[NBADleague.com] The Man Behind The Numbers

try · Feb 15, 2014

http://www.nba.com/dleague/news/houston_rockets_rgv_vipers_nevada_smith_the_man_behind_the_numbers_2014_02_13.html

“My favorite thing to do pregame was find the other team’s coach,” says Smith. “Wherever the coach was I’d stand in front of him and just shoot. I’d make every shot and if he’d move to the other end of the bench, I’d move with him.
[...]
When they first discovered him during the offseason, the Rockets knew no more about Smith than what the numbers on their computer screens told them. To them he was 87 points per game. He was 1,571 threes (28.6 per game). He was 91.4 possessions per 48 minutes. These were some of the numbers -- at least the ones Houston personnel scout/RGV Director of Scouting Jim Paulis was willing to divulge -- that popped up alongside Keystone College during their statistical search through the ranks of D-II and D-III basketball.
“We have some guys in our organization that have been involved with small college basketball so we wanted to explore that area,” Paulis explains. “Being a very statistically geared organization, we were able to pick out a few guys that we thought stood out statistically in the way their teams played and some of the numbers that they produced.”
[...]
The only person who can knock them down a few pegs, it seems, is their head coach. Smith's end-of-practice shooting contests with players quickly dug into their wallets. “I was like, ‘Alright, let me get this guy’s money,’” says rookie shooting guard Kevin Parrom. “And then we had a little halfcourt bet and he made the three like it was nothing.”
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An interesting article about the career of the Vipers' coach Nevada Smith.

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[NBADleague.com] The Man Behind The Numbers

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