The concept of the NBA All-Star game (like most All-Star games), is more interesting in theory than in reality.  It’s great to debate who deserves to be chosen and to see the superstars play.  Ultimately, the game is a letdown because the players rarely can manufacture the intensity and it has the feel of a casual pickup game. Despite all that, following the fan vote is fun.  It is a glorified popularity contest and there have been some crazy outcomes.  This has changed a bit this year, where … [Read more...] about Fan All-Star Voting, It’s Fantastic!

Are NBA teams shooting too many threes?  The three-point shot was instituted in 1979-80 and, since then, its use has been going almost straight upwards.  To get a concrete sense of how this trend has played out, here is a chart of the average three-pointers made and attempted by the average team per game since … [Read more...] about Examining the Three-Point Barrage

The big story last week involved an interview that Knicks GM Phil Jackson gave to ESPN, where, per his usual protocol, he was quite candid in his opinions about many things.  The big public takeaway from the interview was that Jackson’s comments about LeBron James and his management team (which is comprised of many lifelong friends), which were called LBJ’s “posse.”  The consensus was that Jackson’s comment was, at best, disrespectful, and, at worst, subtly racist. Is it fair to criticize … [Read more...] about Phil and the Posse