How does that relate to reducing drug use through education and regulation? I believe that people should abstain from using drugs and if you had actually read anything I have written on the subject, that would be clear to you. Open your mind, grasshopper. BTW, I will be serving up a large portion of crow for you to eat once EG has a chance to play for JVG. Bank on it.
Nero, many thanks for this excellent recap. This quote stood out to me, I have thought about this quite a bit. There seem to be players who always have excellent individual stats, but never seem to get their team real success - Glenn Robinson comes to mind, for example. On the other hand, there seem to be players who always seem to be on winning teams - like Mario Elie. I had been thinking about this for a while...are these guys like Elie just clever (= know when to ride which coattail) or is this kind of player actually a fundamental building block of building a successful team? I tend to believe the latter... So who are these players (other than Elie)? And what are Francis, Mobley, Yao, Griffin? So far, Francis and Mobley have not been "winning" players...but I think that with the right coaching and especially after Yao's arrival...they could develop into "winning players". At least I hope so .
There was a thread a few months ago talking about some MIT (or whatever school) math professors establishing an extensive database of how each player effects the outcome of the game while he is on the floor. I think the basic idea was that they record the point differential during the time each player is on the floor, and use that instead of conventional offense-defense stats to judge the player's value. I remember that according to that method, Kobe was much more effective than Shaq for the Lakers. I wonder how guys like Elie, Kerr, and Horry fair in that.
Didn't Feigen get slammed for his "myth vs reality" article. man, 6 to 8' is super close. So much for visions of Sabonis in the high post. hehe Bare in mind that the free throw circle in 6' in diameter, meaning the lane is 6' from the basket. Every coach wants their low post player getting the ball there. He'd get fronted from there. Obviously, it will take some serious team practice to get it consistently at 6' - 8', unless Yao just gets stronger. Although I do think a better PnR can get him that close, for starters, and a better secondary break. Don't remember Jabbar ever getting it that close on a consistent basis. Rudy once said he tried to use him getting a pick coming across the lane as the ball was swung around, but Cato was too quick for it...."Either Kelvin is playing this better than anyone, or the timing is too difficult." alluding to Yao being unable to make it across the lane fast enough without Cato getting around the pick to beat him to the block or push him back off it. The only times I remember Yao getting it that close was in the 1st half of the Dallas game when we played wonderful team ball, then Najera started fronting him in the 2nd, and that was that. The other times is when Rudy installed the "fake PnR' where Yao faked the pick out front (to prevent being fronted) then pushed his man into the lane and turned around for a pass from 8' - 10' or so. That worked for a good 1/2 month or so, until the NBA responded.
It would be interesting to see a 'plus/minus' stat for players. Plus for each point scored while on the floor, minus for each point allowed. Not an 'all telling' stat, obviously, but a in interesting one none the less.
You are referring to the plus-minus stat that coaches use, and that hockey actually uses as an official stat. This stat is standard data from scouting reports. Some teams actually make it public, like the Indiana Pacers. <a href="http://www.nba.com/pacers/news/plus_minus.html">Look here</a> Ron Artest led the Pacers in this stat.
Not per 48 minutes, which is the relevant stat. Thanks for the link, HP. More on plus-minus stats and how they are used in the NBA
oh, it's just random knowledge to know that, unless you actually believe bball scouting is something worth studying...like me....hehe. I think it is just another example of stat overkill, though. I prefer the other stats you never see regarding how many times a player blows an assignment. Execution stats take real scouting ability....not just some video intern with a counter. verse, Artest led +/- <b>per game.</b>
I guess we will know soon, but does anyone know if Eddie has gained any weight or muslce this offseason? At his age he could just be filling out and have an impressive gain. Maybe JVG knows what we don't that Eddie has gained 20 lbs of solid muslce by maturing and working out.
