Watertown runs a basketball clinic at Belmont’s expense

UPDATES:

April 19, 2010 - I made few but important changes to this article published on February 13, 2010. At first, I wanted to leave the original sentences crossed, but in the end I decided to take them out completely because crossed lines destroy the flow. In addition to revising some sentences, I removed all the comments. The debate made sense while it was happening but I don’t think it is interesting as a permanent addition to the article.

Author

“Winning is like deodorant – it comes up and a lot of things don’t stink.” – Doc Rivers, The Celtics Coach

Not long ago, the Belmont Marauders basketball team was undefeated, 15 and 0. But, they lost two of their last three games, first to Reading, then last night to Watertown. Both these teams are considered serious rivals and getting the wins was extremely important to the team. The game against the Watertown Raiders was particularly important because the team wanted to go into the post season on the wings of a decisive win against a great rival. It all looked possible as Belmont thoroughly outplayed Watertown in their first game of the season. This time, the final score was Watertown 57 – Belmont 53.

In my article from January 13th, 2010, titled Big win for Belmont against undefeated Reading, I highlighted what Belmont needed to do differently to get more decisive wins and to prevail in tough situations. When the article came out some people expressed their consternation that I was too pessimistic while the team was winning. I wanted the team not to be oblivious to the “deodorant effect,” to look at their performances objectively, and start fixing problems while there was still time. Read more ->

Adjusted +/- Rating for All-Star Selection

Wayne Winston (Kelley School of Business) wrote an article for Huffington Post in which he explains his idea that All-Stars should be selected by Adjusted +/- Rating. This is how it works:

Basically for every minute of the season we look at who is on the court and how the score of the game changes. After adjusting for who you play with and against, we come up with an Adjusted +/- Rating for a player. For example, currently we rate LeBron James as a +21 Points Rating, +19 Offense Rating, and -2 Defense Rating. This means that if LeBron replaced an average NBA player for 48 minutes we estimate that his team would perform 21 points better. If LeBron replaced an average offensive player his team would score 19 points more per game, and if LeBron replaced an average NBA defender his team would give up 2 fewer points per game.

When you apply this method, you realize that Marc Gasol is better than his elder brother Pau. You also find out the following:

Carmelo Anthony is overrated and Nene is underrated. Being a top scorer does not make you an all star. Denver has played great in Melo’s absence. Nene’s +10 Points rating shows that Nene is a major contributor to the Nugget’s success.

You may disagree with this approach, but it is certainly better than approach which selects Allen Iverson as a starter and T-Mac as a serious candidate for the All-Star game.

Phil Jackson’s Books

Phil Jackson is unique in many respects. He won more championships than Red Auerbach (although that record is still open to debate), he was crafty enough, or lucky enough, to have coached some of the greatest superstars and teams in the history of the game. Another thing which makes him unique is his book recommendations to the players. He did it while coaching the Bulls, and he’s doing it while coaching the Lakers. Is this intellectual snobbery, or a very profound way of reaching his players?

We all know that the the only way for players to excel is to be none else but themselves. You’d think that this is a simple formula, but when you watch any basketball game (high school, college, pros) you see players trying to be something they are not. Players make adjustments over the years, they improve their free-throw shooting, or work on their post-up game (to name but a few), but they reach their true potential only when they realize who they really are on the basketball court, which is really an extension of their ordinary life personality. A true transformation happens when a go-to guy realizes that he’s really just a very good second fiddle. He can still drop thirty points on a given night, but forcing the ball through his hands on every possession alienates him from his true nature and minimizes his potential and reach. If somebody likes deferring, or simply enjoys passing (I believe a good pass can give you the same thrill as ripping it through the net from the three-point line) asking him to shoot a lot, even if he has a terrific shot, makes that player uncomfortable in his role, and minimizes the positive impact he could have on the team. Read more ->

Big win for Belmont against undefeated Reading

Belmont won an important game, maybe the most important game of the first part of this season. Again, they played a tough 4th quarter, and I don’t expect anything but toughness from this team any more. They took over a close game and made it into a blowout. Overall, the team played well, but the final score is somewhat deceiving. I say this mostly because Reading missed 15 free throws. That’s a big hit even for the best teams to take.

Among good things, the inside defense was solid. Reading centers and forwards couldn’t easily score. Belmont hit more than their typical 20% of threes attempted, which helped quite a bit.

Among not so good things, the defense on penetrations was shaky. It looked like Reading guards could get into the paint any time they wanted.

Read more ->

Basketball IQ

Here’s an article from the Oklahoman, written by Darnell Mayberry, which talks about one of the most elusive concepts in the game: basketball IQ. The author quotes Scott Brooks (Oklahoma coach), Rick Adelman (Houston coach), Shaun Livingston (Oklahoma guard) and Stan Van Gundy (Orlando coach).

The best definition of the player with high basketball IQ comes from Van Gundy:

It’s a guy who has an innate understanding, the game comes easily to him… They see things once and it all makes sense to them. Basketball just makes sense to them and they make smart plays. They’re ahead of the play defensively. They can pick up plays you put in easily.

Read more ->