About a week ago, Patrick Minton offered a look at Team USA in 2010. This examination noted that despite the loss of every player from Team USA 2008, a few “stars” remained.
Now, though, we have even more information. Chris Sheridan reports that Team USA has cut Tyreke Evans, O.J. Mayo, Gerald Wallace, and Javale McGee. Sheridan – at TrueHoop – then proceeded to list the players who he thinks will comprise the final roster. Assuming Sheridan is correct, Team USA in 2010 will be as follows:
Back in 2007, I examined the performance of each Team USA from 1992 to 2008. The average WP48 of each team was as follows:
- 1992: 0.317
- 1996: 0.277
- 2000: 0.189
- 2004: 0.165
- 2008:0.228
So if Sheridan is correct, Team USA in 2010 is fairly similar to what we saw in 2000. And that suggests this team might struggle a bit this summer. Certainly – and we may not need Wins Produced to see this – this team is not as good as the teams we saw in 1992, 1996, and 2008.
By the way, keeping Gerald Wallace (in place of Rudy Gay) would have boosted the team’s average WP48 to 0.205. Wallace, though, did not play well in the scrimmage. And we know that one scrimmage should trump everything else we have seen about a player (okay, maybe not).
– DJ
Wages of Wins Journal 
reservoirgod
July 28, 2010
The politics of Team USA are definitely interesting. Three players from the team that lost the Showcase are cut (including the 2nd most productive player in the entire scrimmage – OJ Mayo) along with the worst player on the team that won the Showcase (Gerald Wallace). But the showcase couldn’t have been the only deciding factor because Javale McGee outplayed Brook Lopez but Lopez gets a second chance to prove himself in NY. OJ Mayo was far more productive than Billups & Rondo in the showcase but allegedly had a lackluster four days of practice, so he gets cut. All those decisions can be justified by the fact that Billups, Rondo & Lopez had more productive NBA seasons than their counterparts but the argument falls apart when it comes to Gerald Wallace & Rudy Gay. Gay was more productive in the Showcase but Wallace had the more productive season.
dberri
July 28, 2010
Thanks reservoirgod (sorry to reveal your secret identity). I left this post short and was hoping readers would offer more details. You have certainly gotten that off to a good start.
bags fly free
July 28, 2010
they kept billups and odom for leadership/veteran reasons, those guys could have a WP in negatives and still be invaluable to the team
i agree that they should have kept wallace instead of rudy gay, and with some many talented PGs who could play the 2 spot OJ Mayo was just the odd man out.
nerdnumbers
July 28, 2010
Nice post! My own Thursday Post actually ties in nicely with this: http://nerdnumbers.wordpress.com/2010/07/29/face-of-the-franchise-melo-vs-iggy/
I wonder if the views would be different if Melo were playing instead of Iggy. Also according to Hoopshype Iggy is being asked NOT to be an offensive player(a good call in my book) but you have to wonder if Melo would be asked to do the same.
arturogalletti
July 28, 2010
Andres,
Cool Post. I have a new one up on WP48 tables by minute allocation over time (click my name if interested.
Bags fly free,
The whole leadership thing is way overrated. Keeping Wallace really would have been nice.
ej
July 28, 2010
What about the 2002 team?
Would this team be better than the 2002 disaster?
some dude
July 28, 2010
I was baffled by the Rudy Gay thing as well. This guy should be nowhere near the USA team. He’s simply not that good.
I think they should keep Gordon as well. He’s a superb shooter and would keep the ball movement necessary in international ball.
Leadership is not overrated. Sometimes you need older guys to keep young kids in line. If veteran leadership equates to keeping the team focused on basketball rather than something unrelated to the game while they are overseas, then it matters.
EJ
July 28, 2010
I think you have to consider the fact the team has so many young players. Curry, Lopez, Rose, Westbrook, Durant, Love were all 1~3rd year players, and each got better as the season went on.
