[Grades] Grades v. Pelicans 1/21/2014

What happens tomorrow v. Houston?

  • Win by lot

    Votes: 2 4.0%
  • Win by little

    Votes: 35 70.0%
  • Lose by little

    Votes: 9 18.0%
  • Lose by lot

    Votes: 4 8.0%
  • Tie in regulation, and go to a shootout

    Votes: 0 0.0%

  • Total voters
    50
  • Poll closed .

Bricklayer

Don't Make Me Use The Bat
#1



Another game, another one of our big three goes off. But this tme it was part of a teamwide effort, and of course against a ruined team playing multiple scrubs major minutes at this point, and so we got up on them early, wobbled as we lost our attention several times, but never let them really threaten anything.

Career tying 41pt night for Rudy. If Cuz would just quit getting overexcited in these matchups and putting himself on t e bench, it could have been something huge for him as well. Triple double maybe. In any case, he has clearly been more impressive than Davis in both their head to heads this season. Isaiah...well, Capt. gets that heat tonight. Suffice it to say he was cold, responded to that in Me fashion and insisted on throwing up crap because he has to get his FGA's...and yet at the same time he dished 11 assists, including multiple nice setups of the drive and dish inside variety, and was part of a strong passing attack through most of the night. And we won, so there's that. Note: in a bit of oddity Malone not only left in his main guys almost to the very end of a game that was constantly in the 15-20pt range after half, but he actually subbed Cuz back into the game for the final 4-5 min. very odd. We'll see if that has any consequences on the back to back/last game of the 6 game trip tomorrow.

Your Consoritum Graders tonight:
Bricklayer
Henkel
Capt. Factorial
MassachusettsKingsFan
and possibly...Spudfan


Boxscore

Stats: 42min 41pts (16-25, 5-8, 4-6) 8reb 5ast 0stl 0blk30TO
Gay ( A+ ) -- 's been a rough road trip for Gay. He's had to match up with two of three best players in the league along with a less then stellar home coming against a tough Grizzles team. Obviously upset with his recent play came out looking focused. Had his jumper going right from the start but he dominated the first quarter with his all around play. He had a couple of quick baskets a long with a couple of nice assists inside to JT getting us off to a hot start. Continued to pick his spots without forcing anything while doing a great job on the boards against Aminu, who despite all of his other faults is very good on the boards. Only took four shots in the first as he seemed as focused on getting guys involved as he was on scoring. Came back in after a short rest and immediately attacked the rim showing off his athleticism as he got up high and took the contact while finishing easily. Had another nice pass out of the double team to Jimmer for three. Then followed up on Jimmer's miss inside and suddenly he was in double figures early into the second. At this point it looked like things were about to get ugly for the Pelicans. Slight tangent but that crowd was nonexistent. As Kings fans know a long losing streak and terrible coaching can be disheartening, but still that was one of the most pathetic crowds I've seen in a while. Was playing the two for most of the second quarter and when matched up with Reke did a decent job. The same can be said for Reke who managed some respectable post defense on Gay. But tonight Rudy had his jumper going and could not be stopped. Confident catching and going straight up for the three off a nice pass by IT. Knocked down another one on a nice little mid range set up out of a timeout. Gay has shown off on the offensive side since he got here but his jumper has never looked better then it did tonight, especially in that third quarter. Started off third with a beautiful looking three, simple catch and shoot with his feet set but there was no hesitation. Had a nice throw down on the break followed by another good looking catch and shoot three. He was in such a groove that it was hardly a surprise when he nailed a 30 footer to close out the quarter. Finished the third with a ridiculous 32 points 5 rebounds 5 assists on 16 shots. Played well to finish things out but things got a little sloppy as they often do late in a blowout. Didn't help that he looked a bit gassed along with forcing things a bit as he got closer to a new career high, which you can't blame him for given his coach is running him out there late in a game that was already over. Still managed nine points to finish it out thus tying his career high of 41. Great bounce back performance as he continues to look like a legitimate number two next to Cousins.--Henkel

