Intro by Kurt on Friday, January 5th, 2007 at 12:09 pm | permalink | trackback |

Source: http://www.nysun.com/article/46148

That's my first gripe with the triple double — it equates points with rebounds and assists, and although the Wages of Wins folks may disagree, points are more important. At the end of each game, it isn't the team that outrebounded the other that wins, it's the team that outscored the other. A triple doubles equate games of 27 points, 11 boards, and 10 dimes with games of 12 points, 10, and 10.Another problem with triple doubles is figuring just what makes 10 a magic number, anyway? Again, take our player with a 12–10–10 line and compare him to one with 27–9–8. Our second player has had the superior game but because of the way the tally is now valued, that player won't get the recognition.....

Triple doubles also don't account for performance above a player's averages. Jason Kidd averages 13.4 points, 8.2 rebounds, and 9.2 assists per game. It's only natural that he will often exceed those rebound and assists averages. Frequently for Kidd, it's an eight and 21% increase — bumps that are routine in the statistical distribution of production during an 82-game season. In other words, a triple double for Kidd isn't big news.

Lastly, triple doubles don't account for the efficiency of production. Sometimes big assist nights are accompanied by large turnovers and, in the case of Kidd, whose shooting percentage is below the league average, the scoring part of the triple double may have been an inefficient use of possessions. Here's a case in point: A week before Christmas, Kidd notched 11, 12, and 10 against Golden State, but the points came on 4–14 shooting. He was not only below (if only slightly) his season scoring average, but he also had a bad night shooting. Nevertheless, the second paragraph of the AP story on the game touted Kidd's ... well, you know what.

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Intro by Kurt on Thursday, December 28th, 2006 at 4:26 pm | permalink | trackback |

Original source: http://sports.espn.go.com/nba/news/story?id=271062...

Memphis Grizzlies coach Mike Fratello became the first NBA coach to lose his job this season on Thursday, as he was fired following a 6-24 start.

Grizzlies president of basketball operations Jerry West announced Thursday that Fratello has been "relieved of his coaching duties." A search for an interim head coach will begin immediately, West said.

So, does Steve Kerr need to fear for his job sitting next to Marv?

4 Comments

Intro by Kurt on Wednesday, November 22nd, 2006 at 6:19 pm | permalink | trackback |

Original source: The Wages of Wins talks about John Hollinger's PER on his blog.

Having noted the importance of offensive and defensive efficiency, Hollinger proceeds to discuss a variety of measures of performance which serve as building blocks for PERs. These building blocks include Points per Shot Attempt, Pure Point Rating, Assist Ratio, Turnover Ratio, Rebound Rate, and Usage Rate. He defends these measures as "improvements" over existing metrics, often noting that the rankings that result evaluate players in a fashion consistent with what NBA observers would believe. In other words, his metrics fit what he believed about the players before he started.

Unfortunately, this is not the way science works. We do not begin with our beliefs, play with the numbers until our beliefs are confirmed, and then call it a day. Models are not evaluated in terms of whether they are consistent with what we believe, but in terms of their ability to explain what we purport to explain (and furthermore, provide predictive power).

I've always thought of (and tried to use) PER as sort of a quick snapshot stat — it gives you a decent idea of a players offensive contributions, but it doesn't give you much detail to flesh out that story. It's not a stat a GM would use. That said, this struck me as Berri trying to prove his point by saying "look how much we disagree with the conventional wisdom." The thing is, the conventional wisdom, while needing to be questioned, often got that way for a reason. And I'm not sure Wages really proves it wrong, or PER invalid.

5 Comments

Intro by Kurt on Monday, November 13th, 2006 at 12:09 am | permalink | trackback |

Original Source: http://www.newsday.com/sports/basketball/ny-spksid...

Late in the first quarter, Thomas was infuriated when Bowen challenged Jamal Crawford's shot and - by extending a foot toward where the shooter was about to come down - came dangerously close to doing the same thing to Crawford that he did to Francis, who suffered a sprained ankle in Monday's game and hasn't played since.

