Next up is Vasquez, who continued to ease 
into his role as New Orleans’ starting point guard:
| Vasquez | PER | Win Shares | WS/48 Min | O Rating | D Rating | Rating +/- |
| 2011-2012 | 14.2 | 2.3 | 0.064 | 101 | 107 | -6 |
| 2012-2013 | 16.7 | 3.8 | 0.073 | 105 | 112 | -7 |
| Difference | 2.5 | 1.5 | 0.009 | 4 | -5 | -1 |
Vazquez is showing a steady improvement except for his defense, and even his win shares per 48 minutes is going up, which indicates more consistent play. Let’s see how George has progressed from a breakout year last season:
| George | PER | Win Shares | WS/48 Min | O Rating | D Rating | Rating +/- |
| 2011-2012 | 16.5 | 6 | 0.148 | 108 | 100 | 8 |
| 2012-2013 | 17.4 | 9.2 | 0.158 | 105 | 96 | 9 |
| Difference | 0.9 | 3.2 | 0.01 | -3 | 4 | 1 |
People may forget that George was really good last season, which lowered his PER increase. But his rise to the level of an elite defensive player ensured that his overall numbers rose across the board.
Sanders has become one of the hottest names in the analytical world, but let’s see if his improvement lived up to the hype:
| Sanders | PER | Win Shares | WS/48 Min | O Rating | D Rating | Rating +/- |
| 2011-2012 | 13.3 | 1 | 0.072 | 92 | 97 | -5 |
| 2012-2013 | 19 | 5.8 | 0.153 | 110 | 99 | 11 |
| Difference | 5.7 | 4.8 | 0.081 | 18 | -2 | 16 |
As you can see, Sanders grew by leaps and bounds since last season, particularly as an offensive player. Win shares skyrocketed and his value to the Bucks when he was on the floor more than doubled.
This seems like a formality now, but we will rank the five players based on how much they improved over the past season., First the overall year-to-year difference between the five players, then how they are ranked based on this second data set:
| Improvement | PER | Win Shares | WS/48 Min | O Rating | D Rating | Rating +/- |
| Asik | 1.7 | 2.5 | -0.011 | 8 | -11 | -3 |
| Vucevic | 2.8 | 3.1 | -0.008 | 7 | -8 | -1 |
| Vasquez | 2.5 | 1.5 | 0.009 | 4 | -5 | -1 |
| George | 0.9 | 3.2 | 0.01 | -3 | 4 | 1 |
| Sanders | 5.7 | 4.8 | 0.081 | 18 | -2 | 16 |
| Ranking #2 | PER | WS | WS/48 | O RTG | D RTG | RTG +/- | Average | Overall Rank |
| Asik | 4 | 4 | 2 | 2 | 5 | 5 | 3.67 | 4 |
| Vucevic | 2 | 3 | 5 | 3 | 4 | 3 | 3.33 | 3 |
| Vasquez | 3 | 5 | 4 | 4 | 3 | 3 | 3.67 | 4 |
| George | 5 | 2 | 3 | 5 | 1 | 2 | 3 | 2 |
| Sanders | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 2 | 1 | 1.17 | 1 |
It’s unanimous: Sanders was the most improved of the five players using both data methods, winning the second method in a landslide. From here, there doesn’t seem to be much debate. Sanders should definitely win the Most Improved Player award for this season.
Shlomo Sprung loves advanced statistics and the way they explain what happens on the court. He is also the web editor of the Brooklyn Daily Eagle and a writer for Football.com. A 2011 graduate of Columbia University’s Journalism School, he has previously worked for the New York Knicks, The Sporting News, Business Insider and other publications. His website is SprungOnSports.com. You can follow him on Twitter.