Posts tagged ‘Prof D’

Are we just talking about practice?

Before Allen Iverson came to town the Detroit Pistons were undefeated.  In the ten games with “The Answer” the Pistons have been 5-5.  The story told by the Pistons to explain this outcome is that the team simply hasn’t found the right “chemistry”.  Here is how Iverson described the situation.

“(Iverson) talked Saturday about the importance of finding chemistry with a new team through practice.

“I’ve been through it before,” Iverson said. “I think the toughest part of it has been our schedule. We’ve been on the road a lot. That was tough. For me, it’s just getting a chance to settle in.

“The most important thing is getting more practice time.”

In an effort to get more practice time, Michael Curry - Detroit’s head coach - called for an additional practice session on Thanksgiving. Although I am sure the team was not happy with this decision, with but one exception, everyone made it in today.  The lone exception was none other than Mr. Iverson.

Curry has said that Iverson will pay a “hefty” fine for missing practice.  But I am not sure this is necessary.  In fact, I think I agree with Iverson’s actions (not his words).  Practice is probably not going to make much difference.

Iverson vs. Billups

To see my point, consider what Iverson has done this season, as well as across his career.  For comparison purposes, let’s also consider the numbers Chauncey Billups - the primary player the Pistons gave up to acquire Iverson - has posted.

• Iverson Career (prior to this season): 0.090 WP48
• Iverson with the Nuggets in 2008-09: 0.083 WP48
• Iverson with the Pistons in 2008-09: 0.086 WP48
• Billups Career (prior to this season): 0.181 WP48
• Billups with the Pistons in 2008-09: 0.254 WP48
• Billups with the Nuggets in 2008-09: 0.225 WP48

When we look at Wins Produced per 48 minutes [WP48] for these players, we see that Billups has done more than Iverson.  And this is the picture we see if we look at the numbers across each player’s career, as well as what each player has done this year.

Given the disparity in what these players offer, it’s not surprising the Pistons have struggled somewhat with Iverson (although I think they are better than a 0.500 team).  And it’s not surprising the Nuggets have improved with Billups.

Changing the Story in Denver

Right now, though, the Pistons are in denial (at least publicly).  As for the Nuggets, the denial has apparently ended.

The following article from the Denver Post — Point guard praise: Billups over A.I. - indicates that George Karl is no longer one of Iverson’s biggest fans:

Unquestionably, the Allen Iverson experiment produced some scintillating moments for the Nuggets and their fans. But the more coach George Karl watches Chauncey Billups run his offense - and watches Iverson lead the Pistons - it has become clearer that Iverson, well, wasn’t the answer.

“There are less bad plays, more solid plays,” Karl said. “I think the wasteful, cheap possessions that we used to have 10 to 15 a game, they don’t exist very much anymore.”

What always irked Karl was Iverson’s inability to run the offense like a general. Arguably, Iverson shot too much, and like Karl said, Denver could outscore about half the teams in the NBA. But when it came to beating the elite teams, the Nuggets had too many questions with “The Answer” - about his shot selection, his dedication to defense and his ability/inability to trust his teammates.

“We have contested-shot charts, bad-shot charts and cheap defensive possessions,” Karl said. “I would say that when A.I. was here, we had most games in the teens of contested, tough shots, sometimes in the 20s. And I don’t think we’ve had a double-digit one since (Billups has) been here.

“I don’t think there’s any question coaching a team for many minutes, without a passing and point guard mentality, is frustrating for a coach. Sometimes I saw something, but I couldn’t get it done on the court because I didn’t have a playmaker out there.”

But with Detroit, Karl thinks Iverson can thrive, because he is surrounded by more veteran playmakers and will trust his teammates, as opposed to forcing a shot he thought he had a better chance of making.

“A.I., at times, had trouble trusting the guy he’s throwing it to,” Karl said.

It’s important to note that Iverson had practice problems in Philadelphia with three different head coaches (Larry Brown, Chris Ford, and Maurice Cheeks). And he now has a problem with Curry.  But he never had a problem with Karl (at least none that we have heard about).  Despite consistently practicing with the Nuggets, though, Iverson only posted a 0.134 WP48 last season.  This is above average, but less than what Billups offered in even his worst season in Detroit.

