Now, don't get me wrong - I'm having a great time with March Madness. Last night I was at Gramercy Ale House and did plenty of celebrating after.
But I saw some stats which basically confirms that the NBA is just as good if not better than ever (IMO) and wanted to get some feedback. See the link:
Basically, if you look at Offensive Rating (points scored per 100 posessions) league wide over the years, defense is actually tougher now than it was in the 90s. The early 2000s were actually the peak of defensive play. I bring this up because of the constant claims that Jordan had it harder and would somehow score more points today even though the numbers strongly disagree with that. Just because guys were more physical doesn't mean they were superior defenders. You can be much more effective on defense by knowing which shoulder a post player prefers to turn towards than being a goon who just bruises you.
Another interesting state is the changes in FG% vs. eFG%. eFG% basically takes into account that 3 pointers are worth 50% more and assigns them the proper value in terms of cost/benefit. FG% has decreased over the past 20 years but eFG% has been generally higher over the past 7-8 years (when the NBA started to become good again imo).
3 Point Attempts per game by team increased from 2.3 in 1982, to 9.9 in 1994, and then made a huge jump to 15.5 in 1995, and then essentially leveled out until (once again 7-8 years ago when NBA started to become good again) 2007-08 when it rose to 18.1 and has increased since to 22.4 this year. Basically, teams are playing better defense than they have in 35 years, but players who are able to get open looks (through impressive ball movement typically) are more efficient than ever before and doing it from the spots on the court that capitalize upon these opportunities the most.
You can definitely see that Nova has drawn inspiration from Golden State. I know Barkley said Atlanta, but I think he was saying that as a reflection of the lack of household names. Barkley also watches more highlights than games it seems. We are definitely more GSW. Constant ball motion, stifling D, and a coach who brings out the best in his guys.
http://www.basketball-reference.com/leagues/NBA_stats.html
But I saw some stats which basically confirms that the NBA is just as good if not better than ever (IMO) and wanted to get some feedback. See the link:
Basically, if you look at Offensive Rating (points scored per 100 posessions) league wide over the years, defense is actually tougher now than it was in the 90s. The early 2000s were actually the peak of defensive play. I bring this up because of the constant claims that Jordan had it harder and would somehow score more points today even though the numbers strongly disagree with that. Just because guys were more physical doesn't mean they were superior defenders. You can be much more effective on defense by knowing which shoulder a post player prefers to turn towards than being a goon who just bruises you.
Another interesting state is the changes in FG% vs. eFG%. eFG% basically takes into account that 3 pointers are worth 50% more and assigns them the proper value in terms of cost/benefit. FG% has decreased over the past 20 years but eFG% has been generally higher over the past 7-8 years (when the NBA started to become good again imo).
3 Point Attempts per game by team increased from 2.3 in 1982, to 9.9 in 1994, and then made a huge jump to 15.5 in 1995, and then essentially leveled out until (once again 7-8 years ago when NBA started to become good again) 2007-08 when it rose to 18.1 and has increased since to 22.4 this year. Basically, teams are playing better defense than they have in 35 years, but players who are able to get open looks (through impressive ball movement typically) are more efficient than ever before and doing it from the spots on the court that capitalize upon these opportunities the most.
You can definitely see that Nova has drawn inspiration from Golden State. I know Barkley said Atlanta, but I think he was saying that as a reflection of the lack of household names. Barkley also watches more highlights than games it seems. We are definitely more GSW. Constant ball motion, stifling D, and a coach who brings out the best in his guys.
http://www.basketball-reference.com/leagues/NBA_stats.html
