I wanted to know whether or not there was any meaningful correlation between pace and offensive or defensive efficiency and Dave Berri kindly ran the numbers for me and came up with the answer "no". Obviously, teams that choose to play fast will end up in a lot of high-scoring games while teams that play slow will end up in a lot of low-scoring ones, but playing fast doesn't actually compromise the quality of your defense and shifting to a run-and-gun doesn't promise to help your team score.
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Asked and Answered
05 Dec 2007 09:02 am
Comments (13)
Ding dong! Billy King is dead! The wicked Billy King is dead!
El Cid wins.
Are you done defending Isiah yet?
"Are you done defending Isiah yet?"
Nah, I continue to like Zeke. The fish rots from the head, and that's Jim Dolan, not Zeke.
Everyone who wants Zeke fired and some savior brought in has to consider why anyone with anyone with any basketball chops whatsoever would want Jim Dolan as his boss.
But I will say that the Knicks certainly are a feel-bad crew right now. With Marbury's dad reacting to the mess by choosing to drop dead, the Knicks' nervous breakdown now has a body count.
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If you don't believe me about Dolan, check out this wonderful pre-Anucha profile of Jimmy-boy
Dave, this company rips the bones from your back: It's a death trap, it's a suicide rap. You should have got out while you were young.... Because I have something to tell you: I'm Chuck Do-lan's son!
Regarding "playing fast doesn't actually compromise the quality of your defense and shifting to a run-and-gun doesn't promise to help your team score":
Could it be analyzed on a team-by-team basis? A team should adapt to slowdown or run-and-gun based on some factors, like its personnel or its coach's ability to run said style.
Then, the lack of correlation between relative possessions and efficiency could be case of each team finding its efficient frontier of playing style. On the other hand, that sounds too good to be true.
Good job by Berri. Gonna have to remember to read his book sometime.
And as to Petey's diversion, damned Sixers stole Ed Stefanski from the Nets. Pisses me off.
Wasn't it Simmons who did the imaginary conversation among the abominable GMs a year or two ago? So, Ainge has been rehabed out of that group and King is gone. What do we have left - McHale and Isaiah? Am I missing anyone?
"And as to Petey's diversion, damned Sixers stole Ed Stefanski from the Nets. Pisses me off."
While I think Stefanski is indeed a good hire, King's firing is still the bigger deal. Bill King is a worse version of HItler. Today is a bigger version of V-E Day.
"Am I missing anyone?"
Yup. You're missing a few. Here ya' go. And Simmons presciently didn't include Ainge.
no offense, man, but simply by looking at the empirical evidence of the performance of fast-paced teams in basketball history (which would include defensive stalwarts the russell celts and the showtime lakers) told us the answer already, just like al and i (among others) posted on your initial comment.
Everyone who wants Zeke fired and some savior brought in has to consider why anyone with anyone with any basketball chops whatsoever would want Jim Dolan as his boss.
I don't see why thinking Isiah has done a terrible job means I have to like James Dolan.
Herb Williams should be coach, he's earned it.
Here is a photo of the scene in Philly today.
Ah, you can tell Stefanski from the bald head, but i didn't realize he smoked cigars.
Eventually Yglesias will realize that Berri should be treated like Easterbrook - something isn't wrong just because he says it, but that's not a bad starting point.
As I posited over at FD, Berri is the Ann Coulter of basketball statisticians: any attention is good attention, and the more outlandish the claims you have to make (Bynum better than Kobe. Read that again. And then a third time to make sure you aren't temporarily dyslexic...) to get said attention, the better.
This doesn't mean he's right or wrong on this particular subject. Blind squirrels and all that...
Comments closed December 19, 2007.
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Heads in the Sand
You liberal arts majors keep trying to play outside your league since a vast majority of real scientists clearly establish a genetic link between pace and defensive efficiency.
Wait -- you said "pace"? Oh. My bad. Back to that other comment list.
Posted by El Cid | December 5, 2007 9:08 AM