Now it’s certainly possible that practice makes perfect.  But it seems unlikely, at this point in Iverson’s career, practice is going to transform “the Answer” into a great player.  So maybe the Pistons shouldn’t be too upset when Iverson skips practice.  Maybe he’s just telling Curry — despite what Iverson says publicly — that practice really isn’t going to help.  And after ”the Answer” departs Detroit, I suspect Curry will follow Karl’s lead and tell us that he agrees.

-Prof. David Berri

dberri.wordpress.com

The Answer Comes to Detroit

Two years ago Iverson was traded by Philadelphia to Denver.  Some people - following the logic that Iverson is one of the greatest players to ever play the game — expected Iverson to transform the Denver Nuggets into a title contender.

The numbers suggested otherwise.  Adding Iverson to the Nuggets was not going to be enough for Denver to close the gap with the very top teams in the West.  The inability of this team to contend - when many people thought it would happen - got these people thinking that George Karl should be fired.  After all, with such a “great player” it was hard for fans of Denver to understand how the Nuggets couldn’t win a playoff series. Hence, many people blamed the coach (see Fire George Karl?).

Rather than fire the coach, though, Denver has decided to end the Iverson experiment.  This week the Nuggets sent Iverson to the Detroit Pistons for Chauncey Billups, Antonio McDyess, and Cheik Samb.

As Jerry Seinfeld notes, in the end all sports fans are simply rooting for clothes.  We are fans of the athletes who wear the uniform of our team.  We are less excited about players wearing different clothes.  Consequently, as a fan of the Pistons (as frequently noted, I was born in Detroit), this trade means I am now a fan of Allen Iverson.

Now that I am a fan of Iverson, let me tell you why he’s so great.  Iverson is very good at getting to the free throw line, he’s good at getting steals, and he avoids personal fouls.  All of these are positives.  If we look at Wins Produced, we see that across the last four seasons Iverson has produced 31.9 wins.  His WP48 across these four seasons is 0.123, which is above average (average is 0.100).  So clearly he helps and that’s why he is one of my favorite players.

Of course if I look at this objective (i.e. not as a fan), I would note that Iverson is simply not as productive as Billups.  A few weeks ago I argued that Billups was more productive than Isiah Thomas.  In that discussion I posted the following table comparing Billups, Thomas, and Iverson.

Table One: Comparing Chauncey Billups, Isiah Thomas, and Allen Iverson

The career numbers of each player indicates that both Thomas and Billups produced more than Iverson (and Billups offered more than Thomas).

If we look at Wins Produced -again, focusing on just the last four years - Billups produced 58.0 wins with a 0.257 WP48.  Yes, Billups was the most productive player in Detroit.  And no, Iverson is not going to make up for the loss of Mr. Big Shot.

My sense is that Joe Dumars - the general manager in Detroit - knows that moving from Billups to Iverson is not a step in the right direction.  The chance of this team winning a title in 2009 has declined. But, given the strength of the Celtics and Lakers, the odds were already against a title in Detroit this season.

So if this trade doesn’t help the Pistons win a title in 2009, why did Dumars pull the trigger?  It appears - and several commentators have made this observation - that the key is Iverson’s expiring contract.  At the end of this season, Iverson’s nearly $22 million salary comes off the books.   With Rasheed Wallace’s contract also expiring, the Pistons only have $33 million in contracts on the books for 2009-10.  And for the summer of 2010, the Pistons only have $11 million in contracts (this does not count the extension Richard Hamilton just signed).  This means that after this season the Pistons can be very aggressive in the free agent market.

All of this tells us that for the Pistons, “the Answer” is not on the court, but on the books.  In other words, one of the “greatest” players to ever play the game has just been acquired because he had an attractive contract.  He was not acquired because Iverson is really all that great (and I say that as one of his biggest fans).

This Year in Detroit and Denver

The problem with acquiring an expiring contract, though, is that expiring contracts don’t win games this year.  Given that Iverson offers less than Billups, how many games is this going to cost Detroit?  If Iverson had played the same minutes as Billups last year - and his productivity stayed the same — he would have produced 7.0 wins.  Billups produced 16.0 wins last year, so the difference is about nine victories.

The Pistons, though, are giving more minutes to Amir Johnson.  And it’s possible that Rodney Stuckey will improve.  So maybe the drop off for Detroit won’t be nine wins.  In other words, Detroit’s victory total could still eclipse 50 wins this season.  This total is still far short of what we should see from Boston.  But it might be good enough to get home court advantage in the first round in the Eastern Conference.

