Friday, October 19, 2012

8 Bold Predictions for the 2012-2013 NBA Season (Part 2)

In case you missed part 1 of my NBA Preview, here it is.

In this part, we're going to cover the Western Conference, as well as make the prediction on the champion.  As always, predictions are based on my simulator - supported by real facts.

The Los Angeles Clippers will win the Pacific Division.

I thought this was a bold prediction until I heard on the B.S. Report that Hollinger has the Lakers projected for 4th in the West.  At any rate, this is still a relatively bold prediction given that Vegas still has the Lakers with the best odds to win the West.

We need to address both the Clippers and the Lakers here.

Clippers

A little known fact is that based on pythagorean win projection, the Clippers were actually 3 games better than the Lakers last year.  If you project that over an 82 game season, they already have a 5 game lead on the Lakers.

While the Lakers are the ones who made the headlines for their splashy moves, the Clippers made some very solid acquisitions of their own such as....

Jamal Crawford - Crawford brings an instant offense component to the Clippers, although there are significant signs Crawford is slowing down - as evidenced by the fact that his TS % has precipitously declined over the last 3 years, Los Angeles may prove to be his fountain of youth.  If he doesn't pan out...

Matt Barnes is actually vastly superior to Crawford at this point in their careers.  Barnes is an above average statistical defender who also rebounds competently with a 13% rebounding rate.  Although Barnes likely shoots too many 3 pointers (nearly 35% of his fga are 3's) at too low a clip (33%), he still shoots over 50% on 2 point attempts.

The Clippers also acquired some nice veteran leadership in the form of Grant Hill who while aged to be sure, can still provide solid minutes.  We can also expect Eric Bledsoe to take a nice leap forward - and if Lamar Odom is anything resembling what he once was, the Clippers should be significantly improved.  Chauncey Billups also returns from injury - and this squad only needs 10-15 quality minutes backing up Paul out of the seasoned veteran.

The Clippers did not lose anything of substance that was not replaced and then some.  When you look at their total roster, you see a much deeper roster than what was present last year - this depth should help the Clippers deal with injuries (so long as their not to Paul or Griffin) and with the versatility the Clippers have, they should be able to give teams several different looks.  This isn't the same roster that got swept by the Spurs last year (although the Spurs are still projected to be superior to the Clippers) and a win total right around 55 seems probable.

The Clippers are projected to be the 5th best team in the league; an improvement upon last year's 11th best mark based on expected wins.

Lakers

Part of the reason that the Lakers are ranked a (relatively) low 7th place overall and 5th in the West is because they have a much worse base to build off of than what might think.

Last year the Lakers finished a shockingly low 13th in pythagorean win totals - so expecting them to climb 6 spots actually does indicate a substantial improvement already.  The issue with the Lakers isn't firepower - they have plenty of that and are projected to finish 4th in points per possession - a 6 spot improvement over a year ago, fueled by the addition of Nash and Jamison.

The problem that we have with the Lakers is Defense - the Lakers currently are projected to finish 15th in points allowed per possession.  This might seem surprising given the addition of Howard and that Bryant and Metta World Peace were already on the roster last year.  However both Bryant and Peace have slipped considerably in defense.  Last year the Lakers finished 13th in points allowed per possession, and despite the addition of Howard, a slight decline is projected defensively.

First, any lineups without Howard - no matter who the pairings are - are likely to be weak.  The Lakers really only have 3 true bigs who are likely to get playing time - Howard, Gasol and Jordan Hill - neither of the latter two are particularly strong on defense.  Next, the Lakers lost the player who according to my defensive ratings numbers, was their best wing defender last year in Matt Barnes.  Additionally, while Steve Nash is a significant upgrade at the point guard position, he is a notoriously weak defender and will be a liability against Western point guards like Tony Parker, Chris Paul, Russell Westbrook and even lesser talents like Jeremy Lin and former teammate Dragic.

Compounding the problem, the addition of Antawn Jamison is a net plus - but again, Jamison is not a particularly strong defensive player and cannot cover either forward spot effectively at this point in his career.

Finally, Bryant and Peace's defensive capabilities are exaggerated at this point.  Peace is still an above average defender for his position at this point in his career, but statistics indicate he is more like a 75th percentile quality defender as opposed to a 95th - which is the perception of his defense.

For all purposes, Bryant is a league average defender for his position at this point in his career and part of that can certainly be attributed to role - with as much of the offense as Bryant is asked to carry, it's difficult to maintain a high defensive intensity at his age.  And it's certainly possible that he may be able to focus more defenisvely.  However, even if Bryant improves defensively due to focus, adding another year to him isn't likely to help.  For the Lakers to improve substantially defensively, it will take contribution from an unknown or unproven source to lift them up.  On the flip side, any injury will expose their lack of depth - and it is uncertain how Howard will bounce back from back surgery and he is truly the crux of their defense.

