SB Nation User Blog: poster

Batum Mentioned in Draftexpress

poster — Mon, 01 Dec 2008 18:53:19 -0000

Batum Mentioned in Draftexpress

"There was a big buzz around the team about local product Nicolas Batum—the player we came to scout this time last year—now starting for the Portland Trailblazers after being drafted in the first round last June. He had 15 points and 6 rebounds in the evening before the game, and is really acquainting himself well with American basketball. One of the journalists we met, Bruno Palmet of local newspaper Le Maine Libre mentioned having spoken to him that day and passed on how happy he is in Portland at the moment. The people in Le Mans are very happy to see Batum succeeding, as they put a significant effort into helping him develop.

It’s funny to look back a year ago and think about the evaluation we offered up back then—talking about a super versatile talent with incredible physical tools, but questioning whether he has the aggressive mentality required to be a lottery pick. A huge amount of confusion regarding the diagnosis of a minor heart problem, combined with his physical magically disappearing following a workout he conducted with the San Antonio Spurs, led him to being drafted by the Houston Rockets and then sent to Portland on draft night.

It’s not hard to pick up on the irony here. The team that diagnosed Batum with a heart problem—the Toronto Raptors—ended up selecting a player (Nathan Jawai) who’s career is now in doubt due to concerns over heart problems, while Batum is looking like one of the biggest steals of the draft. His perceived biggest weakness back when he was considered a potential lottery pick—a lack of aggressiveness—is exactly the reason why the Trailblazers love having him on the floor with their starting unit, as he brings an incredible amount of versatility to the table with his terrific defense, passing skills, basketball IQ and athleticism. His biggest weakness is now his biggest strength, having landed in the perfect situation, and he looks well on his way from what we can see early on."

Preseason stats: Information or Noise?

poster — Mon, 13 Oct 2008 18:05:20 -0000

Preseason stats: Information or Noise?

"While it's best to be cautious of such players, don't throw out preseason stats altogether. The evidence indicates there is some predictive value to how players play even in seemingly meaningless games." - Kevin Pelton, former Sonics stat geek

The tiny sample size of preseason rather than the lower competition appears to be the major factor for why it's not more predictive. Nevertheless, it does a surprisingly nice job of showing who put up stats in the regular season.

Quick's Sunday Update

poster — Sun, 12 Oct 2008 08:00:31 -0000

Quick's Sunday Update

Quick writes about Outlaw's role, Rudy with Roy starting at the wings, the players who will sit out of Sunday's game (Blake, Frye, Rudy, Przybilla, Roy, and Aldridge), and a few thoughts on Batum.

No Rudy or Przybilla Next Game

poster — Thu, 09 Oct 2008 22:30:32 -0000

No Rudy or Przybilla Next Game

"Not everyone is making the trip though. Rudy Fernandez (left ankle sprain) and Joel Przybilla (bronchitis) are staying staying behind to heal. I haven't heard about Martell Webster (broken bone in foot) or Steve Blake (pulled hamstring), but I bet they're not on the trip either. "

From Casey's blog, we will be down to only Oden and Hill at center and only Roy, Outlaw, Batum, and Jackson for the wings.

Microfracture Under the Microscope

poster — Tue, 30 Sep 2008 23:04:41 -0000

Microfracture Under the Microscope

"This is great news for Oden and the Blazers, who were very conservative following his surgery and immediately ruled him out for the entire 2007-08 season instead of trying to rush him back late in the year. On opening night, Oden will be 13-and-a-half months removed from his microfracture procedure, marking the second-longest rehab on record (Kittles, one of those two players to improve coming back, sat out 16.5 months, making him the top right dot on the chart)."

"Based solely on the length of his rehab, Oden would be expected to lose 4.7 of his per-minute productivity following the surgery. Add in the training-camp factor and that gets as low as a negligible 1.8 percent. Of course, as the first player to undergo the procedure prior to his rookie season, Oden does not have an established level of performance, but his college numbers project very nicely indeed. Using the translation system I introduced before this year's draft, Oden rates as the second-best prospect to enter the NBA dating back through 2000."

From former Sonics stat guy Kevin Pelton, microfracture doesn't appear to be a huge detriment in both the long and short run.

Nate is a good coach.

poster — Fri, 18 Apr 2008 19:28:24 -0000

Here's evidence that Nate is a good coach.

http://online.wsj.com/article/SB120846936079424371.html?mod=googlenews_wsj

It would be pretty simplistic to say that this is absolute. Our offense may improve after timeouts because we usually hand the ball to Roy after a timeout, for example. Our defense may improve...for some odd reason other than Nate that I can't think of.

There is more evidence that Nate is a good coach.

http://www.82games.com/USORT13.HTM

According to this, the third best 5-man unit per minute was the tiny ball lineup of Blake-Jack-Roy-Outlaw-Aldridge. I hated the three guard lineup like a lot of people on this site, but this suggests that it somehow seemed to work. Nate's oddball rotations couldn't have been that bad.

This is just something to argue against all of the threads calling for Nate's head.

Wow, where's the defense?

poster — Sun, 06 Jan 2008 20:34:22 -0000

I stumbled upon a site that looked at team efficiency. This site is different from others in that it can show how good a team is in efficiency at home versus on the road.

http://www.nbastuffer.com/content/blogsection/15/65/

For the season, the Blazers play at a slow pace. This is true wherever they play, which is good sign since is shows that the Blazers set the pace of the game. However, the change in defensive effeciency (points allowed per 100 possessions) is frightening. The Blazers are the 8th best defensive team at home but the 26th best defensive team on the road. A difference of 9.3 points per 100 possessions is almost the difference between us and Minnesota.

As a young team, I'm guessing this isn't that much of an oddity. It will likely be corrected in the future and whatnot. I suppose the good news is that this team is already very capable of playing strong defense without Oden...or any defensive rebounds in general.