If Computers Ran the NBA, Shaq Would Be Benched

[boutons_]

October 23, 2006
If Computers Ran the NBA, Shaq Would Be Benched

By REUTERS
Filed at 10:45 p.m. ET

NEW YORK (Reuters) - Shaquille O'Neal (http://topics.nytimes.com/top/reference/timestopics/people/o/shaquille_oneal/index.html?inline=nyt-per) may be one of the best basketball players on the planet, but he should have been benched in this year's National Basketball Association championships.

Or so concludes a new statistical measurement developed by Lenovo Group Ltd. the world's third-largest personal computer maker. Introduced by Lenovo and the NBA on Monday, the statistic is supposed show which five players combine to make the best team on the court at any one time.

In June's NBA finals, for instance, the Lenovo Stat showed the best combination for the champion Miami Heat (http://topics.nytimes.com/top/news/sports/probasketball/nationalbasketballassociation/miamiheat/index.html?inline=nyt-org) included Dwyane Wade, James Posey, Gary Payton, Antoine Walker, and Alonzo Mourning (http://topics.nytimes.com/top/reference/timestopics/people/m/alonzo_mourning/index.html?inline=nyt-per).

Missing from the list is O'Neal, the 7'1'' Miami Heat center who is an 11-times NBA All-Star and named one of the 50 Greatest Players in league history. But it was with Mourning -- rather than O'Neal -- that the Heat had the greatest point advantage during the championships, according to the Lenovo Stat.

Lenovo is launching the statistic as part of a new multi-year marketing partnership with the NBA. Under the partnership, Lenovo will place notebook and desktop computers in all 30 NBA arenas for use by coaches and referees.

NBA Commissioner David Stern (http://topics.nytimes.com/top/reference/timestopics/people/s/david_stern/index.html?inline=nyt-per), who said the statistic would give coaches ``enormous additional data,'' declined to comment on the conclusion about O'Neal.

``Shaq is a friend of mine,'' he joked.

[boutons_]

October 20, 2006
Lenovo Scores NBA Deal
By David Needle

Building on its sponsorship of the Olympics, Lenovo will trumpet another sports marketing link when it announces a major deal with the National Basketball Association.

The multi-year global marketing partnership is scheduled to be made official at an event in New York on Monday at the NBA Store, according to a Lenovo press release obtained by internetnews.com ahead of time.

Under the deal, Lenovo becomes the "official PC Partner of the NBA," with marketing rights in the U.S. and China, where Lenovo is based. The NBA plans to integrate Lenovo products into all facets of league operations, according to the release.

An NBA public relations official declined to comment on news ahead of the official announcement, except to say some of the details in the release might change by Monday.

One expected aspect of the agreement is the introduction of a new "Lenovo Stat" during games designed to identify the best NBA teammates.

The Lenovo Stat will be a plus/minus statistic that will look at the point differential when a player or combination of players is in the game, to see what effect they have on the team as a whole. The statistic will identify the best individual through five player combinations for each game, and over the course of an entire season.

However, it's not clear whether the Lenovo Stat will appear during broadcast games; the release said it will be featured on NBA.com and on NBA TV at the end of each game.

Certain NBA coaches will also have access to a new tool for the Lenovo computers that the company said will "revolutionize the coaching process."

Lenovo personal computers will be featured courtside at the Official Scorer's Table and will record more than 250,000 points, 130,000 rebounds and more than 50,000 assists each season.

NBA statisticians will be getting Lenovo touch screen laptops to record more than 650,000 statistical events per season in real time to NBA.com, the league's 30 team Web sites, NBA TV and thousands of media around the world. NBA referees will also utilize Lenovo personal computers to review video of their calls at halftime, post-game and while traveling between games.

"Lenovo hasn't had a lot of consumer visibility, so you can see sports marketing as offsetting their lack of presence in retail, and the NBA season gives them something to build on," said Roger Kay, analyst with Endpoint Technologies.

"They have the Olympics, but that has a limited time frame.

http://www.internetnews.com/bus-news/article.php/3639371

[HeatOwnzNba]

What the computers didn't factor in was that Alonzo Mourning was playing on
one kidney and no longer has the stamina to play the whole game.

[CubanMustGo]

Is this similar to that thing IBM did a decade or so ago? DRob used to win some sort of statistical all-around award on a regular basis.

Lenovo trying to make inroads into the US PC market.

[Drachen]

Is this similar to that thing IBM did a decade or so ago? DRob used to win some sort of statistical all-around award on a regular basis.

Lenovo trying to make inroads into the US PC market.

Lenovo is (or was) IBM. They sold their entire PC division to Lenovo. So....
Maybe.

[Obstructed_View]

Is this similar to that thing IBM did a decade or so ago? DRob used to win some sort of statistical all-around award on a regular basis.

Yeah, I was really proud of that award when five oh won it. Then Mutumbo won it like three years in a row.

[Joepa]

Mutombo is the best center of all time.

With the finger wagging, and the impossible to understand accent. Name one guy who had more game than him.

Srsly.

[Obstructed_View]

Mutombo is the best center of all time.

With the finger wagging, and the impossible to understand accent. Name one guy who had more game than him.

Srsly.
I know someone who wants to sex Mutombo...

[MrChug]

Hell, this could be a parody...the fact is that if we used FANTASY rankings Shaq would be benched behind Marcus Camby and Tim would be benched behind Chris Bosh. :donkey

[sprrs]

Computers can't factor in things like intimidation and interior presence. A computer would say that Bruce Bowen has no place on an NBA roster.