As previously stated this will be a work in progress and I will be making additions as needed. Complicating things is that Hurricane Earl knocked out my home internet so updates will happen during the day. Here’s take 1.1 of the Build me winner algorithm.
“All right, what do we think? What do we know? What can we prove?” -And the Band Played On
Friend of the blog, co-conspirator and instigator extraordinaire Andres Alvarez (He of nerdnumbers & Automated Wins Produced) comments:
Arturo,
Loving it! So as a GM would you agree with the following strategy. Find a superstar player, position doesn’t matter but age does. Now try and fill your roster “around” the player is the order of Center, Point Guard, Power Forward, Small Forward, Shooting guard. Also try and add depth to your roster in the following order. Would such a strategy work as a general heuristic? Last but not least hope the league isn’t super awesome your year (sorry Utah!).
This is not the first time something like this has been asked and it made me think of writing down a simple algorithm of how I would build and run an NBA team for success. So what follows is the “Build me a Winner Algorithm” for the NBA take 1.1 (Now with the Salary Cheat Sheet).
A winner? Whatever you say Mr. Steinbrenner.
Basics
This article uses Wins Produced and WP48 [Wins Produced per 48 minutes] to evaluate player’s performance.* This measure uses three key components to evaluate a player:
- The player’s per minute box score statistics
- The player’s team’s per minute box score statistics
- The average performance at the player’s position (PG, SG, SF, PF or C)
A full explanation can be found here. To give a general scale, an average player has a WP48 score of 0.100. The very best players in the league usually have a WP48 over 0.300. To put this in perspective; an average player who plays a full season at 40 minutes a game would generate around 6.83 wins for their team. In contrast, a player posting a 0.300 WP48 would generate about 20.5 wins at 40 minutes a game over an 82 game season.
I may also talk about the half-baked notion and Wins over replacement Player (WORP).
The Data
Let’s review first: what do we think? What do we know? What can we prove?
- Player value in the NBA is skewed towards points and not possessions stats. Over time this leads to a weak correlation between wins and money spent.Teams are in fact using the wrong stats to evaluate players. There are thus market inefficiencies to exploit. Stealing from my article on the Short Supply of tall People.
- Basketball more than any other sport is a sport about marginal value.
- Wins are a direct result of the marginal absolute productivity of the players on the court as measured in point differential (margin of victory).
- Wins produced uses regression to build a causal model for wins based on the statistics available in the standard boxscore.
- There are multiple factors and contributions (let’s call this player productivity) that go into scoring a point and the boxscore reflects a significant portion of these factors.
- Wins are a function of Point differential
- Point differential is a function of Player Productivity as measure in the boxscore stats and actually it’s a function of marginal player productivity (i.e. how much better your player’s on the court are than your opponent’s )
- Wins can thus be modeled as a function marginal player productivity
- Wins Produced uses regression to build that model and can be shown through correlation to be successful.
- The Short Supply of Tall people. Big Men (F/C) are on average more productive than everyone else . They in fact account for 50% of all productivity. This makes it harder for a center to be better than the average and thus accumulate wins in our model but this is not out of step with the reality of the situation. Teams also have a lot more at risk with their big men. It’s also much easier for a team to accumulate negative value at center and power forward because there is much more at risk.
- The Short Supply of Ball Handlers. Average Center and Point Guards have over time been much more valuable to teams than any of the other positions. Over the last 5 years the difference between an average center and a replacement level one is 4 more wins than the same at shooting guard (and 2 at Point Guard). The short supply of tall people is really not a surprise however the short supply of ball handlers is.
- Peaks for the players are skewing older over time (in fact the data is deceptive because it includes active players who may have not hit their peaks yet). In fact if I look at players born since 1970.You see the most players (32 out of 178) hitting their peaks at 28. What does this mean? It means that if you’re a GM signing a guy coming off his rookie contract (say 24 or 25), You can reasonably expect equal or improved performance over the course of a 5 year contract (thereby justifying a % increase from the base Year). However if your big Free Agent signee is 29 or over? You’re probably out of luck .