If that does not happen, as Grantland's Zach Lowe notes, it's very difficult to enjoy substantial playoff success without a strong defense.  The Lakers' raw firepower will give them a chance against anyone, but ultimately it is likely that their defense will be their undoing.

The Clippers' superior depth and better balanced team is a safer bet to win the division - even though the Lakers will be heavily favored.

The Northwest Division will send 4 teams to the playoffs.

Picking OKC and Denver to make the playoffs isn't exactly bold - predicting BOTH Utah and Minnesota to make the playoffs is.

Utah

There's nothing really special that the tool falls in love with about Utah - it sees them as an average unit both offensively and defensively.  There's a lot of talent and depth in the front court and the Jazz can certainly hammer people down low and own the boards, but their isn't much shot blocking either and unless Gordon Hayward makes a substantial year three leap, the backcourt is lacking at both ends of the court stocked with Hayward, Mo Williams, Randy Foye, Jamal Tinsley, Earl Watson and Raja Bell.  Nothing there that scares you.

What makes the tool fall in love with the Jazz relative to other teams is simply that most of the mid-tier teams will be taking a big step back.  Houston?  They just gutted their roster.  Phoenix?  They will likely be taking a substantial step back without Nash.  Memphis?  Just lost key pieces in O.J. Mayo and Dante Cunningham with little in the way of replacements.  Even if you like Dallas enough to pencil them in for a playoff spot (and this projection does), 2 of the top contenders for that 8th spot will be stepping backwards this year and one playoff team (Memphis) will likely be taking a step back.  In all likelihood, there will have to be 2 teams who finished behind the Jazz last year who would have to leapfrog them.  There is one team that is projected to leapfrog them....

Minnesota

The hand injury that Kevin Love suffered that will keep him sidelined until Mid-December certainly hurts, but in the meantime the T-Wolves have enough depth that they should be OK.  There has been enough sleeper buzz around the T-Wolves that rather than play up their strengths, I'll discuss potential weaknesses.

Something that gets lost in the shuffle is that the T-Wolves added defensive stud Greg Steisma to their roster as well as Dante Cunningham, in addition to the more publicized Andrei Kirilenko.  That trio should at least be good enough to hold down the fort until Love's return and the T-Wolves also have year 2 of Derrick Williams.

In the backcourt, the T-Wolves added Brandon Roy on the wings and while he's certainly not going to be the player he once was, he can still be a solid contributor to a playoff team.  The real issue for the T-Wolves will be surviving until Love AND Rubio get back from injury.  Minnesota's not a team with a lot in the backcourt even with Rubio and his injury compounds the problem.  The T-Wolves will be thin in the backcourt with weak defenders and as noted, it's tough to play in the West with defensive weakness in the backcourt.  Without Love, this is also a weak rebounding team and when weak defensive guard play is combined with poor rebounding, that creates a team that can be lit up pretty easily; Minnesota is projected to be in the bottom 10 defensively.

That said, the T-Wolves should be strong offensively.  Cunningham gives nice frontcourt scoring and AK-47 has historically been an efficient offensive weapon.  The backcourt, while sub-par overall as previously discussed, is competent offensively and the team has 4 strong 3 point shooters in their rotation combined with willing and capable passers.  Minnesota is projected for 9th in offensive efficiency which should be just barely enough to get them to the playoffs.  If healthy by playoff time, Minnesota will not be a fun opponent to face and would a healthy Minnesota squad would have a reasonably good chance of advancing to the 2nd round if it were in the East.

Denver will win the Western Conference and topple Miami to become the 2012-2013 NBA Champion

I know - picking a team that couldn't get out of the first round to win the whole thing sounds a bit absurd doesn't it?  It also doesn't help that you could argue that the tool has a Nugget bias as it predicted Denver to defeat the Lakers in the first round last year doesn't it?

However, Denver isn't that typical first round fodder; they actually out-scored the Lakers during their 7 game series last year, despite not having homecourt advantage.  The Nuggets were simply unlucky as opposed to inferior.

When studying the Nuggets last year, one observes that they were an offensive powerhouse - finishing 1st in total points scored and 3rd in points per possession.  Like other teams discussed, they were done in by their defense.

Any discussion of Denver becoming a legit title contender is based on the assumption that A) Their offensive prowess will continue and B) they will improve defensively.

The Nuggets' have swapped out Chris Andersen, Al Harrington and Aaron Affalo for Andre Iguodala, Wilson Chandler and Corey Brewer.

