Firstly, I thought this quick study on jump ball stats this season was interesting. http://82games.com/random14.htm I wish the NBA tracked some of this stuff officially. It really amazes me all the things that go on in a game that the NBA does not track statistically, even though it would be quite easy to do so, like: possessions, jump ball win%, goal tending, charges drawn, and-1's, etc. Some, like possessions, would be so simple to track (just count number of times ball passes half-court line) and would clear up so many fallacies about how the game is analyzed. For instance, people tend to thing points per game and points given up per game are accurate indications of offensive/defensive ability, which is preposterous. The logical way to measure how good a team is offensively or defensively is by points per possession, but this can only be done heuristically (like John Hollinger of ESPN does it) or by scanning the play-by-plays. Same thing with goal tending. Why in the world track blocked shots without tracking goal tending? That's like tracking field goals made without tracking field goals missed. What other stats can you think of that should be officially tracked which would lead to a better understanding of how well or poorly teams/individuals are performing?
Hey, Yao beats Garnett and Duncan at jump ball. Let's start a thread about that! Seriously, that is a good question. My list on top of my head now: Fouls while contesting a shot (goal tending and fouls against blocks would be interesting) Shots altered (almost as good as blocked shots) Rebounds tipped to teammates Game winning/tying shots Stats by quarters (do they do that?) Assists of assist (like in hockey) Offensive fouls (kind of like singling out offensive rebounds within total rebounds) Picks that result in scoring (kind of like assists) Number of times screwed by refs (j/k)
i'm pretty satisfied with the way statistics are kept. who really gives a **** about jump balls? it only gets you 1st and 4th quarter possession, doesn't matter cuz the other team gets 2nd and 3rd quarter even if they lose. if you want to be a coach then you'll probably want to track in a more detailed fashion...but for fantasy sports and record keeping, i don't see any more stats as being necessary.
I agree with Bill Simmons on this point: I'd love to see a "Super-assist" stat to track every assist that directly leads to a layup or dunk.
Possessions should definitely be tracked. There's no good reason not do so, and it's necessary for really understanding how good a team is offensively and defensively. And you're only considering jump ball at the beginning of the game. Like the article says, that's not really important. But how about "live" jump balls during a game? Specifically, how about tracking getting a jump ball tie up on defense, and then winning the tap. It wouldn't be difficult at all to track that, and it's important to understand a player's overall contribution on defense. Or how about just deflecting the ball on defense and knocking the ball off of the other team. A player should get some sort of credit for that, but currently he doesn't. Drawing charges obviously should be tracked. If you're actually happy with how stats are currently tracked, than I'm really shocked. I don't care about fantasy basketball either. I care about having a good understanding of team/individual performance. For example, current stats are incredibly inadequate for understanding a player's defensive production. Consequentially great defenders are usually underrated, while great offensive players that don't play D are overrated. Casual fans may not care, but serious fans want to know as much about their team as possible. And if there are things which can be easily tracked that go a long ways towards that, than the NBA should do that.
http://www.82games.com/0506/0506HOU3.HTM Shows how much a team scores on jumpers, close in shots, and dunks from the field. But, again, that's something the NBA should make easily available for fans. It's almost like the NBA wants to keep fans ignorant of how teams are performing and why. It's baffling.
A little off topic, but I always thought that an assist should be given if the player was fouled and makes the free throws.
But what if he splits the pair? Half an assist? Why not. There's no reason why assists have to be whole numbers.
Nah, it would only count if the player makes both free throws. If the player was fouled on a three point attempt, that might mean 1/3 or 2/3 of an assist. Of course, it might not be a good idea, since it would skew the assist numbers up. Nash might be averaging 15-16 assists per game if this rule were enacted...
Well everyone else's assist numbers would be up too. This wouldn't make any difference on the rankings but would make triple double or double-double much easier to achieve.
individual shots taken/team shots taken = KOBE percentage # of videos sent to the league = QBAN total decibels/seconds of commentary = SAS ratio children fathered X weight gained = KEMP factor payroll/wins = I-ZAH rate championships/career scoring average = ORY sum
Ball pass deflection. It is a very good indicator what how much a guy hustle on D. Those type of guys might not have the athletic ability to block shots, but they hustle on the passing lane and deflect a pass away. The ball might not be stolen, but even it remains in possession, an offensive set is destroyed and the shotclock is shortened..
i've thought for years that they should track passes that lead to a player getting fouled. it's not officially an assist, but if i pass you the ball and you get hacked then make both free throws, i have, in effect, accumulated an assist.
Separate the quarter-ending heaves from the rest of the 3-point shots. If it's the last couple seconds, and the only option is to shoot from beyond half-court, why statistically penalize the guy only doing his job and trying a prayer?
