0 comments by justinwillard on 10/10/2014
Sacramento has made some perplexing decisions the past few seasons, even after the Bluths Maloofs were fired. As the other front offices loaded up with advanced weaponry and statistics that needed entire teams to handle things, the Kings were still defending their moat with a few bows and arrows and t-shirt cannons. But they hired […]
0 comments by justinwillard
With Rondo’s habit of missing games and the trade rumors increasing in frequency, I would not rank them quite low on a list of teams to watch for fun. The team’s a mess of young guys and debris from rebuild-oriented trades. Without Rondo, there are no signature players and this is a franchise that has […]
0 comments by justinwillard on 10/9/2014
There are few reasons to fear the deer these days, and Milwaukee comes up a lot in discussions about which teams should relocate. The franchise has seen better days, but there is some hope. The Bucks picked up an intriguing Greek prospect who turned out to be an exciting, unique NBA talent, able to hold […]
0 comments by justinwillard
If it weren’t for the franchise’s legendary status and the return of Kobe Bryant, the team would be lucky to have an appearance on national TV and they’d be buried under other headlines. The Lakers are an uncomfortable marriage of a rebuilding program and a flagship for their aging superstar. This is no disrespect toward […]
0 comments by justinwillard on 10/8/2014
I suppose any conversation about Philadelphia’s current season, and not the future, is pointless given the direction they have. This season will be like an endless training camp, rotating low-paid players through and giving extensive time to young guys. But I wouldn’t say they should be totally ignored. Nerlens Noel could be a fly-swatting defensive […]
0 comments by justinwillard
The Utah Jazz have a winning tradition, currently ranked fourth all-time in franchise win-loss percentage behind the obvious juggernauts of the Lakers, Celtics, and Spurs, but they suffered through a rebuilding season and a title, elusive even to Malone and Stockton, is far beyond the horizon. They were not content with being mired in mediocre […]
0 comments by justinwillard on 9/16/2014
After a surprising domination and despite losing some of the best players in the world, Team USA destroyed its opponents and never won by less than 20 points to win the 2014 World Cup. And this was the same tournament where some people viewed Spain as the favorite. They deserve their gold medals. But how […]
0 comments by justinwillard on 9/6/2014
NBA analysts are spoiled by the grueling 82 game schedule. Some may complain about a lack of data, but it’s a wealth of information compared to the FIBA tournament. Not only are there only five games in the qualifying stage before the “playoffs,” but teams are separated into groups that do not play each other. […]
0 comments by justinwillard on 8/30/2014
The FIBA World Cup starts this weekend and Team USA’s first opponent is Finland, and with many international stars skipping the competition — from Tony Parker and Manu Ginobili to Lithuania’s starting point guard Mantas Kalnietis, injured, along with Ilyasova and Turkogulu from the silver medal Turkey squad — it appears to be reasonable to […]
0 comments by justinwillard on 8/25/2014
As we near the 2014 FIBA World Cup, it’s time to look back at what team USA has done in recent years. With only a handful of games and the fact that teams are split into groups before the single game elimination tournament, it’s a bit difficult to ascertain how strong certain teams have been. […]
0 comments by justinwillard on 8/12/2014
In a recent article on Grantland, Kirk Goldsberry argues Kevin Love would be more beneficial for his team if he hung out on the perimeter less and crashed the offensive glass more. Goldsberry has an impressive dataset few can be competitive with and an arsenal of resources at his disposal, including some of the best […]
0 comments by justinwillard on 8/9/2014
Note: This assumes the league will not veto the trade, as the rumors indicate. Cleveland’s management is hard to read. In a world where information is leaked at a high rate, they shocked the world by drafting Anthony Bennett first overall. I wasn’t sure what they would do with Andrew Wiggins and Kevin Love, but […]
0 comments by justinwillard on 7/25/2014
The Black Arts of Hakeem the Dream in the Post-season When I saw Hakeem Olajuwon’s playoff success, I assumed his complex post-game — full of counters — was the driving factor as his offensive game suffered little against better defenses. Coupled with Houston’s cadre of shooters around him, and Olajuwon was free to put players […]
0 comments by justinwillard on 7/18/2014
When people cite how players do against the top teams or top defense, they typically use a box score summary of their stats versus teams rated X or above. This is not an accurate method, however, as a player can go against several defenses barely over the threshold and another can go up against two […]
0 comments by justinwillard on 7/15/2014
If there’s any test for whether or not a player is a superstar that bridges the gap between the analytics crowd and conventional analysis, it’s how well his former team does when he leaves either via free agency, a trade, or retirement. It’s in some ways a version of plus/minus, but it’s simple enough for […]
