Ask Superman

With a bevy of knowledge across the major four, there has been some(though not enough for me to think this is going to last, or be near as successful as Ask Jim), it's been suggested on multiple fronts that I do a similar thing for Sports. With a BS in Statistics, a lot of my college time was devoted to dissecting and creating new stats, which caused me to watch tons of sports(a travesty I know) having watched the NBA since 92, NHL since 94, NFL since 95, and MLB since 96, I've seen a lot of games. I also have friends that are "in the biz" who give me tapes of games for the hell of it when they're done. So, go ahead, ask me anything, opinion, fact, whatever.

(soccer fans need not apply)

Right now, I'm on the OKC puts it together at the trading deadline after adding a valuable bench player and makes a run. I think that Westbrook and Durant both have chips from last year, and both have additional chips with the supposed rift everyone's been reporting. As far as the East, I see the Heat coming out as long as they don't face a deep team(Pacers) in the playoffs. overall depth is going to kill them because of the compressed season and the age of their valuable bench players(Miller, Battier)

Originally Posted by Suntan Superman

Right now, I'm on the OKC puts it together at the trading deadline after adding a valuable bench player and makes a run. I think that Westbrook and Durant both have chips from last year, and both have additional chips with the supposed rift everyone's been reporting. As far as the East, I see the Heat coming out as long as they don't face a deep team(Pacers) in the playoffs. overall depth is going to kill them because of the compressed season and the age of their valuable bench players(Miller, Battier)

Im a miami fan but.. Pacers? LOL.. You do know that the heat blew them out by over 30 points... No sir... pacers wont make it past the 2nd round.. they prolly wont make it past the first round. It will be heat vs thunder in the finals. Bulls are the only real threat to the heat in the east. Indiana and Philly are having flukey type early parts of their season.. I'm glad to for them, but they aren't serious threats. As for the west.. I don't see anyone being a threat.. MAYBE San Antonio if they get ginobli back.. but even then, i think OKC matches up well against them.

Originally Posted by FlamesofFury

Im a miami fan but.. Pacers? LOL.. You do know that the heat blew them out by over 30 points... No sir... pacers wont make it past the 2nd round.. they prolly wont make it past the first round. It will be heat vs thunder in the finals. Bulls are the only real threat to the heat in the east. Indiana and Philly are having flukey type early parts of their season.. I'm glad to for them, but they aren't serious threats. As for the west.. I don't see anyone being a threat.. MAYBE San Antonio if they get ginobli back.. but even then, i think OKC matches up well against them.

Sigh, so I don't know if anyone introduced you to this thing called "sample size" but it's really a great tool to use when evaluating players and teams. If you watch one game of one team, and predict their success against the same team in the future you're in for more surprises than most think... I mean, as I recall did the Bulls not beat the Heat in the Regular Season last year, and then lose in the ECF? Teams changes, strategies change, players are hurt, etc. And either way, if we were talking about an 82 game regular season like all the rest, I'd be more on the Heat's side, but this is a 66 game shortened season that's bound to take a toll on players both young and old, especially those with not a lot of depth(like the Heat) If Bosh/James/Wade keep posting high mpgs, it's gonna be interesting come playoff time. Their bench isn't really that great(though upgraded from last year definitely) Mike Miller(who's never healthy) Shane Battier(a defensive 3 pointer ala Bruce Bowen these days), Juwan Howard(Every other member of the fab five is retired), Norris Cole(a great role player, but the young man in an old mans group) is going up against George Hill(a terrific sixth man in San Antonio and should be no different, capable to start ahead of Collison as well), Paul George(excellent defender and coming into his own this year, can slot at 2 or 3), Tyler Hansbrough(good hustle player, not much else). I don't know about you, but I'd take the Pacers bench over the Heat's bench eight days out of the week, and with this season the way it is, the ability to spread minutes around and as deep as the Pacers can(Amundson/Foster/Stephenson are all good 5-10 mpg players)

And don't get me wrong, I'm not saying the Pacers definitely take a seven game series if they play the Heat, but they are the type of team that's capable of beating the Heat because of their extraordinary depth.

