Much has been said about Allen Iverson and Carmelo Anthony in this forum. Given the story told – Melo and The Answer are overrated – one might expect me to note that the 76ers without Iverson have won more playoffs games the past two seasons than the Nuggets have won …
Let me start this column by repeating something I said just a few days ago: Last summer the sportswriters named Monta Ellis as the Most Improved Player of 2006-07. In response to this selection, I wrote the following column: Not Monta Ellis The title pretty much summarizes the argument. If you …
This weekend – while watching the NFL draft (which doesn’t appear to be going so well for the Lions) – I finished my analysis of the 2007-08 NBA regular season. Over the next few weeks I will be offering comments on this past season (primarily focusing on each team). Before …
Back in January – before the Rockets won 22 consecutive games – people were questioning the value of Tracy McGrady. People at that time were harping on that fact that with McGrady the Rockets seemed unable to get out of the first round of the playoffs. And looking back over …
Winners get the glory and are remembered forever (at least by sports fans). Losers are derided for a brief period time, and then tend to be forgotten. Today, though, I want to focus on the losers. Specifically, I wish to ask which edition of each team was the worst in …
Tis the NBA playoff season, or the time of year when NBA observers enthusiastically draw sweeping conclusions from very tiny samples. Here are a few thoughts to keep in mind as we all watch playoff basketball over the next two months: 1. As I noted last May, NBA players are …
One of my favorite lines in the Wages of Wins was actually written by Allen Barra: “Stat Nerds” they snort contemptuously at me, and probably at you, too, if you’re smart enough to have picked up this book-but the truth is that they depend as much on numbers as anyone …
A few days ago the following article by E. James Beale appeared in The Philadelphia City Paper (and as you will see, I really like this article): Better Experts Needed: How the Sixers turned it around … sort of The article begins with the following observation: Back in October nearly …
Imagine taking a test where you are a. asked questions that are not over the material you studied b. answers must be provided the moment after the question is asked c. if you give the “wrong” answer, many people find out (and some of these people may not say nice …
Last summer the sportswriters named Monta Ellis as the Most Improved Player of 2006-07. In response to this selection, I wrote the following column: Not Monta Ellis The title pretty much summarizes the argument. If you look at the numbers – and I mean at more than points scored per game …