The problems are: 1) The predictability of Rudy's play. He drew a X on the floor for his post man 10+ yrs ago and had not deviated from that play since! The opps know the play before he runs it. 2) Yao is too slow to cross the lane. 3) Yao's picker sets terrible pick. 4) The defender of Yao's picker blocks Yao's path well. Other teams have ways to battle: 1) If you can get low post, get it. 2) If your opp beats you to the low post, he must have left the weak side too soon. Don't cross the lane with him but rather throw the ball cross court. (It is hard to make this work but if you get it done once (see Malone/ Stockton), the opp. will stop crossing first). I have never seen the Rockets do this. 3) If he beats you to the lo post, cross with him but lock him outside and look for a lob. We could never get this work 'cause our timing is terrible and the weak side fails to clear. The lob works at least twice a game for the Lakers. I only recall maybe 2 lobs to Yao the whole year. 4) Lock him lowside and post at the elbow, a quick feed and spin to the middle should get Yao's defender at his side. (See Malone/ Stockton again) 5) Screen at the elbow or elbow extended for the guard to drive 'cause the defending post man had left the middle. We do this a lot but so slow in our execution such that the opps always recover in time.
I've said that if everyone thinks Eddie can or will turn out to be J'Oneal, they're sadly mistaken, but if they expect him to be like Donyell Marshall,13pts-9rebs-2.blks, then its reasonable. I thinks that pretty much going to be the career of Eddie and with JVG stressing him staying within 15ft, its will greatly benefit his shot selection,fg% and overrall effectiveness. I already think this team is a playoff by default, but to actually make it playoff worthy is another story.
I have to stand mostly in agreement with Hey P and Freak regarding EG and posting up. It's not that he should have been posting up the whole time, it's that he hasn't shown the ability. I will say that there were a few times last year when he looked like he made a concious effort to post up, and occasionally it worked. By and large the inside game isn't his forte. That isn't a fault of the coaches, but that's just how he's always been, and how Eddie has developed his game.
The problem w/ EG is mental. EG has post-rage timidity syndrome. After punching out his teamate in college, he's afraid to light a fire in his personality. Plus, smoking weed was also a factor.
no kidding I'd give my left nut to get all those numbers. Of course, I've had all the kids I'm going to, and I can use room. but seriously, I would love to get my hands on the stats that count - the missed assignments, the percentage of times we score in a given offensive scheme, the number of deflections. Posey was good at a lot of things that don't show in standard stats, as was Mario Elie. The stats teams keep would reveal that. I wish the league would make them available. Anyone know a good plus/minus source? That is my favorite stat, although it has a flaw. If you are a guy who replaces the star player on your team, you aren't gonna look that good.
Thank you for your report 'movement' . Nobody has mentioned that the above statements are not congruent. The first JVG sounds satisfied with the number of Guard passes to Yao Ming.IMHO Last season Francis and Mobley made few passes to Yao Ming. In the half cout,most times Francis would not be the one passing into Yao Ming and Mobley just hated the idea of doing so. In the second he seems to have second thaughts and suggest that Yao Ming needs to get more shots. Was he now indicating that Yao Ming needs more passes from the Guards and needs to take more shots?
The interview was pretty early... I think movement and Nero have pretty much summarized it... Although I could add this: Yao's great base was mentioned, but JVG seemed to hint that it wasn't being used properly. After looking at some tape he found moments when Yao wasn't properly poised to allow him to use his base (he was standing too straight...). At the same time JVG was pretty excited to find tape of when Yao was using his base correctly and seemed pretty eager to show this to Yao when they meet...I like JVG's philosophy of positive reinforcement. I'm also encouraged that he has an eye for these things. JVG summarized winning teams as the ones who stop others from scoring 8feet from the basket and who themselves find scoring opportunities 8 feet and in. This was a tangent to the discussion of Eddie standing too far away from the basket. He seemed to hint this was more a byproduct of the offensive philosophy that we were running. He did concede that Eddie's 33% from 3-pt range was decent, but doesn't see this as a hallmark of Eddie's game during his tenure. End of game efficiency was also discussed. I think JVG's words were that we need to improve our "pass-shoot decisions" and that we must be concious of our "overdribble" tendencies. This also links in to what Granato, Zurline, and JVG were talking earlier about as players were trying to do too much and not trusting each other. JVG mentioned that this is a trait of young players and seemed to break his train of thought....I guess he didn't want to seem as though he was criticizing Rudy...he added how Rudy did such a good job with the Rockets...he brought them from ground zero to where they are now... Anyway my $.02
