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Tag Archives: Tim Duncan
The Storify: Western Conference Finals Game 2
Over the next few weeks we’ll be letting social media help tell the story of each of the remaining games in the Conference and NBA Finals: Western Conference Finals: Game 1 | [View the story "Western Conference Finals Game 2: San Antonio Spurs 93- Memphis Grizzlies 89 (Spurs lead series 2-0)" on Storify]
Playoff Video Playbook: The Stephen Curry Rules
(All stats accurate as of Game 3) Stephen Curry has been on an absolute tear since the All-Star break, keeping his career-long ankle troubles from holding back the barrage of threes and slick dimes that have wreaked havoc around the league with no end in sight. His name no longer unknown, (we can’t be friends if it took you this long to realize who he was) Curry is now perched on the “superstar” pedestal, being only … Continue reading
A Full Season of Top Plays
Everyone loves top plays – fact. Admit it, even if you were removed from the womb to hate the Lakers, the hair on the back of your neck stands up and your heart rate increases when the clock ticks down to zero and Kobe launches a 20-foot fadeaway that splashes through the net. It’s hard not to feel the emotion of those moments. If I could pose the question to you, what was the … Continue reading
What Happens at 7:07 PM
Back in the day when I was still a capable guard and ballin’, my center and I would orchestrate a method before tip-off to snag the first possession. I would stand outside the circle, and as the referee tossed the ball into the air, my center would intentionally graze the ball, barely touching it. The opposing center would easily tip it back, but I would rush into our opponent’s side, jump, and grab the … Continue reading
Weekly Stats Recap
This week’s Stat Study was done with the intention to determine the impact of playing a back to back in terms of total shooting percentage (TS%) and turnover rate (TOR). To understand this study, one must be familiar with these metrics. Total shooting percentage created a total metric of shooting accuracy looking at three-pointers, two-pointers and free throws. Turnover rate is a simple tally of the percentage of possessions that end in a turnover. … Continue reading
Weekly Stats Recap
This week I decided to take a look at players who rebound, but also score. I charted the total points each team received from players grabbing at least five rebounds in an effort to determine if teams with high scoring rebounders won more often than not. I figured that winning teams would have a higher average point total from qualifying players, but never did I imagine the difference being this drastic. During the 50 … Continue reading
Game of the Week: San Antonio Spurs at Los Angeles Clippers
We are past the All-Star break, which to me is the spiritual midpoint of the season. With the trade deadline approaching, teams have to decide whether they’re in position to make a run or whether to pack it in for the rest of the season. The two teams playing in the late game Thursday are in the former category. The Spurs are the winningest team in the league, but the Clippers have had the … Continue reading
Evaluating Team Shot Selection
A few weeks ago I shared a new metric I had been working on called Expected Points Per Shot (XPPS). The idea was to create a metric that would allow the objective comparison and evaluation of the quality of a player or team’s shot selection. When I first shared XPPS we just looked at the numbers for individual players. The visualization with player data is now a permanent feature here, one that I’ll keep updated … Continue reading
Weekly Stats Recap
For this week’s study my brother (@KurtSoppe) pondered if FG% or FT% was more directly correlated to the game’s final outcome. He hypothesized that both FG% and FT% would be consistently higher for victorious teams, with the stronger correlation being found in the field goal percentage. In support of Kurt’s guess, winning teams shot an average of 47.9% from the field while losing teams shot only 42.3%. Winning teams shot better than 50% from … Continue reading