Stats: 36min 11pts (5-8, 0-0, 1-1) 8reb 1ast 0stl 1blk 1TO
Thompson ( B ) -- how you felt about JT's game tonight directly corresponded to what quarter it was, and in a more particular sense, to how the team as a whole was playing at any given time. Tonight was a pureblood roleplayer game for JT, and he was doing it nicely in the early going, running the floor and keeping his hands up and helping along our big first quarter just by being an easy target and finishing everything he got. Of course more importantly was his work on the other end on Anthony Davis, who was coming off a 31pt 17reb night, and yet tonight looked very average as Jason crowded him and bumped him, taking away the space the Brow needs to thrive at this point in his career/body. Then the 2nd quarter came around, and our sterling teamwork began to break down into 1 on 1 play, and Jason, still playing the roleplayer, was completely uninvolved and ineffective. Around comes the 3rd, Cousins is back (which until the early 4th tracked nicely with our good stretches and bad), so is our teamwork, and as we blow the Pelicans back on out, Jason is flying as a roleplayer again, significantly bothering Davis, helping on the glass, and until he picked up his 4th foul, and once again complained himself right into a technical, providing very solid support for Gay and Cousins. Played a lot of minutes in the 4th as Malone really ran those starters into the ground, and had a few key plays including an offensive rebound soon after being reinserted to help us break a Pelicans run, and a dunk off an IT drive and dish that pretty much finished it late. Fouled out with a little over 2min to go, but whining and complaining or not, they were fouls well used as Davis was help to a 4-12 shooting night. --Brick

Stats: 29min 18pts (6-10, 0-0, 6-9) 11reb 6ast 3stl 4blk 3TO
Cousins ( A ) -- Kind of a tough game for me to associate with a letter grade. DeMarcus Cousins essentially played the perfect kind of game you play when one of your teammates is about to drop the easiest 40 points I’ve every seen. Cousins was never the focal point of the offense tonight. He just wasn’t. He still managed to drop 18 points on 10 shots, but these were Jason Thompson-type buckets. Most of them were around the basket and of the layup or dunk variety, usually off of good passes from his teammates. He was rarely asked to create for himself, and he never really needed to. His passing, particularly in the first quarter, was incredible. At the end of the first quarter Cousins had 8 points, 6 rebounds, and 5 assists. He made two ridiculous bounce passes (one to Thornton, one to Gay) that other centers don’t even attempt. But all of this offensive stuff was just icing on the cake. Where Cousins really earned this ‘A’ was on defense. He blocked 4 shots and altered at least that many. It felt like he wanted to prove a point to Tyreke Evans (and Malone who blasted the team after the last Pelicans game for allowing Evans to get to the rim at will) and he was timing Evans drives perfectly all night. Evans still got to the rim; only this time he had Boogie waiting for him when he got there. Cousins was free to play this style of defense because his man (Greg Stiemsma) wasn’t a threat, so there is a little asterisk there, but Cousins was awesome as a help defender in this one. Not only did he block 4 shots, he also came away with 3 steals and 3 charges. He was responsible for 6 Pelicans turnovers. Considering how much of a (positive) impact Rudy Gay had on this game and the teams scoring load, I don’t know how Cousins could have played better with the minutes and opportunities he was given. It was genuinely nice to see DeMarcus voluntarily take the back seat to someone who was clearly on another level tonight. It wasn’t the dominant offensive DeMarcus Cousins we’ve grown accustomed to, and his stat line doesn’t look as crazy as it has in the past, but he was good in this one. Especially when the game was still being decided. --Mass.

Stats: 29min 6pts (3-7, 0-3, 0-0) 1reb 1ast 0stl 2blk 1TO
Thornton ( ) -- --Spud?

Stats: 39min 20pts (6-17, 3-8, 5-6) 3reb 11ast 3stl 0blk 4TO
Thomas ( B- ) -- The game started out with an interesting mix of PG by committee - there were enough fast breaks and transition opportunities pushed by Cousins and Gay that IT was really only on the ball about half the time. When he was, he was heavily feeding the post, he hit one of his two cutters on the night, and also had three drive and kicks, half of his game total. He was 2-2 from three and had 9 points at the end of the first, and we had complete control of the game, never to really give it up (though we tried a few times). But after that great first quarter, Isaiah really didn't keep it up. His second quarter was filled with miserable shooting (0-4), and for the rest of the game he was par for the course (4-9) but did take some poor shots. He did tally a total of eleven assists (I only credited him ten), six of those to red-hot Rudy, including hitting him for a thunderous dunk as the trailer on a fast break in the third. Defensively, I thought IT actually did a reasonable job tonight. He was not getting routinely killed on screens - by my count he actually successfully got through 60% of the screens set on him, and on one of those it was actually JT that got him, stepping in the way on a show at the three-point line. He had only allowed nine points (and that counts his technical) until Rivers hit back-to-back threes over him in garbage time. So it was a bad shooting night, a good passing night, and a pretty good defense night. --Capt.