- The best individual seasons generally come from players playing with the team that drafted them (or the #$$%@%@ Lakers)
- The draft is not a place for quick fixes. Impact rookies are a rare breed. There have been 330 rookies selected in the top 10 since 1977and less than 15% of these rookies – who were generally considered “hot prospects” – have made substantial impact (>8 wins) his rookie season (and only 13 of the 33 players chosen with the first pick). If we look at the top 25 draft picks ever, the average pick of the top 25 is 12.24. Only 3 were the top pick (Magic, Robinson & Shaq) and only seven were in the top 3 picks (and none at number 2). This, and the fact that 8 of the top 25 were picked at 20 or later, strongly suggests the league in general is not very skilled at pinpointing incoming talent. The probability of getting no value or negative value from a draft pick fluctuates around 30% , however Impact players (Superstars & All time greats) are coming into the league at an increasing rate. This would help explain the fact that the quality of basketball seems to be at it’s highest levels in recent years (see here).
- The number 1 pick can and has been flubbed massively. 10 of the 30 #1 Picks fall in the second half of the rankings. The list includes some old WoW friends:
- Mark Aguirre
- Allen Iverson
- Kenyon Martin
- Glenn Robinson
- Kwame Brown
- Joe Barry Carroll
- Joe Smith
- Kent Benson
- Michael Olowokandi
- Andrea Bargnani
- Drafting Players under 20 is an extremely dangerous game. Only 13 of the top 200 players were aged 19 or younger at the end of their first NBA season
- Dwight Howard
- Tracy McGrady
- Kevin Garnett
- LeBron James
- Andris Biedrins
- Luol Deng
- Tyson Chandler
- Josh Smith
- Rashard Lewis
- Chris Bosh
- Kobe Bryant
- Cliff Robinson
- Andrew Bynum
- The Half baked notion that what wins in the regular season is not necessarily what gets you the trophy. The difference? Minute allocation & how wins produced are affected by that allocation. We continuously hear terms like playoff rotation & playoff minutes thrown around come playoff time. The half baked notion tells us that a good deep team filled with average and above average players will get you in the playoffs but to get far in the playoffs you need your wins to be concentrated in your Top 6.
- In the Regular Season:
- Your starting five account for 82% percent of your wins.
- Your second unit is important over the course of an 82 game regular season accounting for 18% of your wins
- After that everybody else is statistically meaningless.
- In the Playoffs :
- Your starting five account for 94% percent of your wins in the playoffs.
- Only the first guy of your bench matters accounting for 5% of your wins
- After that everybody else is statistically meaningless.
- In the Regular Season:
Build me a Winner
So Based on this knowledge, let’s try to summarize what my management philosophy would be as an NBA GM.
Rev 1.0:
- A wins produced model (such as Prof. Berri’s Wins Produced or my own Wins over replacement Player (WORP)) gives a team a statistical edge over other teams in building a roster by properly identifying a player win contribution with a high level of correlation. My team would be built around just such a model (probably with enhancements for individual defense which as a gm I could design and pay somebody to data enter) and identifying underrated/underpriced players that are available.
- I’d use picks rather than free agents to keep my team successful both on the court and in the bottom line (See San Antonio and Oklahoma City). The draft is, the best source of cheap labor there is. When dealing with draft picks it is important to remember that you are getting a low cost player for four and not one year and any evaluation of draft picks should go beyond the rookie year. Of the top 100 picks half (and 122 of the top 200 picks) were taken after pick 9 suggesting there is always value in the later part of the draft. The draft is a high stakes lottery but it’s a rigged game for the owners. Salaries are fixed at a discount and the risk of utter failure is relatively low (30%). So we build thru the draft and not thru free-agency.
- Scorers are common and overpaid. I’d flip scorers for picks, picks and more picks see the previous point on draft picks.
- I’d prefer later picks in volume over high end lottery picks. Stars can and are had late in the draft. Picks would be used exclusively on high risk/high reward guys. You don’t play the lottery to win third prize. Second rounders would be used mostly on Euro guys that I could stash and see if they’re any good.
- Hate overpriced free agents but love minimum salary level players. We know that the talent identification algorithm for NBA teams is broken. That means good talent must be available out there and I’d spend money to find it. So I’d buy one (or possibly two) D-league teams to stash, test and develop talent. I’d look into buying a Euroleague team as well. I’d also be the the king of 10 day contracts and call ups. Roster spots 10 and up would be used at least 75% of the time for auditions and talent evaluation.
- Given that the top 6 is what matters for the playoffs. I’d trade three .100 WP48 guys for one .250 WP48 guy in a hummingbird’s heartbeat.
- Big Men and Ball handlers (Centers and Point Guards) are more scarce resources than shooters. I’d pay for skilled labor at those positions and always focus on depth there. This is the central idea behind my own Wins over replacement Player (WORP).
