Misc Stats

Compiling stats is not easy. But hey, if I'm going to throw down hot sports facts I better have some numbers to back them up right? If I didn't have the numbers then I'd just be another blow hard shooting his mouth off. The stat compilation goes on but it's getting close to complete. Soon I will have it all at the push of a button. In the mean time, I have a few nuggets I can pull out of the pile and share with you, my fellow basketball geeks.

Quick aside, in Lie to Me's episode called the Moral Waiver Dr. Lightman is corrected when he refers to a college basketball star as a "ball player". "Ball players" play baseball, not basketball. The term "baller" can be used when referring to a basketball player, but never "ball player". It's not the hoop way.

On with the stats. In direct violation of journalism 101 I am going to start with the boring ones first. I reward persistence and I invite the impatient to move on...

All team statistics used in this post are based on rosters as of 8/16/2009.

Here are all 30 NBA teams, oldest to youngest:

Team	Avg Age.
Dallas Mavericks	28.910787
San Antonio Spurs	28.624109
Boston Celtics	28.362064
Cleveland Cavaliers	27.674183
New Orleans Hornets	27.639409
Washington Wizards	27.628375
Orlando Magic	27.462764
Chicago Bulls	27.422700
Denver Nuggets	27.379177
Houston Rockets	27.240924
Los Angeles Lakers	27.121601
New Jersey Nets	26.859360
Indiana Pacers	26.792201
Minnesota Timberwolves	26.718786
Miami Heat	26.698629
Los Angeles Clippers	26.644422
Phoenix Suns	26.609588
Milwaukee Bucks	26.549118
Detroit Pistons	26.429293
Charlotte Bobcats	26.252282
Toronto Raptors	26.133659
Atlanta Hawks	26.017807
New York Knicks	25.920758
Utah Jazz	25.869967
Golden State Warriors	25.839830
Philadelphia 76ers	25.605250
Portland Trail Blazers	25.211207
Sacramento Kings	24.932876
Oklahoma City Thunder	24.564382
Memphis Grizzlies	24.406111

The Mavericks are the oldest team in the league, but not by much. And who cares? Take a look at this list. Notice anything about the twelve oldest teams? Eleven of them were playoff teams. Of the four teams that made the conference finals last year, all four are among these twelve oldie but goodie teams. The one playoff exception are the wizened Washington Wizards. But with a healthy Gilbert Arenas, we might see all of the twelve oldest teams make it to the second season.

Let's move on. Here are the teams in order from tallest to shortest:

Team	Avg. Height
Memphis Grizzlies	6' 8"
Oklahoma City Thunder	6' 8"
Cleveland Cavaliers	6' 8"
Charlotte Bobcats	6' 8"
Detroit Pistons	6' 8"
Sacramento Kings	6' 8"
New York Knicks	6' 8"
Los Angeles Lakers	6' 8"
Utah Jazz	6' 7"
Houston Rockets	6' 7"
Washington Wizards	6' 7"
Philadelphia 76ers	6' 7"
Indiana Pacers	6' 7"
San Antonio Spurs	6' 7"
Phoenix Suns	6' 7"
Portland Trail Blazers	6' 7"
New Jersey Nets	6' 7"
Minnesota Timberwolves	6' 7"
Milwaukee Bucks	6' 7"
Atlanta Hawks	6' 7"
Toronto Raptors	6' 7"
Miami Heat	6' 7"
Orlando Magic	6' 7"
Denver Nuggets	6' 7"
Los Angeles Clippers	6' 7"
Boston Celtics	6' 7"
Dallas Mavericks	6' 7"
Chicago Bulls	6' 7"
New Orleans Hornets	6' 7"
Golden State Warriors	6' 6"

One of the oldest maxims in basketball is, "You can't coach height." It's better to be tall team than a short team all else being equal. This is as true today as it was in the way back. The taller players now are not just metaphorical posts in the key. A lot of them have moves that seven footers were not making 15 years ago. Some of them are doing things with the ball that point guards weren't doing 15 years ago. The only way to cover a quick 6'10" to 7' tall player is to stick another quick 6'10" or so player on them. The weird thing is, of the seven tallest teams, six of them are not any good. Cleveland is in the top seven because of the Shaq signing. Take away the Cavs and you only have one playoff team in the bunch and that was the 8th seeded Pistons.

