Game 6: 76ers @ Raptors - it finally ends. (Thursday 7pm)

[Jailblazers7]

Then they're certainly not large enough for any sort of eye test to be sufficient. Do you figure the eye test becomes more reliable as the sample size decreases?

No but it’s something that you’ve gotta weight more heavily in your evaluation when sample sizes are too small for a simple correlation to be very valuable. We don’t have access to the good stuff that the Sixers analytics staff is using like tracking data and **** to analyze his burst and athleticism so we’ve gotta lean on the eye test.

Then do it systematically -- measure burst and athleticism in every game and correlate it with number of days of rest. Until I see an analysis with that level of rigor I'll go with scoring as a proxy for burst and athleticism, since it's likely to be strongly related to it and it has a great deal to do with winning.

You’re never gonna see that analysis. That is only really possible for the teams to perform given their access to proprietary tech & data. Just because you don’t have access to good analysis doesn’t mean you should rely on bad analysis lol.

I mean, you’re making an assumption that the impact of his athletic performance would show up mostly in his scoring numbers and then taking a basic correlation off a tiny sample size. And the conclusion is that stormi’s original point can’t be proven or disproven because…the sample size is too small and the analysis is too simplistic.

This convo is a good example why analytics suck the fun out of sports lol. People run with some BS statistic and then the rest of the convo sounds like a debate in a Stats 101 class.

[Ferry Avenue]

No but it’s something that you’ve gotta weight more heavily in your evaluation when sample sizes are too small for a simple correlation to be very valuable. We don’t have access to the good stuff that the Sixers analytics staff is using like tracking data and **** to analyze his burst and athleticism so we’ve gotta lean on the eye test.

Then do it systematically -- measure burst and athleticism in every game and correlate it with number of days of rest. Until I see an analysis with that level of rigor I'll go with scoring as a proxy for burst and athleticism, since it's likely to be strongly related to it and it has a great deal to do with winning.

You’re never gonna see that analysis. That is only really possible for the teams to perform given their access to proprietary tech & data. Just because you don’t have access to good analysis doesn’t mean you should rely on bad analysis lol.

I would settle for something somebody constructed themselves as a measurement of that, and used systematically, long before a single observation likely rife with recency bias -- i.e., the epitome of the "bad analysis" you're talking about.

The opinion that Harden plays better on two days of rest is what's deserving of the criticism here, not the efforts to determine whether that has any objective merit. The efforts to determine whether that has any merit are at least methodologically sound.

[FireMorey]

LOL Craps announcers just as salty as their fans!

Watch on YouTube

Imagine being so upset about a harmless airplane celebration? Meanwhile you have their announcer talking smack and the arena chanting "Fcuk Embiid" and celebrating that cheap elbow.

Hope Embiid flies the plane every time he goes to Toronto from now on!

Losing their minds over an airplane?

That's about as milquetoast as doing the finger hush thing, which players do virtually every damn game on the road.

Grow the F up, Toronto. What a bunch of crybaby losers. I maintain they're incredibly insecure because they know their "championship" from a few years ago has a major asterisk because they needed multiple Warriors to get hurt to win.

[Ferry Avenue]

No but it’s something that you’ve gotta weight more heavily in your evaluation when sample sizes are too small for a simple correlation to be very valuable. We don’t have access to the good stuff that the Sixers analytics staff is using like tracking data and **** to analyze his burst and athleticism so we’ve gotta lean on the eye test.

Then do it systematically -- measure burst and athleticism in every game and correlate it with number of days of rest. Until I see an analysis with that level of rigor I'll go with scoring as a proxy for burst and athleticism, since it's likely to be strongly related to it and it has a great deal to do with winning.

You’re never gonna see that analysis. That is only really possible for the teams to perform given their access to proprietary tech & data. Just because you don’t have access to good analysis doesn’t mean you should rely on bad analysis lol.

I mean, you’re making an assumption that the impact of his athletic performance would show up mostly in his scoring numbers and then taking a basic correlation off a tiny sample size. And the conclusion is that stormi’s original point can’t be proven or disproven because…the sample size is too small and the analysis is too simplistic.

This convo is a good example why analytics suck the fun out of sports lol. People run with some BS statistic and then the rest of the convo sounds like a debate in a Stats 101 class.

The strength of a correlation doesn't depend on sample size. The statistical significance of a correlation -- i.e., whether it can be attributed to a systematic effect or to random variation -- does.

Take the following two columns of data:

2 10
4 12
6 14
8 16

The correlation between those variables is 1.0 -- doesn't get any stronger. The sample size of a mere four however makes it unlikely that we can attribute the correlation to a systematic effect versus random variation.

The correlation between Harden's scoring and his number of days of rest between games is virtually the opposite -- 0.05, indicating virtually no relationship between the variables. I don't care what sample size you obtain of his performance -- if the effect remains 0.05, there is no relationship between the variables such that we can conclude that "when he has more rest, he plays better." The relationship between the variables is so minuscule that the statement is nonsensical.

And sure this sounds like Statistics 101 class unfortunately, but I sure hope the team is doing similar analyses when determining how much to pay Harden. Whether his performance is likely to improve next year as a function of "more rest" is wrapped up in all this, and so it's highly relevant to the future of the team.

[stormi]

The Harden scenario to me is highly reminiscent to Chris Paul needing time to get his legs his right.

Paying vs not-paying Harden isn't even a question anymore, the investment has been made and he gives us the highest chance to build a winner with Joel Embiid over the next 2-3 seasons. And then after that if he falls off a cliff, he can be shipped off - or rebuilt around like John Wall in Houston.

He is an elite and older player that needs to be properly rested so he can come out in playoff games attacking full steam - like he was able to last night.

