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The Eddy Curry Story: More Money, More Problems

August 10, 2010 by Harlan Schreiber 2 Comments

One of the side stories that has consumed the NBA the last few years is the many high profile bankruptcies of NBA players after their careers end. In a well-remembered Sports Illustrated story from 2009 by Pablo S. Torre, it was estimated that 60% of NBA players go bankrupt within two years of retirement. The article discussed the factors that led to the players losing astounding sums of money so quickly: hiring cronies to manage the cash, investing heavily in real estate (and … [Read more...] about The Eddy Curry Story: More Money, More Problems

Reflections on the LeBron Watch

July 8, 2010 by Harlan Schreiber 1 Comment

The big news of the day is that soon the LeBron James Saga will be over. On Thursday night, James will announce his decision on ESPN on prime time. The whole spectacle raises all sorts of interesting questions, both basketball and human nature related. We can't definitively answer any of those questions now (or perhaps ever in some cases) but, still, this whole event some reflection and investigation. Let's take a stab at some these issues: -Where is LeBron going? I have no idea … [Read more...] about Reflections on the LeBron Watch

NBA Draft 2010: Top Players by Position

June 24, 2010 by Ed Weiland 6 Comments

I wanted to do a quick rundown on how I rank the players by position, since the previews weren’t always clear on that. The 30 players in bold are the top 30 and basically the ones I would assign to teams in round one if I were the GM of all the teams at the same time, whatever that means. Point Guard John Wall Jeremy Lin Greivis Vasquez Dee Bost Ben Uzoh Armon Johnson Mikhail Torrance … [Read more...] about NBA Draft 2010: Top Players by Position

Most Improved, A Review

May 3, 2010 by Harlan Schreiber Leave a Comment

Is there anything sillier than the NBA Most Improved Award? The parameters of the award are confusing and the application is often incorrectly applied, no matter which standard most people would reasonably apply. Here are the possible standards of "improvement": -Good young player steadily improving -Player with no previous expectations or who was considered a good player but becomes good out of nowhere -Established player in his prime going from good to very good (i.e. peak … [Read more...] about Most Improved, A Review

Monta Ellis and PT Examined

February 24, 2010 by Harlan Schreiber Leave a Comment

A lot has been made in the NBA stat analysis community that Monta Ellis is a bit overrated. Ellis' rate states are quite gaudy. He has 25.8 ppg, 5.4 apg, and 4.2 rpg. On the other side, Ellis is playing 41.5 mpg and has a rather pedestrian 16.9 PER based on his mediocre shooting, mediocre free throw rate (compared to touches), below-average three point shooting (.327%), and his high turnover rate (3.6 TOs per-36 minutes). Of course it takes a degree of talent to play 41.5 mpg to begin with … [Read more...] about Monta Ellis and PT Examined

Quick Thoughts From Orlando-Cleveland Showdown

February 12, 2010 by Harlan Schreiber Leave a Comment

As the first half winds down, we were treated to the two best teams in the NBA matching up in Cleveland last night. Here are some observations from the game: -This has been true for a while now but LeBron James is clearly the best player in the NBA (and probably the world). Despite some early shooting issues, he controlled this game on all levels and then killed the Magic in the last few minutes off the dribble or the pass. LBJ's numbers are basically in line with 2007-08 and 2008-09 so … [Read more...] about Quick Thoughts From Orlando-Cleveland Showdown