I had mild interest in this upcoming WNBA season, that was until Candace Parker got pregnant and missed the first four or five weeks. Now that the Sparks are pretty much out of contention with Lisa Leslie on the shelf with a knee injury, and Parker is “working” her way back into shape, my interest is once again below zero.
The good news, the NBA has continued to give to me despite its season ending several weeks ago. Movement around the league this off-season has been exciting with plenty of intrigue (Shaq traded to Cavs, Carter traded to Magic, Artest signing with Lakers), back-stabbing (Turkoglu leaving Portland for Toronto) and straight up conniving (Orlando’s plan to sign Bass and match the offer sheet on Gortat leaving the Mavs with nothing).
Recent news has Allen Iverson talking with the Clippers. I hate this idea. First and foremost, the Clippers don’t need a starting shooting guard or point guard. Their starting backcourt is solid with two pit bulls in Baron Davis (when healthy and motivated, which, with a Chinese shoe deal coming out this year, I’ve heard he is both) and rookie sensation Eric Gordon. Iverson has already publicly stated that he sees himself as a starter and reinforced that claim by sitting out the rest of last season when his starting job was put up for grabs in Detroit.
The Clippers likewise, have a bevy of talent down low. Obviously Blake Griffin has a bright future, but so too does second year big man DeAndre Jordan. Chris Kaman, when healthy, is a pretty formidable center and Marcus Camby, when healthy, is a rebounding machine and block artist.
That leaves the small forward spot as the lone weak link on the team (there’s some issues with back up shooting guard, but that’s for another post). The Clippers should be focusing their attention on finding a starter at the three and quit looking into filling seats via AI.
Filling seats won’t be a problem, especially in Los Angeles who love front-runners. All the Clips need to do is build a hard-working, exciting team that wins. Right now, they have the makings of exactly that.
Adding Iverson will ruin all of the wonderful things that have happened this off-season (getting the number one pick, shedding Randolph and his horrible attitude and contract). How many jerseys does Sterling think Iverson will sell if he’s on a one year contract? I mean, how many jerseys did he sell as a Piston last year? Whatever that number is, it isn’t enough to justify bringing him here. If this were two years ago? I would have been jumping for joy at this notion. But with the additions of Griffin and Gordon, Iverson’s place is on some other team.
I know that Quentin Richardson is coming to town (hopefully the Zach Randolph trade does not fall through), but the small forward spot is still the Clippers most glaring weakness. I honestly believe that Al Thornton’s best position is coming off the bench, or starting for some other team not named the Clippers. Thornton never met a shot he didn’t like, and unfortunately, his favorite shots are fade-away jumpshots from just within the three point line.
I think offering part or all of the mid-level to one or two of the following four players would serve the Clippers much better than signing AI for the full midlevel.
Linas Kleiza: He brings toughness and versatility to the small forward spot, not to mention three-point shooting that is sorely lacking on this team. He’s big, a decent defender and can get to the hole when he’s the third or fourth option. The bad thing, he’s restricted, so if the Clips lowball him, the Nugs would probably match. In this economy, he might not be worth the full midlevel, though, last year, $5 million for him would seem about right.
Marquis Daniels: Had a breakout year starting in place of Mike Dunleavy Jr. averaging nearly 14 points, 2 assists and 4.5 rebounds on 45 percent shooting. He’s versatile enough to play three positions (though, point guard is not a strong suit). I think he’d fit in nicely switching between the 2 and 3 and adding scoring punch off the bench. The problem with him is that he can’t shoot threes.
Jamario Moon: The Heat will probably sign Moon, but he is super athletic and was a good running mate with Dwyane Wade and would make a good running mate on this athletic team. Drawbacks for him include a head that seems detached from thinking far too many times than should be acceptable for a 29-year-old and a questionable work ethic.
Ronald Murray: Murray was up for sixth man of the year last year, brings a veteran presence, and can back up either guard spot. He brings a good scoring punch that the Clips can use coming off the bench.