Their WP after the all-star break would be more representative of their current talent level than their whole season WP.
Which I think would probably put the average WP of the US team close to 0.200.
reservoirgod
July 28, 2010
The funny thing about Rudy Gay is that he’s shot 18-23 in the last 2 Team USA Showcases.
And I agree w/ Arturo – players’ leadership is overrated. What did Billups’ “leadership” do for Denver while he was getting roasted by Deron Williams four straight games in the playoffs? How much did the Lakers rely on Odom’s “leadership” to overcome Boston while he was getting outplayed by freakin’ Big Baby Davis?
reservoirgod
July 29, 2010
NerdNumbers:
Melo was quite productive for Team USA. He led the team in rebounds, was 2nd in free throws (made & attempted) and was 4th in scoring. I estimated his wp40 was .345.
Despite his performance in the showcase, I’d be surprised if Iguodala could match ‘Melo’s 2008 production once the games start to count.
nerdnumbers
July 29, 2010
reservoir,
I recall DJ’s post on Melo in the Olympics and the hope that it might shine off on his NBA game. Sadly this didn’t happen. Melo has shown flashes of greatness in small samples, but I would still feel way more comfortable with Iggy over Melo, especially if Iggy is not allowed to every try threes. . .
I’ll be very interested in the numbers, and would love to look at a Olympian Melo vs Olympian Iggy. I think Durant will be amazing at the very least.
todd2
July 29, 2010
They’re going to miss Wallace. I don’t see anyone on that roster who can defend the wing. Someone should have read the piece on role players at nerdnumbers.
marparker
July 29, 2010
The 2008 team went 10-0 and didn’t rely on any one player to play too many minutes. Guys all had ridic shooting percentages. They all had off the charts wp40 for the tourney by my eye though I haven’t had a chance to actually run numbers. But 10-0 with alot of guys getting minutes and winning by double digits per game suggests that everyone played really well.
Its dissappointing to watch the roster go backwards but, the best players are no longer spring chickens. What would be the ideal roster composed of young guys who have never played in the olympics?
Here’s my guess at our best hypothetical young roster.
pg rondo, westbrook (.225)
sg curry, roy (.17)
sf durant, josh smith (.29)
pf love, blair (.3)
c Lee, Noah (.27)
that would leave us with a shell of .25+ and I’m pretty sure all of those guys except Roy would be willing to play on this team and the next olympic team…oh well
reservoirgod
July 29, 2010
Gerald Wallace is on my Win Score fantasy team – and with all the minutes he played last season, I’m actually glad he got cut.
If you click the link for my name, then you can see the estimated WP40 and WP numbers for the 2008 Team USA.
SPOILER ALERT: I was saving this for a post about the Miami Heat, but the 3 most productive players on that team have all taken their talents to South Beach. Oh yeah – and I hope Kobe fans choke on the spreadsheet that shows Wade was 7x more productive in the Olympics. 7x! I can’t wait until the Finals…
khandor
July 29, 2010
Hmmm …
If someone could take the time to explain the reason the previous comment which I left in this thread was removed, it would be appreciated.
——————————–
In the interim, let’s try again.
It is a mistake in basketball judgment to think that keeping the 12 players with the highest WP48 numbers is necessarily the best way to construct a championship-winning basketball “team”.
Just because Gerald Wallace’s WP48 number … which [in fact] “fails to reflect a picture of reality” [according to a respected commentor on this site like Tom Mandel] … is substantially higher than Rudy Gay’s does not mean that simply “replacing Gay with Wallace” is the better way to go, in this case, i.e. with this specific group of players, their expected opposition, and the relatively large group of [at least, somewhat redundant] PG’s still on the active roster [i.e. Curry, Billups, Rondo, Rose and Westbrook], when compared with the sheer number of wing players [i.e. combo OG/SF/PF] with good size, strength, relative quickness – at their respective positions – and the ability to: i. defend, ii. rebound, iii. shoot the ball efficiently from distance, and iv. be high volume scorers, e.g. like Iguodala, Gay and Durant].
