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NFL Mock Draft 2009 Draft of 2009 Lacks Star Power NFL Draft 2009: Getting Started Super Bowl Well Worth Tuning In For
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| NBA | |
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Prospects On Center Stage NBA Preview 2008/09: Final Call
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Formula For Success By Ron Jumper The discussion has been tossed around and, at times, beaten to death. The debate over the correct formula for winning a championship in the National Basketball Association has received varied responses. There are those who believe that in order to win a championship you have to have a great player, some feel you have to have two great players, some feel that you need a balanced scoring attack, and the only area everyone seems to agree is that you need great defense. When the Los Angeles Lakers were leading the Phoenix Suns 3-1 in the best-of-seven first round series, reporters and sportscasters proclaimed Kobe Bryant had finally figured it all out. They said he had learned how to get his teammates involved and that he didn’t need to shoot the ball 35 times. Through the first four games Kobe wasn’t even reaching his season scoring average while teammates Kwame Brown and Lamar Odom were playing above their usual standards. The suspension of Raja Bell, which I’ve previously stated I didn’t agree with, showed the real truth behind what was going on with Kobe. Raja Bell was just playing good defense on Kobe while Brown and Odom were preying on the undersized Suns. In game 6 when Bell was suspended, things went back to normal as Kobe scored 50 and the Lakers lost. They would go on to lose the series. This sparked my interest to figure out what the formula for being a championship team really is. I looked at the last ten NBA champions and tried to find trends. My first thought was to look at whether the teams were balanced on offense or catered to one or two players. I decided to take the top three scorers off each of the last ten champs and try to find similarities. Only one time in the last ten years has a championship team’s leading scorer averaged 10 points more than the second leading scorer, this was in 95-96 when Jordan averaged 30.4 and Pippen averaged 19.4. However, in eight of the last ten years the championship team’s leading scorer has averaged 10 points more than the third leading scorer and those two seasons have been the previous two. The average difference between the leading scorer and second leading scorer was 5.75 points. The average difference between the leading scorer and the third leading scorer was 12.63 points. I decided to look at the teams that made this years playoffs and see who was following the formula of having two scorers within 10 points and the third scorer being at least 10 points less than the leading scorer. Dallas, Miami, New Jersey, and Washington follow this formula. My next thought was to look at those four teams and see which had a player who made at least 100 threes and shot over 40%. This has been a recent trend of late as 3 of the last 5 champs have had a player that accomplished this feat. The two years that didn’t only missed it by one percent both years, Chauncey Billups and Rick Fox both shot 39% during their team’s championship run. Dallas and Miami both have at least one player who shot 40% from three and made over a hundred of them( Nowitzki and Terry for Dallas, Posey for Miami). The only part of the formula we all agree on is playing defense. There really isn’t any way to argue about that. Between Dallas and Miami, the defensive statistics are shockingly in favor of Dallas. The Mavericks allow less points(93.1 compared to Miami’s 96.0), block more shots, and make more steals. You will probably argue that Miami has turned it on for the playoffs, but their defensive statistics are actually worse than the regular season. So going by the statistics, I’m going to have to say that the Dallas Mavericks will defeat the Miami Heat in the NBA Finals in a closely contested series. The Mavericks will get to finally shut everyone up that they can’t win with their style of basketball. Dirk can finally get everyone off his back that he’s too soft. May 18, 2006 |
| NCAA Football | |
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Be Careful What You Wish For
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| NCAA Basketball | |
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Jumpology: My Bracket Jumpology: Scouting The Heavyweights Jumpology: Reviewing The Bracket
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