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Wednesday Bolts – 9.8.10

Yay publicity stunts! Jake FM in Oklahoma City is campaigning to win naming rights to the Ford Center. They are asking listeners to donate $20 each to get to $9 million. But in the event they fall short (which of course they will), they will donate all the collected money to charity. So that’s nice.

David Berri calculates the most underrated scorers. You might be shocked to see one Thabo Sefolosha is on the list.

Nike is putting out a player edition only pair of shoes for Russell Westbrook. Too bad the general public can’t buy them, because they are pretty sweet:

Susan Bible of HoopsWorld lays out OKC’s blueprint: “The excellent chemistry of the Thunder players, both on and off the court, is well-documented. Oklahoma City places supreme value on the character of its players; they seek hard-working, selfless, humble, team-oriented individuals. There are no guarantees here (Krstic’s involvement in the recent FIBA World Tournament brawl was shocking to those who know the quiet player), but a concerted effort is made, from top to bottom, in acquiring high-character people. Stability is also valued, with Presti signing a multi-year extension over the summer, and Brooks being extended through the 2011-12 season. This is the Oklahoma City Thunder blueprint for success, which certainly seems to be working well. It’s built on a model that promotes sustainability and values the right fit of players.”

KD says Team USA’s practices are getting harder.

With Luis Scola’s big performances so far, some are saying he’s already locked up the MVP award. While obviously Scola has been amazing, I don’t think that award is locked up yet. Especially considering Scola has had the chance to play most of the minutes in his games. Someone like, oh, say Kevin Durant, has only played about half of what Scola has.

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But aren't you aware Rubio can do all kinds of crazy passes? That equates to NBA-greatness, duh!

Thomas :@Jax
Raging Bile Duct
Top 8 look pretty spot-on. Don’t know how I feel about Iggy being ahead of Nash, or J-Kidd being so high, but i definitely think it has some merit. Im looking forward to when you release it (or at least the the maths) .

The main reason Iggy is so high is he simply plays a TON of minutes. So he racks up more value, despite not being quite as good per minute. Nash cannot really be captured by the boxscore very well. I was able to "see" his dominance only when looking at the location to which his assists were given (basically a TON of dunks); and that information is only available for the last few years (and I wanted the metric to work well over the last 30 years).

I am half-assed optimistic that we will see better numbers out of Kristic this season. He has played a nice FIBA tournament so far, and his confidence level should be pretty high off of that. This is the final year of his contract, so he has some added incentive to increase his production with an eye towards a bigger contract- whether thats with the Thunder, or elsewhere. Plus, he might actually have to compete for his starting role this season if Aldrich comes in and plays his ass off. Not saying I want to keep him around past this season, but all of that together could lead to significantly improved effort on both ends of the court.

@Jax Raging Bile Duct

Top 8 look pretty spot-on. Don't know how I feel about Iggy being ahead of Nash, or J-Kidd being so high, but i definitely think it has some merit. Im looking forward to when you release it (or at least the the maths) :D.

@MastrMatt
I may be speaking out of turn about something that has already been covered but you can watch full live feeds and full-game replays at ESPN3.com.

I don't know how many of you caught Coach K's remarks about Russian Coach Mark Blatt in the latest ESPN segment on Team USA, but it made me laugh out loud......

Thank guys. Much appreciated on the vid and stats.

@MastrMatt

Not a lot of replays out there yet, but there is one youtube video (not in English) with the last minute of play - including the quirky commercials (I guess the guy didn't have time to edit them out).

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=op5lMcsPZ40

@DSMok1
Been a while since I looked at Garnett's numbers. Forgot a) that 4 years would include his last year in Minny; b) how much more efficient he got with his reduced minutes and touches in his first year in Boston; and c) that despite missing a number of games to injury the last two years, he was still quite good and efficient when he played.

Sammy :@DSMok1

Gut reactions: D12, Rondo, Roy, Pau and Anthony seem too low. VC, Garnett, and Kidd (slightly) too high. Are the four years weighted at all?

A sum of VORP, or value over replacement player. So a league-average player has value. Not weighted. KG too high? The 6 year average APM's (the lowest noise) have him by far the best player of the last 5 years.

Scary_Larry :Okay thabo is great basketball player, but harden should be a lot better this year and take his spot in the starting line up for most of the games. Idk how you get the list that Dave got. I mean I do but as an engineer. Thabo is an all right scorer but even Dave said this list is not full of scorers.

It's misleading. Berri is saying those players are the most underrated players who don't score, not the most underrated scorers.

@DSMok1
Gut reactions: D12, Rondo, Roy, Pau and Anthony seem too low. VC, Garnett, and Kidd (slightly) too high. Are the four years weighted at all?

Okay thabo is great basketball player, but harden should be a lot better this year and take his spot in the starting line up for most of the games. Idk how you get the list that Dave got. I mean I do but as an engineer. Thabo is an all right scorer but even Dave said this list is not full of scorers.

@Mark!
his A/TO ratio is good but thats about it, and a 13% 3 pt percentage wont get it done in a triangle

Rubio was in on that last play, but otherwise he was riding the bench in crunch time for Spain.