Rev 1.1:
- Follow the Japanese principle of 5-s, spend money on the organization. Do everything possible to build a pleasant and world class organization. There’s no salary cap on facilities and amenities. Players are significant capital assets and I would provide as much maintenance as you can for them. Your training & travel should be the best. I would provide nutrition and fitness counseling to all my players and I would offer to pay for all their meals (on a designed diet plan). I would spend money on as many shot, workout and video or other coaches as a player needs to improve his game.
- All my analysis seems to point to the following skills being critical:
- Size and the ability to rebound and play defense like a center
- Ball handling
- Efficient shooting
All personnel decisions should be made based on these three skills
- Here are some more thoughts on drafting. I’d look for productive/athletic/high skill players who are available even if they are being passed up for some reason (character,size, being a tall white dude). I would vet the players thoroughly (like the Republicans didn’t do for Palin). For the 2010 draft I love Cousins, Turner,Heyward and Aldrich. I Hate John Wall (too expensive and not polished enough to contribute and all see the previous point on ball handling). I love what the Celts did in drafting Avery Bradley and Luke Haragondy. They’re both chancy picks with a lot of upside. If they don’t work, you at worst lose a min salary. The draft should be treated like a penny poker game, go big or stay home.
- To clarify, as Man of Steele points out in the comments for rev 1: ” ….trade the overrated scorer for an above average (but underrated) player at the same position and a draft pick or two. For example, the Spurs would trade Parker for Steve Blake and a draft pick. This kind of move would create salary cap room, stockpile picks, and your starting lineup would be no different. Or say you were charge of the Nuggests for instance. You might trade Carmelo for Luol Deng and two or three draft picks. There’s not a GM in the league that wouldn’t take that deal, and your lineup would be no different.
- Every undrafted free agent gets an invite and a tryout on my team. Every one.
Nick Fazekas come on down !!!
- The big question I left pending is how and when do I pay for free agents. I believe in paying for value but i’d set some guidelines to follow (see table Below). My simple assumptions (based on the age model here) are as follows:
- I’d like to win 55 Games
- I’d like to stay under the cap
- 23-27 Year old starters will play about 30 minutes a game and improve about 13% over the previous five years
- 28-32 Year old starters will play about 28.5 minutes a game and decline about 3% from the previous five years
- 33 and up starters will play about 22.5 minutes a game and decline about 5% from the previous five years
- Before signing a contract with a player, I would investigate him like I would an employee I was hiring for a Fortune 500 company at his salary. I’d like to know his injury history and his personal habits (does he drink, smoke,party with Barkley and Tiger etc.) before giving him the money.
- I would always, always, always, always, always, always, always, always, always, always, always, always, always, always, always, always, always, always try to frontload contracts. Always. I would also incentivise the hell out of the contracts. Things like weight,BMI, body fat, supervised shooting practice hours and shooting percentages will all be standard fare in any contract (as much as the league and the union let me get away with).
Substitute Frontload here.
As I said this is a first take on this algorithm and I will probably revisit this over and over in the future. Please provide feedback and comments . As always this is only my opinion and I am the first to admit it could be flawed.You never know, If I get to be an NBA GM, I might hire you 
( Andres you get to be assistant GM, Devin you have a job) . More ridiculous things have happened.
Like this:
Posted in: Uncategorized
Chicago Tim
09/01/2010
Did you say hire the very best coach? There’s no salary cap on that, either, and the very best can make a difference. I would say hire the very best GM, except that’s you, right? At any rate, the best staff from top to bottom.
And find an owner who will stay out of their way (good luck!). Actually, find an owner who is committed to profits and wins, and not just profits. Someone who’s willing to gamble some money to win a championship, and isn’t just satisfied with maximum profits and an appreciating asset.
That’s all I have at the moment, but there’s a great deal to absorb here.
arturogalletti
09/02/2010
Tim,
There’s a lot of research that show that the coach is not really a factor (unless his name are Phil or Pop). The two key roles for the coach are minute allocation and teaching the right skill set. The biggest thing I would look for in a coach is that he’d have to have an open mind to what the statistical analysis is telling him. If the analysis says play Kevin Love, you have to play Kevin Love. After that we need a guy who lives/teaches the culture of the team. He’s the guy who has to get the team to buy the system that were building. The best coaches (Phil and Pop) do this. But really what we need is open mindedness and charisma.