Another option I thought would work nicely for the Clips is to trade Chris Kaman and Al Thornton to the Houston Rockets for Shane Battier and Brian Cook. Battier brings several things to the table that are exactly what the Clips need.
First and foremost is intelligence. No offense to Dunleavy (okay, a little), but this team has never been considered cerebral. Battier is like the brain of a brain. Battier also is a proven winner (Duke, Memphis, Rockets). Don’t laugh at that Memphis inclusion. When he played for the Grizzlies, they made the playoffs. As soon as he left, they were one of the worst teams in the league. That’s not putting all the success on him, but it speaks volumes to his presence and importance. Battier would also give the Clippers a lockdown perimeter defender. He’s always worked best with a shot-blocking big behind him, and Camby and to a lesser extend DeAndre Jordan bring blocks in spades. Finally, leadership is sorely needed on this team, and though Battier isn’t vocal, he and Artest were the co-captains of last year’s Rockets squad that were the only team to push the Lakers to seven games in last year’s playoffs.
Brian Cook can be looked at as a big who can shoot outside jumpshots, or he can be looked at as a $3 million expiring contract. Either way, his inclusion in the trade can be of some benefit if employed correctly.
Losing Al Thornton is no big loss. He’s a shoot-first player on a team that doesn’t need any more scorers. He brings nothing else to the table. He can’t play defense. He doesn’t move the ball. He doesn’t rebound. But on the Rockets, who are in need of scorers thanks to injuries to Yao Ming and Tracy McGrady, he’ll fit in nicely taking the place of Von Wafer. Kaman also gives the Rockets a young, big center who will benefit greatly from playing with the vastly underrated Luis Scola, the athleticism of Carl Landry, and the toughness of Chuck Hayes.
Showing posts with label Shane Battier. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Shane Battier. Show all posts
Tuesday, July 14, 2009
Tuesday, February 24, 2009
Stats, Stats, Stats.
By now, everyone has read the Michael Lewis New York Times piece on the importance of Shane Battier. If not, here it is.
Lewis points out the different problems with the current way of rating players, namely by the stats that are available. With all the new mathematical formulas being produced by guys like John Hollinger, David Berri, Daryl Morey, etc., it’s a mystery why the NBA doesn’t simply begin accumulating basic stats and widening its scope with what stats are relevant.
Money and star power drive the NBA, and most stars are created by the numbers they put up, which leads them to getting paid more. In the case of some players (Corey Maggette I’m looking at you), better stats doesn’t always figure into a better team or a better game, or, on a larger scale, a better NBA.
This being the case, instead of trying to tell players that playing Basketball A is better than playing Basketball B, simply expand the stats and give relevance to aspects of the game that don’t include scoring, but most certainly affect and shape how the ball gets into the basket (or doesn’t).
The problem with the current stats in the NBA is that there simply aren’t enough of them. In professional baseball, you can track how many times a guy gets a hit when he’s playing outside, at night, when the temperature is 62 degrees in the month of April. The NBA doesn’t need that sort of analysis, but expanding past points, rebounds and assists is a definite must and should have happened years ago.
There are almost no truly helpful defensive statistics to speak of. A guy like Battier should get paid more if he contributes to winning, which would ultimately encourage other players, up-and-coming players, children still learning, to play the game “the right way.”
The biggest blemish on Michael Jordan’s influence, was that his game and subsequent fame created a whole generation of ballers who tried to emulate him but lacked the skill to do so. I mean, nobody’s Jordan—Kobe and Lebron included.
Hence, a generation of a bunch of me-first, shoot-first, ball hogs, who, to the detriment of the league, were handsomely rewarded for the number of points they put up.
This is just a basic beginning, and comments and suggestions are encouraged. But I’ve put together a list of both defensive and offensive statistics that would infinitely benefit the NBA.
DEFENSE
1.) Possession Change Blocks (PCBlk): Blocks that lead directly to possession of the ball.
-Blocks (Blk): Blocks that result in a missed shot, but where the offensive player retains the ball.
2.) Possession Change Deflections (PCD): Deflections or tipped balls that result in a change of possession (similar to a steal).