When you dissect how a championship-winning team is actually put together, what you will find is that rarely – if ever – is it simply a conglomeration of the 12 players with the highest available WP48 numbers [e.g. Was Charles Barkley a member of the 1984 team? or, Was Isiah Thomas a member of the original Dream Team?] And, the exact reasons for this are rarely – if ever – rooted in the way these specific players performed in lead-up public scrimmage situations.
Unfortunately, numeric-based analysis of basketball which reads like this is what can create a poor image overall for “stats” gurus, in the eyes of elite level coaches the world over.
[Hopefully this comment meets with your approval.]
brgulker
July 29, 2010
Given the specific players in question, I’m not sure I agree. We have to remember that not everyone who makes the team will play significant minutes. The two veterans in this case are Odom and Billups, two guys who were rated very highly in their primes and still remain productive in relative old age. In other words, they’re guys who know how to play the game effectively.
It’s likely that at least a couple young guys will make Team USA who are not rated all that highly and could stand to benefit from the tutelage of guys like Odom and Billups — I’m looking specifically at Rudy Gay and Derrick Rose. Clearly, the latter two players have loads of athletic ability and talent; however, neither has put that talent to great use just yet.
Of course, it may be that none of that happens, and that may even be the likely scenario. However, I am at least intrigued by the possibility of Derrick Rose learning from Chauncey Billups.
brgulker
July 29, 2010
khandor,
Wanna bet?
coachbean
July 29, 2010
The dearth of American big men for team USA fits in with Berri’s “short supply of tall people” argument. Most NBAbig men are either too old or uninterested in playing:
Bosh, Howard, Stoudemire, Duncan, Oneal, Randolph
Injured:
Bynum, Perkins, Oden, Lee, Pryzbilla
Or are foreign or have ties to another country:
Horford (Puerto Rico), Noah (France), Dalembert (Haiti), Kaman (Germany), Bogut (Australia), etc.
That leaves the USA with the Lopez twins, Tyson Chandler, and Javale McGee(?).
I am still wondering why the US didn’t consider:
Al Jefferson, Brendan Haywood, Roy Hibbert, Andray Blatche, Nick Collison, Chuck Hayes, Troy Murphy, DeJuan Blair, or Demarcus Cousins.
While some of the above players may be overrated scorers Blair and Cousins most certainly are better options than the much debated McGee or Lopez (considering his illness).
bags fly free
July 29, 2010
lol in NBA leadership is not overrated, u have these young athletes who barely graduated HS and dropped out of college getting payed millions to play basketball, i think u just all overestimating maturity of most nba players…
thank god for billups on this team and jason kidd on ’08 olympic squad
bags fly free
July 29, 2010
did you guys read this ?
http://yhoo.it/9WR4fP
LBJ partying in Vegas :) I don’t care if his WP is 1 million, he’s still a d-bag
leon_fellas@msn.com
July 29, 2010
Shame Wallace aint going (for you Americans). He’s the type of player who European teams struggle to deal with.
leon
July 29, 2010
Balls, you don’t mind deleting that above comment Prof. Berri? The point still stands though.
khandor
July 29, 2010
brgulker,
—————————–
re: Wanna bet?
—————————–
Perhaps. What would you care to wager?
khandor
July 29, 2010
re: I am still wondering why the US didn’t consider:
Al Jefferson, Brendan Haywood, Roy Hibbert, Andray Blatche, Nick Collison, Chuck Hayes, Troy Murphy, DeJuan Blair, or Demarcus Cousins. – coachbean
Perhaps … because several of the players you listed do not have the type of individual game which will transfer well to the environment associated with the FIBA game.
brgulker
July 29, 2010
khandor,
I’d feel bad about taking your money. Past champions have been dissected time and again here, and quite often, the “best” teams — according to Wins Produced — are also NBA champions.