What about the Nuggets?  Denver gave Marcus Camby away in the off-season.  So it looked like Denver was taking a step-back in 2008-09.   And with Iverson coming off the books, it looked like Denver would think about re-building next summer.

Now the Nuggets have added Billups, which is an upgrade.  In fact, I think it’s now possible that Denver could reach 50 wins this year.  This means that the loss of Camby, coupled with this trade, might leave the Nuggets right where they were at the end of last season.  Unfortunately, where they ended didn’t make their fans happy.  Making the playoffs and losing in the first round probably gets Karl fired.   If there is a silver lining — I think that with Billups — Denver might at least win a couple of playoff games.

Denver’s position with respect to the salary cap, though, has worsened.  So it’s flexibility in 2009 is weakened and building a true title contender in Denver may be a bit harder.  In sum, I am not really sure what Denver is trying to accomplish.

I should note that Matthew Yglesias - in the midst of a very historic day (yes, there is something a bit more important than this trade going on) - took the time to comment on this trade.  And he briefly made the same points that I made (less briefly). Let me close with the comments from Yglesias.

When I first heard that the Pistons had traded for Allen Iverson, I thought Joe Dumars had lost his mind. Give up your best player (and a useful rotation guy) in exchange for a more famous, but worse, player who plays the same position and is of about the same age? Crazy. But of course Dumars isn’t crazy so it became clear that he wasn’t trading for Iverson at all, he’s trading for . . . Allen Iverson’s expiring contract. That shifts this out of “crazy” and into “gutsy.” Pistons fans have been disappointed with the team’s performance over the past couple of seasons, but the fact remains that they’ve been much better than most NBA teams. I might well have thought that leaving well enough alone was a reasonable policy. But instead he’s looking to rebuild. Gutsy. We’ll see.

Meanwhile, Denver’s decision-making makes no sense. The Camby trade was a clear move to cut costs and rebuild. But this is a “win now” move. A team of Billups, JR Smith, Carmelo Anthony, Kenyon Martin, and Marcus Camby with Antonio McDyess, Nene, and Anthony Carter coming off the bench would be a very good team. Probably still not better than the Lakers or the Jazz, but very good. What they’ve got now is just “eh.”

- DJ

http://dberri.wordpress.com

Starting Amir

The 2008 playoffs ended for the Pistons in the Eastern Conference Finals.  Again.  For the past three seasons the Pistons have advanced to the Eastern Conference Finals, only to lose in six games.

After seeing the Pistons lose to the Celtics last May, Joe Dumars appeared to promise major changes.  He was quoted as saying “everybody’s in play. There are no sacred cows here.” As noted at True Blue Pistons: “the message is clear: If Dumars has his way, the Pistons are going to look significantly different by the time they convene for training camp in October.”

Joe’s Big Changes

When the summer ended, though, significant differences were hard to find.  Here are the changes made to the roster:

• Kwame Brown - the first player taken in the 2001 draft - was added via free agency. Brown has never lived up to his lofty draft status and is expected to be a back-up center with the Pistons
• Walter Sharpe — as second round draft choice of the team formally known as the Seattle Supersonics - was acquired on draft night. Sharpe might become the primary back-up at the small forward position. Then again he might not.
• Trent Plaisted - another second round draft choice by the team formally known as the Seattle Supersonics - was also acquired on draft night. Plaisted currently plays for Angelico Biella (in the Italian Serie A).
• Deron Washington was selected by the Pistons with the 59^th choice in the draft. It’s not clear where he is playing. He is listed on Detroit’s current roster but has yet to log any playing time in the pre-season.
• The Pistons also gave two-year contracts to Alex Acker (the team’s second round draft choice from 2005) and Will Bynum (an undrafted player). Each player appeared briefly in 2005-06. Acker played 35 minutes with the Pistons while Bynum played 162 minutes. Each player might occasionally be seen off the bench for the Pistons in 2008-09.

When it comes to player acquisitions, this is about all the Pistons did.  From this list it appears Dumars has concluded that the Pistons primary problem in 2007-08 was the players sitting on the bench.  Apparently Dumars believes that a better cheering section on the bench will be enough to push the Pistons past the Celtics and Lakers in 2008-09.

In all seriousness, Dumars did more than just change Detroit’s cheering section.  Dumars fired head coach Flip Saunders (who I think is a good coach).  And the Pistons have indicated the following two changes to the team’s rotation.

• First, Amir Johnson has been inserted into the starting line-up.
• And secondly, there are indications that a more concerted effort will be made to give additional minutes to Rodney Stuckey.

