Ben from Blazersedge.com interviews Jeffrey Ma

Very interesting and enlightening read

http://www.blazersedge.com/2010/9/10/1680812/interview-blackjack-king-and#storyjump

That definitely jumped out at me.

Damn ...

 

Glad KP went with his gut because I'd take a healthy Oden over Durant, and so would have every other team in the NBA. Big men win championships.

Injuries are the reason it's a questionable pick right now, not ability.

 

Interesting indeed, but that second part is not really news. Oden did not have a great season at OSU statistically. Young centers rarely do, plus he was recovering from the broken wrist. Oden's team almost won the whole thing though, while KD put up gaudy numbers and went home early in the tourney.

Oden's production in the NBA doesn't make me question that decision, only the injuries do. Had he played three full seasons with a 18, 23 and 25 PER (projected 3rd year) with say 24, 28 and 34 minutes, we wouldn't be talking about how his college numbers projected at the time.

 

Durant Lived in the Gym, No surprise the numbers favored him, He was one of the most NBA ready Draft Picks EVER. Cool Article Though.

 

Absolutely, just look at Perkins and....Who's the big man for the Lakers again?

 

IF Perkins was Healthy the Celtics would have Won. Pau Gasol is the Lakers big man, and without him the Laker's would not have won the last two Championships. Fact

 

/wrists

Like I needed another reminder.

 

I'm all for advanced statistics, but seriously you're surprised the stats favored Durant?
Durant:
25.8/11.1 on .473/.404/.816 shooting, 36 minutes
Oden:
15.7/9.6 on .616/.628 shooting in 29 minutes

 

Why did they make his character white in the movie based on him? Never understood that.

 

Lol that's a great movie though, it's nice to see the "indian" win.

 

Interesting theory.

Too bad facts don't back that up.

 

Translation: Oden Pick wasn't on me!

Now the question is, does anybody really still give shit?

 

A friend of mine also quoted me that. Why is that surprising? I don't recall anyone claiming Oden had a superior statistical season that year in college. With Oden, it was a mix of good numbers from a big man at his age (others like Duncan, Ewing, Robinson, Mourning, etc, had comparable or worse numbers as freshmen, as I recall) and his scouting projection that made him the consensus #1.

 

Because they've been doing it since the age of black face.


Anyways, I read another interview awhile back where Jeff Ma states the same thing. He would've liked to see us pick Durant because of statistical reasons but he was fine with Oden. Obviously, his feelings might have changed after Oden got injured again. But like everyone else, Ma, for all his statistics and data, still can't predict the future.

 

As much as it pains me as a "math guy", but remember stats don't always tell the whole picture. Jeff makes it pretty clear here that the analysis provided is to be taken with a grain of salt, and they wouldn't expect a ranking to be the same as analysts that "know the game" because the point of statisticals is to take out the gut instincts, the biases, the off the court issues and simply provide numbers to help the decision makers marry up those numbers with their analysis on style of play and gut instincts and make a good decision. So Jeff was never saying KP should have picked Durant, just to use those numbers to make an educated decision.

It's a lot like doing statistical analysis that says Jacquizz Rodgers and LaMichael James are projecting off the charts statistically and would rank #1 on a math list compared to peers like Javhid Best or Toby Gerhart. Yet an NFL expert might have his own internal knowledge that guys like Quizz Rodgers and LaMichael James who are 4'11 and 120 lbs can never rush more than 15 plays a game in the NFL before they are carted off on a stretcher, thus a slam dunk NFL draft pick according to an MIT analyst is likely a special teams 7th round pick when it gets to the guys who really know the ins and outs of the sport.

 

I just figured that maybe there was something buried in their advanced stats that was making him a better (or as good) of a choice.

 

There was nothing burried in the advanced math - Greg's team made it all the way to the finals - and a large part of that was on Greg. Pretty simple math, not hidden at all. It was very clear, and it still is very clear that a healthy Oden is a force to be reckoned with. This takes nothing away from Durant who is a great player - and going to have a fantastic career.