Fred Bush
09/01/2010
If you incentivize shot percentage, how do you handle people not wanting to take last-second or desperation shots? Or possessions where there’s no opportunity for a high-percentage shot? I guess if it’s a minor incentive it’s not going to be a big deal, but you could get some perverse incentives going if it’s big.
arturogalletti
09/02/2010
Straight cash money for clutch shots and game winners. You can also not count last-second and desperation shots against the overall incentives.
jbrett
09/01/2010
A possible answer for Fred’s concern: Offer incentives for FG% (or % improvement, etc.) along with a detailed breakdown or their past results from different areas. For example, your conversation with Josh Smith might go like this: “As you can see, Josh, you shoot 73% from 5 feet and in, 42% from 5 to 15 feet, and 24% from 15 and beyond. With the incentives in your contract, you can double your pay simply by NOT SHOOTING THE GODDAMNED THREES!” If, as I suspect, Josh is not smart enough to use this information to improve his FG%, it may be time to cut bait. If he DOES, however, there is a strong likelihood your team will, overall, find itself taking higher-percentage shots in all situations, including critical possessions. ( And, when Josh inevitably takes a bad three, he’ll KNOW it’s bad–and if he makes it, luck.)
As far as last-second shots, or desperation heaves: You’re spending big money everywhere it isn’t capped, right? Chart EVERYTHING. Factor out shots over 28 feet–unless they go in, of course! Maybe penalize for holding the ball until the shot clock expires, or passing when it’s too late to do anything but shoot. Guys who shoot high percentages but lack the desire to take critical shots will have an incentive to make plays with passes; can that be a bad thing?
arturogalletti
09/02/2010
jbrett,
You can be in charge of the shot incentive program. Hell we could probably set up some sort of game with points that could be posted with a scoreboard in the locker room.
Jimbo
09/01/2010
Ok, now you’ve got a Salary Cheat Sheet, there has to be an analysis of which teams have done the best deals with their player contracts… more work I know, but it would be pretty good you have to admit !!
Devin
09/01/2010
Wooohooo! Job for meeeeeee!
Although I have a point to bring up about coaches – DJ already did the research on coaching and found that most head coaches have no impact (in terms of wins) on the team they are coaching. Unless I could secure one of the good guys (Jackson, Popovich, etc), I would look for a relatively unknown (and hence cheap) head coach (as long as they don’t turn out to be one of the very few coaches who actually have a negative effect on their teams).
Actually, here’s an idea – whatever happened to the player-coach? In certain situations with certain players, give the head coaching duties to one of your star veteran players who doesn’t play very much. You’d still have assistant coaches – and all the development coaches you mentioned above, Arturo – who might have to take over from the player if he starts calling his own number (of course, you would have already briefed him on certain strategy elements and vetted him, so you would trust him). Getting an actual player-coach means you wouldn’t have to waste money on a “player’s coach”. Of course, there aren’t too many players I would trust to be a player-coach in today’s league. Nash, Hill, Duncan, Kidd…and I’m already out of names off the top of my head. Keep signing the veteran player to minimum contracts until he’s no longer useful on the court and then bring him in as a coach.
arturogalletti
09/02/2010
Devin,
I’d add Garnett, Allen, Duncan, Billups, and Kobe to the list of possible player coaches.
See this is why I’d hire you.
Devin
09/05/2010
I’m not totally sold on Kobe as a player-coach just yet – he still thinks he’s better than he really is. In a couple of years when his realizes he’s declined and is less likely to be a ball-hog, then I’d consider him.
Garnett, Allen, and Billups (I already mentioned Duncan) seem good to go. Anyone else? Of former players, Stockton would’ve probably been great for this, Bird ended up coaching, Magic would’ve been a great offensive coordinator, and Rodman would’ve been a great rebounding coach (if he didn’t have all those substance abuse problem). I don’t fully trust Jordan to be a successful coach because of his ego issues.
Would’ve commented again sooner, but I was off on a housing acquisition mission.
arturogalletti
09/05/2010
No worries.
I think Kobe’s ridiculous work ethic puts him on the list. He’s also a charismatic guy and he isn’t worried about hurting other players feelings just winning. I think as a coach he would work as hard as humanly possible to win.
Derek Fisher and Paul Pierce come to mind. Ben Wallace might interesting.
kenneth trufant
09/02/2010
I like where you’re going with this Galletti but – as a New Orleans native and fan of the Hornets and the Saints (and of good sports analysis) – I have to ask, what’s up with all of the NOLA hate? It’s not really a good look.
