Statistical analysis on why Larry Bird is overrated

HBK_Kliq_33 · Post #1 » by **HBK_Kliq_33** » Mon Dec 30, 2019 5:39 pm

1981 - