Almost There... (Stay on Target)
It's almost here. The NBA Season is less than a week away, and along with it Fantasy Basketball season, the greatest time of the year. For those who picked up this site during the basketball offseason, you will soon realize that Sixers talk will dominate this blog for the forseeable future. I'll still mention other sports from time to time, but really, the NBA will dominate. So, as I am still in the preparation stages for my NBA season preview, I decided that a short post was necessary to cover a couple topics.
It's Honorable and Admirable But...
It's great that Donovan McNabb is showing such great heart, determination, courage, (insert the remainder of cliche words here) by playing through the pain of his sports hernia. It's simply amazing that the man can still play at such a level with the pain he must be going through. But one thing is for certain, the Eagles will not win the Super Bowl with a beat up quarterback. I would have thought that would be obvious to everyone. Sit him down. Get him his surgery and get him healthy. Even if they have to tank this year, I'd rather have a healthy McNabb the next few years than one who is still feeling the effects of playing hurt so much.
(On another note - It's amazing the career parallels that are starting to show between McNabb and Steve McNair. Both are known as warriors who will play through incredible pain. Both have incredibly strong arms and are/were well known for their ability to scramble. Now both are starting to suffer the effects of playing hurt. But that's a discussion for another time.)
I Had to Buy It Myself But It Was Still Worth It
So, John Hollinger of ESPN.com never sent me a review copy of his new book, Pro Basketball Forecast 2005-06. I waited and waited but it never came. But, seeing as how his PER (Player Efficiency Rating) is becoming a standard stat over at ESPN and I needed to know how to figure it out, I bite the bullet and shelled out my own hard earned cash for the book.
And I can safely say that it was worth every penny. Hollinger goes into incredible detail on every player in the NBA last season, describing their stats based on 40 minutes, their PER, and who they are most comparable to in NBA history, based on statistical analysis. He uses all of this information to even project what are possible stats for every significant player. Incredibly in depth and detailed, Hollinger leaves no stone unturned in his analysis, and he unafraid to be frank and truthful in his analysis (even if he is a little hard on Manlove). Hollinger even gives a short scouting analysis of draft picks, and spend a chapter on prominent Euroleague players, working hard to develop a system that can translate their stats to what they would look like in the NBA.
Hollinger explains each of his unique statistics very early in the book. Everything is explained in great detail and makes a great deal of sense. Plus, I finally know why Hollinger was never able to explain PER in any of his chats. It is the most comprehensive stat I have ever seen. Everything that can accounted for is. Think you know how much a defensive rebound is worth? Think again, because there are factors you never thought to include. But Hollinger does. Same with Free Throws made and missed, blocks, turnovers, and every other stat imaginable. Hollinger leaves no stone unturned in breaking down each player and their contribution to their team. He even creates a shorthand version of the stat, called "Game Scores", that convey the same information, but with simpler (and slightly less accurate) equations. I have a feeling that I will use "Game Scores" an awful lot on this site.
The craziest thing Hollinger does is with his projections. Hollinger goes through basketball history to find the 25 most comparable players to each individual, uses those stats to generate the most likely trends, and then uses that to generate projected stats. And it's sometimes funny to see which player was most comparable (for instance, Austen Croshere projects most like Sam Perkins).
If there is one complaint to be made about the book (I'll overlook the simple grammatical/editing errors early on), it's that it often feels like I've read part of it before. A lot of the book is eerily similar to his ESPN articles (some parts have even been abridged for website publication), and they have gone ahead and posted his stat lines on their website. But this book is worth it alone for his statistical explanations. Anyone who is a basketball and/or statistics fantatic NEEDS to own this book. I know that I'll be buying it every year from here on out.
John Hollingers Pro Basketball Forecast 2005-06 can be purchased at Amazon. Just type in "Hollinger" into the search engine and it's right there. Enjoy.
It's Honorable and Admirable But...
It's great that Donovan McNabb is showing such great heart, determination, courage, (insert the remainder of cliche words here) by playing through the pain of his sports hernia. It's simply amazing that the man can still play at such a level with the pain he must be going through. But one thing is for certain, the Eagles will not win the Super Bowl with a beat up quarterback. I would have thought that would be obvious to everyone. Sit him down. Get him his surgery and get him healthy. Even if they have to tank this year, I'd rather have a healthy McNabb the next few years than one who is still feeling the effects of playing hurt so much.
(On another note - It's amazing the career parallels that are starting to show between McNabb and Steve McNair. Both are known as warriors who will play through incredible pain. Both have incredibly strong arms and are/were well known for their ability to scramble. Now both are starting to suffer the effects of playing hurt. But that's a discussion for another time.)
I Had to Buy It Myself But It Was Still Worth It
So, John Hollinger of ESPN.com never sent me a review copy of his new book, Pro Basketball Forecast 2005-06. I waited and waited but it never came. But, seeing as how his PER (Player Efficiency Rating) is becoming a standard stat over at ESPN and I needed to know how to figure it out, I bite the bullet and shelled out my own hard earned cash for the book.
And I can safely say that it was worth every penny. Hollinger goes into incredible detail on every player in the NBA last season, describing their stats based on 40 minutes, their PER, and who they are most comparable to in NBA history, based on statistical analysis. He uses all of this information to even project what are possible stats for every significant player. Incredibly in depth and detailed, Hollinger leaves no stone unturned in his analysis, and he unafraid to be frank and truthful in his analysis (even if he is a little hard on Manlove). Hollinger even gives a short scouting analysis of draft picks, and spend a chapter on prominent Euroleague players, working hard to develop a system that can translate their stats to what they would look like in the NBA.
Hollinger explains each of his unique statistics very early in the book. Everything is explained in great detail and makes a great deal of sense. Plus, I finally know why Hollinger was never able to explain PER in any of his chats. It is the most comprehensive stat I have ever seen. Everything that can accounted for is. Think you know how much a defensive rebound is worth? Think again, because there are factors you never thought to include. But Hollinger does. Same with Free Throws made and missed, blocks, turnovers, and every other stat imaginable. Hollinger leaves no stone unturned in breaking down each player and their contribution to their team. He even creates a shorthand version of the stat, called "Game Scores", that convey the same information, but with simpler (and slightly less accurate) equations. I have a feeling that I will use "Game Scores" an awful lot on this site.
The craziest thing Hollinger does is with his projections. Hollinger goes through basketball history to find the 25 most comparable players to each individual, uses those stats to generate the most likely trends, and then uses that to generate projected stats. And it's sometimes funny to see which player was most comparable (for instance, Austen Croshere projects most like Sam Perkins).
If there is one complaint to be made about the book (I'll overlook the simple grammatical/editing errors early on), it's that it often feels like I've read part of it before. A lot of the book is eerily similar to his ESPN articles (some parts have even been abridged for website publication), and they have gone ahead and posted his stat lines on their website. But this book is worth it alone for his statistical explanations. Anyone who is a basketball and/or statistics fantatic NEEDS to own this book. I know that I'll be buying it every year from here on out.
John Hollingers Pro Basketball Forecast 2005-06 can be purchased at Amazon. Just type in "Hollinger" into the search engine and it's right there. Enjoy.
posted by el123chico at 9:22 AM
3 Comments:
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Hi - I trained in judo and karate for many years. I was looking for blogs having to do with judo and came across yours. Nice blog. I have my own have my own mixed style school now that offers most of the traditional judo techniques. Come have a look at it if you want.
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