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Friday Press Clippings:
Kevin Pelton Blows Minds: Age Adjusted Defensive Efficiency

From Blazer's Edge
By Benjamin Golliver
Download source here: ' Kevin Pelton Blows Minds: Age Adjusted Defensive Efficiency ' by Benjamin Golliver




"... Recently when asked to explain our defensive issues I came up with the following areas for improvement.

Weakside defense.
Handling of pick and rolls.
Recognizing and executing rotations.
Point guard defense.
Lateral defensive speed.
Bad fouls.
Communication.
Closing out on shooters.

So, yeah, Pretty much everything. Likewise, when asked the root of the problems listed above, I wrote. ..."

"... I asked him: "You know how it's easy to subjectively look at young players and notice their defensive faults? And how it's equally easy to look at older players and call them savvy veterans? This seems way too simple. And you know how some people argue that experience is an explanation for a young team's defensive struggles and others mock that argument as simply an excuse? Do you think you could settle that debate? It seems really subjective."

KP2 responded, "You know me. I absolutely hate subjectivity caused by an absence of statistics." He paused, rubbing his fingers on his temples, before continuing, "Numbers are very powerful. They can solve most debates." ..."

"... First things first, KP2 starts with Defensive Efficiency. What's Defensive Efficiency? It's a simple way to measure how succesful teams are at stopping their opponent from scoring.

For example, John Hollinger's Defensive Efficiency rating measures the number of points a team allows per 100 possessions. To see his ratings, you must have ESPN Insider, but to give you an idea: Boston rates 1st, Portland rates 18th and Sacramento rates 30th.

KP2's Defensive Efficiency Rating is very similar to Hollinger's only he adjusts the formula slightly to account for team offensive rebounds. In case you're interested in the specifics, here's what he does... ..."

"... Next he calculated a weighted age for every team at the end of their season (and up to the current point for this season). He did this by taking total minutes played that season for each player on the team.

On the Blazers, a team that features so many rookies in its rotation, the weighted age is quite a bit smaller than nearly every other team from 2001-2002 to the present.

Using weighted age also eliminates any impact of having Raef Lafrentz's Expiring Contract on the inactive list. We are looking only at the weighted ages of players that are on the court producing. ..."

"... AEDR aims to answer the question: based solely on the team's age relative to the rest of the league, what should we expect their defensive efficiency to be? For the Blazers, a young team whose standard defensive efficiency is 109.8, their AEDR is 111.3.

In other words, based solely on the age of their personnel, we should expect the Blazers to play less efficient defense than they actually do.

The next step from Age Expected Defensive Efficiency Ratings is to calculate the real golden goose: Age Adjusted Defensive Efficiency (AADR).

What will AADR answer for us, according to KP2.. ..."

"... There is a demonstrable relationship between age and defensive efficiency. By one measure, we can estimate that age accounts for approximately 18.8% of defensive efficiency when surveying all teams from 2001-2002 to the present.

Age is certainly a factor that should be considered when assessing a team's defense, however coaching and personnel are most likely more critical factors. ..."

Read more articles in Blazer's Edge.

To read today's 'Press Clippings' in Spanish,
click this week above on the 'Español' tab or afterwards click here:
' El juego de baloncesto modificado como un medio dentro del Proceso de Recreación Física '
by Lic. Milagros Martin Hernández Sardiña et all..

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Friday Video Clippings:
Racist Basketball Reporter

Racist Basketball Reporter

Jamal Baxter tells about his plight to interview a basketball player.

To watch today's 'Video Clippings' in Spanish,
click this week above on the 'Español' tab or afterwards click here:
' Árboles y Flores de Walt Disney !' .

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is a Series of Notes edited the 2nd. & 4th. Friday of Every Month

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