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Great Quote On The Relevancy Of Statistics In Sports
Posted by: Steven on February 11th, 2013
The author's views are entirely his or her own and may not reflect the views of the Utah Jazz.I’m from Scotland originally and so grew up as a kid watching the annual Five Nations rugby tournament, a competition between England, France, Ireland, Wales and Scotland, that later on added Italy to the mix and thus became the six nations. Unfortunately now that I live in Utah I don’t see too much of it unless there is a game being shown on BBC America, so I now have to get my rugby fix from whatever scraps I find from the internet. I was reading about this weekend’s match between Scotland and Italy when I picked up on a quote from the Scottish coach.
Statistics are like a bikini, they show a lot but not the whole story.
When it comes to the game of basketball, and certain players within the game, I couldn’t agree more.
Replies: 8
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8 Responses
How do we get the whole story? Thats what I want please lol.
This is so true. I’ve been saying for a while that if there were stats like:
‘Rotated Correctly’
‘Defended the Rim From Penetrator’
‘Stayed in Good defensive Position’
‘Boxed Out Opponent’
‘Hustled Back on Defense’
‘Set Good Pick’
‘Kept Good Spacing’
‘Read Defense Correctly After Pick’
That Al Jefferson would look a whole lot worse while Kanter and Favors would look a whole lot better statistically. Defense is half the game and there are virtually no meaningful defensive stats, except blocks and steals, and those aren’t very indicative of actual good defense.
Blocks to me are overrated unless the ball then goes into the hands of your team. No one seems to keep a tally of missed steals that account for players out of position on defense and resulting attempt at a basket. Unfortuinately you cannot make a note of everything in the game. Players can look to have had a good game on paper but the game is so much more that the final stat sheet.
Blocks you have a 50/50 chance of getting the ball. Plus at least on that shot they did not make a basket. Plus the player thinks twice about they way he will shot the next time you are around. Altered shots also takes the percentage down. I would say most steals happen in the backcourt increacing your chance to score. Any successful steal results in not scoring that possesion. Defensive rebounds steals the ball away from them. Offensive rebounds gives your team another chance. AK used to fill the stat sheet and when he got his 5×5’s the Jazz usually won. I guess the most inducive to winning a game would be the shooting percentage. Especially high threes.
I like the citation too and I agree that defensive stats are always underrated, if we excepts blocks and steals … just because they create offense.
To make a block, you have to be a little bit late. I prefer players who are set, hands up, ready to box out, rotate, etc.
@steven: I Live in France and I’ve seen a couple of 6 nations’ games this year … seems Scotland is going to send its wooden spoon to France this year. “My” french team looks like the Charlotte Bobcats.
This quote doesn’t mean that statistics are irrelevant. It says they show a lot. When I think of a lot of something, it’s mostly all of it. So, you’re right that stats aren’t everything, but they are very important and can’t be thrown aside like some people want to do with big al.
@Henri – Don’t be too sure, one win against Italy doesn’t get quite get Scotland off the deck yet. I had high hopes for France before the tournament, and after years of disappointment not much for Scotland. Losing to Italy shakes up any team. One thing that’s always true about France, just when you think you can predict what sort of team they are and what they are capable of they go and do the unpredictable.
Dan: I wasn’t saying stats aren’t irrelevant, they are a very big part of the game, but the whole picture of the game, and players within the game and what they do for the game and how they affect the result isn’t always in the stat sheet. There is that missing element that can for some teams or some players affect the game so much more than the stat sheet might tell you.
Basically there are players that often help a team in ways that don’t appear on the stat sheet, through tough defense and/or sheer hustle, like DMC, Harpring in his day, or (if you want to go way back) Adam Keefe.
Then there are guys that show little to no interest in putting forth the aforementioned extra effort, and thus consistently pose themselves as a detriment to the team. I think we all know to whom I’m referring.
The Jazz keep track of defensive touches as a measure of defense, but don’t make it public.
The +/- gives you some indication of the combination of offense and defense. Also, there are some advanced stats of effective FG% by players being defended.
Jazzaholic