Chicago Tim
July 29, 2010
There might be a job out there for you as a GM, Professor:
On the other hand, maybe not. It seems like most of the non-player GMs were attorneys, not statisticians, with the notable exception of Houston’s Daryl Morey, and even Morey has an MBA. They may not be ready to hire a pure economist yet. Which is good for all of us who want you to keep publishing!
reservoirgod
July 29, 2010
This thread has taken a turn for the comical. Jason Kidd beats his wife, repeatedly cheats on her w/ playboy models then forces a trade off a bad Nets team (you know, like the “villain” CP3 is being accused of doing) but he’s a good role model for young players because… he’s never lost an international game and is a productive player? Hell, for all we know his leadership is responsible for CP3’s alleged attempted exit from the Hornets! Billups & Odom were AT the LBJ party in Vegas that bags fly free is criticizing – but I’m sure their “wisdom” made it OK for them to attend. Better yet – they were probably there as chaperones. And their tutelage on the court is invaluable as they watch younger players outplay them. But hey, you know the saying – “those who can’t, teach.” Good grief…
brgulker
July 29, 2010
reservoirgod,
I’m not sure if your comment is aimed at me or not, but since you used the language I used … I’m not sure how anything I said could be fairly included in your comment above.
marparker
July 29, 2010
I’m glad no reporters are ever out with me partying. Pretty sure I could be painted pretty badly as well. From my point of view I don’t see anything wrong with being paid to party.
bduran
July 29, 2010
I was thinking about the Wallace cut. It seems clear you’d want Wallace on most teams as he’s a very productive player.. However, what if he had some trouble adjusting for the first 8-10 games? In an 82 game season no big deal. However, if he’s struggled in practice and in the scrimmage and it looks like there is going to be an adjustment period for him, it could make sens to go with someone else. 8-10 games wouldn’t mean much in the regular season but of course are a big deal in the World Championships.
robbieomalley
July 29, 2010
I’m going to agree with Reservoirgod and MrParker here. LeBron has fought for his right to party. Kidd is also questionably wise and moral.
robbieomalley
July 29, 2010
Also, Odom left his girlfriend of ten years and several kids to marry Khloe Kardashian in like their first year together. The definition of questionable.
bags fly free
July 29, 2010
reservoirgod, u tried to make sense out of this ‘cut’ list using WP and not surprisingly it didn’t make any sense, which means the players who were kept bring something else to table besides their productivity and therefore are worth keeping, like billups and odom
im also glad you know more about jason kidd than i do, because his past baggage totally disqualifies him from being a good mentor, never mind that i can bet hes more responsible and mature than 99% of NBA players.
Italian Stallion
July 29, 2010
I’m going to have to agree with Khandor about building a team.
It is generally accepted here that you can’t build a team of all Cs, PFs, PGs etc… and expect to win.
By extension, I think what Khandor is saying is that you can’t build a team of all rebounders, scorers, ball handlers, play makers etc.. and expect to win either.
I think you have to look at the individual skill set of the most productive players available and build a well balanced team from among them. You want to avoid any diminishing returns or gaping holes in skills that can be exploited by the opposing team.
For example, on occasion you might leave off a players whose excellent production comes primarily from rebounding because you already have 3 other better players that are excellent rebounders and take a player who is less productive overall, but is a great outside shooter because you have a shortage of that skill on your team.
A.S.
July 29, 2010
It would be interesting to weight the production of the prior teams by minutes played (rather than taking a simple average of the players’ WP48), and then compare that with a notional playing time distribution for 2010.
khandor
July 29, 2010
brgulker,
methinks that you won’t be taking my money anytime soon. ;)
i.e. If you look carefully at what I wrote originally:
When you dissect how a championship-winning team is actually put together, what you will find is that rarely – if ever – is it simply a conglomeration of the 12 players with the highest available WP48 numbers. – khandor
versus what you wrote subsequently:
Past champions have been dissected time and again here, and quite often, the “best” teams — according to Wins Produced — are also NBA champions. – brgulker
then, you should be able to see how what you and I are, in fact, each talking about is as “different” as apples vs oranges.
