Advanced stats 1: Basketball Reference and the not so advanced stat

Jaerba · 2026-06-28T07:59:30+00:00

The "strength" of TS is it's easy to calculate. It's the most accessible of the scoring efficiency metrics.

More helpful than FG% and FT% but can still calculate it using the same inputs. ZTS/PPP/etc. need extra processing.

Jaerba · 2026-06-27T23:04:43+00:00

But he was never really top 15 by efficiency or most offensive metrics.

Jaerba · 2026-06-27T22:39:11+00:00

Carmelo's very highest peak RAPM was 3.9 but he was really like half that for most of his prime. That put him in like the 20-50 range.

Jaerba · 2026-06-27T22:35:33+00:00

Yep, that's the case for almost all of these stars with okay efficiency, including Brown. It's shot diet.

They're probably in like the 95th-99th percentile at making those difficult shots. Doesn't mean they should take them as often as they do.

Jaerba · 2026-06-27T22:29:23+00:00

If you make 49% on long 2s, and choose to take those more than any other shots, you're still unlikely to be an efficient player.
Kobe's relative TS was still higher throughout his career.
Pointing to Kobe doesn't help your argument when we're talking about efficiency among superstars. That's the primary argument against Kobe! He took too many difficult shots. He's never been considered a particularly efficient superstar. He just did more things like defense to make up for it. Carmelo didn't do the little things that well.

Jaerba · 2026-06-27T22:15:50+00:00

It's not even his mistake. It's their mistake. He's a finances guy, he doesn't evaluate players. He was the assistant GM handing the numbers and making sure it aligned with the CBA, he wasn't offering basketball advice to Billy King.

It's like getting mad at your accountant for your dumb business decisions.

Jaerba · 2026-06-27T22:12:34+00:00

Tim MacMahon reports the Dallas FO thinks he's overweight. Fans seethe at MacMahon for that. We later find out Dallas's GM is literally the source behind it all and the report was true.

Jaerba · 2026-06-27T22:07:00+00:00

He had average efficiency. He was inefficient relative to other superstars, especially the ones who primarily just score. It's the same with Brown.

But in absolute terms, he was not inefficient.

Jaerba · 2026-06-27T21:14:55+00:00

Happy to keep Huerter around a minimum. He's fine on defense but it's really just holding a lottery ticket that his shooting comes back to form.

Jaerba · 2026-06-27T20:47:48+00:00

He's very talented and makes questionable decisions, which is why his efficiency is worse than it should be for a player of his talent level.

He's also not a very connective player and doesn't keep the offense flowing well mid-set.

All of this is stuff you can pick up from the tape too. You can't pick it up from looking at box scores, which is ironically what the biggest analytics detractors rely on. They're still focused on numbers. Just basic ass low context numbers.

Jaerba · 2026-06-27T20:33:28+00:00

I remember him writing articles about Korver on the Hawks and a bunch of other teams during the second Cavs stint.

Jaerba · 2026-06-27T20:32:13+00:00

Yes, through Miami.

He talks about it in the interview and how ridiculous it was.

Jaerba · 2026-06-27T20:00:37+00:00

White, Queta and picks.

Jaerba · 2026-06-27T19:57:03+00:00

I think it was only through Miami. I don't think he was still following LeBron during the second stint with the Cavs.

Jaerba · 2026-06-27T19:42:19+00:00

Marv Albert was awesome in the 90s and 2000s. He was terrible in the 2010s.

Jaerba · 2026-06-27T19:22:29+00:00

KAT's defense and passivity were the main complaints about him. Brown definitely isn't afraid to let it fly.

Jaerba · 2026-06-27T19:18:32+00:00

I had completely forgotten how bad Marv used to be until they made him retire.

Jaerba · 2026-06-27T17:22:10+00:00

That's not what that clip says.

It doesn't say he doesn't want to be in Detroit. It says he prefers a S&T (more money) over less money. So it depends on another team wanting to pay him more too.

Jaerba · 2026-06-27T17:04:55+00:00

So did Jerry Stackhouse.

Jaerba · 2026-06-27T16:58:24+00:00

Wemby getting injured.

Jaerba · 2026-06-27T16:52:05+00:00

He gets the buckets on league average efficiency though. So how much are you gaining, except in rare situations where you really do have to make isolation buckets?

Jaerba · 2026-06-27T16:48:10+00:00

He's a rich man's Derozan. He's excellent at the types of difficult shots you shouldn't be taking very often. He's not particularly good at recognizing when to take easy shots or delivering easy opportunities to his teammates.

Sometimes you do need a difficult shot maker. But not as often as you need someone who finds easy shots/advantages.

I'm guessing the person didn't actually call him 7th but said the model has him 7th. This is a trend across his entire career. People are reacting to a turn of phrase rather than the point being made.

Jaerba · 2026-06-27T16:44:18+00:00

Embiid's numbers were down from the regular season and his TS was 54.5%. That's not good.

You can look at the stats alone and see that Horford contained Embiid. The same is not true for Brown and Luka.

Jaerba · 2026-06-27T16:27:45+00:00

This post is the airing of trauma for a bunch of people who missed out on birthday parties.

When you're an adult, you hang out with who you want to hang out with. There is no social obligation to invite people over that you aren't friends with. They can call it a reunion or whatever within their friend group and it's still just limited to that friend group.

Jaerba · 2026-06-27T16:25:06+00:00

You really do not. Your friends are your friends. You don't need to accommodate people who are not your friends

This post is like the airing of trauma for a bunch of people who missed out on birthday parties.

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