Here's the list of teams by weight (heaviest to lightest)

Team	Avg. Weight
Cleveland Cavaliers	233
Utah Jazz	233
Atlanta Hawks	231
Memphis Grizzlies	230
Houston Rockets	229
Boston Celtics	229
Los Angeles Lakers	229
New York Knicks	228
Miami Heat	226
Charlotte Bobcats	226
Oklahoma City Thunder	225
Denver Nuggets	224
San Antonio Spurs	224
Indiana Pacers	224
Orlando Magic	224
Minnesota Timberwolves	224
Detroit Pistons	224
Washington Wizards	223
Los Angeles Clippers	223
Phoenix Suns	222
Sacramento Kings	222
Philadelphia 76ers	221
New Jersey Nets	221
Dallas Mavericks	221
Milwaukee Bucks	219
Toronto Raptors	218
New Orleans Hornets	217
Chicago Bulls	216
Portland Trail Blazers	216
Golden State Warriors	212

Shaq already has the Cavs #1 in a category and the season has not even started yet. Unfortunately, the Dungeon Master die roll predicts the Cavs will not make the playoffs. The Warriors are the shortest and the lightest team. If you have to fit a bunch of NBA players in a small two door, put the players from Golden State in the back seat.

So there's your baseline demographics for each team. Here's a few more tidbits for you.

When Memphis and Sacramento face off on November 2nd, I'm pretty sure that it will be the first time a player from Israel has played against a player from Iran in an NBA game. Hamed Haddadi from Iran will suit up for Grizzlies and Omri Casspi from Israel will suit up for the Kings.

How hard is it to make it in the NBA if you are not a first round pick? It's pretty difficult. For all the grief that top draft picks take for being "busts", most players that are not top picks don't make it at all. Currently, there are 392 players listed across all 30 team rosters. 154(40%) of them were taken in the top 10. That's right. The lion's share of NBA roster spots go to players who were top 10 in their respective drafts. 263 (67%) current NBA players were taken in the first round. That does not leave a lot of room for your second rounders and NBDL types. Currently, only 88(22%) players in the NBA were taken in the 2nd round. Only 41(10%) players went un-drafted but later signed with teams.

Where do these players come from? I was a little surprised when I tallied the results. For all the grief that Duke takes, there are more players currently in the NBA from Duke than from any other school. Here's how the top five NBA "sources" break down:

1. Duke - 14 players.
2. UCLA - 13 players.
3. Connecticut - 12 players.
4. Arizona - 11 players.
5. North Carolina - 11 players.

Oak Hill Academy (Mouth of Wilson, VA) is the leading high school source of NBA players with 3 (Josh Smith, Stephen Jackson and DeSagana Diop). The country with the most players in the NBA (other than the US) is France with 7. Serbia, Spain and Italy each have 5 and Argentina has 4.

So that's where they come from...but where do they go? Now this list next is mainly for just "hmmm" purposes. There really isn't much you can take from it because general managers and owners can change. But I think it's interesting. Here is list, from most to least, of which teams draftees are still in the league:

Team	# in League
CHI	21
LAL	19
POR	18
SEA	17
UTH	17
PHO	17
WAS	17
LAC	17
MIL	17
MIN	17
GSW	17
BOS	16
NJN	16
DET	16
DEN	15
ATL	14
CHA	14
MEM	14
SAC	14
SAS	13
PHI	13
CLE	13
HOU	13
MIA	12
IND	11
ORL	11
NYK	10
TOR	10
DAL	7
NOR	5
OKC	5
VAN	3

Chicago has had some good drafts over the years with 21 players still in the league. New Orleans, Oklahoma and Vancouver aren't really last because each of those franchises have moved. They should be matched up with Charlotte(Hornets), Seattle and Memphis. Dallas is actually in last place. Only seven players drafted by the Dallas Mavericks are currently in the league. The next fewest totals are for the Knicks and the Raptors, neither of which are known for having stellar drafts. Based on this list that Dallas has built it's current team from trades rather than from draft picks...or a lot of the players Dallas has selected over the years just haven't worked out.

But let's look further....What kind of players comprise each team? Who as the most 1st rounders on their roster?

Team	1st Rnd	2nd Rnd	Not Drafted
Oklahoma City Thunder	12	1	1
Dallas Mavericks	11	2	3
Toronto Raptors	11	2	2
Phoenix Suns	11	2	1
New Orleans Hornets	11	1	1
Sacramento Kings	11	0	1
San Antonio Spurs	10	5	0
New Jersey Nets	10	5	0
Los Angeles Lakers	10	2	1
Portland Trail Blazers	10	1	0
Boston Celtics	9	4	0
Indiana Pacers	9	4	0
Washington Wizards	9	3	2
Memphis Grizzlies	9	3	1
New York Knicks	9	3	1
Los Angeles Clippers	9	3	0
Detroit Pistons	9	2	2
Chicago Bulls	9	1	4
Charlotte Bobcats	9	1	2
Philadelphia 76ers	8	4	0
Golden State Warriors	8	3	2
Denver Nuggets	8	0	3
Houston Rockets	7	8	1
Orlando Magic	7	5	0
Miami Heat	7	2	4
Atlanta Hawks	7	1	2
Milwaukee Bucks	6	6	2
Utah Jazz	6	6	1
Minnesota Timberwolves	6	5	3
Cleveland Cavaliers	6	5	2