-Steals: When a player directly takes the ball away or intercepts a ball from the other team thus resulting in a change of possession.
3.) Out of Bounds Deflections (OBD): Deflections or tipped balls that go out of bounds.
4.) Turnovers Forced (ToF): When a defensive player hounds a ball handler and it leads to some sort of turnover—bad pass, travel, three seconds, etc. Includes double teams.
5.) Offensive Fouls Drawn (OFD): Charges taken.
6.) Block fouls (BF): Due to the subjective nature of blocks/charges, record the number of defensive blocking fouls. A defensive player who amasses 3 blocking fouls is of a higher value than someone who commits 3 touch fouls.
-Personal Fouls (PF): Would be the total accumulation of fouls.
7.) Shots Contested (SC): Any time a player puts up a hand within a foot of an offensive player shooting. Would most certainly be up for personal opinion by the score keeper, but it would at least give an indication as to how many times a player actually does this.
8.) Changed Shots: Any time a player causes an offensive player to adjust his shot, pass out or miss his shot.
9.) Defensive stops: An accumulation of the times a team gets a stop given to every individual player on defense at the time. Will somewhat account for zone defenses and include possessions that end with missed freethrows. This stat would by no means be perfect, but it’s a more exact indicator than +/- and would have nothing to do with offensive output.
OFFENSE
1.) Fouls Drawn: Records how many times an offensive player gets fouled. Includes non-shooting fouls.
2.) Mega Assist: Assist leading directly to a dunk or layup (alley-oop)
3.) Free throw Assist: Assist that leads to freethrows (1/2 assist for 1 made freethrow, 1 assist for both made freethrows).
4.) Outlet Pass: Number of times player receives ball and throws past half-court.
5.) Assist-Assist (Hockey Assist): Assist given to a pass that comes before the pass that leads to a made bucket.
6.) Screen Assist: Any screen set that directly ends with an offensive basket made.
7.) Double Team Drawn: The number of times player attracts two active defenders.
A lot of these new stats are really subjective, but the only truly non-subjective stats are made buckets. Even rebounds can get hazy when it comes to tapping it to oneself (think the Rodman rebound). Some of the stats, like Possession Change Deflections and block fouls would change the way we look at steals and fouls, but change is needed, if not entirely good.
Ask Obama.
Subjectivity is a part of basketball whether we like it or not. And no matter how closely we scrutinize referees or how many replays or how many refs we throw out on the court, there will always be blown calls.
In my opinion, Chris Paul commits an offensive foul every time down the court. Ryan Schwan of Hornes247 might believe Paul’s just a crafty devil. Either way, Paul initiates contact and the majority of the time gets the call.
The same subjective nature of fouls called could be said about Shaq. And Lebron. Etc.
What these stats I’ve proposed would do, despite a relative amount of subjectivity involved, is improve the way we record the game and give greater insight into the level of talent and skill that each and every player has on the court.
I mean, why else would a brilliant mind like Jerry Sloan play Jarron Collins 10 minutes a game?
Stats should be able to tell us why.
Lewis points out the different problems with the current way of rating players, namely by the stats that are available. With all the new mathematical formulas being produced by guys like John Hollinger, David Berri, Daryl Morey, etc., it’s a mystery why the NBA doesn’t simply begin accumulating basic stats and widening its scope with what stats are relevant.
Money and star power drive the NBA, and most stars are created by the numbers they put up, which leads them to getting paid more. In the case of some players (Corey Maggette I’m looking at you), better stats doesn’t always figure into a better team or a better game, or, on a larger scale, a better NBA.
This being the case, instead of trying to tell players that playing Basketball A is better than playing Basketball B, simply expand the stats and give relevance to aspects of the game that don’t include scoring, but most certainly affect and shape how the ball gets into the basket (or doesn’t).
The problem with the current stats in the NBA is that there simply aren’t enough of them. In professional baseball, you can track how many times a guy gets a hit when he’s playing outside, at night, when the temperature is 62 degrees in the month of April. The NBA doesn’t need that sort of analysis, but expanding past points, rebounds and assists is a definite must and should have happened years ago.