I'm attributing it a lot more to good health fortune than a complete recovery, sometimes you wake up and you just feel good. Harden probably needs a full offseasons worth of physio and strength and conditioning on that hamstring that he's injured 5 times in the past 2 seasons - including the bad injury he suffered in Brooklyn that he never fully had the chance to recover from.

His dunk last night was a proclamation of how his body felt and it's extremely relieving to know he still has it in his locker.

[Jailblazers7]

LOL Craps announcers just as salty as their fans!

Watch on YouTube

Imagine being so upset about a harmless airplane celebration? Meanwhile you have their announcer talking smack and the arena chanting "Fcuk Embiid" and celebrating that cheap elbow.

Hope Embiid flies the plane every time he goes to Toronto from now on!

Losing their minds over an airplane?

That's about as milquetoast as doing the finger hush thing, which players do virtually every damn game on the road.

Grow the F up, Toronto. What a bunch of crybaby losers. I maintain they're incredibly insecure because they know their "championship" from a few years ago has a major asterisk because they needed multiple Warriors to get hurt to win.

It’s honestly crazy that the announcer is saying “you get what you deserve”, the Raps board is saying the game was worth it because of the elbow, and the crowd is cheering the replay. All this as Embiid’s bleeding in the post game interview.

Meanwhile, this is the fanbase that cheered so loud when KD tore his Achilles that their own players were trying to get them to stop. And to start the series, they wanted to send Embiid to a super max prison for accidentally stepping on Scottie Barnes foot.

Some real weirdo, you need to get a life behavior from the Raps fanbase. And I think the worst part, the thing that really eats them up inside, is that they know they’re acting like scum bags and should get flamed for it but aren’t because nobody cares about them. Can’t even get a 5 min slot on First Take if they tried.

[stormi]

Read on Twitter

[mjkvol]

That was an important night of basketball for the best team in the association.

Harden off 2 nights of rest is a different animal. That throwdown and the stepback had me flying. He was also attacking off momentum and just getting right to the cup, which he needs to do more often.

Jo was Jo again. The thumb is healed (for now). He was so locked in. Some collective rebounding woes, but it never really got too out of hand.

Harris and Maxey were awesome. Reed was awesome. Mr. 3 wrangz was balling again, it was nice to see him draining his open looks and he even splashed a stepback in Barnes' eyes lols.

Matisse Thybulle should never play a minute for the 76ers again.

Jaden Springer outscored Precious Achiuwa in 2 minutes of court action.

I think we put the puppy paws on Miami.

No lie, when Harden threw that one down I turned to my wife and said "Game, set, and match - this is over". The way he came out was to me the biggest factor in the game, just set the tone.

[mjkvol]

It’s honestly crazy that the announcer is saying “you get what you deserve”, the Raps board is saying the game was worth it because of the elbow, and the crowd is cheering the replay. All this as Embiid’s bleeding in the post game interview.

Meanwhile, this is the fanbase that cheered so loud when KD tore his Achilles that their own players were trying to get them to stop. And to start the series, they wanted to send Embiid to a super max prison for accidentally stepping on Scottie Barnes foot.

Some real weirdo, you need to get a life behavior from the Raps fanbase. And I think the worst part, the thing that really eats them up inside, is that they know they’re acting like scum bags and should get flamed for it but aren’t because nobody cares about them. Can’t even get a 5 min slot on First Take if they tried.

Agree completely, but I have no idea what First Take is, and something tells me I should be very glad about that.

[mjkvol]

No but it’s something that you’ve gotta weight more heavily in your evaluation when sample sizes are too small for a simple correlation to be very valuable. We don’t have access to the good stuff that the Sixers analytics staff is using like tracking data and **** to analyze his burst and athleticism so we’ve gotta lean on the eye test.

Then do it systematically -- measure burst and athleticism in every game and correlate it with number of days of rest. Until I see an analysis with that level of rigor I'll go with scoring as a proxy for burst and athleticism, since it's likely to be strongly related to it and it has a great deal to do with winning.

You’re never gonna see that analysis. That is only really possible for the teams to perform given their access to proprietary tech & data. Just because you don’t have access to good analysis doesn’t mean you should rely on bad analysis lol.

I mean, you’re making an assumption that the impact of his athletic performance would show up mostly in his scoring numbers and then taking a basic correlation off a tiny sample size. And the conclusion is that stormi’s original point can’t be proven or disproven because…the sample size is too small and the analysis is too simplistic.

This convo is a good example why analytics suck the fun out of sports lol. People run with some BS statistic and then the rest of the convo sounds like a debate in a Stats 101 class.

I'm stunned that you guys are actually entertaining the ramblings of this clown. Please stop already.

[TheBallsDeeper]

I always watch the away teams broadcast (because the Sixers one is the worst in the NBA)

Most commentators have a bias toward their own teams, and until today I thought the Raptors were one of the more balanced ones. Today they went full homer and were basically having a breakdown as the Sixers turned the knife.

Listening to them implode as they realised the season was over still with about 10 minutes of game time on the clock, then sitting there calling the game as their team foldeed was glorious. If you can go back and watch it with their cometary I highly recommend it.

I only wish. I endured Kate and Alaa until late in the 3rd quarter when they essentially started trash talking. The rooting, cackling, and shouting is nothing short of embarrassing.

As an Australian I think it is highly inappropriate that they were rooting while on air.

[Sixteen]

Honestly we can lose the next four games and I'd be satisfied with sending the raptors home lol. You know a fan base is salty when they get offended enough to wish harm on a player because he celebrated. Nobody gave a **** about their fluke championship and the guy that carried them to it , left the following year lmao. What a terrible franchise