"Next time he does that, break his — feet!" a furious Thomas yelled out to Crawford. Bowen barked back at Thomas and, as play stopped, Bowen approached Thomas and the two exchanged words. A technical was assessed to both, which got Spurs coach Gregg Popovich yelling at Thomas. "You don't need to be talking to my players!" Popovich shouted.

Thomas, being held back by assistant coach Herb Williams, waved his hand at Popovich, who is, by the way, one of Larry Brown's closest friends.

Gotta love New York.

6 Comments

Intro by Kurt on Thursday, November 9th, 2006 at 1:21 am | permalink | trackback |

Origional Source: http://sports.espn.go.com/nba/news/story?id=265455...

With technical foul calls nearly doubled compared to the same point last season, union director Billy Hunter wants commissioner David Stern to lighten up on the NBA's crackdown on complaining — or he might even seek legal action against the league.

Good, because federal judges really don't have anything better to do.

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Intro by Kurt on Wednesday, November 1st, 2006 at 6:22 pm | permalink | trackback |

Source: http://sports.espn.go.com/espn/page2/story?page=si...

Tom Ziller said it best, Simmons does a couple must-read columns a year, the NBA preview and his draft diary. The preview is up today.

Here's why I can't understand why people are doubting the 2006-07 Nets: VINCE CARTER IS IN A CONTRACT YEAR. The guy with the most famous on/off switch in the league will have that baby pressed to "ON" from November through June, right? And since he's one of the 10 most talented players alive when he wants to be, doesn't this make the Nets a legitimate threat this season?

4 Comments

Intro by Kurt on Monday, October 30th, 2006 at 1:23 pm | permalink | trackback |

Original source: http://www.insidehoops.com/americas-championship-2...

FIBA Americas announced Sunday that USA Basketball and Las Vegas, Nevada, have been selected to host the FIBA Americas Championship 2007. The tournament, one of five FIBA Olympic qualifying zone tournaments, will determine the two men's teams from the Americas zone who will earn qualifying berths for the 2008 Olympic men's basketball competition.

The 10 team championship is scheduled to be played Aug. 22 through Sept. 2, 2007, with all games being held at the University of Nevada-Las Vegas' Thomas & Mack Center.

"Manu, I know you've got a big game tomorrow, but you should relax a little to be ready. Let me take you to the Olympic Gardens."

1 Comment

Intro by Kurt on Wednesday, October 25th, 2006 at 1:16 pm | permalink | trackback |

Voting from 28 NBA general managers — a club that somehow still includes Kevin McHale — found they like the San Antonio Spurs to regain their crown.

The San Antonio Spurs will win another title and LeBron James will capture his first MVP award, according to a preseason poll of NBA general managers.

All but two of the league's 30 general managers responded to the fifth annual NBA.com survey. They also picked Portland's Brandon Roy as the rookie of the year, Pat Riley of Miami as the best coach and Kobe Bryant as the player they want taking a shot with the game on the line.

This is good news for the Spurs, right? These are guys who know their hoops.

Except that last season they picked the Spurs to win it all, and Tim Duncan to win the MVP. How'd that work out?

8 Comments

Intro by Kurt on Monday, October 23rd, 2006 at 11:13 pm | permalink | trackback |

Original source: http://sportsillustrated.cnn.com/2006/basketball/n...

Admitedly part of the reason for this post is just to write that headline (can't get enough Happy Gilmore references in) but it appears Mark Price is not big down under:

Four-time NBA All-Star player Mark Price was fired Monday after only five competition games in charge of South Dragons, the new franchise in Australia's National Basketball League.

"When he came in, everyone respected what Mark Price had done as a player, and he'll leave with that same respect of what he did as a player," (new coach Shane) Heal said.

