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What November Means

December 2, 2007 by Ed Weiland Leave a Comment

The first full month is in the books. I’m going to look at what a teams’ conference rank on 11/30 has historically meant and what it means for teams in 2007-08. Here’s a look at each seed at the end of play on November 30th and how well they’ve continued to play. This table goes back to the 1983-84 season, when the current 16-team playoff format began. The column on the left is the team rank on 11/30. The row across the top indicates the final standings. The numbers in the chart show … [Read more...] about What November Means

A Few Things We Learned This First Week

November 8, 2007 by benpincus Leave a Comment

Although the season has just begun, there are, with apologies to certain former U.S. president, a few truths that have become self-evident. Here are five very early season stories that created some buzz, at least within this author’s mind. 1. The Celtics are really that good With Ray Allen, Kevin Garnett and Paul Pierce leading the way the Celtics leap to a 3-0 start and a ridiculous 16.3 margin of victory per game. Assuming health, this team is clearly for real. But with just … [Read more...] about A Few Things We Learned This First Week

NBA Preview 2007-08: Most Improved Player

November 7, 2007 by Ed Weiland Leave a Comment

Who wins the Most Improved Players award? Typically it’s scorers. The winner has usually upped his scoring average by at least 7 PPG to the high teens or low 20s. The winner also tends to be a younger player, in his 2nd or 3rd season. Team success and position played have little to do with who wins this award. This award has been somewhat of a surprise the last 3 seasons, with few experts having spotted winners Simmons, Diaw and Ellis. Any player whose season has a “whoa, where did … [Read more...] about NBA Preview 2007-08: Most Improved Player

Q&A With Kyle Wright and “The NBA Top to Bottom”

November 2, 2007 by Harlan Schreiber Leave a Comment

The following is a question/answer session I recently conducted with journalist Kyle Wright. Kyle just wrote, "The NBA Top to Bottom", a fascinating new book where he ranks every single NBA team in history. For any casual fan or even an NBA buff, there is sufficient amount of data to digest and have fun with. Kyle was nice enough to sit down and talk with us for a few moments about his book, his methodology, and some of the interesting issues raised: -Why don't you tell … [Read more...] about Q&A With Kyle Wright and “The NBA Top to Bottom”

Playoff Droughts

October 25, 2007 by Harlan Schreiber Leave a Comment

Last season Golden State ended a 13-year postseason drought in spectacular fashion. The Warriors broke an even longer streak by getting to the second round for the first time since 1990-91 when RUN TMC shocked David Robinson's Spurs. I thought it would be fun to go through and see the current longest postseason droughts. Here's a list of each franchise and the last time they made the playoffs AND actually won a round: -Atlanta Hawks: Last in the playoffs in 1998-99, which is … [Read more...] about Playoff Droughts

A Little More on GP

October 20, 2007 by Harlan Schreiber Leave a Comment

Usually when a Hall of Fame level player retires, we like to do a comprehensive write up of his career. Clearly, Gary Payton falls into that category. In Payton's case, we already gave him that treatment back in 2004 when he returned to Seattle for the first time. More recently, J.A. Adande wrote a nice article on Payton's current state of mind (GP is 99% sure he has retired) and reflected on his career a little bit. John Hollinger wrote a nice side piece about Payton and how … [Read more...] about A Little More on GP