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Bricklayer

Don't Make Me Use The Bat
#2
Bench

Stats: 23min 8pts (3-5, 0-1, 2-3) 1reb 0ast 1stl 0blk 0TO
Williams ( C- ) -- Got off to a hot start then disappeared. Started things of with a nice post up. Then a impressive fast break going the length of the court for the score and the foul. lastly he faced up and went one on one created space and hit a pull up jumper. This all took place over a three minute span late first early second. And after that impressive start he was irrelevant. That's it for my notes outside of a brief mention of a decent defensive effort on Reke at some point in the second half. Only grabbed one rebound, his one and only of the game, and a couple of ft's in the second half. The big three dominate the ball, and in the second half Williams didn't see him number called much if at all. No excuse for grabbing one board though. A talented guy but still defining his role. Hopefully he adds some more toughness to go a long with all that offensive potential. --Henkel

Stats: 23min 3pts (1-4, 0-0, 1-4) 10reb 1ast 0stl 1blk 0TO
Acy ( C- ) -- I was really trending down on this Acy grade after the first half. He was getting beat a lot defensively in the second quarter while DeMarcus Cousins sat with a little bit of foul trouble. I mean, getting beat by Anthony Davis and Tyreke Evans is one thing, but Jeff Withey? And I like Jeff Withey, but Acy just wasn’t guarding him, which is weird because Acy has been a solid defender for this team since he was traded here. His (and the teams) poor defense on Withey caused Malone to take 2 timeouts just to go over what he wanted them to do, and it still wasn’t really working. Poor defense aside, he still managed to grab 10 rebounds in 23 minutes. He still brought energy. I’m not entirely sure why he was playing over Landry, who is still recovering from injury, but either way Acy was just OK tonight. It wasn’t his best effort (he was a team low -10) but our bench unit’s defensive issues wasn’t all his fault, and at least he contributed in a major way on the glass. --Mass

Stats: 7min 0pts (0-1, 0-0, 0-0) 1reb 0ast 0stl 1blk 0TO
McLemore ( ) -- --Spud?

Stats: 7min 5pts (2-3, 1-1, 0-0) 0reb 0ast 0stl 1blk 0TO
Fredette ( INC ) -- I'm being a bit generous to Jimmer here by not giving him a grade. He only played a short stint to open the second quarter and was pretty quiet, though I did give him some credit for getting switched onto Al-Farouq Aminu in the post and holding his ground as Aminu missed. But for his fourth quarter stint, things just didn't go so well. Despite the Kings having a big lead, Jimmer was yanked only 2:30 into his second stint because the team was completely ineffective with him out there. It wasn't an on night, but it was too short of an off night for me to kill him over it. --Capt.

Stats: 2min 2pts (0-1, 0-0, 2-2) 3reb 0ast 0stl 0blk 0TO
Gray ( INC ) -- Came in for the last few minutes and knocked down 2 free throws for his only two points of the game. --Mass

Stats: 2min 0pts (0-1, 0-0, 0-0) 0reb 0ast 0stl 0blk 0TO
McCallum ( INC ) -- --Capt.


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VF21

Super Moderator Emeritus
SME
#3
NOTE: To avoid confusion, I've moved the posts about the upcoming Rockets game to the Kings @ Rockets game thread. :)
 

CruzDude

Senior Member sharing a brew with bajaden
#4
Great all around game. Gay was the monster #2 but Cuz's stat line was rather awesome. Acy getting bigger minutes and responded with 11 reb. MT is used to many more touches that he is getting with the new Big 3 and that affects his shooting game of not ever really getting started. Hitting bunches of 3's a very irregular occurrence these days. Nice to see McCallum to get his few minutes and was obvious he was being aggressive which works for him.

Interesting to see how many A's the Teachers give as Grades here. I say 3!?
 

VF21

Super Moderator Emeritus
SME
#5
Great all around game. Gay was the monster #2 but Cuz's stat line was rather awesome. Acy getting bigger minutes and responded with 11 reb. MT is used to many more touches that he is getting with the new Big 3 and that affects his shooting game of not ever really getting started. Hitting bunches of 3's a very irregular occurrence these days. Nice to see McCallum to get his few minutes and was obvious he was being aggressive which works for him.

Interesting to see how many A's the Teachers give as Grades here. I say 3!?
Thornton knows he's going to get fewer touches. He actually said as much to Grant tonight, and said he knows Malone wants him to focus on defense.
 