There are almost no truly helpful defensive statistics to speak of. A guy like Battier should get paid more if he contributes to winning, which would ultimately encourage other players, up-and-coming players, children still learning, to play the game “the right way.”
The biggest blemish on Michael Jordan’s influence, was that his game and subsequent fame created a whole generation of ballers who tried to emulate him but lacked the skill to do so. I mean, nobody’s Jordan—Kobe and Lebron included.
Hence, a generation of a bunch of me-first, shoot-first, ball hogs, who, to the detriment of the league, were handsomely rewarded for the number of points they put up.
This is just a basic beginning, and comments and suggestions are encouraged. But I’ve put together a list of both defensive and offensive statistics that would infinitely benefit the NBA.
DEFENSE
1.) Possession Change Blocks (PCBlk): Blocks that lead directly to possession of the ball.
-Blocks (Blk): Blocks that result in a missed shot, but where the offensive player retains the ball.
2.) Possession Change Deflections (PCD): Deflections or tipped balls that result in a change of possession (similar to a steal).
-Steals: When a player directly takes the ball away or intercepts a ball from the other team thus resulting in a change of possession.
3.) Out of Bounds Deflections (OBD): Deflections or tipped balls that go out of bounds.
4.) Turnovers Forced (ToF): When a defensive player hounds a ball handler and it leads to some sort of turnover—bad pass, travel, three seconds, etc. Includes double teams.
5.) Offensive Fouls Drawn (OFD): Charges taken.
6.) Block fouls (BF): Due to the subjective nature of blocks/charges, record the number of defensive blocking fouls. A defensive player who amasses 3 blocking fouls is of a higher value than someone who commits 3 touch fouls.
-Personal Fouls (PF): Would be the total accumulation of fouls.
7.) Shots Contested (SC): Any time a player puts up a hand within a foot of an offensive player shooting. Would most certainly be up for personal opinion by the score keeper, but it would at least give an indication as to how many times a player actually does this.
8.) Changed Shots: Any time a player causes an offensive player to adjust his shot, pass out or miss his shot.
9.) Defensive stops: An accumulation of the times a team gets a stop given to every individual player on defense at the time. Will somewhat account for zone defenses and include possessions that end with missed freethrows. This stat would by no means be perfect, but it’s a more exact indicator than +/- and would have nothing to do with offensive output.
OFFENSE
1.) Fouls Drawn: Records how many times an offensive player gets fouled. Includes non-shooting fouls.
2.) Mega Assist: Assist leading directly to a dunk or layup (alley-oop)
3.) Free throw Assist: Assist that leads to freethrows (1/2 assist for 1 made freethrow, 1 assist for both made freethrows).
4.) Outlet Pass: Number of times player receives ball and throws past half-court.
5.) Assist-Assist (Hockey Assist): Assist given to a pass that comes before the pass that leads to a made bucket.
6.) Screen Assist: Any screen set that directly ends with an offensive basket made.
7.) Double Team Drawn: The number of times player attracts two active defenders.
A lot of these new stats are really subjective, but the only truly non-subjective stats are made buckets. Even rebounds can get hazy when it comes to tapping it to oneself (think the Rodman rebound). Some of the stats, like Possession Change Deflections and block fouls would change the way we look at steals and fouls, but change is needed, if not entirely good.
Ask Obama.
Subjectivity is a part of basketball whether we like it or not. And no matter how closely we scrutinize referees or how many replays or how many refs we throw out on the court, there will always be blown calls.
In my opinion, Chris Paul commits an offensive foul every time down the court. Ryan Schwan of Hornes247 might believe Paul’s just a crafty devil. Either way, Paul initiates contact and the majority of the time gets the call.
The same subjective nature of fouls called could be said about Shaq. And Lebron. Etc.
What these stats I’ve proposed would do, despite a relative amount of subjectivity involved, is improve the way we record the game and give greater insight into the level of talent and skill that each and every player has on the court.
I mean, why else would a brilliant mind like Jerry Sloan play Jarron Collins 10 minutes a game?
Stats should be able to tell us why.
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