Archive for the 'Layups' Category

From ESPN, Suns C Channing Frye will compete in the 3-point competition later this month... Certainly Frye deserves it, ranking 3rd in the league in threes made and 7th in 3-point percentage, but it's still interesting to note the fact that a center hasn't competed since Sleepy Sam Perkins in 1997:

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Last week, Zachariah Blott of Empty the Bench wrote a piece examining LeBron James' low rate of personal fouls per game, using some statistical techniques (a chi-square test) to come to the conclusion that LeBron was receiving preferential treatment from referees above and beyond what Kobe Bryant and Dwyane Wade get on defense.

Now, Roger Pimentel of How to Watch Sports issues a rebuttal that discloses some of the fine print that could have been attached to Blott's post -- namely, that the p-value of any statistic close to the league lead is going to be small, because the p-value asks "what is the probability that the result is due to random chance alone?" In other words, given James' observed rate of PF/MP, one has to conclude that the odds of James' foul-avoiding ability being league-average are almost nonexistent, but this doesn't really prove LBJ gets favorable treatment from referees any more than it proves Steve Nash and Derrick Rose (to name others atop the league in fewest PF/MP) do, it just means James' ability to avoid committing fouls is almost certainly better than the NBA average. Whether this has to do with his own physical skills, a series of conscious defensive choices on his part, the team defensive scheme, or referee bias, we can't say for certain.

Anyway, read both posts and give me your take... Is LBJ getting favorable treatment beyond the usual superstar non-calls that everyone accepts as a part of NBA ball?

From SI.com, are the 1972-73 Sixers the bizarro version of the '72 Miami Dolphins on the playing surface and off? The so-called "worst team of all time" (or at least the team with the worst record) is actually rooting for their pathetic new challengers, this year's Nets, to win games and not claim their dubious record. Even weirder, they're doing it for selfish reasons:

"For me, as an inconsequential sports marketer, who at the time was just starting out, it is my Cal Ripken," [Andy] Dolich said. "I will be the saddest person in the country if they break this record."

Apparently you can build a career by being associated with the worst team in NBA history. Who knew?

Here an epic series of Sporcle quizzes I made:

All I can say is, good luck!

Here's a Sporcle quiz that I made myself: Can you name the missing words in Allen Iverson's May 2002 Rant?

Take the quiz, then watch the video:

Due to a tremendous amount of holiday-related backlog in my inbox as S-R's User Affairs Coordinator, we'll have to finish up the Inner-Circle Hall of Fame series on Wednesday. I know you're all so disappointed, but in the meantime, go to Sporcle, try to name the career leaders in eight statistical categories, and we'll be back with the 2000s before you know it. :)

Apropos of the Inner-Circle HoFers mentioned today, here's a mix featuring Pettit and Baylor at first, then John Havlicek, Rick Barry, Dan Issel, Bobby Jones, and Dennis Johnson:

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With the 2010 Vancouver Winter Games right around the corner, I have been spending some time working on SR's Olympics site. That said, today I would like to announce the launch of SR's Olympic Medal Finder. Try it out and let us know what you think. (To make this post basketball-related, here is a list of the most-decorated basketball players in Olympic history.)

Off the Dribble, the New York Times' NBA blog, is a good read for hoops fans everywhere, and they a had couple of interesting posts last week... First, here's Fred Bierman on Bucks C Andrew Bogut's incentive to increase fan enthusiasm in Milwaukee:

"[Bogut] bought 100 lower-level seats for every home game and gave them to fans who he was certain would raise the decibel level at the Bradley Center. [...] Each fan essentially agrees to stand and cheer from tip-off to the final buzzer, and attendance is mandatory; miss too many games and you will lose your free seat. So far, no one has been removed."

Also, Howard Beck posted about the growing popularity of the M.I.T. Sloan Sports Analytics Conference:

"... the [analytic] movement’s signature event has grown so large that sponsors are moving it off-campus for its third edition, on March 6. It will be held at a Boston convention center. 'We outgrew every building at M.I.T.,' Daryl Morey, the Houston Rockets’ general manager, said proudly. Morey, the event’s co-chairman, said he is expecting 800 people — up from 300 in 2009 and 150 in 2008, the event’s inaugural year. The number of panel discussions has nearly doubled, to 15."

Be sure to sign up for the conference now, and I'll see you there at "Dorkapalooza 2010"!

Last Friday, Kevin Pelton of Basketball Prospectus looked at how much a team's "effective height" (height weighted by minutes played) matters in determining the quality of the team. You'll have to read the whole thing, but the basic gist is that there is a positive relationship between team height and win-loss record, but it's not really that big. Which completely makes sense -- all else being equal, you'd obviously rather be taller than shorter, though there are many other factors more important than height that go into determining how good a player/team is.