Iguodala (AI going forward)

AI represents a substantial improvement for the Nuggets.  He is already known throughout the league as an elite defender and the statistics back this up - for his position his defensive rating grades out in the 90th percentile - while infrequently fouling.  AI is simply one of the best wing defenders in the league - and also hits the boards hard, with a 9.6% rebounding rate - grading out in about the 85th percentile for his position.  His defensive and rebounding prowess are a substantial upgrade over Affalo.  AI adds another player to the Nuggets who can create their own shot and AI is a willing passer - his pace adjusted assist rate is 85% that of incumbent point guard Ty Lawson.  AI represents a major upgrade for Denver.

Corey Brewer

This is a sneaky good pickup by the Nuggets that hasn't gotten a ton of attention, but is a valuable addition.  Like AI, Brewer is a very strong defender - grading out at about the 80th percentile defensively - which is something he is actually known for.  Brewer is also more efficient offensively than given credit for - he shoots over 50% on 2 point field goal attempts and has an impressive 9.8% turnover rate (league average is about 14).  He is clearly a defensive upgrade over the departed Al Harrington.

Wilson Chandler

Chandler may find minutes tough to come by on this deep squad but his defensive indicators are nearly on par with Brewer and he also offers solid rebounding numbers for a wing player.

What about the loss of the Birdman?

All this talk about the defensive prowess of the Nuggets may bring to mind Chris Andersen, otherwise known as the Bird Man.  Andersen's impact will not be noticeable, mainly because he couldn't keep himself on the court last year - he played in just 15% of the team's minutes

Due to the defensive upgrades and the Nuggets' strong rebounding prowess (virtually every major player is an adequate or better rebounder for their position save for Gallinari), the Nuggets project out as a team that will be much harder to score against from the wing positions and one that will be difficult to obtain 2nd chance points against.

The simulator tool projects that the defensive improvements should be enough to vault the Nuggets' defense up to a strong unit.  The transactions that the Nuggets made in the offseason should also improve an already powerful offensive machine and this combination is projected to lead Denver to the title over Miami.

Projections (Playoff Teams denoted by *)

Northwest

Denver *
Oklahoma City *
Minnesota *
Utah *
Portland

Southwest

San Antonio *
Dallas *
New Orleans
Memphis
Houston

Pacific

Los Angeles Clippers *
Los Angeles Lakers *
Golden State
Sacramento
Phoenix

WCF:  Denver over Oklahoma City
Finals:  Denver over Miami

Saturday, October 13, 2012

8 Bold Predictions for the 2012-2013 NBA Season (Part 1)

I haven't posted in this blog for a while due to events in my personal life such as:
-Buying a house
-Amber coming home from military training
-Traveling for work/personal reasons
-A promotion at work

I figured a season preview based on my basketball simulator was in order.

Today we'll kick off with the Eastern Conference and discuss 4 bold predictions about that conference - all analysis is based solely off the simulator tool with other supporting stats listed.

1.  The Milwaukee Bucks will win the Central Division

The East as a whole (starting in the 2 position), and this division in particular, is pretty wide open for a variety of reasons such as:
-Derrick Rose's ACL Tear
-A roster shakeup in Boston
-A predicted regression from the Pacers (more on that later)

If we assume Derrick Rose will miss a substantial portion of the season (over half), that takes the Bulls out of the running for the division title, and the simulator dislikes Indiana.  But what does it like about Milwaukee so much, and how does that align with real life?

Last year the Bucks traded Andrew Bogut for Monta Ellis and change, and that trade gave the Bucks a nice shot in the arm.  Since the trade, the Bucks went 12-11 down the stretch - but more importantly had a point differential of +79 - a point differential of nearly 3.5 PPG.  While 23 games is a small sample size, it's the most recent data point that we have about the current roster composition of the Bucks.  That point differential will usually result in a team being about the 7th best team in the league.  While the simulator tool doesn't think that the Bucks will be quite that good, it does project them to win the division and rates them as the 5th best team in the conference.

2.  Tying into #1, the Indiana Pacers will suffer a significant regression and slip out of the playoffs.

This is the projection that the simulator tool makes that I most strongly disagree with and no stats from last year suggest the Pacers will regress; they were in the top ten in both offensive and defensive efficiency and had only subtle roster changes - nothing that should truly move the needle.  So why does the tool have the Pacers slipping from 3rd in the conference to outside the playoffs?

The answer comes down to elite talent - or a lack thereof in Indiana's case.  I have a system that measures gross production - everything that a player contributes offensively and defensively combined.  Last year the highest ranked Pacer was Danny Granger - at 31st.  Every single projected playoff team from the East has at LEAST one player rated higher than Granger; most have two.  If you're wondering why Hibbert wasn't that player, I go into that below.

