Chasing Perfection: A Behind-the-Scenes Look at the High-Stakes Game of Creating an NBA Champion (31 page)

INDEX

Abdul-Jabbar, Kareem,
13

Adams, Ron,
168

aging players,
49–56

Alamar, Ben,
135–138
,
140

Aldridge, David,
44

Aldridge, LaMarcus,
57
,
70

Alexander, Carroll,
26

Allen, Tony,
67
,
124
,
197

AlleyOop.com
,
21

Alston, Rafer,
173

Amateur Athletic Union,
82

analytics

    
accessibility of,
98–104

    
Ben Alamar,
135–138

    
biometric data collection,
118–124

    
boringness of play,
71–72

    
Boston Celtics,
142–145

    
calculating Harden’s star potential,
204–205

    
Calipari’s platoon system,
77–80

    
college-level play,
89–94

    
Colorado State,
90–94

    
Duke,
94–97

early analysts,
18–22

economic analyses,
10–15

Golden State’s in-season team development,
164–172

high school-level play,
80–89

influencing hiring and trade choices,
127–130

information gathering and analysis structures,
25
,
134–135
,
137–140
,
148–150

integrity of the data,
31–34
,
38–39
,
146–147
,
149

Khris Middleton’s WARP, RAPM and RPM scores,
198–200

manageability of information,
42–43

origins of,
36–37

role of coaching skill in utilizing,
144–146

Sacramento Kings’ team-building experiment and mismanagement,
127–134

San Antonio Spurs’ strategic roster management,
48–57

    
Second Spectrum,
29–36
,
38–39

    
speed of technological advances,
7–8

    
2015 NBA Finals,
239–240

Anderson, Ryan,
230

Antic, Pero,
185

antitrust litigation,
9–10
,
15

APBR metrics movement,
18
,
20

Ariza, Trevor,
172
,
175–176
,
178

Association for Professional Basketball Research (APBR),
18
,
20

Atlanta Hawks,
70

    
Korver trade,
227–229

    
Korver’s performance,
232–233

    
NBA conference final,
163–166

    
no-star system,
178–186

    
racism scandal,
179–180

    
team development with analytics,
163–164

AVID Sports Pro,
36

Avila, JJ,
91–92

Ayers, Randy,
221

Ballard, Chris,
26

Barkley, Charles,
72
,
171

Barnes, Harrison,
168–169
,
236

Barr, Garrick,
36–37
,
39–40
,
72

baseball,
9–11
,
15
,
17–18

Baseball Abstracts
(James),
17–18

Basketball Heaven
(Manley),
18–19

Basketball on Paper
(Oliver),
20

Basketball State service,
89

Basketball-Reference.com
,
23
,
61
,
166
,
172
,
175–176
,
210

Battier, Shane,
155–156

Bazemore, Kent,
185

B-Ball simulation program,
19

BBallBreakdown
,
177

Beal, Bradley,
82
,
88

Beech, Roland,
21–23
,
134

Bejarano, Daniel,
91–93

Belinelli, Marco,
53
,
55

Bellotti, Bob,
19

Berger, Ken,
119–120

Beverley, Patrick,
172
,
176

biometric data collection,
118–124

Blatt, David,
186
,
189
,
191
,
236–237

Bleacher Report,
189

Bledsoe, Eric,
77

blood samples,
119

Bogut, Andrew,
3–4
,
170
,
193 (quote)
,
194–198
,
236
,
240

Booker, Devin,
79

Bosh, Chris,
72
,
175

Boston Celtics,
26
,
217 (quote)
,
235

    
analytics approach,
142–145

    
Brad Stevens’s coaching career,
142–143

    
Guth’s analysis of,
13–15

    
2015 NBA Finals,
236

box plus-minus scores,
53 (fig.)
,
56–57
,
81
,
101
,
198–199
,
206
,
209

Bradley, Gus,
98

Bradshaw, Zach,
211

Brand, Elton,
185

Brenner, Jordan,
206

Brewer, Corey,
176

Brewer, Ronnie,
112

BrewHoop
site,
200

Brooklyn Nets,
19
,
211
,
220
,
233

Brooks, Aaron,
173

Brown, Brett,
59
,
61–62

Bryant, Kobe,
44
,
67
,
122
,
176

Budenholzer, Mike,
179–183
,
227–229
,
231

Buenning, Eric,
200

Buford, RC,
51

Buss, Jeanie,
60

Butler, Caron,
198

Butler, Jimmy,
207

Butler University,
141–142

Bynum, Andrew,
57–58
,
209

Calipari, John,
75 (quote)
,
76–80

Camby, Marcus,
76

Canaan, Isaiah,
64

Cannon, Drew,
141–144

Carlisle, Rick,
21–22

Carroll, DeMarre,
180
,
184–185

Carter-Williams, Michael,
60
,
202

Catapult Sports,
41–44
,
119–121