The Thunder are at the top of the list because they routinely finish close to last in the conference. They are guaranteed a 1st round pick near the top. As we saw previously, those picks are more likely to stay in the league. So lets put them aside for the moment. Who has the most picks after OKC? Dallas (tied for 2nd with 11). Interesting. It would appear that the Dallas front office isn't the best at drafting players, but that somehow they manage to accumulate lots of 1st round picks anyway. Donnie Nelson's mind and Mark Cuban's wallet have done a lot for this team.

The Cavs are tied for the least number of 1st round picks with 6. Now that I think about it, drafting Lebron James just about guaranteed that the Cavs were going to start picking lower in the draft because they would start finishing higher in the standings. Once you get to the level they Cavs are it, you don't get great picks any more (barring a trade of course).

The Rockets have the most 2nd round players with 8. It's all moot though because of Houston's injury troubles. Miami and Chicago are tied for the most non-drafted players with 4 and both are play offs teams.

So there are my stats. I'm still working on good compilation methods that don't violate various terms of service (not too many anyway).

My next post will be about Twittering NBA players. No, not the train wreck Twitter accounts that have already been shut down (and talked about ad naseum). I'm talking about really good stuff. Like Kevin Durant tweeting while watching the first Star Trek movie. Here's a sample:

RT @KevinDurant35: if your ship run outta gas n space..where would u refuel at?

Thus sayeth the Dungeon Master

The die have been cast. The Basketball Geek rolled, calculated and divined what lies ahead in the 2009-2010 NBA season. There are many surprises. In fact, there are so many surprises that one might suspect the methods used to arrive at final prediction. I could have played it safe and picked Lakers/Cavs (that worked well last year...right) or I could take Lakers/Celtics so the NBA can run countless adds reminding us that they have the biggest rivalry in all of basketball...yawn. Who gets excited about that? I mean other than Laker, Cav and Celtic fans? (That's actually a lot of people....note to self....do a pro Laker/Cav/Celtic post in the near future). So this is what I have come up with. According to my trusty d20, the NBA season will play out like this:

In the Eastern Conference there will be some new comers to the playoff bracket. Indiana and Detroit will take the places of Philadelphia (who will finish 10th) and the '09 conference champions, the Orlando Magic (who will just miss the playoffs in 9th place). The rest of the seedings will go like this:

1. Atlanta
2. Detroit
3. Miami
4. Indiana
5. Chicago
6. Boston
7. Charlotte....???
8. Cleveland (I guess Lebron decides to play baseball).

In the Western conference, Phoenix will finish 9th and Utah 10th. That's possible I guess. The rest of the seedings will play out like this:

1. Dallas (I swear it was random)
2. Golden State
3. Los Angeles Lakers
4. New Orleans
5. Denver
6. Portland
7. San Antonio
8. Houston (Yao & McGrady come back early?)

The d20 might have been a little crazy with picking Houston to finish ahead of the Suns and Jazz. Maybe it knows something we don't know.

So who wins the whole thing? I've got that too. Here's how the d20 predicts the playoffs will come out:

---

Conference Quarter Finals

East

• Atlanta over Cleveland in 6
• Detroit over Charlotte in 6
• Boston over Miami in 5
• Indiana over Chicago in 5

West

• Dallas over Houston in 7
• Golden State over San Antonio 6
• Portland over Los Angeles Lakers in 6
• Denver over New Orleans in 6

---

Conference Semi Finals

East

• Indiana over Atlanta in 7
• Boston over Detroit in 7

West

• Dallas over Denver in 7
• Portland over Golden State in 6

---

Conference Finals

East

• Detroit over Indiana in 6

West

• Portland over Dallas (told you it was random) in 5.

---

And finally....what does the Dungeon Master's d20 predict for the NBA Finals in 2010?

• Detroit vs. Portland and Portland comes out on top in six games.

There you have it. Portland will be your 2010 champion. Is it a gutsy call? You bet. Is it a safe call? Absolutely not. But I'm going to put $10 down right now on Portland and Detroit in the finals because if that hits, I can retire.

For the record, I'm not a real Dungeon Master so it's possible that I rolled the d20 incorrectly. So...if the predictions turn out to be wrong, you can blame it on my lack of skill.

Summer of '09

"When I look back now, that summer seemed to last forever..."

