New NBA stats

Interesting article on a whole new system for NBA statistics. Boston is one of the early adopters.

http://espn.go.com/blog/playbook/tech/post/_/id/492/492

Very interesting and great that Paul Pierce has the best FG % on his passes for assists in the NBA and Sam was just saying we need to use Pierce to intiate the offense especially when Rondo is not in the game,

On one hand, this is a major advance in NBA stats, not as much because of the unusual stats is produces but because the great majority of those stats are grounded in a context. In other words, they add comparative refinements to the measurement of stats rather then looking at each basic stat in a vacuum.

On the other hand, I'll forever feel grateful that I was so thoroughly immersed in NBA ball during what I call the "primitive" days. Back when so much of the game was instinctive; when Red would pull Heinsohn or Loscy if either got red in the face; when the focus of play was simplified; when a guy wire could be part of one of the most infamous plays ever; when all the customers had to brave the smoke and noise rather than being shielded behind plate glass; and when there was no "Big Daddy" watching overhead to slice and dice every play so as to provide fodder for the formularized basketball machine.

I fully expect someone to say, "But Sam, what this does is to make each team better, to make each player better; to make each decision better informed. Don't you want to see the best possible basketball?" And I'd have to answer that, as long as it's available, I'm glad the Celtics have it because I want them to be as competitive as possible. But there was something about the unvarnished, basic nature of the early game that struck a major chord and will remain with me forever. It was almost as if every game were happening in my back yard.

Who knows? Maybe, when I was recently in Rome, I just spent too much time around the Colosseum.

Sam