But maybe I’m just not getting the joke (and maybe I never will).
arturogalletti
09/02/2010
kt,
No hating on NOLA.The Saints winning made me hugely happy as I’ve always liked that team (since I really dislike their old rivals the 49ers and as a Pats fan I loathe the Colts, and that old guy who qbs for the Vikes? don’t get me started.). I got to taunt my brother in-law (who’s a Peyton groupie) and all was right with the world. But knowing the Saints, I was just prepared for a kick in the nether regions in the championship and the Super Bowl.
As for the Hornets, they have possibly one of the five greatest b-ball ever playing for them. Thru 4 years according to my draft analysis (http://arturogalletti.wordpress.com/2010/07/22/ranking-thirty-years-of-draft-picks/ and http://tinyurl.com/Draft-Score) only Charles Barkley, Magic Johnson, Larry Bird and David Robinson were better. This is a gift from the basketball gods which they should not squnder. They really should not be talking about cutting cost and getting rid of him if they’re going to be a valid NBA franchise. So I’m really hating on the Hornets management and ownership.
kaytee
09/03/2010
I see. I guess that’s why I keep reading. We seem to have the same sports enemies.
(And honestly us fans who weren’t expecting that kick were in some sort of state of delirium/shock watching it all happen.)
Anyway. I agree totally about Paul and the Hornets management. BUT. Scott and Bower are out and the new guys have a not so bad pedigree. And the ownership is in transition … (a process which has stalled but I chose to believe the eventual outcome will be good for the team)
Under Demps, (so far) it looks to me like they are trying to spend money wisely and get out from under what Bower left them (I’ll keep telling myself). I’m not mad at the moves he’s made so far. (I know there are a lot of folks who believe they weren’t good though).
In fact, I’m loving this ‘Build Me a Winner’ because I can use it as a blueprint to try to evaluate the moves Demps makes. The reputation of Monty Williams is that he’s a coach players like and he has a knack for player development so that’s a plus (hiring him was not a Demps move I know.) But maybe I’m wrong. Where does he stand as the kind of coach you (all) would hire?
I have to agree with Tom Mandel (the comment after this one), “You can’t just build the strategy, you have to execute.” But maybe we all should be playing this fantasy GM game.
Anyway, Mandel has good questions too; whom do you like further down in the 2010 draft? Whom would you have nabbed with the Hornets’ 21 and 26 instead of Pondexter and, um, Brackins.
In any case, we all appreciate what your doing here.
arturogalletti
09/03/2010
k,
I didn’t do heavy draft scouting so I’d need to go look at the draft model I put together for some other stuff were doing but I can do that. The draft model is a bit hit or miss (i’d say 50%) but for two picks you should be able to hit one. I can do a future post on this.
Tom Mandel
09/02/2010
Great post, Arturo — why are you not writing for some bigger venue (i.e. getting paid to do it!)?
So you like Cousins, Turner, Hayward and Aldrich. Lets see how they turn out. Vs. John Wall whom (for unknown reasons) you “hate.” Again, we’ll see how he turns out. Then again, Turner was taken 2d. I believe Dave has shown that the 3d choice has tended to produce better results. Do you say to your fellow GM w/ the 3d pick, “hey listen, you take 2d and I’ll pick after you — no charge”, and if not why not?
All the guys you like were lottery picks, which you say you’d avoid in favor of more picks lower down. So whom do you like further down in the 2010 draft? Down where you actually want your team to concentrate. Presti gave 21 and 26 for the right to take Aldrich (taking on Peterson as well). Whom would you have nabbed w/ those picks?
You do see that you have to make the actual picks, surely? You can’t just build the strategy, you have to execute. That’s what a GM does.
arturogalletti
09/02/2010
Tom,
Thanks for the kind words. I do this as a hobby but would not be averse to doing it for a living if the pay was right ( who would object to getting paid to do something they love?)
Tom if I’m a GM drafting, I have to think that I’m only guaranteed a four year term of service with these guys. So I need a productive player who hit’s one of my three skill (1.Size and the ability to rebound and play defense big,2. Ball handling , 3.Efficient shooting). Young players are a huge gamble since you may need to write off their first two years. Wall is young, wasn’t productive in college, is relatively short, prone to turning the ball over and is not an efficient shooter. He’s a ridiculous risk as the number 1 pick given the fact that if he’s any good it’ll be later in his rookie contract and then you’re likely to lose him.