[NOTE: To further clarify what I’ve said here, please consider the following comparison. If this year’s LA Lakers would have been able to simply substitute, let’s say, Steve Blake [or Andre Miller] for Derek Fisher … Would it necessarily follow that LA would have still been able to beat the Boston Celtics in the 2010 NBA Finals? Or, in fact, been able to beat them in an even more resounding way? Or, even get by the Oklahoma City Thunder, in the 1st Round of the Playoffs? etc. While the WP48 numbers for each of those respective players might suggest that the correct answers to these questions might be, “Yes,” the “basketball reality” involved with the playing of the game itself says, “Perhaps, not,” given the dynamics involved with the way that each of them actually effects the team they’re with in the NBA, in conjunction with their specific teammates, both, negatively and positively.]
==========
Italian Stallion,
Much appreciated, on my part.
Daniel
July 29, 2010
DeJuan Blair and DeMarcus Cousins absolutely have games that translate to Euroball.
They both play a very hard-nosed style, and both are great passers and Blair in particular is fantastic at moving without the ball and diving to the hoop after screens. With moving screens loosely enforced in FIBA rules, both of these guys would have a gigantic advantage. Blair plays a lot like Luis Scola with a less consistent jumper and much more prolific rebounding and Cousins is like a worse-shooting and better ball-handling Arvydas Sabonis, right down to the on-court temper.
Edmond
July 29, 2010
You’re right Khandahor, what happens on the court is basketball magic–or better yet, basketball alchemy. Despite the fact that the ball, the players, and the court are all made of matter and energy (at least, arguably, the parts that play basketball), it is fundamentally impossible to empirically track their activity. Science, despite notable past successes in understanding complex phenomena, is left helpless. One must have access to the basketball numen (through, I would guess, the practice and perfection of one’s mystical Basketball Acumen) in order to have any hope of understanding.
reservoirgod
July 29, 2010
Bags fly free:
Since 99% of NBA players don’t have criminal records like Jason Kidd, I’m going to disagree w/ you but I’d be more than happy to read your criteria for maturity & responsibility. Be sure it covers this behavior from Kidd’s wikipedia page, though:
On February 15, 2007 Joumana
Kidd filed a counterclaim for divorce,[21] claiming that the NBA star—among countless instances of abuse—”broke her rib and damaged her hearing by smashing her head into the console of a car”.
Maybe that’s the “killer instinct” the media is always saying the younger stars don’t have today…
reservoirgod
July 29, 2010
brgulker:
I didn’t really have too big a problem w/ your comment considering you’re a Pistons fan. I just think Billups has been overrated his whole career and don’t think there’s much he can teach Derrick Rose. Even if there was, I don’t think Derrick Rose would listen because it’s clear at this point in his career that Billups can’t guard Rose. Would you take advice from someone who couldn’t do your job better than you could? Maybe a case can be made for Odom & Gay but Odom’s out-of-shape and the last time we saw him in shape he was still getting all he could handle from Big Baby Davis. I just think fans overrate the influence older players have on younger players that can’t play anymore. I remember stories of Wade blowing up at Gary Payton in the playoffs or Robin Lopez blowing up at Shaq in the middle of a blowout. Veterans only have influence when they can back it up. I’m not sure Billups & Odom can do that in a Team USA setting, but I’ve been wrong before…
arturogalletti
July 29, 2010
Khandor,
If the Lakers had been able to replace Blake for Fisher we cannot conclusively prove that the would have beaten the Celtics more handily. That’s true perhaps but historical evidence suggests that the increased productivity of the Lakers would have meant that this result was exceedingly likely.