That would be damning with faint praise at its best. The team did start 0-5, for the record.

2 Comments

Intro by Kurt on Wednesday, October 18th, 2006 at 4:52 pm | permalink | trackback |

Origional story: http://www.clipperblog.com/item/121

By now even Mike Dunleavy has confirmed it, the Clippers have made a five-year, $50 million offer to center Chris Kaman. He's mulling it over, wondering if he can get more on the open market at the end of the seaon. Put me in Kevin from Cliperblog's corner on this one.

On one hand, Samuel Dalembert signed a six year/$58M contract with Philadelphia in August 2005. The previous summer, Eric Dampier fetched seven years/$73M. So what the Clippers are offering Kaman is a contract with fewer years and less guaranteed money than what two inferior centers were able to...well...extort from Philadelphia and Dallas.

On the other hand, Kaman could get hurt; he could take a step backwards; he has a franchise and a coach that have maximized his talents and understand what kind of basketball most suits his game. On top of that, he is the beneficiary of a power forward alongside him that makes life a helluva lot easier for him on both ends of the floor.... In short, the Clippers' style of basketball is uniquely suited to Chris Kaman.

Kevin nailed it. Kaman is a solid center, but he has a limited load to carry in Los Angeles. With Brand on the block, nobody except Reggie Evans pays much attention to him (and Evans pays a little too much). If he leaves the friendly confines of the Clipper locker room (an odd thing type) things are not going to be as easy and he is setting himself up to flop.

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Intro by Kurt on Monday, October 16th, 2006 at 4:48 pm | permalink | trackback |

Looks like Eddie House will have to wait a few weeks before taking advantage of all the double teams on Vince Carter:

Nets guard Eddie House had arthroscopic knee surgery Monday, and the team said there is no timetable for his return. Doctors removed torn cartilage from his left knee at the Hospital for Special Surgery in New York. Rehab will begin immediately.

Looking at the silver lining, this could be good for the Nets perimeter defense.

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Intro by Kurt on Friday, October 13th, 2006 at 3:45 pm | permalink | trackback |

Pat Riley once theorized that he could do a lot of damage with a team of all athletic players between 6-4 and 6-10 — that the versatility would be a matchup nightmare. (Of course, if Magic Johnson is one of those guys, your team looks a lot better.)

Maybe Doc Rivers wants to test that theory out, because the Celtics picked up another swingman and got rid of a center in a trade with Cleveland.

Luke Jackson, a swingman who was the 10th pick in the 2004 draft, was traded Friday from the Cleveland Cavaliers to the Boston Celtics for center Dwayne Jones.

Jackson has largely been a non-factor with the Cavs the last two seasons, playing in just 46 games total due in large part to injuries to his back and wrist. Jeff at Celtics Blog suggests that this could be a precursor to another deal. Or, maybe it's just a salary move.

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Intro by Kurt on Tuesday, October 10th, 2006 at 8:13 pm | permalink | trackback |

From our friends at ESPN:

Turkoglu has experienced flu-like symptons, including violent chills, dating back to last year. He has suffered two bouts in training camp and will undergo tests to try to find the root of the problem.

That doesn't sound like fun. First and foremost, I hope he gets well. But, if he's out for an extended period that's a blow for Orlando — he gave them 33 minutes and 15 points a game last season, with a PER of 16.7. He also attempted more threes than anyone on the team (3.6 per game) and hit 45.4% of them. For a young team looking to take a step forward, losing him for any significant amount of time is a step back.

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Intro by Kurt on Thursday, February 23rd, 2006 at 1:36 pm | permalink | trackback |

Link: http://sports.espn.go.com/nba/news/story?id=234184...

The breakdown:

To Seattle: Earl Watson, Bryon Russell, Denver's 2nd-round pick
To Denver: Ruben Patterson, Charles Smith, Reggie Evans
To Portland: Voshon Lenard, Vitaly Potapenko

3 Comments