Myriad films have employed basketball as a plot device (Hoosiers), a Sisyphean obstacle for the protagonist (Hoop Dreams), and an outlet for a character’s creativity (Finding Forrester); That Championship Season utilizes the sport as a symbol of what has been lost. Four high school teammates reunite with their coach twenty-four years after their state championship triumph. During the intervening years, they have married, pursued their careers, and gone their separate ways. “We lost something boys.”– Coach Delaney Subtle changes were made to the Pulitzer Prize winning play of the same title. For example, the play emphasizes how compromising their personal …
The Last Season
I am sorely disappointed with Phil Jackson. Irrespective of the tremendous work he has performed during the current season, he took an enormous step back in the coaching profession due to the publication of his fifth novel: The Last Season. Jackson’s chronicle of the 2003-04 Los Angeles Lakers season seems to break several confidences. What happens in the huddle, the locker room, the team bus, the plan, training camp, the video room, or an office should stay within the team, despite the dollars a publisher may promise. Apparently, Kobe Bryant and Phil Jackson have a very tenuous relationship; how will …
The Wages of Wins
Reading The Wages of Wins by David J. Berri, Martin B. Schmidt, and Stacey L. Brook raised interesting questions regarding assessment and evaluation. Factions contributing to victories and the rational behind coaching decisions were studied among other issues. Statistics are more prolific than ever before but whether the numbers are correctly applied remains to be determined. Scoring and winsFortunately, the authors scrutinized the Association extensively, finding that scoring is highly correlated to winning. Therefore coaches should play the five players who contribute to the highest scoring rate (who also limit the opponent’s scoring rate). A player can affect points per …
Bay Street Video
The Shawshank Redemption is a good film that features strong performances, excellent direction, and a script that exposes the subtleties of life inside prison walls (normally ignored by the public). “Red” is a frank, honest narrator who gains the sympathy of the audience. There are some spectacular shots that simulate the perspective of a third party observer, perhaps, who knows what goes on inside Shawshank Prison but doesn’t wish to intervene. Patient pacing shows how Andy Dufresne overcomes his personal demons and beats and unjust system over the course of nineteen years. The film is no fairy tale — every …
A March to Madness
The execution during the second half of Tuesday’s Duke-Carolina was poor. There were some very sketchy turnovers and players did not display good awareness of the time and score situation. Case in point, the Heels were down three with about eighteen seconds to play. Two-for-one is a viable strategy but you need to go for the quick two quickly. Instead, Carolina ran around with like chickens with their heads cut off, tried a two with mere seconds remaining, missed, and fouled. Carolina had used their last timeout after a score to set the defence. They executed good ball pressure and …
Sports on Television
When I watch sports on television, why must the announcers spent countless moments discussing minutiae absolutely irreverent to the game? What function do sideline reports serve? Why do commentators feel the need to speak as if the viewers are a gang of mush-heads? For example, why was Matt Leinart’s dad shown repeatedly during the 2006 Rose Bowl? It seemed as if he was on the screen more often than his son, who was quarterbacking the Trojans. Since Mr. Leinart wasn’t the player who came up inches short on fourth down nor did he score the winning touchdown with nineteen seconds …
Basketball on Paper (or on your PC)
I was researching a small essay that I was going to write regarding the efficiency of Chris Bosh, Tim Duncan, Chauncey Billups, Steve Nash, and Tony Parker and found an interesting article which concisely summarises the recent work in basketball statistics that we (coaches) are attempting to incorporate into the game. Just as the technical analyst would argue that a stock’s price reflects all possible information, the statistician would claim that a player’s contribution to the team’s winning percentage can be entirely distilled into numbers. I disagree — stats can be tremendously helpful when used intelligently but must eventually take …
Freakonomics
Freakonomics by Steven D. Levitt interesting book for the guy who likes to generate “controversial” discussions at parties. So sumo wrestlers cheat, drug dealers live with their parents, and real estate agents receive a higher closing price when they sell a house that they own themselves. OK. Steven Levitt delivers his arguments in a light, easy to read, slightly esoteric format. The economics are sound. Basically the pretence is that every individual is interested in maximising their utility. OK. The most contentious chapter concerns Levitt’s belief that the decline of the crime rate in the late 1990s was caused by …
New Coke
I finished a coaching journal in four months. Usually, the journals take a little longer to fill out. It seems like I really have a lot of ideas at the moment. All dressed up and nowhere to go, so to speak. You can fall into a bit of a trap when you’re constrained to a wholly theoretical framework. I have confidence in these ideas, but I would like to see them on the court. Reality checks can be swift and harsh. For all I know, what I’ve been creating the last three months is the basketball equivalent of New Coke. …