As for the whole Wallace thing, marginal productivity (WP48) strongly correlates to wins so more productive players equal productivity. As for Leadership and Teaching? Isn’t that coach K’s job?
Alvy
July 30, 2010
lol this thread
reservoirgod
July 30, 2010
Arturo:
Good pt about Coach K. Fans don’t want players to be GMs but they want them to be coaches. Funny indeed.
some dude
July 30, 2010
“Since 99% of NBA players don’t have criminal records like Jason Kidd, I’m going to disagree w/ you but I’d be more than happy to read your criteria for maturity & responsibility. Be sure it covers this behavior from Kidd’s wikipedia page, though:”
http://shamsports.com/content/pages/data/character/index.jsp
might want to rethink that 99% line. :P
As for leadership, it could be something as simple as teaching a player what to look for in game tape or how to practice or to not party too much or to not get involved with teammates girls.
Leadership is usually off-court stuff, IMO. It can even be something as simple as keeping everyone light-hearted in the locker-room.
Perhaps one needs to be part of a team to understand. Things outside the court will affect play on the court. Heck, did y’all watch Lebron vs Boston?
marparker
July 30, 2010
Only two players have won 5 championships and gone 7 years without a title. Kareem and MJ, thats it. Why do people want to pretend that all these fellas toiled and toiled when really they were all drafted by great organizations.
marparker
July 30, 2010
whoops found an old list…you can add kobe bryant to that list
marparker
July 30, 2010
There are 23 total players btw…sorry for the machine gun posts
brgulker
July 30, 2010
Looking back on my “leadership” post, I realized that I left out something I was trying to say completely.
Not everyone who makes this team will play significant minutes. The coaches know this. So on-court production may not be the only criteria for who makes the team and who doesn’t.
Presumably, the PG depth chart would have Billups as backup at best, but very possibly 3rd string. His minutes could be very small. But, simply having a veteran presence may have some value that isn’t related to on-the-court production. If you’ve ever played on a basketball team at any level, you know what I’m talking about.
If I were Rose, I would absolutely listen to Billups. He’s among the top win producers at his position, Finals MVP, won a championship, been an All Star. If I’m Rose, I’m thrilled at the prospect of learning whatever I can.
But I’m not Rose, and I know nothing of Rose’s personality or character. Perhaps he is too arrogant to learn from someone who’s older and a step slower. I have no idea.
And I’m surprised to hear you say Rose is better at his job than Billups. I can think of some advanced statistics that would disagree.
reservoirgod
July 30, 2010
Some Dude:
Nice website but I’m gonna go out on a limb & assume it doesn’t have 99% of NBA players names in the database.
brgulker:
Like I said, I’ve been a Billups-hater since he was drafted. I don’t claim this feeling to be anymore rational than your claim that he’d make a good tutor for Derrick Rose (who I’m not impressed w/ either BTW). But let’s be honest – after watching what Deron Williams did to Billups in the playoffs, you can’t really imagine a scenario where his credibility w/ younger players didn’t take a hit?
brgulker
July 30, 2010
I didn’t say I couldn’t imagine it. I’m saying if I were in Derrick Rose’s position, I’d remember watching Billups growing up and remembering what he was in his prime.
But I’m not Derrick Rose, and I don’t know Derrick Rose, so I can’t speak with any certainty about what he is/n’t thinking.
some dude
July 30, 2010
“Nice website but I’m gonna go out on a limb & assume it doesn’t have 99% of NBA players names in the database.”
You never came across Sham before? Shame on you.
During Billups time in the NBA, he documented most all NBA players.
