SB Nation User Blog: soem

East-West Structural Imbalance -- Is it a Problem?

soem — Tue, 11 Mar 2008 07:38:45 -0000

The East has strong incentives (structurally and financially) to keep the imbalance in place.

9 West teams could win 50+ games with one not making the playoffs.
5 East teams with losing records could get into the playoffs.

East Incentives to Dog it During the Season:

#1 Collusion - If they(East) all dog it, they all can rest players, and still compete for playoffs.

#2 At Draft time, even East playoff teams will have picks way before West teams, because the East teams have much worse records (overall).

#3 Its the best of both worlds. They(East) make the playoffs -- and they get to draft better players than the West (even a better draft position than many West teams that didn't make the playoffs)

#4 Reaching the playoffs helps clubs financially. Shouldn't that come because of merit (performance) rather than some structural trickery.

Simple Solution: Stern & Co seed the best 16 teams.

Poof goes the structural imbalance incentives. At least a team would no longer get to the playoffs by dogging it as a group (East GMs).

Nash Annoying Habit

soem — Sat, 16 Feb 2008 19:10:30 -0000

Every time he did it, I cringed as Steve Nash jumped under our elevating players.

Nash doesn't get criticized for much, but it really annoys me when he jumps under our players who have already elevated toward the basket.

http://lh6.google.com/scottape/R7RPjRQAz0I/AAAAAAAAALI/oKRGfy6V8LU/a1796ce8d2d01dc4222e005b495fb3be- getty-76075922jj014_phoenix_suns_%5B1%5D.jpg?imgmax=512

Thankfully, the refs were not buying his flops in the last PHX-Warrior game.

Obviously, Nash knows that once a player leaps and leaves the floor, jumping under them at that point is a blocking foul, by rule. So why does he continue to make that move so often? Is it to injure more athletic players to slow them down? Is it to trade on his MVP reputation, in effect asking the refs to help him out by making charge-calls when they shouldn't?

It is such a dangerous move to jump under elevated players, that it just annoys me every time I see Nash make the move. But I guess nothing will be done until some player really gets hurt or paralyzed -- then the league might step in with a rule on that particular play.

0.600 & Baron as All Star linked?

soem — Wed, 16 Jan 2008 19:18:43 -0000

Is a 0.600+ Warrior winning percentage and Baron Davis getting into the All Star game linked?

With a win tonight at Indiana, the Warriors will reach the 0.600 win percentage mark for the first time. It would be a snub of major proportions to not have a representative of a 0.600+ team at the All-Star game. At 0.600+, it also means that Denver and Utah will be behind the Warriors in the standings. A win tonight will accomplish those key milstones (win pct and standings advantage). So, the best thing the team can do to get Baron to the All-Star game is to keep winning until the All-Star team members are chosen by the coaches.

Theory: Lazy Refs Call More Fouls

soem — Mon, 31 Dec 2007 18:37:00 -0000

Lazy refs call more fouls to slow the game down so they can rest. This dramatically affects run-and-gun style teams like the Warriors. Is this a dirty little inside secret that players and coaches know all about?

This theory just fits the facts I have been observing over the last few years. When the Warriors get to run their style without many interruptions, they can and do wear out the other team. And they can wear out the refs too!

Now lazy may be a little strong, but lets say one or more of the three refs each night is: a bit injured; or, a little tired; or, a bit out of shape; or, mentally fatigued; or, on a back-to-back; etc. A ref in that condition does not want to see the run-and-gun Warriors flying up and down the court. But there is something they can do to get their rest, call fouls.

I have observed this a lot with two kinds of ref decisions: rest fouls and punishment non-calls. You saw a perfect example of a punishment non-call in the Minnesota game when Antoine Walker just ran over (dislodged) Capt Jack several times. The -lazy refs- make their rest fouls against the Warriors and then allow the other team to punish the Warriors physically with non-calls (sending a message -- you run, and we will punish you).

All it takes is one ref per game. I'll be watching this all year. And I bet the NBA has data on this, but good luck getting your hands on it.