K

KingMilz

Guest
#6
We didn't force many bad shots and we won what a pleasant surprise

#Cousins made his TEAMMATES BETTER by PASSING the ball instead of forcing like he did the last couple games, this to me was the difference on offence. The saying "those who give receive" is true he gave up nice passes and got some nice spoon feeds back cause he forced the defence to move. He makes the game easier for himself and others doing this instead of taking jumpers/trying to force his way through. I rather see him drive/kick or draw a double and pass out rather than taking mid range jumpers or trying to barrel through. He's a more capable playmaker than he is shooter at this point in his career and should do more of it.

#Gay was great made up some for him quitting last game, as effortless 40 points as your going to see
#IT played a bit to much hero play at times for my taste and while he did have 11 assists messed up quiet a few passes that should have lead to easy scores. Ok game.
#JT one of the best stretches of his career in terms of impact
#D-Will I really wish we posted him up more when he had Evans on him the guy almost always scores over smaller players in the post.
#Thornton was ok which is a lot better than normal
#Acy got scored on a lot but did the small things I can't really complain about Acy gives his all

It's just nice to see free flowing non-forcing basketball when we do that we win
 
#8
I REALLY want to see the number of charges that DMC took to be added to his stat line.
They are MUCH more important and impacting to the game than the blocks, that are ALWAYS included in stat lines.
He actually need to stop doing that. Big men shouldn't get run over on purpose twice a game. There are defensive specialist for that.
 
#11
weird argument to have, in a game in which Cuz had four blocks. my preference would be that he challenges shots up-and-down, Hibbert style, in order to stay out of foul trouble, btw.
 
#12
Boogie should really focus on Hibbert's progression this summer. Today he moved really well on D, both inside and on PnR. If he learns never to lower his hands, does it consistently, refs will allow him more. Let them shoot over your hands or look if they have enough body and ball control to go around you.
P.S. Long athletic guy who contests shots is still a need.
 
#15
He actually need to stop doing that. Big men shouldn't get run over on purpose twice a game. There are defensive specialist for that.
You probably don't want all 296 lbs of your star center hitting the ground multiple times a game. But you gotta love his willingness to do that. And there is always going to be a net positive over a block....

Out of curiosity, does anybody have a stat on the avg number of blocked shots that end up in a make on a second attempt (either immediately, or after an in-bounds)?
 
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#16
When your PG gets 20 and 11 and it is considered an average game for him, it tells me that we have a very good PG. 20 and 11 is what the best PG in the league averages.
 
#17
When your PG gets 20 and 11 and it is considered an average game for him, it tells me that we have a very good PG. 20 and 11 is what the best PG in the league averages.
But do the best PGs average 35% from the floor? That's why this was an average game for him. He racked up the assists, but he was not an efficient scorer. Looking at absolute numbers will never tell you the whole story.
 

Kingster

Hall of Famer
#18
I'm not disagreeing with you on the IT evaluation; he's had better games.

That said, from the standpoint of statistics I sure would like to see reported a weighted average scoring percentage that incorporates the 3 point percentage with the 2 point percentage. I'd like to see this for all players so that you can compare apples to apples. So far, I haven't seen it (maybe somebody out there knows where it is reported).

So, as an example, IT was 3 out of 8 on three pointers; that's 37.5% on three pointers; he scored 9 points on 3s. The equivalent shooting percentage for 2 pointers is 56.3%. (Somebody can check my math, but I'm simply multiply by 3, and dividing the product by 2; or you can use the point total of 9, divide by 2; arrive at 4.5 shots attempted and then divide by 8). The next step is incorporating the 2 point % into the overall number. He took 9 shots, made 3; 6 points produced. Therefore, he made three 2-point baskets. So if you include the 3 point shots and the 2 point shots he made a total of 7.5 baskets (4.5 +3). With a total of 17 shots, that means his overall weighted average is .441 for the game. (4.5+3/17).
 

Capt. Factorial

trifolium contra tempestatem subrigere certum est
Staff member
#19
But do the best PGs average 35% from the floor? That's why this was an average game for him. He racked up the assists, but he was not an efficient scorer. Looking at absolute numbers will never tell you the whole story.
That shooting percentage was the primary factor in dropping the grade down a bit, along with the fact that I thought his second quarter was awful. And if he hadn't slacked off on Austin Rivers late in the fourth and allowed two meaningless threes, I might have moved him up another bit, because it's a lot easier to defend "only allowed 9 points on the game" than it is to defend "allowed 15 points, but..." At any rate, it was the Rudy Gay show last night - I wouldn't want to get in the way of that man's A anyhow!
 

