Category: sports

Football Analysis: Distribution of Positive-Negative Plays

I want to write about an approach to analyzing football that I haven’t seen yet. (It might exist, but I’m not aware of it.) The analysis would look at the sequence of plays to identify the distribution of positive and negative plays. (Note: Plays aren’t so binary, but tend to be more or less positive or negative. More on this later.) I think this can be important and revealing way of examining football–an approach that can reveal things that are hidden in statistics, especially the ones that are aggregates. To give a good example of this, Continue reading “Football Analysis: Distribution of Positive-Negative Plays”

What is a Pro-Style Offense?

I wanted to discuss the concept of a pro-style offense. I’ve heard this over many years, I’ve had a vague understanding this, but I’ve never really read anything that provided a more precise definition (at least, nothing I can really remember). By “explain,” I’m not necessarily thinking about nitty-gritty details of specific plays (e.g., blocking schemes, receiver routes, etc.) but rather more general principles and concepts. I wanted to talk about the latter, mainly to see if you guys agree or not with my understanding.

Before I start I need to make one clarification. Pro-style is not necessarily synonymous with NFL offenses, especially if we’re thinking about current NFL offenses. My understanding is that current NFL offenses blend pro-style offenses and spread passing offenses. When I say “pro style” I’m referring specifically to the NFL offenses prior to blending the run-and-shoot–i.e., early 90s or prior to that.

OK, let’s start. Here’s how I would sum up a pro-style offense: Continue reading “What is a Pro-Style Offense?”

Whose Jump Shot Would You Want to Have?

Since Mitchell isn’t a big basketball fan, I’ll also include the pitcher you’d want to throw like. By the way, I guess you can answer the question however you want, but I’m thinking about aesthetics just as much as effectiveness. For example, Jamaal Wilkes was a pretty good shooter, but I really wouldn’t want me jump shot to look like his. Bird’s jumper didn’t look that great, either. OK, here are some shooters off the top of my head: Continue reading “Whose Jump Shot Would You Want to Have?”

Build the All-Time Greatest NBA Team

Don told me that he and Gregg had a discussion about this, and we started a discussion between us, but never finished it. I’m not sure about the parameters, but I think it involved choosing starters only, and choosing them with building the best team in mind, not just choosing the five best players. For example, if Kareem, Wilt, Russell, and Shaq made your top five all-time greatest NBA players, you probably wouldn’t choose them for your all-time greatest team (unless you’re willing to start four centers). Don, who did you and Gregg pick? Off the top of my head, here’s my selection Continue reading “Build the All-Time Greatest NBA Team”