Sloan Conference

[jonathanlambert33]

Did anyone follow the articles and tweets regarding the Sloan Conference this season? Had some great stuff.

Couple highlights from a Pelicans writer:

>George Karl seems to truly believe that the difference in talent between the worst and best team in the NBA is not terribly significant, but that some teams know how to win in the 4th quarter better than others.

>Both Morey and Karl agreed on the notion that slow-playing offenses are inefficient, and that chaos leads to points. Quick decisions made before the defense can get set are typically more effective than even some of the best designed set plays.

>The often debated topic of whether or not to foul when up by 3 at the end of games was discussed, and everyone seemed to agree that its the smart play. However, it is something that needs to be practiced to execute it correctly (so not to foul a shooter), which teams dont frequently do. Additionally, some coaches and players may not want to do it because it gives off the vibe that they dont trust their own defense.

>Lastly, Morey pushed the idea that the NBA has to get rid of the marginal incentive to lose. He mentioned the idea of a flat lottery system (even odds for all non-playoff teams), but this topic wasnt discussed in greater detail due to time running out.

 

A research paper called "The Three Dimensions of Rebounding." The analysis done by author Rajiv Maheswaran broke rebounding down into three phases Positioning, Hustle, and Conversion and could quantify player ability in each of these areas individually or in total. Notable findings according to his analysis:
Among non-big men, Tyreke Evans ranks 5th in the NBA in the ability to establish good initial offensive rebounding positioning.

>In the second dimension of hustle, Jason Smith ranks 6th in the NBA on the offensive end and Al-Farouq Aminu ranks 3rd on the defensive side. Hustle is most simply defined as a players ability to turn bad pre-shot positioning into good post-shot positioning.

>The final dimension, conversion, indicates a players ability to turn positioning into actual rebounds.

>This analysis values Aminus rebounding very highly, and fairly so. Given this fact, its truly disappointing that he has struggled to take significant strides in any other aspect of his game.

Basketball analytics panel, moderated by Zach Lowe and featured former Toronto Raptors GM Bryan Colangelo, former NBA coach Stan Van Gundy, former player/GM Steve Kerr, Boston Celtics head coach Brad Stevens, and Celtics assistant GM Mike Zarren.
>On shooting 2s vs. 3s: Kerr mentioned the importance of evaluating the consequences of each type of shot that doesnt go in as opposed to merely using those that do. How do chances for offensive rebounds or fast breaks for opponents change based on where the shot comes from? Van Gundy added his own opinion on this topic, questioning the mental aspect; per Gundy, even though making 1/3 of three pointers is mathematically equivalent to converting 1/2 of two-point attempts, is a player who does the former negatively affected by seeing less of his shots fall?

>On the subject of tanking, the wheel concept was brought up (where every team in the NBA picks in every spot in the draft over a 30-year period). The main concern addressed with this method would be if a superstar player in college were to decide to not declare for the draft based on the team picking first in that year. Colangelo admitted to trying to tank a couple of years ago, though not in the sense that he was telling his coaching staff to do so. Van Gundy noted that he is in favor of anything that takes away the intention to lose. Van Gundy on the 76ers: If youre putting that roster on the floor, youre doing everything you can to lose.

>Brad Stevens said that the difference between NCAA basketball and the NBA is that there are mountains more data to sort through professionally. He he went on to promote Rajon Rondo as one of the players most inclined to study basketball analytics, joking about him maybe being at the conference.

 

The highly anticipated one-on-one conversation between new NBA commissioner Adam Silver and Malcom Gladwell. Here are some of the highlights from the discussion.
>The amount that tanking is discussed concerns Silver, and he appears to hope that there is some sort of solution. He likes a lot about the wheel draft idea, but he expressed his concern about elite players deciding to stay in school depending on who is drafting where.

>If Silver could make one revision to the current NBA playoff format, he said that he finds the play-in tournament idea for the 8th seed to be a fascinating one.

>Silver believes that strong college basketball helps the NBA, and thinks that the heavily debated topic of paying college athletes should ultimately be a concern of his. Silver says that the notion of paying college players should be seriously considered depending on your definition of paying. Gladwell suggested the idea of allowing players to remain in college after being drafted.

>The discussion about the changing way in which the market is consuming the NBA was a very interesting one. Silver claims that the most generation coming up doesnt watch as much television, but uses more social media. Their attention spans are also lower; per Silver, the unique viewers of NBA games is increasing, but the average length of time that those people watch is decreasing. He has wondered if a shorter game would make for a better product, but at this point, it would be bad business to shorten the game from 48 minutes to 40 minutes, for example.

>If Silver could make one change to improve the game, he would increase the age limit to entry. Interesting that this would be his #1 change.

>An audience member asked about eliminating back-to-backs from the schedule. Silver said that it would be nice and referenced the benefits of sufficient rest, but finding an optimal solution would be difficult, especially given the current length of the season.

>The owner of the Grizzlies, Robert Pera, has pushed Stern and Silver on expanding internationally, with a key to his argument being the expectation that plane technology will continue to improve and allow for shorter travel time, which is one of the biggest barriers of the idea.