Are these moves, though, going to be enough to push the Pistons to the top?

Can Amir Really Make Detroit Fans Happy?

To answer this question, let’s start with the Amir Johnson story.  It was only a few days ago that the Pistons announced that Johnson will be inserted into the starting line-up.   Here is how John W. Davis of Pistonscast responded to this news: I am so freakin happy.  I am excited.  I feel stupendous.  I feel like going for a 7 miles run in Amir’s honor.  Okay, IM HAPPY.

John was not the only one to have this reaction.  In general, fans of the Pistons see Amir starting as a reason to be optimistic about the 2008-09 season.

At first glance, it’s hard to see why the decision to start Johnson would generate such a sentiment.  Johnson was only a second round draft choice in 2005 and has played fewer than 1,o00 minutes in the first three years of his NBA career.

But as detailed last February (see Meet Amir Johnson), what we have seen in these minutes has been quite impressive.  To illustrate, here is how the Pistons returning to the team in 2008-09 (who played at least 500 minutes last season in Detroit)  rank in terms of WP48 [Wins Produced per 48 minutes] from 2007-08.

• 1. Chauncey Billups: 0.304 WP48
• 2. Amir Johnson: 0.244 WP48
• 3. Antonio McDyess: 0.172 WP48
• 4. Tayshaun Prince: 0.143 WP48
• 5. Rasheed Wallace: 0.142 WP48
• 6. Jason Maxiell: 0.141 WP48
• 7. Richard Hamilton: 0.131 WP48
• 8. Arron Afflalo: 0.079 WP48
• 9. Rodney Stuckey: 0.069 WP48

When we look at this list we see that the Pistons return seven players who were above average last season (average WP48 is o.100).  So this is an impressive roster.  And in terms of WP48, only Chauncey Billups was more impressive than Amir.

Amir only played 764 minutes last season.  So this list - at first glance - suggests that giving more minutes to Amir will lead to many additional wins in 2008-09.  I am not sure, though, that this first glance is really accurate.

To see the source of my doubts, let’s first consider how Detroit allocated minutes at the center and power forward positions last season:

• The primary rotation players - Antonio McDyess, Rasheed Wallace, Jason Maxiell, and Amir Johnson - played 7,168 and produced 24.2 wins.
• The bench players - Theo Ratliff, Nazr Mohammed, Primoz Brezec, Cheik Samb, and Walter Hermann - played 729 minutes and produced 0.9 wins.

Last season McDyess and Wallace played about 30 minutes per contest.  Even with McDyess moving to the bench, it’s hard to see how his minutes are going to decline substantially.  Therefore for Johnson to get many more minutes - assuming Brown gets the 729 minutes from the bench players (he probably gets more) — the team is going to have to transfer minutes from Maxiell.

Maxiell was above average last season, but not nearly as productive - on a per-minute basis - as Johnson.  Let’s imagine that the Pistons simply switched the minutes these two players played.  Specifically, let’s say Johnson played 1,768 minutes in 2008-09 (what Maxiell played last season) and Maxiell plays 764 minutes (again, what Johnson played last season).

Last year Johnson produced 3.9 wins last season while Maxiell produced 5.2.  If we reverse the minutes the players play -and production per minute doesn’t change - then Johnson will produce 9.0 wins and Maxiell will offer 2.2.  In sum, the combined wins from these two players will increase from 9.1 to 11.2.  Yes, the move to Johnson might be worth about two more victories.

Now it’s possible that the Pistons could give even more minutes to Johnson.  And that could lead to more wins.  But to take this step the Pistons would have to take minutes from McDyess or Wallace (and don’t forget Kwame Brown who is also going to see some playing time).  And I just can’t see the minutes of McDyess and Wallace falling far below 30 minutes per contest.

So let me summarize how I see the move to start Amir:

• Although Amir is the most productive big man on the Pistons (on a per-minute basis) most of the other big man are above average players. So the gain from switching minutes is less than what we would see if Amir was given the minutes of a truly below average player.
• In addition, I just can’t see the Pistons substantially reducing the playing time of McDyess and Wallace. Therefore the minutes Johnson will play - even as starter - will be limited.

Given these two points, the gains the Pistons will see from starting Amir will probably be quite small.

Can Stuckey Help?

Although these gains are small, at least the movement to Amir will likely take the Pistons in a positive direction.  The plan to play Stuckey more may actually hold this team back.

