On Retired Numbers

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Recently, the 76ers finally retired Moses Malone’s number and OKC retired uber-role player Nick Collison’s number.  This reminded of a study I did back in 2004, when the Spurs retired Sean Elliott’s jersey.  At the time, I was struck by the decision.  Elliott was a pretty good player but not a top tier star that one would expect to get the retirement treatment.  The disparate types of players got me wondering what criteria are used in this process.  At the time, I wrote an article studying which … [Read more...] about On Retired Numbers

Quick Thoughts

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1. Thibs Canned: Today, the Wolves did the unexpected and fired Tim Thibodeau as coach and GM.  The Wolves have not been great so far (18-21, 11th in the West) but they haven’t been much worse than reasonable expectations, which pegged them as a lower seeded playoff team.  According to Adrian Wonjarowski of ESPN, the firing came because the team didn’t like how Thibodeau handled the Jimmy Butler affair and because Thibodeau had a bad relationship with CEO Ethan Casson, who had “concerns on the … [Read more...] about Quick Thoughts

Quick Thoughts

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1. GS Struggles: The Warriors are still the top seed in the West but, after several blowout losses at home and a relatively blah SRS (4.02 which is only third in the conference), there are signs of problems.   The Warriors are still the top offense in the NBA but the clearest team problem is defense.  The Warriors slipped from a top 5 defense to 11th last season.  This trend line has slipped even further this year (16th). Where does the slippage lie?  The frontcourt still has solid numbers … [Read more...] about Quick Thoughts

Detroit and Denver, 186-184 (a quick look back)

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On December 13, 1983, the Nuggets and Pistons played the highest scoring game ever, a 186-184 triple-overtime affair.  I thought we could run through a few fast facts about the game: -Conditions were quite set for a high scoring game.  The Pistons had much of the core of the Bad Boy defensive stalwarts of the late 1980s team but this earlier Pistons team was offense-first.  Detroit was top in the NBA in offense and only 16th on defense (5th in pace).  Denver was its usual all-offense team … [Read more...] about Detroit and Denver, 186-184 (a quick look back)

Quick Thoughts

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1. Whither Melo?: Carmelo Anthony’s quick exile from Houston has put his future career in limbo and raised questions about his future and his past.  Recently, Kirk Goldsberry wrote a thoughtful piece for ESPN that made the point that Melo’s strengths, creating mid-range shots one-on-one and posting up, are obsolete in today’s NBA that emphasizes ball movement and three-pointers.  Goldsberry further notes that Anthony’s antiquated style can’t work because, even at his peak, Melo’s trueshooting … [Read more...] about Quick Thoughts

Enes Kanter and Turkey’s Best

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This week, Enes Kanter, in response to being omitted from a list of Turkish NBA players, declared that he is the best Turkish basketball player ever.  Mehmet Okur quickly took the time to tweet disapproval, saying that “this is just funny,” with an laughing emoji, meant to indicate that Memo was clearly better than Kanter.  So, we have a bona fide issue: who is the best Turkish basketball player ever?  Let’s break it down: The Pretenders First, let’s remember the guys with no credible … [Read more...] about Enes Kanter and Turkey’s Best

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