Capt. Factorial

trifolium contra tempestatem subrigere certum est
Staff member
#20
I'm not disagreeing with you on the IT evaluation; he's had better games.

That said, from the standpoint of statistics I sure would like to see reported a weighted average scoring percentage that incorporates the 3 point percentage with the 2 point percentage. I'd like to see this for all players so that you can compare apples to apples. So far, I haven't seen it (maybe somebody out there knows where it is reported).

So, as an example, IT was 3 out of 8 on three pointers; that's 37.5% on three pointers; he scored 9 points on 3s. The equivalent shooting percentage for 2 pointers is 56.3%. (Somebody can check my math, but I'm simply multiply by 3, and dividing the product by 2; or you can use the point total of 9, divide by 2; arrive at 4.5 shots attempted and then divide by 8). The next step is incorporating the 2 point % into the overall number. He took 9 shots, made 3; 6 points produced. Therefore, he made three 2-point baskets. So if you include the 3 point shots and the 2 point shots he made a total of 7.5 baskets (4.5 +3). With a total of 17 shots, that means his overall weighted average is .441 for the game. (4.5+3/17).
You have just independently derived the statistic known as eFG%, which stands for "effective" FG%. The league average this year on eFG% is .496, for reference.

In all honesty, eFG% is not my favorite stat, not because it's meaningless (it isn't) but it only goes halfway. It takes threes into account, but it doesn't take FTs into account - and free throws are important because 1) you score on them, and 2) you usually use a possession to get them. TS% is the number that takes free throws into account. Maligned as it may be by some around here, it's a much better measure of scoring efficiency than anything else out there (including eFG%, which is itself better than FG%).
 
#21
I'm not disagreeing with you on the IT evaluation; he's had better games.

That said, from the standpoint of statistics I sure would like to see reported a weighted average scoring percentage that incorporates the 3 point percentage with the 2 point percentage. I'd like to see this for all players so that you can compare apples to apples. So far, I haven't seen it (maybe somebody out there knows where it is reported).
i
So, as an example, IT was 3 out of 8 on three pointers; that's 37.5% on three pointers; he scored 9 points on 3s. The equivalent shooting percentage for 2 pointers is 56.3%. (Somebody can check my math, but I'm simply multiply by 3, and dividing the product by 2; or you can use the point total of 9, divide by 2; arrive at 4.5 shots attempted and then divide by 8). The next step is incorporating the 2 point % into the overall number. He took 9 shots, made 3; 6 points produced. Therefore, he made three 2-point baskets. So if you include the 3 point shots and the 2 point shots he made a total of 7.5 baskets (4.5 +3). With a total of 17 shots, that means his overall weighted average is .441 for the game. (4.5+3/17).
That's eFG%, good sir.While better than FG%, (pretty much everything is), TS% takes it even a step further by incorporating 2p%, 3p%, and FT%. And for an 85% FT shooter like IT, who gets to the line 5-6 times a game, it's a very important to consider his FT shooting in his scoring averages. If you just went by his 6-17 shooting, you'd say he probably had a horrid scoring night. Yet he still scored 20. 20 points on 17 shots is decent efficiency, but not at the level we're used to with IT.

edit: Looks like Capt beat me to it. I 2nd everything he said
 
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#22
Just to clarify, I am not disagreeing or criticizing the grade. IT did not have his "A" game on tonight.

Just saying that when a player's "B" game can include 20 and 11 he must not be too shabby. Also, if he makes just 2 of the shots that he missed he shoots a respectable 47% and goes for 24-26 and 11.

Still though, seemed a little out of sinc and took some forced shots.
 

Tetsujin

The Game Thread Dude
#23
Just to clarify, I am not disagreeing or criticizing the grade. IT did not have his "A" game on tonight.

Just saying that when a player's "B" game can include 20 and 11 he must not be too shabby. Also, if he makes just 2 of the shots that he missed he shoots a respectable 47% and goes for 24-26 and 11.

Still though, seemed a little out of sinc and took some forced shots.
I'd dock him alter for his super awesome 2nd quarter alone. The second Demarcus left the court IT took it upon himself to enter Heroball mode.
 
