By the Numbers

[Mavs<Spurs]

As a math student, I look at some of our statistics and wonder how we win.

I'm sure I'm not the only person who has noticed this but:

Other teams take a lot more shots than we do. For example, Charlotte took 15 more shots than we did. While we outrebounded them by 6, we committed 8 more turnovers. Plus, it's not like we got to the line a lot more or made a lot of 3s. We shot 1 more free throw and only shot 4 for 13 from the three point line. Charlotte, even though they had only 1 less opportunity, did not convert on their free throw attempts efficiently. If they had, this game becomes a nail biter.

This took place all last year and in the playoffs as well.
With high turnovers and a poor free throw shooting night, if the other team takes a lot more shots than we do, we are putting an enormous amount of pressure on our offense and our defense.

Our shooting percentage must, due to the above factors, be much higher than our opponent's. If it is only slightly better, we lose and there is a chance that we lose badly.

This is a numbers game that does not look very promising. It is very difficult to shoot 10 percent better than your opponent consistently. As I said, it puts so much pressure on both our offense and our defense to be virtually perfect, leaving us almost no margin for error.

:depressed

Comments?

[Trainwreck2100]

You don't have to be a math person to no missed freebees and turnovers make a win difficult.

[Mavs<Spurs]

You don't have to be a math person to no missed freebees and turnovers make a win difficult.

True, true.

Our tendency to turn the ball over and our past history of shooting a low percentage of free throw attempts and sometimes only getting to the line a few times, combined with the fact that other teams shoot 10 to 15 more shots than we do (which partly stems from our higher turnover numbers than our opponents), means to win we must make up for those factors by shooting 10 percent better than our opponents from the field.

I like to look at numbers to get a good feel for what is going on. This kind of stuff interests me.

[Despot]

themanurules

As a person who was horrible at math, I know exactly what you are talking about.
At times I will look back at box scores and study them, and wonder how the hell we won, or lost for that matter. I just have to say I think controlling tempo, and having the brains to understand where you are at in a game can be more important than numbers in a box, although you have to agree the two should be directly correlated to each other. Maybe it depends on the way you look at things, you can either see yourself down by 10 points, which is a good size lead, or if you see yourself down by 5 buckets, it seems alot more feasible to come back.

With that said, I think the tell tale stat, is shooting percentage. Sometimes when you have played a horrible game, a minimal lead in that category seems to be worth alot. Our defense tends to help jack that number up a bit, can't wait to see what it does once manu starts hitting those layups.

[Despot]

I also know that superstitions I abide by help the Spurs win also.
I was sick the Day of the Mavs game, so I was unable complete my normal routines.

[ploto]

The Spurs defend the 3's very well and teams often don't even get very many of them up- Bobcats were 1-7; Chicago 3-13 (with OT); Cavs 4-19; Denver 0-7. Dallas was the only team that shot well from the 3 point line (6-9) and you saw what happened that night.

[romsey31]

I also know that superstitions I abide by help the Spurs win also.
I was sick the Day of the Mavs game, so I was unable complete my normal routines.


Amusing. Funny how people can actually believe in this stuff.

[MiNuS]

as far as other team taking more shots it could be attributed to them not choosing their shots wisely and also playing from behind in many of those games.

[Mavs<Spurs]

themanurules

As a person who was horrible at math, I know exactly what you are talking about.
At times I will look back at box scores and study them, and wonder how the hell we won, or lost for that matter. I just have to say I think controlling tempo, and having the brains to understand where you are at in a game can be more important than numbers in a box, although you have to agree the two should be directly correlated to each other. Maybe it depends on the way you look at things, you can either see yourself down by 10 points, which is a good size lead, or if you see yourself down by 5 buckets, it seems alot more feasible to come back.

With that said, I think the tell tale stat, is shooting percentage. Sometimes when you have played a horrible game, a minimal lead in that category seems to be worth alot. Our defense tends to help jack that number up a bit, can't wait to see what it does once manu starts hitting those layups.

You might be on to something there. Because even a small difference in field goal percentage multiplied by a lot of shots, could help make up for some of the other stats that we see.

It's kind of like Office Space when the guy talks about taking a penny from the tray (for everyone who needs a penny) but doing it several million times, which becomes a large amount.

The good thing is that we are just looking at numbers. We are not doing anything complicated. We can all do this. Besides there are very few people who were/ or are as bad at math (in terms of ability) as they think they are.

[Dre_7]

As a math student, I look at some of our statistics and wonder how we win.

Why do we win??

Its called, DEFENSE. :D

[Mavs<Spurs]

as far as other team taking more shots it could be attributed to them not choosing their shots wisely and also playing from behind in many of those games.

True.

I kind of think about it this way:

Let's say that there are two players who are playing a game similar to horse. Every shot that a player makes counts as a point. Now, one player gets to shoot fifteen more times.

Without any other information who would you guess would win?

How would you feel if your team was represented by the player who you knew would take 15 fewer shots? Would you feel comfortable? Would you feel that the deck is kind of stacked against you?

Well, that's kind of how I feel. I am very aware that whoever we play will usually take 15 more shots than us, we will turn the ball over more times and we will not make as many free throws. So, it appears mysterious how we win.

Yes, I can come up with an explanation, but still the unease remains.

:fro