Bonn1997 wrote:sebstar wrote:Lets try to keep the convo focused on Felton, the link provided, and what it is exactly you are trying to explain, to avoid an unmanageable discussion. Perhaps we can broaden it out into a wholesale defense of advanced stats in b-ball as it develops. I appreciate your knowledge of stats as a contained object of study --- but what I am telling you is that from my vantage point, your use of the efficiency stat as explanation for winning basketball when it comes to Felton and other PGs is, charitably speaking, very messy.
You have not presented any argument or evidence that it is messy though. The best validated stats give high weight to efficiency. You have not found evidence of flaws in this validation research. It is also doubtful that you need a strong theory in order to make use of data anyway. Inductive statistics basically works by getting the data first and then making sense of them theoretically. If you initially did not realize it but then find that scoring efficiency is actually critical when looking at the data, it is acceptable to then formulate a theory that accounts for the importance of efficiency.
Sorry. Busy day. Didnt even get to watch the game.
For starters, as mentioned, the knicks had one of the best records in the league, over a 1/3 of the way through the season, with Felton manning the point. Overall, his teams have been successful throughout his career, except for when he had his head up his *** last year, so thats problematic for you off top because winning is the dependent variable. Not efficiency.
Then there is Jason Kidd and his ranking. Kidd is ranked, what 3rd? So with efficiency as a de-facto variable that explains success and w/ls, Kidd should therefore be considered one of the best current pgs in the league. We know thats not true.
Kidd is wonderful as a specialist, role player --- but as a featured pg? A liability. He cant put pressure on a defense, nor make things happen as an athlete anymore at his age, which hurts the effectiveness of his teammates. Anyone who watches knows as much.
But if you look at "efficiency", it says hes a top 5 pg. Efficiency often rewards those who do less, not impact the game more. Kidd plays almost a mistake free game --- but he cant assert himself physically to the benefit of his teammates. Its a great example on how stats, decontextualized, are dangerous (especially concerning more substantive studies).
Feltons aggressive play, and decent shooting for a PG the most important position, stresses the defense w/ consistent pressure. As a legit offensive threat, the d is on their heels, which has a positive effect on Melo and the team as a whole. Even when he misses, its potentially a positive as a cumulative effect (and direct effect w/ an offensive rebound). The formula for success with him as pg works, but it doesnt show up on a sheet sometimes.
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