Everything 2018 Off Season

[Shaolin Fantastic]

So is this really like the FA cup? G-League or NBL teams playing NBA teams? Isn’t that one of the charms of the FA Cup when the team from Dorking Wells upon Tyne FC with a bunch of plumbers plays Man U?

Yeah that's how the FA Cup works. Except in England you have 4 tiers of English "League" football: the premier league, the EFL Championship, EFL League One and EFL League Two (in order of best to worst). Then below that you have the national league, which is an even lower tier than EFL League Two. In total it's actually 10 tiers of football leagues that play in it. Every team gets to compete in the competition, but the premier league teams basically get a BYE until the 3rd round proper (there are several qualification rounds before that because there are literally hundreds of teams in the competition).

And you're right, crazy stuff does happen sometimes. Last year Lincoln City (a team from the 5th tier of English football) went to the quarter-finals, which hadn't happened since before WWI.

[3inthekeon]

Peltons mailbag today has a fascinating question.

If there was one variable you could include in your draft project model that you don't currently have data for what would it be?

Maybe this is too abstract for your answer, or too unrealistic, but a measure of a player's capacity and willingness to improve. My projections are built on the assumption that knowing how good a player is entering the league and his age will tell us how good he's going to be in the future. On average, that's the case, but even if we could project with 100 percent accuracy how players were going to play as rookies, that would still leave us with huge uncertainty about their development.

Many of the league's best players, notably two-time MVP Stephen Curry, have bloomed late because they've improved their skills once in the NBA far more than their peers.

Houston Rockets GM Daryl Morey mentioned something similar when asked about future advances in basketball analytics during this year's MIT Sloan Sports Analytics Conference.

"If we could properly forecast, I would say, three things, it would be a huge advance -- at least for us, maybe other teams are better," Morey said. "One would be what will they do the minute they get a lot of money. I have not been able to predict that. Some guys handle it, some guys don't.

"Two would be do they have the self-awareness of where they're not as good as they need to be, meaning do they understand there's a gap between them and Chris Paul or James Harden or any of these great players in the league? And then three, what are their habits to improve that gap? We're trying to get really good at predicting that and we've got a great scouting department, but we're hoping to create an edge so it's not enough to be good, we have to be better than our competitors, which is where it gets really challenging."

First thing I thought of was Bargs and DeMar. Polar opposites in this spectrum.

[Shaolin Fantastic]

Peltons mailbag today has a fascinating question.





First thing I thought of was Bargs and DeMar. Polar opposites in this spectrum.

Bargnani with DeMar's application and effort would've been terrifying and one of the 10 best players in the league.

That dude came in with every fucking tool you need to be a star and totally wasted it.

[slaw]

Peltons mailbag today has a fascinating question.

First thing I thought of was Bargs and DeMar. Polar opposites in this spectrum.

If Daryl Morey figures out those three things he can rule the world cause he'd be the wisest man in history.

[Scraptor]

Peltons mailbag today has a fascinating question.





First thing I thought of was Bargs and DeMar. Polar opposites in this spectrum.

The hardest thing to measure in a young athlete is character.

It's doubly ironic/sad because BC was very big on character (to the point where he foolishly passed on Drummond), and was influenced to take Bargnani by an off-the-charts psychological test.

http://www.espn.com/nba/news/story?p...pnmag/bargnani

"They said, 'Out of all the athletes we've profiled, we've never seen anything like this.' "

The test showed that Bargnani is virtually oblivious to what others think of him. And his tremendous ability to block out such potentially negative pressures enables him to focus completely on the task at hand.

The ability to block out negative pressure also meant he blocked out critical feedback, which is why he never felt the need to improve.

That's why I think it's an art, not a science. You'll never be able to measure heart with numbers.

[Hotshot]

Peltons mailbag today has a fascinating question.





First thing I thought of was Bargs and DeMar. Polar opposites in this spectrum.

I actually thought of guys like Jahil Okafor, Dayonta Davis & Noel Nerlens. All these Players showed they think highly of themselves and the reason they haven't suceeded yet was cause "minutes" "coach" "team chemistry" and they all are looking and talking how to make lots of money without showing much improvement in their game. I believe the Raps also avoid drafting " these type of players".

In 2016 draft most people wanted the Raps to draft Marquees Chriss if he was available but given what we saw thus far from his attitude/immaturity the Raps would have probably still drafted Poeltl.

