Intro by Matt Bernhardt on Friday, December 15th, 2006 at 3:07 pm | permalink | trackback |

Original Article: http://www.blogabull.com/story/2006/12/15/111621/37

But what's startling is how the type of defense has changed this season. Paxson said over the offseason that the fact that they were last in the league in steals signaled to him that they needed to get more athletic defensively. So whether it's just adding the steal-and-block savant Wallace (the other athletic offseason additions aren't getting significant minutes) or a change in coaching philosophy, the Bulls have become a more aggressive defensive team. Whereas last season they dug in and either forced a low-percentage shot or fouled, this year the defense has been forcing turnovers.

The Bulls have gone from 11th in defensive turnover ratio last season to 1st this season, while falling from 2nd to 19th in defensive eFG%
Yes, I'm quoting my own work. And use KB's stats page throughout. This whole CTN post is very incestuous.

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Intro by Matt Bernhardt on Friday, December 8th, 2006 at 10:56 am | permalink | trackback |

Original Article: http://www.redsarmy.com/lastplay.htm

We hear the screams.

"That's the play Doc Rivers drew up to end the game?"

Well, yeah... except the players... one player in particular... didn't pull it off. Delonte West's laziness on the inbounds pass cost the C's an easy 2... and maybe 3 if Memphis committed a cheap foul.

The Celtics were looking at overtime... at the very least.

This is how Delonte West blew it for Doc. This one, folks, was not Doc's fault.

I know, it's a game between Memphis and Boston from Wednesday, who cares.

But RedsArmy.com has the play diagrammed, described, and supplemented with screenshots from the telecast. Pretty cool work, and something you'd only find on a blog.

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Intro by Matt Bernhardt on Tuesday, December 5th, 2006 at 9:23 pm | permalink | trackback |

Original Article: http://orlandosmagic.blogspot.com/2006/12/toughness-eastern-conference-rankings.html

I stole this idea from Clipperblog. Measure how your NBA team is doing based on the ability to protect its home court and to win on the road. It makes for a simple formula that is easy to track. It closely matches won/lost records, but does point out that Chicago is probably a top 4, and Atlanta and Miami are worse off than their record. Road Wins - Home Losses = "Toughness."

I knew KB's OTTER ranking was a big waste of time :-)

Here's the Clipperblog post that this one is referring to, with Western Conference rankings.

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Intro by Matt Bernhardt on Tuesday, November 28th, 2006 at 11:07 am | permalink | trackback |

Original Article: http://www.nysun.com/article/44196

Minus the four-time Defensive Player of the Year, Ben Wallace, the Pistons have struggled to get stops and presently rank 26th in Defensive Efficiency — no that wasn't a typo, I said 26th — allowing 104 points per 100 possessions. Only Washington, Seattle, Portland, and Milwaukee are worse at getting stops.

Even the Knicks rank higher than the Pistons, which tells you two things. For one, while Ben Wallace has yet to have the desired impact on his new team, the Chicago Bulls, his absence is sorely felt in Motown. And for another, that Pistons offense, which ranks second in the league in Offensive Efficiency, at 108.6 points scored per 100 possessions, is changing the public image of Detroit basketball.

Hat tip to DetroitBadBoys.

Loves me any article that mentions team pace.

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Intro by Matt Bernhardt on Monday, November 27th, 2006 at 9:56 pm | permalink | trackback |

Original Article: http://www.nbcsports.com/nba/476845/detail.html

Hall of Famer Hubie Brown, who coached the Kentucky Colonels to the 1975 ABA championship and is now an analyst for ESPN's NBA coverage, has always emphasized the importance of point differential. Hank Egan, a Cleveland Cavaliers Assistant Coach who was a member of Gregg Popovich's staff when the San Antonio Spurs won the 1999 championship, told me that the first statistic he looks at is defensive field goal percentage.

An examination of the statistics of NBA championship teams since 1990 shows that these two categories are indeed strong indicators that a team will be successful.

The author, David Friedman, has a blog as well: 20 Second Timeout

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