Final stats:

29 minutes, 3:2 A:T, 6 Pts (0/2 3P) – France
26 minutes, 11:4 A:T, 8 Pts (0/2 3P) – New Zealand
28 minutes, 2:2 A:T, 3 Pts (0/1 3P) – Lithuania
26 minutes, 7:0 A:T, 0 Pts (0/2 3P) – Lebanon
25 minutes, 8:1 A:T, 8 Pts (1/4 3P) – Canada
27 minutes, 6:1 A:T, 6 Pts (0/2 3P) – Greece
26 minutes, 3:3 A:T, 3 Pts (1/2 3P) - Serbia
—————————————
187 minutes, 40:13 A:T, 34 Pts (2/15 3P)

Per Game...

26.7 minutes, 5.7:1.9 A:T, 4.9 Pts (13.3% 3P)

justin :
David Berri’s metric weighs rebounding way too high which is why Thabo is on those lists and Marcus Camby should have six MVP’s.

hater.

Serbia:
STARTERS REB AST PTS
Aleksandar Rasic 1 5 0
Milos Teodosic 4 8 12
Nemanja Bjelica 4 1 14
Dusko Savanovic 5 0 15
Milenko Tepic 1 1 2
BENCH REB AST PTS
Nenad Krstic 8 0 13
Kosta Perovic 1 0 2
Stefan Markovic 1 1 0
Marko Keselj 2 0 17
Novica Velickovic 4 2 17

Spain:
STARTERS REB AST PTS
Alex Mumbru 2 0 3
Fran Vazquez 4 0 4
Sergio Llull 1 3 4
Marc Gasol 6 2 13
Jorge Garbajosa 5 0 18
BENCH REB AST PTS
Raul Lopez 1 2 0
Juan Carlos Navarro 0 3 27
Felipe Reyes 3 0 2
Ricky Rubio 3 3 3
Rudy Fernandez 5 2 15

MastrMatt :
What is the score? Is it over? I can’t get anything while at work. Grrrrr.
Thanks!

92-89 Final, Serbia

justin :
David Berri’s metric weighs rebounding way too high which is why Thabo is on those lists and Marcus Camby should have six MVP’s.

Mark! :@justin

David Berri’s metric is junk, and he’s knows it. Anytime you have to waste brainspace explaining why your metric identifies Troy Murphy as a once in a generation talent, it should tip you off to start over.

Yeah, he's got problems with that metric. No, Dennis Rodman was not the greatest player ever.

I've continued to work on my own metric (a version of SPM). I just calculated the top players over the past 4 years (regular season only). The top 25:

1 LeBron James
2 Chris Paul
3 Dwyane Wade
4 Kobe Bryant
5 Dirk Nowitzki
6 Tim Duncan
7 Dwight Howard
8 Kevin Garnett
9 Andre Iguodala
10 Deron Williams
11 Gerald Wallace
12 Steve Nash
13 Chris Bosh
14 Jason Kidd
15 Pau Gasol
16 Manu Ginobili
17 Vince Carter
18 Brandon Roy
19 Chauncey Billups
20 Carlos Boozer
21 Josh Smith
22 Marcus Camby
23 Paul Pierce
24 Rajon Rondo
25 Carmelo Anthony

What is the score? Is it over? I can't get anything while at work. Grrrrr.

Thanks!

@shiki=4 seasons

He'd probably rather be a star in Europe than a backup in the NBA.

why don't NBA teams sign Milos Teodosic?
He is only 23,maybe the best PG in Euro

Prime time shot from that Serb.

Mark! :That kid has balls the size of cantaloupes

He was like 1-7 from 3pt range before that. Crazy.

Game Over for Spain.

That kid has balls the size of cantaloupes

LOL Serbia got our Kevin Durant crunch time offense working.

I think Jake FM would get more charity donations if they offered to rename the stadium the Thunderdome.

Tomorrow the U.S. is playing Russia not Argentina. I hope they smash on Russia. The U.S. is having their chances increased as Brasil and Spain are getting knocked off. If Lithuania/China upsets Argentina, it's like the Basketball Gods are begging for the U.S. to win.

"May the Gods keep the wolves in the Hills and the Women in our Beds" - That one king of Sparta.

I wished I could see this game. Stupid internet blocks at work.

What a shot. He was coming down when he chucked that.

Looks like Spain is creeping back.

Or Marc Gasol to buy a rebound.

@justin

Spain could really use Calderon right now.

@justin

David Berri's metric is junk, and he's knows it. Anytime you have to waste brainspace explaining why your metric identifies Troy Murphy as a once in a generation talent, it should tip you off to start over.

Nenad is tailor-made for FIBA's below-the-rim game, and Serbia's had some nifty spin moves.

Who guards Scola tomorrow, Durant?

I'm shocked to see Serbia holding their own in the tourney. Perhaps we can see a USA Serbia showdown.

I've never even heard of Jake FM.

NBA Report Cards out. Thunder, Lakers, Heat only three teams with A's.

http://www.nba.com/reportcard/summer/2010/thunder/

Serbia leading Spain by 8 at half time. Krstic doing work on the boards.

David Berri's metric weighs rebounding way too high which is why Thabo is on those lists and Marcus Camby should have six MVP's.