As we saw in the Amir story, minutes are finite.  If Stuckey is going to play more, someone else has to play less.  When we look back at the WP48 list - and see that Stuckey is the least productive returning Piston - it’s hard to conclude that giving more minutes to Stuckey will make this team better.

Before Stuckey fans get to angry about that last statement, let me note that although Stuckey was below average for an NBA player last season, he was above average for a rookie (rookies tend to post a WP48 that’s below 0.050). Furthermore, young players tend to get better. All that being said, Stuckey is going to have to get substantially better before an increase in his playing time is justified. As the above list indicates, Chauncey Billups is the most productive player on the team and the fifth most productive point guard in the league.  Although Stuckey will probably get better, it’s unlikely that he will start posting a WP48 in excess of 0.300.

Of course the Pistons could take minutes from Rip Hamilton.  Hamilton does offer more than Stuckey, but the difference is much smaller.  One should remember, though, that Hamilton didn’t seem happy that his minutes were cut by Flip Saunders. It may make Hamilton quite unhappy if Michael Curry - the team’s new head coach -cuts Rip’s minutes even more.

Getting Better?

When the off-season began, Detroit fans were promised substantial changes.  When we look at all that has happened, though, it’s hard to see how this team has closed the gap on the teams they must defeat to win a title.   Certainly the two big moves - regarding Amir and Stuckey - are unlikely to add much to the team’s victory totals.

All of this means that the Pistons are unlikely to win a title in 2000. Although I am a fan of Detroit (having been born there); I just can’t see this team catching the Celtics.  And I certainly can’t see this team catching the Lakers.

So the Pistons’ 2009 season - unlike the Detroit Shock’s 2008 WNBA season - will end with a loss.  And when that happens, I hope fans of the Pistons tune in to see the Shock try and defend their WNBA title.  If the Shock are successful, it will be their fourth title in seven years.  And that should help ease any pain the Detroit basketball fans feel from yet another Pistons failure.

- DJ

The 2008 Detroit Lions Team Photo

by David Berri

www.dberri.wordpress.com

Not much.

Although fans of the Lions are currently quite depressed - and most definitely disagree with my answer — the first game really doesn’t mean anything. Before I get to why I think this, let me first explain why I care about the miserable Lions.

I was born in Detroit in 1969. This means I was born a fan of the Tigers, Pistons, Red Wings, and Michigan Wolverines. All of these teams have won championships in my life, and thus, all have made me happy (at least at some point).

And then there are the Lions. In my lifetime the Lions have won exactly one playoff game. Consequently, for most of my life, the Lions have made me unhappy.

My family left Detroit when I was about twelve. Since I was twelve I have lived in Nebraska, Colorado, Iowa, California, and now Utah. As a result of my wandering ways, I have not had to personally watch the Lions make me unhappy. The poor play of the Lions tends to keep my team off of national television, and consequently, many of their losses I haven’t had to watch.

All of this has changed, though, with our move to Utah. From what I understand, our neighborhood in Cedar City doesn’t get cable television. At least that’s what I told my wife before I called DirectTV. Of course my wife suspects that I made up the cable television story so I could order NFL Sunday Ticket. In other words, thanks to DirectTV (and my understanding wife), I am now able to watch every regular season game the Lions will play in 2008.

Optimism and Disappointment in Detroit

After the Lions were the only team to finish the pre-season undefeated, I was naturally somewhat optimistic about the 2008 campaign. Yes, I know, pre-season doesn’t mean much. Still, when you are Lions fan, you look for hope wherever you can find it.

On Sunday the Lions traveled to Atlanta for the first game of the regular season against the dismal Falcons. Atlanta only won four games last year. They entered this season with a rookie starting quarterback and inexperience at cornerback. So this looked like a game the Lions - with two outstanding wide receivers (Roy Williams and Calvin Johnson) — would win easily.

Such were my thoughts when I sat down to watch this game at 11am on Sunday morning. Unfortunately, my optimism didn’t last long.

Atlanta took the opening kick-off and then proceeded to score (on a 62 yard pass) on their third play from scrimmage. So after less than 90 seconds, Atlanta was ahead 7-0.

Detroit could only get one first down on their next drive and were forced to punt. On the fourth play of Atlanta’s next drive, Michael Turner ran 66 yards for another touchdown. Now the game was less than eight minutes old and Detroit was down 14-0.

