So this weekend as I trolled the wires for breaking Chicago
Bears news (we’re in day 7 of the Brandon Marshall is going to have to clean
his act up tut-tutting from the Chicago Tribune), I found out that people still
believe in basketball metrics as some sort of tell all.
The latest being a soft criterion of who is the best closer
in the game. In this off-the-path
piece, I see that someone has crafted together a data set that shows Monta
Ellis to be the game’s best clutch player with David West as his cousin.
That’s right—because when you’re in the bar and asked who
you want taking the final shot in the imaginary scenario that has the game on
the line, you’re thinking David West and not Kobe.
As comic as this sounds, some bloggers run with this as if
it were revealing or if they were Theo Epstein’s protege. Any market
research professional would tell you that this is a flawed data set or bad criterion
if you’re coming up with bad names that have no place in your ranking.
Is this important? Hell no, but I find it more irritating as
I continue to troll the basketball circles for insight that doesn’t rely on “efficiency”
and “plus-minus.” This also puts Derrick Rose into the “he’s overrated category”
for the many who don’t want much else, other than ESPN and listen to others who
project their made-up criterion on players.
In this list, you can see they’ve concluded LeBron James is
the 50th ranked player when it comes to closing games (Derrick Rose
is 8th).
Wait, what?
While one of the most flawed aspects of his game, James is
still in nearly everyone’s mind to close a game for you even though he’s
relented in the past. He hit a game winner just last week and continues to make
plays that very few players can do in the history of the game. This is classic reductionism.
Magic Johnson wasn’t a great shooter, but does that mean he’s
standing on the sideline after the timeout?
I found myself making the same argument last year when Rose
was nearly certain of winning the MVP that season. This isn’t a Chicago Bulls
apology—because few have been as hard on the team as I have—it’s a basketball
argument.
Dumb is manifesting itself as intellectualism. You’ve read
these articles before: They tread through numbers as if they’re daunting—never considering
the million other variables that go into the results, considering coach’s
philosophy, offense, etc.—and then talk about said player needs to improve in
this category.
In other words, look at what you have done John Hollinger.
Derrick Rose told K.C. Johnson he’s barely running. This is
in the wake of a bad back, a sprained toe and various assumed ailments that he does
a good job masking.
It could be weeks before the Bulls get back their MVP, Rip
Hamilton is already picking out back splash tile for his vacation home with his
wife, CJ Watson is barely hanging on and Luol Deng doesn’t look like he’ll be
healthy again until next year.
And then the narrative just won’t go away: The Bulls
continue to win. This is a tip of the cap to Tom Thibodeau and, yes, GarPax
because if you’re ever watched a Washington Wizard game, you’ll know talent and
coaching aren’t automatic.
But the Bulls can only do this for so long as they’re
basically a jump shooting team without Derrick and you’re going to be off some
nights. The Bulls won’t get blown out of many of these games since they’re a
plucky group, but now it becomes a matter of whether they can hold onto the No.
1 seed. This would give the Bulls the Bucks, whom they’ve absolutely toasted
these past three years, or the Knicks and that would be delicious.
But more importantly, it would postpone a meeting with the
Pacers or 76ers further in the playoffs.
Until then, the Bulls need to hope Rip Hamilton actually matters to this
season.
Contact Mike Mitchell
at michaelkennethmitchell@gmail.com.
2 comments:
The injuries you mentioned are scary. It's one thing if you're missing a Ronnie Brewer or a Kyle Korver, but injuries to Rose and Deng severely undercut this team's chances. I'm already looking forward to the off-season because I think it will be more interesting than watching a crippled Bulls team try to beat Miami, or even Indiana. I would be ecstatic though if they could pull off the upset and beat Miami.
I saw some of the Blazers-Thunder game and it killed me to see Harden and Crawford going at each other. Each represented aspects of the ideal two guard for this Bulls team. Both could score and get to the hoop on almost anybody. I saw Crawford execute a killer crossover on Harden and hit a jumper at the quarter buzzer. The closest anyone on the Bulls could come to executing a wicked crossover (outside of Rose) is probably Watson, and even then he's probably like a poor man's version of Jamal Crawford. Imagine if such a weapon were on this Bulls team, and I'm only talking about Jamal Crawford! Is that too much to ask?
A bit off-topic here, but do you think the recent Boozer-Gasol rumors validate Sheridan's claim that Rose did not object to Bulls' management concerning the proposed trade? I understand Sheridan can be right about the trade and wrong about Rose's role, but later stories confirming the trade rumor seem to lend credence to the idea that Rose could have supported such a move.
The idea that anyone from the Bulls office seems highly unlikely given the fact that it only hurts their possibilities of a trade.
Agents usually leak this stuff because there is motive.
Pau wanted out because of being blamed for the Lakers' mediocre results. He and Rose share agents. That were just talking but no one wants Boozer on that contract. It's becoming the pink elephant and the Bulls won't have much wiggle room to get out of it in the coming years.
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