A Waste of Potential

  

Tracy McGrady was, for a period of about 7 years, one of the truly elite players in the NBA. A world class scorer with a gift for lifting mediocre teams to respectability, the most notable aspect of his legacy is being the best player never to advance past the first round of the playoffs. He is currently the highest paid player in the NBA, and he is being shopped by the Rockets for a fraction of what he might have been worth a couple of years ago. The tale of how he got to this point is both fascinating and depressing, and serves as a reminder that while the NBA is so often measured in potential, a great deal of it is never realized.

You can email Chris with questions or comments at TheSportsKiosK@gmail.com

The Week That Was

  

Not the most exciting weekend in the NFL. The games that were good lacked much in the way of interesting storylines, and the most interesting thing anyone can find to talk about in hindsight is what team is having the worst collapse. That said, most of the games had at least a nugget of interesting action lurking within, so an NFL roundup seems in order.

You can email Chris with questions or comments at TheSportsKiosK@gmail.com

Second Class Citizens

   

There is an elite class of NBA player: the few who are good enough to be the best player on a championship team. This doesn't mean that they will, mind you, but merely that they could. Whether you know this by history, by anecdote, or simply by feeling, they are the most elite fraternity in the NBA. Lebron, Kobe, Wade, Paul, Howard, Nash, Nowitzki, Carmelo, and Duncan* (henceforth referred to as the “Big 9”). That’s it. Nine guys. You might be saying, “But that means only those 9 teams could conceivably win the title this year”; that’s correct. That’s how the NBA works: your best player matters more than anything else, and they are more important to their team's success than in any other sport.

You can email Chris with questions or comments at TheSportsKiosK@gmail.com

Missing St. Paul

Chris Paul is a player whose ability nearly supercedes superlatives. The best point guard in the NBA. Undoubtedly one of the 5 best players in the league. A multiple time all star who lifts the play of his teammates as well as anyone. A gifted passer who can also get to the rim at will and shoot from anywhere on the floor, as well as one of the best ball hawking guards on defense. His game is nearly without flaw, and yet, due to circumstance alone, he is also saddled with a far less desirable superlative: The best irrelevant player in the NBA.

You can email Chris with questions or comments at TheSportsKiosK@gmail.com

4th and Miles to Go

In my last article I talked a bit about the NFL’s unwillingness to accept the statistical modernization of their game, particularly when compared to baseball and basketball. This point was made in haste, and only as far as it applied to a particularly inept clock manager. I’ve felt that the lack of objectivity in football has held the strategy of the sport back for some time, and I probably get to see some example of the phenomenon every week, even if it doesn’t always affect the outcome of the game. I was totally unprepared, however, when not one but 2 outstanding instances of statistical thinking at work fell into my lap the very same day I published my Andy Reid article.

You can email Chris with questions or comments at TheSportsKiosK@gmail.com

Is Andy Reid a Big Fat Idiot?

Anyone who watches enough professional football inevitably comes to the same conclusion. "These coaches are morons. I could clearly do a better job." Most of the time it's an easy enough assertion to refute. There are 53 players on an NFL team, all with unique skill sets and roles. An offensive and defensive play book the size of a phone book that has to be created, then taught to an army of assistants, followed by direct oversight of said assistants as they teach it to an army of players. 16-18 hour days, 7 days a week for months on end. Most of us are perfectly willing to admit that we're not only under-qualified for the job, but that it probably isn't all that much fun, either, given that 2 bad weeks in the NFL will have a lynch mob waiting outside your house.

Why, then, can't Andy Reid, someone who has had an undeniable amount of success in the NFL, make an incredibly simple decision correctly?

You can email Chris with questions or comments at TheSportsKiosK@gmail.com