In analyzing which team would win a seven game match up (NBA Finals) I have to consider the three out of five method. Essentially, which team has better players at more positions?
Center: Bynum/Odom vs Joel Anthony
Advantage Lakers
Power Forward: Gasol vs. Bosh
Advantage Lakers
Shooting Forward: James vs Artest
Advantage Heat
Shooting Guard: Bryant vs. Wade
Undecided
Point Guard: Fisher vs Arroyo
Tie
So the issue is who is better, Wade or Bryant? If it is Wade (and I'm inclined to believe it is) then the match is a push, with possibly the Lakers winning because size beats perimeter players. If Bryant can match Wade for a series, great, but I have serious doubts he could guard Dwayne Wade for a seven game series. Dwayne is really fast and really strong, and Kobe Bryant is coming off a knee surgery and is now in his early thirties.
Thursday, October 28, 2010
Monday, October 25, 2010
Brett Favre and the Vikings
The Vikings are currently 2-4 and barring a major turnaround, will miss the playoffs and finish the season with a wimper.
Brett Favre was brought in for $10,000,000 to play this year and has mired himself into a sex scandal with a NY Reporter and is also playing quite poorly. He has tendinitis in his elbow and appears to be missing throws, probably due to the fact that he missed all of training camp and obviously did not stick to his off-season conditioning program, if he even had one.
Its too bad to see, but the guy obviously didn't prepare as much for this season and is also not as focused due to the NFL investigation plus the obvious problems his wife will have with his behavior.
It just seems like there is a lack of focus on behalf of the Favre and a lack of dedication, which is affecting the entire team. Also, based on some of Brad Childress's comments, it appears that there are lots of disagreements between Favre and Childress, with Favre thinking he knows more than Childress and wanting to make the decisions. Overall its not a recipe for success.
Brett Favre was brought in for $10,000,000 to play this year and has mired himself into a sex scandal with a NY Reporter and is also playing quite poorly. He has tendinitis in his elbow and appears to be missing throws, probably due to the fact that he missed all of training camp and obviously did not stick to his off-season conditioning program, if he even had one.
Its too bad to see, but the guy obviously didn't prepare as much for this season and is also not as focused due to the NFL investigation plus the obvious problems his wife will have with his behavior.
It just seems like there is a lack of focus on behalf of the Favre and a lack of dedication, which is affecting the entire team. Also, based on some of Brad Childress's comments, it appears that there are lots of disagreements between Favre and Childress, with Favre thinking he knows more than Childress and wanting to make the decisions. Overall its not a recipe for success.
Wednesday, October 20, 2010
TV Timeouts during NFL Games
The NFL showed why it is the premiere sports league in America with the highest value of its franchises: blatantly injecting as much commercialism as the American viewers can handle. With two minutes to go in a blowout game between the Tennessee Titans and the Jacksonville Jaguars, the referees asked the Coach of the Titans to call timeouts simply to show ads to the viewers.
Its depressing. And lame. And shows why NFL teams make so much money.
Now the NFL is addressing concussion concerns and is threatening to suspend players who make violent helmet-to-helmet concerns and is attempting to address the culture of carelessness to physical violence in the NFL. This is all a result of external pressures and none of it comes from any desire to decrease the occurrence of injuries in the most violent sport around by the NFL.
What lessons are to be learned from this ? Perhaps it is best to come up with something intriguing so people want to watch, them sell lots of advertisements to generate revenue.
The other thought I've had is how difficult it is to break into the NFL's monopoly on football. Simply put, no one else could make a league that can really compete with them for violent outdoor sports. The only other option to really consider is soccer, which is also an outdoor sport and caters to the same type of fans.
Its depressing. And lame. And shows why NFL teams make so much money.
Now the NFL is addressing concussion concerns and is threatening to suspend players who make violent helmet-to-helmet concerns and is attempting to address the culture of carelessness to physical violence in the NFL. This is all a result of external pressures and none of it comes from any desire to decrease the occurrence of injuries in the most violent sport around by the NFL.
What lessons are to be learned from this ? Perhaps it is best to come up with something intriguing so people want to watch, them sell lots of advertisements to generate revenue.
The other thought I've had is how difficult it is to break into the NFL's monopoly on football. Simply put, no one else could make a league that can really compete with them for violent outdoor sports. The only other option to really consider is soccer, which is also an outdoor sport and caters to the same type of fans.
Tuesday, October 19, 2010
The T.Ocho Show
I just saw an ad for the T.Ocho show, a sports radio talk show featuring Terrell Owens and Chad Ochocinco (formerly Chad Johnson). I also noticed that the Cincinnati Bengals have a record of 2-3. Stuff like this never seems to help the team win games.
I also have been thinking about Shaq's attempts at media relevancy like his show "Shaq versus" and his blatant attempts the past few years to hop onto a good team in the hopes of winning an easy championship. Then I read a comment from Doc Rivers about Shaq's terrible freethrow shooting form doesn't bother Doc Rivers and immediately decided the Celtics won't win another championship.
Doc Rivers' coaching style is not one to push and prod youngsters but instead to get maximum effort and concentration out of veterans. Doc is just not going to get any production out of Shaq and Shaq will instead sap the teams concentration and effort throughout the season.
Celtics = done.
Destroyed by Shaq.
I also have been thinking about Shaq's attempts at media relevancy like his show "Shaq versus" and his blatant attempts the past few years to hop onto a good team in the hopes of winning an easy championship. Then I read a comment from Doc Rivers about Shaq's terrible freethrow shooting form doesn't bother Doc Rivers and immediately decided the Celtics won't win another championship.
Doc Rivers' coaching style is not one to push and prod youngsters but instead to get maximum effort and concentration out of veterans. Doc is just not going to get any production out of Shaq and Shaq will instead sap the teams concentration and effort throughout the season.
Celtics = done.
Destroyed by Shaq.
Monday, October 11, 2010
Bleacher Report Articles
I'm trying to think up a couple of topical articles for BR about college football and the disparity between perception and reality. One is the concept of preseason rankings and what contributes to a team being over-rated to start the pre-season. Another is what causes good teams to lose (like Alabama did recently). Another good topic is the concept of drive.
I want to do some serious college football writing and get the feedback from the community to sharpen my knowledge and give me more evidence. Rely upon the memory and passion of the whole community to broaden my knowledge.
Yes!
I want to do some serious college football writing and get the feedback from the community to sharpen my knowledge and give me more evidence. Rely upon the memory and passion of the whole community to broaden my knowledge.
Yes!
Sunday, October 10, 2010
Face reading
Just had another flash of inspiration.
Perhaps data analysis and whatnot is too crowded of a scene. Perhaps a better tack is the path less taken, the concept of focusing solely on emotional aspects of a team. Trying to find a few people who are good at reading facial expressions and unleashing them on college football.
I don't know.
Too big of a problem to wrap my head around.
Perhaps data analysis and whatnot is too crowded of a scene. Perhaps a better tack is the path less taken, the concept of focusing solely on emotional aspects of a team. Trying to find a few people who are good at reading facial expressions and unleashing them on college football.
I don't know.
Too big of a problem to wrap my head around.
College Football
I had a wide ranging discussion last night with one of the foremost authorities on college football, and we discussed misconceptions in college football and the absurd amount of data and time required to do a proper job of understanding college football and why stuff happens the way it does.
The biggest issues currently are:
1) Data collection
2) Time to make analysis decisions
These are both time consuming, especially data collection. There is just so much information out there.
The biggest issues currently are:
1) Data collection
2) Time to make analysis decisions
These are both time consuming, especially data collection. There is just so much information out there.
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