This Week's Show
To start the season we talk overreacting to small sample sizes. Our star player for this is Klay Thompson. We also talk about the Lakers' horrible start and the Cavs' underwhelming first few games.
Hosts
- Andres Alvarez(@nerdnumbers)
- Produced by Brian Foster(@boxscorebrian)
Sources
Video Show
This Week's Poll
A note on last week's poll, it was inspired by the amazing Dante Basco
It’s the middle of the night and we’re having a heated argument… Red Vines or Twizzlers?!?! http://t.co/q10nmzL3G2
— Dante Basco (@dantebasco) October 26, 2014
Show Notes
Small Sample Size Theater
I talk a lot about how I don't mind people "overreacting" to small sample sizes. Tune in to hear a rant!
Klay Thompson
Klay has started out the NBA season as one of the greatest shooters ever. While it's unlikely he'll stay this hot, if he improves his shot selection he could be great. The problem? We've seen several faces of Klay
- Klay Classic - in love with midrange
- New and Improved Klay - just threes and layups
- Hybrid Klay - mostly layups and threes with some midrange sprinkled in.
And, of course, he's done this before! Sample size theater for the win!
Last night we saw more "Klay Classic"
Klay did get a "max contract", but in absolute dollars. This may actually make his contract more valuable once the new CBA kicks in. Of course, if the Warriors balk on another Kevin Love like trade, it won't matter. Also, even if Klay plays amazingly this season, it will not negate the fact that not trading him for Kevin Love and signing him to the max were both subpar decisions. We've made this point before.
I can not find what Brian said that I thought would be a great title to end this segment. My bad!
The Horrendous Lakers and More!
The myth of Kobe "carrying" a bad Lakers squad is going to continue...
Kobe scored 39 points from 37 fga. Rest of Lakers scored 67 pts from 51 fga. The narrative is it's his teammates fault somehow? Yeah....
— The man with the #'s (@ArturoGalletti) November 5, 2014
This is the Lakers worst start since 1958, when the Lakers started 0-7.
Currently, this Lakers squad is worse than the 2011-2012 Charlotte Bobcats (the worst winning percentage in NBA history.) The Laker's aren't this bad.
Kobe has no incentive not to shoot away. If he hopes to get another contract, he needs to keep up his image.
Reminder, it's not good for the NBA for the Lakers to be bad. In fact, recent moves by the Lakers, Bulls, and Knicks are bad news. Having the best teams in the biggest markets should be the league's goal.
Actually, we do know the origin to Nick Young's nickname.
Read Dr. J's autobiography! It's worth it.
Wow, the Cavaliers lost to the Jazz during this podcast. Maybe it's bad luck for us to praise the Cavs during the podcast!
Reminder, the Heat had an underwhelming start when LeBron joined. I'm not worried yet.
The Thunder are getting decimated by injury. For the billionth time, minutes are hard to guess.
Shout Outs
Bryan Mears for a great Tweet on Trevor Ariza! Also, sorry for snubbing Ariza, who is another great small sample size story!
Another interesting stat: of Ariza's 69 points so far, 0 of them are from mid-range. All lay-ups and 3's.
— Bryan Mears (@bryan_mears) November 4, 2014
Kenneth Faried, DeMarcus Cousins, and Rudy Gay all get a shout out for their amazing acting in a rare triple flop!
Justin Halpern(@justin_halpern) gets a shout out for the most recent Short Corner Podcast. He compared Kobe's situation on the Lakers this season the Kobayashi Maru. Or, the KOBEyashi Maru...get it?
Presidente for a great Tweet on Kobe's first finals MVP
@ArturoGalletti @NerdNumbers Correct me if Im wrong, in 2010 finals first 4 games Pau was 40 for 60 FG and Kobe was 40 for 120. Who got mvp?
— Presidente (@Preside88) November 5, 2014
Brian has the best conspiracy of all time. What if Kobe is a super-quant and has cracked the code to get paid? Brian's ultimate part of this theory: what if Kobe ghost wrote Basketball on Paper?