Melo didn’t creep into the top 10 this week; he crashed the door, jumping from #11 to #7. That number is a bit higher than where Melo traditionally rates in efficiency, the 15-20 range seems to be his sweet spot. But dropping 45 and shooting a scary 44.9% from downtown can have that effect. Tyson is still in the top 50 and Kidd, Brewer and JR round out NY’s top 100 roll call.

Team Rankings

The Top 5 teams this week are: #1 - San Antonio Spurs - (110.89) #2 - Oklahoma City Thunder - (108.99) #3 - New York Knicks - (103.52) #4 - Miami Heat - (103.23) #5 - Houston Rockets - (102.57) New York didn’t so much drop from #2 (104.24 rating) to #3 (103.52) this week; it was more the Spurs leapfrogging everyone and jumping from #3 to #1.

The Rudy Weekly Participation Ribbons

The Rudy Weekly Participation Ribbon goes to those "try hard" "pat on the back" players and teams the try and try and try… they are very trying… to be at the top of the list… if the list of top performers were sorted in the wrong order. Like any good 5 Year or Younger Saturday Morning Soccer League, treats and snacks need to be handed out to the deserving participants.

Rudy Participation Ribbon – Player Category

This week’s bag of orange slices goes to the following five players who strived to perform at a level far surpassing their peers… in the wrong direction. And all five of the Rudy’s go to negative scores; that is commitment! #418 - Johan Petro - (-0.52) #419 - Jason Collins - (-0.52) #420 - Josh Selby - (-0.8) #421 - Eddy Curry - (-0.87) #422 - Darko Milicic - (-2.00) Since Darko and Eddy have moved onto greener pastures, they may have to retired from competition and awarded an honorarium of dehydrated orange slices to last the entire year.

Rudy Participation Ribbon – Team Category

In a clear demonstration of dedication and teamwork, we have a new leader in the dyslexic clubhouse. Cleveland wanted the case of juice boxes, committed to attaining the juice boxes and succeeds in winning this week’s case of juice boxes. #30 - Cleveland Cavaliers - (85.84) beats prior futility champion #28 - Sacramento Kings - (86.67) and perennial shotgun bridesmaid the #29 - Washington Wizards - (85.99). A DOTARS award and beating the Lakers in the same week... a tip of the hat to the Cavs. But for the Wiz, Still no juice boxes.