We review our preseason NBA predictions, three-point defense, Steph Curry, and how silly the MVP race is.
Hosts
- Dre Alvarez (@nerdnumbers)
- Produced by Brian Foster (@boxscorebrian)
Sources
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Video Show
Show Notes
We discuss the Boxscore Geeks Vegas portfolio, which did not end well! A few games went our way last night (not Boston!) I discuss why predictions are still hard.
We talk how weak Boston is for a #1 seed in regards to star power. Can't recall the last time this happened.
In honor of Westbrook's triple-double record, I brought back the top ten boxscores of the week!
Justin Kubatko noted since Jokic became a starter, the Nuggets have the best offense in the NBA.
I discuss some of the issues with the criticisms of Jokic's defense. Tune in!
Speaking of defense, we discuss Krishna Narsu's great post on analyzing shot defense. Give it a read, but one of the takes I love is being willing to drop noisy or bad data from your analysis.
This old post is a reminder of an issue with the "science" in a lot of the basketball analytics community. Mainly I throw this out here for the Richard Feynman video on science.
Curry had a press conference where he noted he's not worse this season, his points per game are just down. We don't entirely agree with him not being worse (to be fair, last season was historic), but do agree with points driving perception.
Unsurprisingly Curry still has the top jersey in the NBA. Brian notes most of the top jerseys are Cavs and Warriors, or, basically, fans like winners. I do give some love to Giannis for cracking the top ten.
Brian notes a Reddit post on the least valuable players in the NBA. We discuss some of our own worst players.
I use the MVP race as an excuse to discuss video games and the great book Console Wars by Blake J. Harris. There are multiple worthy candidates, but because we can only have one fans have started polarizing around their pick, much like people would between Nintendo and Sega back in the day.
Also, I've used this example a few times but couldn't remember the player's name. Felix Hernandez in 2010 won the American League Cy Young Award with a win-loss record of 13-12. I'm skeptical the NBA ever gets this "advanced" in their award giving.
Shout out to Charlie Murphy, who sadly passed away from leukemia.