the unknowns of the NBA Draft

The NBA Draft occurred on Thursday night.  I remember when the NBA Draft was a really exciting moment because you could always remember the top college players, and were excited to see where they were drafted and who their new professional teams would be.  The reason you knew the players well is because you had seen them play in college for 3 or 4 years.  Now it seems like the players are either foreigners, or spend 1 year in college before declaring for the draft.  Therefore, they become unknown professionals that the casual fan doesn't know.

With that, I thought I'd take a quick look at the Top 10 selections of 2011, 2001, and 1991.

Overall Pick/Player/Years in College

2011

1. Kyrie Irving - 1 year
2. Derrick Williams - 2 years
3. Enes Kanter - 0 years
4. Tristan Thompson - 1 year
5. Jonas Valanciunas - 0 years
6. Jan Vesely - 0 years
7. Bismack Biyombo - 0 years
8.  Brandon Knight - 1 year
9. Kemba Walker - 3 years
10. Jimmer Fredette - 4 years

total years = 12

2001

1. Kwame Brown - 0 years

2. Tyson Chandler - 0 years

3. Pau Gasol - 0 years

4.  Eddy Curry - 0 years

5. Jason Richardson - 2 years

6. Shane Battier - 4 years

7. Eddie Griffin - 1 years

8. DaSagna Diop - 0 years

9. Rodney White - 1 year

10. Joe Johnson - 2 years

total years = 10

1991

1.  Larry Johnson - 4 years

2.  Kenny Anderson -  2 years

3. Billy Owens - 3 years

4. Dikembe Mutombo - 4 years

5. Steve Smith - 4 years

6. Doug Smith - 4 years

7. Luc Longley - 4 years

8. Mark Macon - 4 years

9. Stacey Augmon - 4 years

10. Brian Williams - 3 years

total years = 36

A lot has changed in 20 years.  One reason players come out of school early is that there is a feeling that if they stay in college too long, that there must be something wrong with them.  Therefore, if you come out after 1 year in college, you still have potential.  If you stay in college for 3 or 4 years, you no longer have superstar potential because everyone knows what type of player you will be.  That's the rationale of coming out as quick as you can.  The 2011 overall #1 pick Kyrie Irving was injured in his freshman year, and played only 11 games.

winning on the road

So I read a book recently that stated that there really is no such thing as home field advantage.  Home field advantage basically means that a home team should win more often while they are at home because they are used to playing there, much like you are more comfortable in your own home.

The book stated that for professional athletes, very little about their performance changes, no matter where they are playing.  However, home field advantage is real.  The book went on to state that home field advantage exists because the umpires or other officials are more prone to make calls that favor home players.  In baseball, you can see this in the strike zone.  It may not happen often, but a couple calls against the road team can definitely reduce their chances of winning.

In the graphic below, you will see that when Milwaukee was on the road at Chicago, the Milwaukee pitcher did not get a called strike on the 2nd pitched ball, even though it clearly appeared to be in the strike zone. Instead of an 0-2 count, the Brewer pitcher is in a 1-1 count.  Playing everything out, you see that Ramirez swings and misses on the third pitch, which could've been a strikeout.

Of course, who knows how the scenario plays out if the umpire had indeed called a strike on that 2nd pitch.  In the end, Ramirez grounded out to the pitcher, and no damage was caused.  But what happens when this small favor is repeated throughout the game for the home team?

so what's good?

So my previous blog was about baseball statistics.  To many people they are just numbers.  But what's a really good number?

First off, I want to note that not all players can have good all around numbers.  For instance, a guy that steals a lot of bases (a fast guy), isn't going to have the muscles to hit 50 home runs.

With that, here's a quick primer on what's a good statistic to have at the end of the season.

Average - 0.300 is a good average

At Bats - no real good answer here.  To qualify for a batting title, you need to have almost 500 at bats.

Runs - 100 runs scored is a good year

Hits - 200

Doubles - 30

Triples - 10

Home Runs - 30

Runs Batted In - 100

Bases on Balls - 80 (one every other game)

Stolen Bases - 30


The other statistics are easy to figure out.  Obviously you don't want to get caught stealing or make any errors.  The amount of sacrifices really depends on what situations you are presented with in the year.

reading a stat sheet

There are a lot of numbers in baseball and abbreviations that may appear somewhat cryptic if you don't know a lot about baseball.  The acronyms are not really complicated, but I want to go over a stat sheet to explain every piece of minutiae.

