good bill simmons podcast, with Hollinger as guest

Deals with all the methodological discussions where most of our arguments hit a dead end. Is quality of player really measurable? Why do we have good stats for measuring some things but not other things that are equally measurable? Which stats are more meaningful than others?

Since Simmons considers himself a stats-opponent but obviously pays a lot of attention to Hollinger, Kevin Pelton and the like, this ends up being a very good exploration of the strengths and weaknesses of the current advanced stats landscape.

almost 3 years ago howlingfantods 7 comments 1 recs |

Story-email Email Printer Print

Comments

that was really really good

Boomshakalaka

by jksnake99 on Feb 18, 2009 10:14 AM PST reply actions

you know except for the bashing oden part

sigh
but at least hollinger diverted him.

but it surely was interesting and hollinger admitting that his stats are subpar but he is doing the best he can with what he has was refreshing

It was "mascot night" at the Rose Garden, which apparently translates to a dozen inflatable versions of various NBA mascots being chased around the arena by Portland's "Blaze", which is some breed of rapist dog. -PostingandToasting

by GreatOden'sRaven on Feb 18, 2009 11:05 AM PST up reply actions

he clearly hasn't watched a lot of Oden

I’d say a pretty small percentage of his fouls have come on over the back, rebouding type situations. The vast majority are fouling guys going to the hoop. Thus, the idea that his rebound rate is artificially high becuase he just goes after rebounds recklessly without regard to fouling to me just isn’t accurate.

Rule #1 of nitpicking is to get it right.

by douglast on Feb 18, 2009 11:29 AM PST up reply actions

Yeah, I think he's wrong there too

although the general principle that you can’t really commend someone for their aggression if their aggression is limiting their minutes is a fair one.

I don’t really get on Oden for his fouls, though; that’s just NBA big man growing pains, I remember Shaq spending plenty of time on the bench. Well, not as much as Oden but Shaq didn’t have a backup who was slightly better than him the way Oden does; I don’t blame Nate for using the foul excuse for going to Thrilla.

by howlingfantods on Feb 18, 2009 12:48 PM PST up reply actions

first time I've listened to Simmon's podcast

his voice is not at all what I imagined it would sound like.

Rule #1 of nitpicking is to get it right.

by douglast on Feb 18, 2009 11:30 AM PST reply actions

He's definitely got the voice for a columnist.

Sounds like a guy my sister could beat up………which isn’t an insult……..she’s a weightlifter.

I will fully admit that I love Simmons’ work. No, I don’t always agree with him, but I’ve always believed whether or not you agree with the point a writer is trying to make shouldn’t determine whether or not you like the writer. His podcasts are a bit underwhelming except for when he’s talking about the NBA, cause so few people in the national media really seem to be as interested in hoops these days.

Yes! Yes! In the face!

by LeafHawk on Feb 18, 2009 12:21 PM PST up reply actions

It's true Simmons has his biases, of course

and the Celtics one is an obvious one. His major problem though is that he has a tendency to attribute too much moral weight to old skool styles of play – the “right” way to play – and gets really stubborn about it even if his judgments predicated on these evaluations turn out wrong.

So the worst thing in his trade value column this year wasn’t the Oden/Durant stuff (which I thought was pretty fair and accurate), it was his continuing to run down OJ Mayo apparently because BS still can’t get over the alley oop to himself back when he was in high school. This also leads to his overrating Kevin Love (as the example of all that’s good and right with hoop because dude can toss the occasional nice outlet).

by howlingfantods on Feb 18, 2009 1:00 PM PST up reply actions