#24
Playing a greater % of their time in team ball mode was key to this game. It allowed more guys to get and score good shots than is normal for them. Better team play which , in my book, is a credit to the coach. It's hard to turn on and off the big egos we have on this team. Great win.
 

Kingster

Hall of Famer
#25
You have just independently derived the statistic known as eFG%, which stands for "effective" FG%. The league average this year on eFG% is .496, for reference.

In all honesty, eFG% is not my favorite stat, not because it's meaningless (it isn't) but it only goes halfway. It takes threes into account, but it doesn't take FTs into account - and free throws are important because 1) you score on them, and 2) you usually use a possession to get them. TS% is the number that takes free throws into account. Maligned as it may be by some around here, it's a much better measure of scoring efficiency than anything else out there (including eFG%, which is itself better than FG%).
Totally agree. I meant to put in the free throw factor, but got got carried away with the math. Thanks for the info.
 
#26
Really an all around good game by the Kings. Gay was on fire and the rest of the team didn't stink either. Other than the lapse that allowed the P-Hornets back into the game, the defense was mostly solid. I was pleasantly surprised at how well they played in the first quarter. That type of team effort is what they are ultimately striving for. Hope they can watch the tape of that first quarter and grow from that. If they give that kind of effort and teamwork every time they will certainly be well on their way down the right path.
 
#27
One thing about IT's assist numbers:
It's nice to be able to dish to a very efficient Gay and an ever-improving Cousins in the post. It's not to be meant as a knock on IT, but just some food for thought on why his assist numbers are up.
 
#28
One thing about IT's assist numbers:
It's nice to be able to dish to a very efficient Gay and an ever-improving Cousins in the post. It's not to be meant as a knock on IT, but just some food for thought on why his assist numbers are up.
So first IT gets criticized because you guys think he doesn't pass enough or get enough assists, and in this game he gets 11 assist, but they don't count because he was passing to Gay and Cousins. So should Chris Pauls asssist not count because a lot of them are lobs to Griffin and Jordan? Should we send IT down to the D-League just to see if he can rack up assists with cheap talent?
 
#29
So first IT gets criticized because you guys think he doesn't pass enough or get enough assists, and in this game he gets 11 assist, but they don't count because he was passing to Gay and Cousins. So should Chris Pauls asssist not count because a lot of them are lobs to Griffin and Jordan? Should we send IT down to the D-League just to see if he can rack up assists with cheap talent?
Do you think Chris Paul could get 11 assists out of our team pre-the Gay trade? The answer is no. Spike wasn't knocking IT though, just explaining the uptick in his Assist numbers after joining the starting line-up (adjusting for minutes of course).
 
#30
One thing about IT's assist numbers:
It's nice to be able to dish to a very efficient Gay and an ever-improving Cousins in the post. It's not to be meant as a knock on IT, but just some food for thought on why his assist numbers are up.
You know even though you say it's not meant to be a knock on Thomas, it sure comes across that way...

I think I know what you're trying to say (and you can correct me if I'm wrong). You're trying to say that Thomas has not improved his ability to setup his teammates at all (or only slightly) and the only reason his assists are up are because he has better finishers and shooters around him. If this statement is true, one could look at assist opportunities per minute from last year and compare them to this year. Obviously, there would be some external factors that won't be controlled for in the comparison, but it should give you a decent indication of the progression of Thomas in terms of setting others up.

Unfortunately, we do not have assist opportunities per minute for last year's season since we started the advanced player tracking this year. (At least I think so. I could be wrong.)

Edit: This argument reminds me of one that is centered around BABIP (Batting Average on Balls In Play) for baseball. For those of you that don't know, it is a stat that is used to gauge pitchers. It measures the batting average when a ball is put into play against a pitcher. This stat should remain very consistent from pitcher to pitcher because when a ball is put into play, defenses usually convert an "out" at a very similar rate. Some pitchers may have a very low BABIP to start the season and also have very good pitching numbers. This is usually an indication that the pitcher has been experiencing a bit of luck and that his defense is getting people out at a very high rate. For those of you that play Fantasy Baseball, sell high on these guys!!

This reminds me of assists in a way. The leagues average BABIP would be equivalent to the NBA's average FG%. You could be generating plenty of opportunities for your teammates to score (or plenty of opportunities for your defense to get an out), but they are converting at a rate below the league average. Some might say, well why don't they just strike them out? I would probably say that's the equivalent of the PG scoring themselves.

Nothing better than trying to force an analogy :p
 
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