The guys I like all hit the skill bullets in some way. As for the hold on the pick? I think given that it would impact the player’s salary it might be illegal. I outlined that I liked what the Celtics and Spurs typically do (take risks and choose euro’s late). Ainge in particular has a fantastic record of finding >.100 WP48 guys late by taking gambles.
I actually totally agreed with Presti moving up to get Aldrich. He’s getting a good cheap big which he needs. 21 & 26 were not the right slots for that. They walked out of the draft with Aldrich, Tibor Pleiss (a big euro that someone els will spend big money to develop), Latavious Williams (a decent d-leaguer who skipped college, a gamble) , Ryan Reid a PF from FSU (doesn’t really cost anything) and the conditional rights to the Clipps first round pick (not sure if 2011 or 2012). If it were my team I would consider this a great draft.
Xavier Q
09/02/2010
I don’t think Fred’s concern would apply except for 3pt shots. In general your starting 5 are going to take so many shots that a few low percentage shot-clock beaters aren’t going to drastically affect their percentages. Now on 3′s, your shot attempts are going to be substantially lower, so it could theoretically affect your % if you don’t take many….but then you probably shouldn’t be taking the shot, anyway.
Xavier Q
09/02/2010
I had a question on one point, “I would always, always, always, always, always, always, always, always, always, always, always, always, always, always, always, always, always, always try to frontload contracts. ”
Why? I understand that in general a player’s production will go up until 28, and that you may be looking to get better value at the end of the contract, but it seems like it would be an unneccesary sticking point in negotiations. If you’re paying the same amount over the life of the contract, aren’t you paying the same amount for the same amount of wins, over the life of the contract? What’s the reasoning behind it? Cap space later on?
arturogalletti
09/02/2010
Xavier Q,
The frontloading has to do with two things: there’s more uncertainty in the prediction the further I go into the future and frontloading increases my cap flexibility the further I go into the future. I would use frontloading where possible it didn’t affect the overall contract qty and the average per year for the player (I’d pay them the same amount but just offer them to pay them more of it up front).
From a pure economics point of view I’m actually taking a hit here because money now is worth more to me than money in the future. But the cap an the penalties in the NBA neutralize this ( ballooning payments make me more likely to get hit by cap penalties).
So if I have to choose between paying more on the front end or more on the back end, I pick the option that give’s me flexibility to make moves and aquire talent in the future.
Man of Steele
09/03/2010
Also, frontloading contracts facilitates trading players who are no longer productive. Most teams get stuck with a player that they’d really rather trade because they have a massive salary. With your model, a 30 year old player who drops off would be relatively easy to trade. His salary would be low toward the end of his contract, so a team looking for a cheap veteran or a cheap expiring contract would be quite interested.
Nice article … you are now on my “favorites” along with the Wages of Wins.
arturogalletti
09/03/2010
MoS,
Good way to summarize it. I want my cost on a depreciating asset to go down over time and not up. Imagine if your car payments went up as the car went down in value. You get quoted in the next rev.
todd2
09/05/2010
I’d qualify a coach’s role a bit further. Recognizing players’ strengths and putting them in positions where they can be successful is important, and not easy to do. I like Kevin Durant as much as the next person but think his role needs to change in order for the Thunder to improve. His assist/turnover ratio (7 to’s in a recent Team USA game) is abysmal for someone who dominates the ball as much as he does and his assisted scoring is roughly 50%. He is getting much deserved recognition/hype, but at this point he’s looking like Tracy McGrady in his prime and we know how McGrady’s career has turned out. Good gosh, is there an optimal relationship between assists/to’s/assisted fg’s for each position? Why is Nash’s assisted fg% low and Garnett’s high? Too much free time…
arturogalletti
09/05/2010
t,
I did mention that the coach has to be open minded to analysis.
The coach’s role is teaching mostly, he’s there to lead and inspire (indoctrinating the player’s to the system).
todd2
09/05/2010
AG, love your site and you’ve brought up one of the toughest nuts for a coach to crack; adapting a player to a system or a system to a player.
arturogalletti
09/05/2010
t,
This is why i’d ape the Spurs and own my d-league team. I’d treat it like a baseball farm system and teach the players coming my teams system and philosophy. By the they made the team they’ll be all about possession and efficient shooting.
Robert Vodicka
09/05/2010
What about making counseling available to players and coaches?
What about yoga for players as part of conditioning and for the mental/emotional aspects of the game?
arturogalletti
09/05/2010
Yes. Awesome suggestion. Kareem is the best example and he was a physical freak. We can add the no sugar the sleep diary that Nash does as well.