I actually missed the second part of your post because I figured it was just more drivel, but the Sixers and the Pacers aren't really flukes, they're both well-coached, well balanced teams. They aren't going to run anyone out of the building, and while Granger and Iggy are Stars, they're not quite Superstar status. Really the only thing flukey about either team is Spencer Hawes, but once he starts to drift back to the 3pt line, he should regress, unless Collins actually can get him to stay in that 10-15 foot range, then he could be exactly what the Sixers need at the 5.

Originally Posted by Suntan Superman

Sigh, so I don't know if anyone introduced you to this thing called "sample size" but it's really a great tool to use when evaluating players and teams. If you watch one game of one team, and predict their success against the same team in the future you're in for more surprises than most think... I mean, as I recall did the Bulls not beat the Heat in the Regular Season last year, and then lose in the ECF? Teams changes, strategies change, players are hurt, etc. And either way, if we were talking about an 82 game regular season like all the rest, I'd be more on the Heat's side, but this is a 66 game shortened season that's bound to take a toll on players both young and old, especially those with not a lot of depth(like the Heat) If Bosh/James/Wade keep posting high mpgs, it's gonna be interesting come playoff time. Their bench isn't really that great(though upgraded from last year definitely) Mike Miller(who's never healthy) Shane Battier(a defensive 3 pointer ala Bruce Bowen these days), Juwan Howard(Every other member of the fab five is retired), Norris Cole(a great role player, but the young man in an old mans group) is going up against George Hill(a terrific sixth man in San Antonio and should be no different, capable to start ahead of Collison as well), Paul George(excellent defender and coming into his own this year, can slot at 2 or 3), Tyler Hansbrough(good hustle player, not much else). I don't know about you, but I'd take the Pacers bench over the Heat's bench eight days out of the week, and with this season the way it is, the ability to spread minutes around and as deep as the Pacers can(Amundson/Foster/Stephenson are all good 5-10 mpg players)

And don't get me wrong, I'm not saying the Pacers definitely take a seven game series if they play the Heat, but they are the type of team that's capable of beating the Heat because of their extraordinary depth.

BTW, then neither can u make an argument for the pacers.. so u already made your first point useless.. If anything.. the bulls have more depth than the pacers. Better too. By the way, you can keep the pacers bench.. I'll have the heat starters. And i dont care about how condensed this season is.. if they're healthy, they'll play 30+ minutes a night each. And they'll continue to do what they do best. The heat bench isnt that bad. Millers getting like 6-12 a game, Cole 6-10 a game, Haslem 2-8 a game plus 10 boards, Battier all his defense plus haslem's defense. I'll take miami's bench. They supply what miami's starters lack.. defense. Joel Anthony is the only consistent defender of the heat's starting 5. The only person I'm concerned about the whole shortened schedule is wade.. because he's been injured twice already. He seems to be healthy or near 100% (if u look at the game from the knicks where he just returned). Pacers have a great team. If they face orlando or atlanta or boston or milwaukee or one of those lower seed teams.. I can see them winning. If the pacers face the bulls or heat. I don't see it. Bulls defense is too great.. and Miami's overall talent defense and offense is better than Indy's. Indy wont get swept no matter who they play. I see them winning at least 1-2 games depending who they play.

What teams do you see crumbling before the season ends? (in terms of seeds, rosters, whatever)

Will D12 be traded before the deadline, and who do you think has the best chance of landing D12 in a trade?

And will the Knicks get their act together before the season ends to land a decent playoff spot?

Originally Posted by Epic Andy

What teams do you see crumbling before the season ends? (in terms of seeds, rosters, whatever)

Will D12 be traded before the deadline, and who do you think has the best chance of landing D12 in a trade?

And will the Knicks get their act together before the season ends to land a decent playoff spot?

orlando, boston (shortened schedule plus they havent really played miami yet or chicago).. possibly the 76ers.. i can see the clippers falling off too..

Nope. Orlando won't get a good enough deal and will stick with him for the 2012 playoffs and then lose him for nothing..

Sorta.. they won't lose as much to crappy teams like cleveland.. The highest seed they will be is 5.. at best.. I see them as a 7th seed though.

And yes i know it's the ask SS thread but i like talking about basketball so :P

What caused the failure - or at least minimized effectiveness - of Billy Beane's "moneyball" approach? Was it the adoption of advanced statistical analysis on a wider basis throughout the MLB? The increased valuation of prospects? Or was it really an overblown system to begin with that really just found success based on an epic rotation of talent that the A's had?