The Cauldron,
51
,
206–207

Chaikin, Bob,
19

Chandler, Tyson,
232

Chang, Yu-Han,
30

Charlotte Hornets,
23
,
212–213

Cheeks, Maurice,
14

Chicago Bulls,
147
,
180
,
225
,
227

Clark, Michael,
113–118
,
125

Cleveland Cavaliers,
14

    
Eastern Conference finals,
186

    
Korver’s injury,
233

    
LeBron James draft,
148

    
team development with analytics,
163–164

    
2015 NBA Finals,
235–237
,
239–240

    
working around LeBron’s return,
186–192

Colangelo, Jerry,
1–2
,
85–86

Coleman, Derrick,
23

collective bargaining,
119–120
,
203–204

college basketball,
75–77

    
accessibility of analytics,
99–104

    
analytics at Colorado State,
90–94

    
analytics at Duke,
94–97

    
Atlanta Hawks’ team chemistry,
184–185

    
Brad Stevens’s coaching career,
141–142

    
Channing Frye,
214

    
family culture,
219–221

    
James Harden’s stats,
203

    
Khris Middleton’s stats,
198
,
200

    
Nikola Vucevic,
208–211

    
predicting future development,
210–213

    
recruitment from junior colleges,
98–99

    
University of Kentucky,
76–77

Collison, Darren,
128
,
134–136

Colorado State University,
90–94

Concepcion, Jason,
71

Conley, Mike,
67

Copeland, Chris,
186

Corbin, Ty,
133

“counting” statistics,
16–17

Cousins, DeMarcus “Boogie,”
3
,
77
,
87
,
128
,
130
,
133–134
,
199

Crean, Tom,
104

cross-ownership,
9–10
,
131

crowdsourcing analysis exercise,
127–128

cryochamber,
114–115

Cuban, Mark,
8
,
20
,
38
,
42

Curry, Eddy,
213

Curry, Stephen “Steph,”
6
,
87

    
Curry/Thompson team core,
164–165
,
167

    
FIBA World Cup tryout camp,
2

    
Golden State’s offensive and defensive efficiency,
169–170

    
Harden’s performance and,
207–208

    
Kerr’s offensive strategies,
168

    
Korver’s performance,
231

    
net rating,
196–197

    
real plus-minus score,
199

    
2015 NBA Finals,
236

Dalembert, Samuel,
173–174

D’Alessandro, Pete,
127
,
129–133

Dallas Mavericks,
8
,
20
,
38
,
48

    
biometric data collection,
119

    
field goal percentages,
232

    
Houston Rockets’ trades,
175

    
Rondo’s trade and retrade,
145–146

Daniels, Evan,
81–82
,
87–88

Davis, Anthony,
77
,
199

deep muscle stimulation (DMS),
114

Defensive Basketball
(McGuire),
16

defensive efficiency

    
Atlanta’s no-star system,
183–184

    
Bogut’s player development,
196–197

    
Channing Frye,
213
,
215

    
Golden State Warriors,
166–172

    
Harden’s lackluster performance,
205–208

    
Houston Rockets,
175–177

    
Khris Middleton,
198–202

    
Nikola Vucevic,
208–211

    
real plus-minus and regularized adjusted plus-minus,
198–199

Dellavedova, Matthew,
191
,
233
,
236

Deng, Luol,
179–180

Denver Nuggets,
3
,
49
,
64
,
66
,
130–131
,
133–134
,
190

Detroit Pistons,
32
,
116–117
,
146–147
,
198
,
202

Diaw, Boris,
56

DiLeo, Tony,
57–58
,
212–213

Divac, Vlade,
133

draft and trades

    
Atlanta Hawks under Ferry,
180–181

    
Channing Frye,
213–214

    
Cleveland-New York-Oklahoma City trade,
189–190

    
factors affecting player performance,
193–194

    
Golden State Warriors,
167–168

    
Houston Rockets’ strategy,
173–175

    
Khris Middleton,
198–202

    
Kyle Korver,
220–222
,
227

    
Memphis Grizzlies team building,
148

    
Nikola Vucevic,
209

    
Oklahoma City’s high-lottery picks and salary cap,
203–204

    
Oklahoma City’s Westbrook analysis and draft,
135–138

    
Philadelphia 76ers’ tanking strategy,
57–66

    
picking future perfected players,
76

    
predicting future player development,
212–213

    
Sacramento’s experiment with analytics,
127–128

    
University of Kentucky placement,
76–80

Dragic, Goran,
173–174

Drew, Larry,
180–181

Drummond, Andre,
3
,
87
,
124
,
146