"I start with the team because it is the team that wins and loses, not individuals. I have not emphasized this enough throughout the book: Understand the team first and its players second (assuming the goal is winning, not improvement of players, which is more common at lower levels)." Key Takeaways: Basic Tools to Evaluate Team … Continue reading Finishing Basketball on Paper
Basketball on Paper: Scorers & G.O.A.T.s
"This is the problem for coaches, a lot of whom have been raised with the thought that more equal distribution of the ball is better, especially when their stars aren't very efficient. Coaches want even more distribution of the ball, but should they?" Key Takeaways: Volume Scorer Conundrum Individual W/L Contribution G.O.A.T. Volume Scorers The … Continue reading Basketball on Paper: Scorers & G.O.A.T.s
Basketball on Paper: Reading the Box Score
"Wake up in the morning, take a shower, and have breakfast over the box scores. It's the perfect way to start a day." Key Takeaways: Where was the game won? Estimated Pace of Play Numbers that Stand Out My parents would grab the newspaper and I'd steal the sports section as soon as they'd set … Continue reading Basketball on Paper: Reading the Box Score
Basketball on Paper: Individual Performances
"These statistics can tell you whether a player who is scoring a lot is really doing it like Mike or if he's doing it like Isaiah (Rider). The star players will have high ratings and use a high percentage of their team's possessions. The good role players will have high ratings and use a low … Continue reading Basketball on Paper: Individual Performances
Basketball on Paper: Playing the Blame-Game
"Players don't win games, teams do. As a result, players shouldn't look for their own points, they should look to maximize team points. Players shouldn't care about stopping their own man if it means that other guys are scoring easily against teammates. Basketball is a team game, where winning as a team is all that … Continue reading Basketball on Paper: Playing the Blame-Game
Basketball on Paper: Game Theory
"Quantification of individual credit on a basketball team is one of the main goals of this book as well. I want to engineer the success of a team of individuals, first and foremost. But "engineering," almost by its very nature, means breaking success down into its different components and understanding the value of those components." … Continue reading Basketball on Paper: Game Theory
Basketball on Paper: Teamwork & Stat Significance
"The statistics won't replace a book on how to coach a team and certainly cannot replace the experience of learning/playing the sport with your hands on a basketball. But for a coach whose job revolves around getting players to cooperate, it is important that statistics reflect, to some degree, how well they are doing." Key … Continue reading Basketball on Paper: Teamwork & Stat Significance
Basketball on Paper: Best Offense & Defense
"The point in looking at great teams is to find consistencies among those teams, patterns that may suggest how to construct other teams or at least how to predict what teams might be great." Key Takeaways: 4 Significant Stats 3 Point Line & Pace System vs Star This chapter looks at some of the best … Continue reading Basketball on Paper: Best Offense & Defense
Basketball on Paper: How It Works
"This book does not introduce new offensive structures or defensive schemes." "Instead, this book was originally conceived as an aid to coaches in a more general manner. The most obvious specific contribution is through several statistical measures." Key Takeaways: Chapters 1 & 2 What to Expect Score Sheet Intro to PPP Former NBA/WNBA Front Office … Continue reading Basketball on Paper: How It Works