You need to read his WHERE ARE THEY NOW segments.
reservoirgod
July 30, 2010
brgulker – fair enough.
some dude – where can I find them?
some dude
July 30, 2010
RG:
http://blog.shamsports.com/search/label/Where%20Are%20They%20Now
I suggest starting with the older ones since they’re more interesting. Take this gem
“- 37th pick: Dontonio Wingfield (Seattle) – Wingfield played 114 games in 4 seasons with Seattle and Portland, shooting under 40% for his career despite being 6’8. After his NBA career dribbled to a stop in late 1997, he had two brief tryouts over the next few months, one in Spain and one in the CBA. However, neither of them amounted to anything, and Wingfield’s professional career ended in 1998 because of a nasty car accident in November of that year. In trying to avoid a deer, Wingfield hit a tree in a crash so severe that it resulted in four broken vertebrae and two broken hips. He nearly died, and even when he was out of danger doctors wondered if he would walk again. But he pulled eventually through, and spent four months in hospital recovering. (Insult to injury, he was also cited after the accident for failure to control a vehicle.) His problems didn’t end there, though. In August 1998, just before the crash, he was arrested and charged with assaulting two police officers after they came to his apartment to resolve a dispute between Wingfield and his girlfriend. Wingfield broke one of the officer’s fingers and tore his tendons in the fight. Later on, he showed up for his June court appearance two days late, was re-arrested, and sentenced to a year in jail. (He served six months, still only able to walk with a cane at the time.) Wingfield is now starting again; after getting out of prison, he got a culinary arts degree, and now works as an AAU coach with the Albany Hawks.”
http://blog.shamsports.com/2009/06/guy-we-drafted-1994.html
He’s a big bulls fan, btw. The amount of info he has gotten is amazing.
khandor
July 30, 2010
arturogalletti,
——————
re: If the Lakers had been able to replace Blake for Fisher we cannot conclusively prove that the would have beaten the Celtics more handily. That’s true …
——————
Thankyou for acknowledging this reality.
——————
re: but historical evidence suggests that the increased productivity of the Lakers would have meant that this result was exceedingly likely.
——————
Please point me in the direction of this so-called “historical evidence” … which you suggest indicates that:
i. For a championship-winning basketball, merely substituting Player Y [with a substantially “higher” WP48 number, based on last season’s level of statistical production] for Player X [with the “lowest” WP48 number on the team, based on last season’s level of statistical production] is correlated with:
a. The remaining players on that same team maintaining their same levels of statistical production during the following season, or seeing their levels of statistical production increase;
and,
b. This same team, therefore, having an “increased likelihood” of winning the championship the following season in a more resounding way because of it.
——————
re: As for the whole Wallace thing, marginal productivity (WP48) strongly correlates to wins so more productive players equal productivity.
——————
An observation which states,
“… marginal productivity [WP48] strongly correlates to ‘wins’ so more productive players equal productivity,”
does not provide actual evidence that Team USA will somehow have an increased likelihood of winning the 2010 FIBA World Championship, merely by substituting Rudy Gay’s marginal WP48 number from last season with that of Gerald Wallace’s higher WP 48 number from last season … unless, of course, I am somehow misinterpreting what you’ve written.
——————
re: As for Leadership and Teaching? Isn’t that coach K’s job?
——————
In a championship-winning team environment, “leadership and teaching” seldom, if ever, fall exclusively into the domain of the head coach. The best coaches learn this relatively early in their careers.
arturogalletti
July 30, 2010
Khandor,
You always bring joy to my heart. Sadly I have no time to properly respond to you tonight.
I’ll point you to my latest post though. My playoff review should answer all questions fully.
khandor
July 30, 2010
arturogalletti,
Although I have only made your acquaintance recently … believe it, or not … your replies, to my comments, always bring a smile to my face, as well. I look forward to reading your upcoming explanation of the available data.
M. Haubs
August 4, 2010
So, does this mean you now agree with my thesis that a lack of overwhelming talent could be a problem for Team USA this summer?
Also, Patrick Minton’s counterargument to my post is described above like this:
“This examination noted that despite the loss of every player from Team USA 2008, a few “stars” remained.”
I would note that I agree with that statement, and I believe that the information in my post is consistent with that statement.