Let's look another way and evaluate per minute production - after all - a deep team like the Pacers doesn't have players logging big minutes during the regular season.  In that view, Granger and Hibbert are basically equals (if you're wondering why Granger is rated so highly, he is outstanding at avoiding turnovers, rebounds well for his position, is an above average defender for his position, and his poor fg% is somewhat off-set by a very high ft% and a strong 3 point % - in other words, he's not just an inefficient gunner. Granger also led the Pacers in Win Shares last year and Win Shares per 48 minutes - suggesting that my stats align with other mainstream statistics).  In that view, there are at 63 players with at least as high of a gross per minute production as Hibbert.

Statistics don't tell the whole story but they do highlight important underlying factors.

Even if the statistics are flat out wrong about the projection and the Pacers manage to win 45-50 games, Indiana may be in NBA no-man land; it's highly unlikely that in a 7 game series they have the firepower to bring down the likes of Miami or Oklahoma City and their depth of talent will likely prevent them from winning the lottery (even this extremely negative projection has them as the #9 spot in the East).  The long term prognosis is likely to be one of an also-ran for the Pacers as they have locked in most of their key players to long term contracts.

While I disagree with the simulator, deeper analysis shows that the Pacers lack the elite talent to truly compete for the championship as their roster is presently constructed.

3.  The Washington Wizards will make the playoffs.

Before assuming that this blog is projecting to do anything once they get there, settle down.  The simulator projects the Wizards to be the worst playoff team and gives them virtually no chance of defeating Miami in a 7 game series.

The reason the Wizards are projected to do so well (relatively speaking) is a formidable inside-out combination of Wall and Nene.  There is a considerable amount of negative buzz surrounding John Wall, but remember - if he were still in college we would be getting ready for his senior year.  This is a young man with a tremendous amount of talent who has played with a very weak supporting cast in the NBA.

If nothing else, Nene should provide Wall with a stable inside presence who he can trust getting the ball too, and even in limited minutes last year with the Wizards, Nene's gross production was superior to that of Hibbert's.

The addition of Trevor Ariza, while nothing spectacular, helps to shore up the Wizards' porous perimeter defenses and gives them a wing who rebounds well for his position.  Ariza is better suited for a role where he is expected to play strong D and rebound and it appears that Washington should be a good fit for him where he can be the 'glue guy'.  With the addition of Bradley Beal, Jordan Crawford coming off the bench and Shelvin Mack evolving into a strong backup PG, the Wizards should be well stocked on the wings and backcourt. We expect this team to continue to be relatively weak on the interior but Vessely showed promise in his rookie season and Kevin Seraphin has shot blocking prowess.

Again - this isn't to say that the Wizards are suddenly going to take the league by force - but there is plenty to be optimistic about in Washington (on the basketball court at least) in the forseeable future with a young core of Wall, Vessely, Beal and Mack.

The major things that could go wrong:
-I assumed Vessely would put up the same production as last year, but get starter's minutes - that combination improves the Wizards' offensive firepower.  If Vessely turns out to be useless, that would be damaging.
-Bradley Beal has been compared to Ray Allen; I used Ray Allen's rookie season as a proxy for Beal.  Allen didn't have an exceptional rookie season and had pedestrian numbers, but if Beal falls well short of that, it would be problematic for the Wizards.
-Nene was involved in an off the court incident this summer.  If that is indicative of his behavior in Washington, the Wizards would suffer.  If there is any discipline related issues with Hilario that causes him to miss playing time, the projection would move Washington out of the playoffs and put Indiana in.

4.  The Atlanta Hawks will be the 2nd best team in the Eastern Conference.

At first glance, this seems like a pretty bold prediction due to the loss of Joe Johnson, but after a deeper dive, it's really not and here's some points on why:

A)  Last year the Hawks had the 6th highest pythagorean win total in the NBA.
B)  That was without Al Horford.
C)  The Hawks re-loaded their talent aside from Horford.
D)  As mentioned previously, Chicago won't be the same without Rose.

The simulator tool considers Horford to be superior to Joe Johnson, but even if we assume their equals, that essentially leaves the Hawks where they left off last season, which is EXACTLY where the simulator projects them - 6th overall.  Despite losses of other pieces (Kirk Hinrich and Marvin Williams), the Hawks brought in talent that is good enough to replace them in the form of Devin Harris and Lou Williams.  There is also reason to be optimistic about Ivan Johnson who should grow into a solid reserve to supplement frontcourt depth and put up solid per minute #'s (14% rebounding rate, over 50% 2 point shooting, strong defense).

Although the tool is optimistic about the Hawks overall, it still projects them to be inferior to Miami, who is projected to win the East.

Eastern Conference forecast (playoff team's with a *)

Atlantic
New York *
Boston *
Philadelphia *
Toronto
Brooklyn


Central
Milwaukee *
Chicago *
Indiana
Cleveland
Detroit

Southeast
Miami *
Atlanta *
Washington *
Orlando
Charlotte

Eastern Conference Finals:  Miami over Atlanta