I spent the weekend at the MIT Sloan Sports Analytics Conference in Boston. Last year, the same conference was held in a small academic building on the campus of MIT in Cambridge for 400 attendees. This year, the numbers exploded — one thousand individuals wore name tags, along with 400 people on a wait list. Those in Boston included NBA executives and prominent agents. Organizers moved the conference across the Charles River to the Boston Convention Center in order to accommodate the demand.
Archive for the ‘Data’ Category
Are the Clippers Behind the Curve?
On March - 9 - 2010
Fun With Player Movement Flow Charts
On February - 1 - 2010
Wyn Douglas is the master of oblong modules featuring many of your favorite Clippers. His flow chart will give you an idea of how the current Clippers roster was built:
The Big Unit
On December - 10 - 2009
Top five units in basketball in overall rating (offensive points per 100 possessions-defensive points per 100 possessions, minimum 100 minutes played):
1. Dallas Mavericks (41.42)
Jason Kidd
Jason Terry
Shawn Marion
Dirk Nowitzki
Erick Dampier
2. Atlanta Hawks (36.66)
Mike Bibby
Jamal Crawford
Joe Johnson
Josh Smith
Al Horford
3. Los Angeles Lakers (24.22)
Derek Fisher
Kobe Bryant
Ron Artest
Pau Gasol
Andrew Bynum
4. Orlando Magic (20.28)
Jason Williams
Vince Carter
Mickael Pietrus
Rashard Lewis
Dwight Howard
The Numbers for the Clippers: Seven Games In
On November - 8 - 2009
The indispensable 82games.com has launched its 2009-10 coverage, and the advanced numbers for the Clippers are both fascinating and encouraging.
Improved Ball Movement
For the first time in a long while, the Clippers are truly able to space the floor effectively. As a result, the ball has been flowing freely from post to perimeter and from sideline to sideline.
As of Sunday, the Clippers rank second in the league in assist rate, and 65 percent of their field goals have been assisted. Last season, only 58 percent of the Clippers’ made shots were assisted. The Clips are “out-assisting” the opposition at every position except for small forward.
Numerology: The Good News
On November - 4 - 2009
If you speak to executives who use advanced analytics to make player personnel decisions, many of them will tell you a similar story about such stats:
We like to look at the performance of specific units as much as individual players.
Since opening night, the Clippers have fielded five units that have played collectively greater than 9 minutes:
| Unit | MP | Off Rtg |
Def Rtg | ORR | DRR |
| Davis-Gordon-Thornton-Camby-Kaman | 76 | 103.8 | 99.3 | 28.9 | 76.2 |
| Davis-Gordon-Butler-Camby-Kaman | 53 | 115.7 | 100.0 | 40.0 | 70.4 |