The Lions went three and out on their next drive and once again the Falcons received a punt. This time the Falcons needed six plays to score, and after less than twelve minutes of the first quarter, Detroit was down three touchdowns.

In real time this whole series of events took less than an hour. So in less than 60 minutes fans of the Lions everywhere became quite depressed.

To understand how depressed, you must remember that beginning with the free agent market and the draft; fans of this team generally become increasingly optimistic throughout each off-season. After an undefeated pre-season, some fans were even talking playoffs. Less than 60 minutes into the 2008 season, though, our thoughts once again turned to the NFL draft.

Did the First Game Tell Us Anything?

At least, that was the general sentiment expressed at my favorite website for the Detroit Lions - MLive.com. In essence, many fans think Detroit’s season is over after the Falcons trounced the Lions 34-21 to open the season.

Of course, the players and coaches on the Lions are telling a different story. The Lions argue that this is just one game, and there is still time to turn the 2008 season into a success (and of course, ruin our draft position in 2009).

This discussion led me to consider the following question: How much does the outcome of the first game in Detroit tell us about the rest of this team’s regular season?

To answer this question, I went to Pro-Football-Reference.com and noted the margin of victory (or defeat) in Detroit’s opening game from 1970 to 2007 (in other words, all the opening games in my lifetime). I then noted how many games the Lions won each season after the opening game (adjusted for differences in schedule across time). The hypothesis was quite simple. Following what I have heard after the first game of 2008, the outcome of the first game should predict the rest of the season. If the Lions win, they should have a winning record. If the team wins by a wide margin, it should be an exceptional season. Likewise a big loss means we will see many losses.

Before I get to my results, let me note a few other interesting factoids (at least, interesting to me) about opening day for the Lions:

• In 38 opening games from 1970 to 2007, the Lions were 19-19. In other words, prior to Sunday, the Lions were a 0.500 team on opening day in my lifetime.
• The Lions have only opened at home 15 times since 1970. So the Lions tend to open on the road.
• The most common opening day opponents for the Lions are Atlanta, Chicago, and Green Bay. The Lions have played each of these teams six times on opening day since 1970. The latter two are division rivals, so that makes sense. My sense is the league pairs the Lions with Atlanta so that the more popular teams have a better chance of playing each other.

Okay, enough with the trivia. What about the issue at hand - does the outcome in the first game predict the rest of the season?

To address this issue, I regressed the Lions victory totals - after game one - on the point differential in the first contest. The results indicate - drum roll please — that there is no statistical relationship between these two data sets. In sum, it looks like Lions’ history is on the side of the current crop of players and coaches employed in Detroit.

So why are the fans so unhappy? I think the progression works as follows:

1. When a team loses, it looks bad.
2. People tend to conclude when a team looks bad, that it is bad.
3. On opening day - when half the teams must lose - the fans of half the teams tend to think their team must be bad. After all, that’s all they’ve seen.

Following the progression, we can see why fans of the Lions think the team is bad. All the data we have collected so far in 2008 points to that conclusion.

More Detroit History

When we look at opening day history again, though, we once again see how little the first game matters. The Lions have averaged 6.6 additional victories in seasons where they won the first game. Detroit has averaged 6.0 wins after losing their first game. So to repeat the basic story, win or lose on opening day the results look pretty much the same.

And those results tell the same story. Detroit tends to be bad. Of course we didn’t need to see the game against Atlanta to reach that conclusion. If we consider all of Detroit’s history - at least the dreadful history since the Ford family decided to express their hatred of Detroit by buying this team in 1964 - we have plenty of reason to think the Lions are destined for another disappointing season.

Of course this time, though, I get to watch every miserable game. Although that will be painful, I will once again be rewarded - like all fans of this team — with the opportunity to see the Lions make another very high choice in the NFL draft. And that’s ultimately the game the Lions are playing. The Fords know that maximizing the attention of Mel Kiper is all that really matters to any NFL franchise. The Fords, the Lions, and their fans - and now readers of this blog — are just the first to figure this out.

- DJ

dberri.wordpress.com

Hi Pistonscast,

I thought you would find the following post to be a conversation starter. Yes, I think the numbers indicate that Flip Saunders is a better coach than people believe.

Maybe Flip Saunders is a Good Coach

Dave

P.S. And yes, Chauncey is still better than Isiah.

David J. Berri
Associate Professor of Economics
California State University-Bakersfield
dberri.wordpress.com