APBRmetrics

All NBA players must shoot 1000 consecutive free throws during a testing period that occurs during the offseason. Each player that makes less than 600 of these free throws is banned from shooting free throws during NBA games, except for during the last 24 seconds of games. Each time a banned player ...

I actually just found a small error in my data. Lineup 2 included James at the SF, but I had accidentally labeled it as a lineup including James at the PF. I re-ran the numbers with lineup 2 properly handled and obtained a net/48 minutes rating of +5.45. Still incredibly high. # Season Lineup Min +/...

To answer Dr. Positivity: I agree that Irving is a specific threat to switch-heavy defenses. The problem is that he simply will not be optimally utilized with any intense consistency. One of the reasons that switching is so effective in the NBA is because teams simply lack the game-planning, discipl...

I decided to conduct a study to determine the effectiveness of James at the 4 verses James at the 3. I used data from the twenty most heavily played lineups in each season between the years 2007 and 2016. The seasonal 3 column is calculated as (Differential/min for lineups with Lebron at the 3 durin...

Lebron James is clearly best utilized as a power forward. One of the most overlooked aspects of building a team is team speed. Another aspect of building a team that has long been overlooked, but is arguably now adequately considered, is rim protection. Due to James being one of the fastest and most...

Shumpert is the only one of the 4 shooters I listed that could be considered a poor shooter. He's still very capable of hitting open catch-and-shoot threes, and his defense is a huge positive. Tristan is obviously entirely useless as a shooter. Moving Lebron to the 4 places him closer to the rim on ...

Only one guy can take the shot, but when 4 shooters are surrounding Lebron, the player who shoots the shot usually has a cleaner look than he otherwise would have. And a three game sample size is quite small for using +/- numbers. Love probably had a massive net +/- per 48 minutes over the first two...

7. The most-used lineup for the Cavaliers must be Irving-Smith-Shumpert-James-Frye. Due primarily to being incredibly quick at all five positions and capable of shooting spot-up three pointers at all four positions around James, this is the optimum lineup for the Cavaliers. Both James and Frye have ...

6. The Cavaliers MUST avoid playing the Love-Thompson combination. This combination simply lacks adequate rim protection and pick&roll defense. When Love is on the court as a 4, he must be paired with Frye or Mozgov, and when Thompson is on the court as a 4, he must be paired with Frye. James ca...

5. The Cavaliers must post JAMES instead of LOVE in the half-court. Love is operating at a putrid 0.70 pts/poss on his first 54 post-ups in the playoffs. James is operating at 1.13 on his first 24 post-ups. For the regular season, the numbers are 0.98 pts/poss for love on 310 post-ups and 0.89 pts/p...

"Are the ______ done?" is a cliche question that the talking heads usually ask. Another one is "Do the ________ have a chance to beat the _________?" These are silly questions. No team is ever done until they are eliminated, and every team always has a chance to beat the other in...

We are now seeing the results of the best way to play defense against the Warriors. Switching almost all game long is the only rational way to play defense against the pick and rolls that Steph initiates. If you trap him, he will dump the ball inside immediately to the rolling big man, after which t...

They can, but the probability is slim. However, the Cavaliers would be able to increase their rate of open looks from three, cut down on the contested threes they are taking, and chop out inefficient components of their offense if they followed my advice.

So are you in favor of drastically reducing the offensive efficiency of the Cavaliers in exchange for helping them avoid qualifying for your arbitrary category that doesn't adjust for defense, the increasing volume of three point shots taken in the modern NBA, or the unique blend of players constitu...

1. Kevin Love must restrict his offense to catch-and-shoot threes In order to prove this point, which I have been making for about an entire year now, determine the points per possession the Cavs score on possessions which end with less than or equal to 16 seconds on the shot clock as a function of ...