Here's the Milwaukee Brewers batting statistics prior to their game on Sunday (6/12)

On the left you see player names, sorted by the highest batting average.

Avg - Batting Average.  At the top you see Wilson at 0.400.  I don't know why it happened this way, but in layman's term, you could say Wilson will get on base about 40% of the time.  In baseball, they say his batting average is "400."  To figure out batting average, take the hits (H) and divide by at-bats (AB).

AB - At-bats.  Wilson has 10 at bats so far this season.  In the course of a season, a player that plays every day will bat around 600 times.

R - Runs.  Runs scored is the amount of times the player has crossed home plate and scored a run for his team.

H - Hits.  Hits accounts for anyway a player gets on base.  It does not count though if you reach base on a walk (bases on balls) or an error.  Hits is total hits, be it singles, doubles, triples, or home runs.

2B - Doubles.  The amount of doubles in a season.  The league leader in doubles will have around 50 doubles in a season.

3B - Triples.  Ten triples in a season is a lot of triples for a player.  Normally only the very fastest players will get a triple.

HR - Home Runs.  Thirty home runs is a good number for a player.  The league leaders will normally have around 40 home runs in a season.

RBI - Run Batted In.  When a player is directly responsible for scoring a teammate or himself, he gets credit for a run batted in.  If a hitter hits a grand slam (3 men on base), he gets credit for 4 runs batted in.  He gets credit for the 3 men on base, and himself.

SH - Sacrifice Hits. A situation where the hitter deliberately, in the mind of the official scorer, has hit a ground ball to advance a runner that is on base.  An easy example is when a hitter bunts to advance his teammate from first to second base.  In essence, he sacrifices himself so his teammate can move up a base.  This is not counted as an at bat.

SF - Sacrifice Fly.  A situation where the hitter deliberately, in the mind of the official scorer, has hit a fly ball to advance a runner that is on base.  An easy example is when a hitter hits a deep fly ball to advance his teammate from third base to home.  In essence, he sacrifices himself so his teammate can score.  This is not counted as an at bat, but the hitter does get credit for an RBI.

HP - Hit by Pitch.  The number of times a player has been hit by a pitch.

BB - Bases on Ball (walk).  The number of times a player has reached base as a result of a pitcher throwing him 4 balls out of the strike zone.

SO - Strikeouts.  The number of times a player has been struck out by opposing pitchers.  A strikeout is routinely called a "K."

SB - Stolen Base.  The amount of times a player has stolen a base.  Stealing a base is when a runner advances a base without a ball being hit.  A player can steal 2nd base, 3rd base, or in rare instances, home plate.

CS - Caught Stealing.  The amount of times a player is caught trying to steal a base.  The general rule is that if you can't steal a base 70% of the time, you shouldn't steal.

E - Errors.  The amount of fielding errors a player has made on defense.  Due to difficulty at the position, shortstops will have the most errors.  Many outfielders can go years without an error being made.

OBP - On Base Percentage.  The percent of times a player gets on base.  This will always be greater than or equal to the batting average since it includes BB (bases on balls).  Elite hitters will have an on base percentage of greater that 0.400.  To calculate this, you add up H and BB and divide by AB.


This stat sheet separates the batting averages from the everyday position players at the top and the pitchers at the bottom.  Since pitchers don't play every day, they have a lot less at bats.

home field advantage

So I just read a book that stated there's no such thing as home field advantage.  By that, I mean that if one team were playing another team with identical players, that each team would be expected to win about half the time.  We all know though that home teams win much more at home than on the road.

However, it wouldn't be tough to say that in an individual sport, that tennis player Rafael Nadal has a home field advantage on the French Open's clay courts.  Nadal defeated the history's greatest men's tennis player, Roger Federer, to win the French Open on Sunday.  Nadal has only lost a match in the French Open once, making his career record there 45-1.  He has 6 French Open titles.  The courts there are clay, a surface that Nadal has excelled at.

Rafael Nadal celebrates his 6th French Open title
Alex Livesey/Getty Image

The next major tennis tournament is Wimbledon in London, which is played on grass. Nadal has won there 2 times, while Federer can claim his own home court advantage, as he has won Wimbledon 6 times.