vvoland wrote:The lineup data is saying the curry/hield/wigs/dray quarter is great but with GP2 in Loon's spot, they're a +43 net rating, 110 vs 67 offense/defense rating. With Kyle in Loon's place, they're a +90. (129o/39d). With Loon, they're a +24 (145/121).
There's small sample size in all of of these lineups as those 4 have only played 169 total possessions (and are a +28). The loon/gp2/kyle lineups only have 20/50/17 possessions, respectively. With such a small sample size, why are you so confident it's loon that should be the 5th starter? Or, more importantly, the 5th closer?
I don't really disagree with the original premise (Loon at 5 sounds more sustainable, doesn't force dray to play the 5, and has historical precedent). That said, it does seem like the secret is to play those 4 as much as possible and outside of JK and Melton, everyone else is killing it as the 5th member of the group (even podz, albeit in 3 possessions).
The *raw* lineup data
That doesnt factor in who they are playing against, but more important it doesnt factor in likelihood, which is tested best by contested shot%, boxout % - things that typically level out towards winning. There will always be factors have lineups zig-zagging ahead or behind, but if factored for the things that usually point to consistent winning, that is the lineup. But none of that is how I evaluate - its based on what style wins for the team historically and which peripheral stats are key, along with which player combos increase the likelihood of success.
Example - GP2, Looney, Wiggins, Dray and SloMo comprise the best defenders. Basic numbers say thats who you should play in an all-defense lineup. Common sense says that you are going to get diminishing returns. So you'd ideally take a couple players out of there, and replace them with guys who's weaknesses are overshadowed by the remaining players' strengths
With Curry/Hield/Wiggins/Dray/Looney the team has the best combination of offensive prowess at 3 levels, defensive prowess at 3 levels, and rebounding. Its not particularly close either, even accounting for smallball lineups. And that's minute for minute, not even factoring in length of shift or weighted playing time averages (less than 10m is a disadvantage bc not consistently in game, over 25 is a disadvantage due to fatigue)
These are all general numbers though, not exact formulas, but gives an idea of how in-depth it is. Analytics is not about reading results and saying do it again, its about finding out why those results happened and projecting forward