|
PresIke
Posts: 27671
Alba Posts: 0
Joined: 7/26/2001
Member: #33
USA
|
I have several comments to make on this, and I'll try to be brief (yes, I know a challenge for moi).
This is an important article to raise either way, and I'm glad Beck pays attention to advanced stats because they are valuable, so this should probably not just be dismissed because many of us don't like the conclusion he may be getting at, or at least trying to cause discussion about Mike D's affect on the team, which has mostly been seen as positive.
However, while quantitative statistics are very important, over reliance upon them for measuring "success" or "failure" in many areas of not just the NBA, can be flawed. For example say things like student or school "performance", when well regarded theories like Gardner's one on Multiple Intelligences would indicate that some "smart" students might do poorly on standardized tests (just as a starter for critiquing standardized testing). When it comes to things that require more qualitative examination or research, it can better inform the value of quantitative stats.
In fact, for social science nearly all of the quant stats come from qualitative work, first. Human behavior is just not the same as gravity on Earth, so applying quant measurements too strongly to things that are hard to measure can lead to dangerous conclusions, like say The Bell Curve.
Linking to this is another key side of the story in that quantitative stats can be critiqued as being misleading given other factors either not being considered or discussed (in academically peer review literature this would usually be in the "discussion" section).
So, in this case an easy way to start is to first to consider the fact that the team has a brand new coach, system, and PG running it.
After starting off strong early every starter and top scorer from last year was either traded, banished or on IR after D'Antoni had to introduce new concepts and confidence to a team that has been a league joke for years, still having some players lingering and possibly causing distractions.
I can go on, but that could be playing into the current PER stats. Harrington has only been with the team for what, a month or so? Perhaps we need a larger sample size with the current roster, which may never come this year or next as this is a team in transition, to come to stronger conclusions. Which, to me, might imply that observation or other qualitative work may be as important or perhaps more so, and why some of us are arguing that this seems silly.
Forum Po Po and #33 for a reason...
|
1/6/2009 11:32 AM