[JimiCliff]

The hardest thing to measure in a young athlete is character.

It's doubly ironic/sad because BC was very big on character (to the point where he foolishly passed on Drummond), and was influenced to take Bargnani by an off-the-charts psychological test.

http://www.espn.com/nba/news/story?p...pnmag/bargnani



The ability to block out negative pressure also meant he blocked out critical feedback, which is why he never felt the need to improve.

That's why I think it's an art, not a science. You'll never be able to measure heart with numbers.

I was thinking back to this instance as well. I'd add: be careful with the science available to you, especially when you're untrained in the field. It's astonishingly easy and common for otherwise intelligent people to completely butcher, deform and misapply science to justify their ends.

[Puffer]

I was thinking back to this instance as well. I'd add: be careful with the science available to you, especially when you're untrained in the field. It's astonishingly easy and common for otherwise intelligent people to completely butcher, deform and misapply science to justify their ends.

It seems that in the last few years we have heard a lot more about the impact of the interview process on rookie selections, coming from the Raps management and staff. And a lot of the rookies have mentioned how the interviews impressed them, OG just being the latest example. I have a lot of faith in the current selection crew. If you can be right 3 times out of 5 in drafting the best available player at your position in the draft, you could create a powerhouse.

[LJ2]

It seems that in the last few years we have heard a lot more about the impact of the interview process on rookie selections, coming from the Raps management and staff. And a lot of the rookies have mentioned how the interviews impressed them, OG just being the latest example. I have a lot of faith in the current selection crew. If you can be right 3 times out of 5 in drafting the best available player at your position in the draft, you could create a powerhouse.

Well, the Raptors' interview process has come a long way from the Bargnani days. I remember hearing they were really impressed with his interview because of something along the lines of him not being phased by anything. Little did they know his blank stare was a result of a deviated septum and likely not getting enough oxygen to his brain.

[JimiCliff]

It seems that in the last few years we have heard a lot more about the impact of the interview process on rookie selections, coming from the Raps management and staff. And a lot of the rookies have mentioned how the interviews impressed them, OG just being the latest example. I have a lot of faith in the current selection crew. If you can be right 3 times out of 5 in drafting the best available player at your position in the draft, you could create a powerhouse.

So they claim. It seems to me that they're simply elite at identifying how existing talent will translate to the NBA floor, and then use interviews to filter out the a**holes.

[Puffer]

So they claim. It seems to me that they're simply elite at identifying how existing talent will translate to the NBA floor, and then use interviews to filter out the a**holes.

That was what I was referring to. The counterpoint to the Bargain example. Brian and crew were certainly bang on in identifying talent that time. The problem is they DIDN'T filter out the a** hole. Now they do, via the interview process they use now. :-)

[slaw]

I was thinking back to this instance as well. I'd add: be careful with the science available to you, especially when you're untrained in the field. It's astonishingly easy and common for otherwise intelligent people to completely butcher, deform and misapply science to justify their ends.

Psychometric testing has its uses. I'd be very curious to see what NBA teams are looking at. I'd also be very curious to see how much study had actually been done to support the testing.

Oddly enough, I had to take a "Big Five" test the other day. It was pretty much bang on.....

[Scraptor]

That was what I was referring to. The counterpoint to the Bargain example. Brian and crew were certainly bang on in identifying talent that time. The problem is they DIDN'T filter out the a** hole. Now they do, via the interview process they use now. :-)

Eh, both regimes have had their hits and misses.

BC snagged DD and JV, who have both been stellar locker room/character guys. Masai picked Bruno, who apparently became a problem child. Nobody's perfect.

[Puffer]

Eh, both regimes have had their hits and misses.

BC snagged DD and JV, who have both been stellar locker room/character guys. Masai picked Bruno, who apparently became a problem child. Nobody's perfect.

I would say that both DD and JV were relatively obvious picks at those draft positions. They might have gone a couple of spots lower or higher. Bruno was obviously a flyer. Masai's picks since then have been prescient. I would argue much better than anticipated because they fit the culture of the club so well.

[Hotshot]

Psychometric testing has its uses. I'd be very curious to see what NBA teams are looking at.I'd also be very curious to see how much study had actually been done to support the testing.

..

Judging How the Kings have been drafting I would assume that Vivek & Vlade have something similar to this method:

and its Malachi Richardson for the win!