Will the '09-'10 season start already? It seems like ages since the Lakers won the championship and the Recession of 08-09 was named MVP of the Finals. You read that right. Kobe hoisting the trophy was for the unwashed masses who tuned in to watch LeBron vs. Kobe only to realize, sometime in the 3rd period of game two, that Orlando was in the Finals and not Cleveland. For people that out of touch, the crowning of an economic phenomenon as the MVP would have been too much for them to handle. So they gave the trophy to Kobe but the economic down turn was putting the recess in recession when they got back to the hotel to celebrate. Everyone knew who the night belonged to.

It's no joke. The Memphis Trade was made purely for financial reasons brought on by the real estate bubble, the stock market crash and something called "toxic debt". Pau Gasol was the missing piece and until one of those draft picks turns into a 1st team All NBA player, I will hereto fore refer to the Memphis Grizzlies as the Lakers Farm Team (LFT). The Lakers had a good chance of winning anyway. As Dave Moss said in Glenngary Glenn Ross, "The rich get richer, that's the law of the land." The money train stopped and the checkbook in Memphis snapped shut. Can you imagine the shock of the players who were sent to Memphis? Kwame Brown and Aaron McKee walked into the Grizzlies locker room and found a handwritten note taped to their chairs. It went something like, please throw your uniform on the floor only if you need it washed. Otherwise, hang it on the hook in your locker so practice jerseys and game uniforms are not washed unnecessarily. Aaron looked at Kwame and said, "We're in Kansas." You think I am joking? I am. But you know what isn't a joke? Memphis was trying to give it self room to maneuver with a lower payroll and all those draft picks so they could build for the future. To do that you need scouts right? Well guess who got let go in Memphis? Yup, they released their entire scouting staff. So the LFT continues to struggle but fortunately they drafted Marc Gasol (that's Pau's brother) so that in a few years, when Pau is retiring and the Lakers need an all star for some draft picks and cash, Marc will be ready to make the jump to the big leagues.

But I'm over it. Really. So the Lakers won again and it looks like they could win again next year. I say "could" because championships cannot be won in October and the sure cannot be won in August. Prognostication winds up being a lot of Bovine Scatology. That's why they play the games. That's why Detroit beat LA (almost swept them) in 2004. That's why Golden State beat Dallas in the 1st round of 2007. That's why Orlando was in the Finals this year. Orlando? In the Finals? Not only did they beat Cleveland but they almost swept them. If Lebron does not make that miracle shot at the end of game two, I think that would have been it (Even though they lost the series, I still like watching that play. Hedo was thumping his chest in Lebron's house just a wee bit early on that one). I am not sure the basketball gods will smile on his departure to Toronto. The basketball gods are difficult to fathom but there are two things that have been shown time and again:

1. The basketball gods do not favor those who bolt to a weaker team for mammon.
2. The basketball gods do not favor those who bolt to a contender to try and squeeze in a championship before the golden years arrive.

Those are guidelines, but for the most part I think they hold true.

As far as the off-season goes, the story that's received the most ink is Stephon Marbury filmed himself for 24 hours. Apparently it's big news when a former all star eats a petroleum product live, looks at the camera and says, "Vaseline. It's what's for dinner." I still don't know why this story got some much press. I am deliberately not providing links to it in the hopes that anyone who reads this will be too lazy to look it up.

As for the off season moves, it comes down to this. In the eastern conference, the list is:

• Cleveland
• Boston
• Orlando
• Miami
• Chicago

One of those five teams will win the East. If we're lucky we will get a 7 game series in there somewhere that was as good as the Boston/Chicago one was last year.

Here's the list for the Western conference:

• Denver
• San Antonio
• Portland
• Dallas
• New Orleans

One of those five teams will win the West. Oh yeah, forgot one:

• Utah

One of those six teams. Okay, seriously, Utah is not on the list. Here's the team I forgot to add:

• Los Angeles Clippers

Do you really need me to add the Lakers to this list? They are at the top of everyone elses list. Do I have to have it as well for the sake of Jungian Synchronicity? Fine. Scratch the Clippers.

• Los Angeles Lakers

The West is going to be super tight once again and the Lakers will probably make it to Finals again but the approach will not be easy. It's going to be 2009 all over again. Only six games separated the 2nd seed from the 8th seed then. It's going to be more of the same this year only I don't think Los Angeles will have an 11 game cushion. But what do I know? Since this blog is run by a geek I'm going to do what any self respecting geek would do...I will get out the D&D dice set and roll for play off seeding and playoff wins all the way through to the championship game. The results will be posted as the Official 2010 Season Picks for the Basketball Geek. But wait! There's more! I will also be reviewing the Week in Twitter (WIT) for NBA players.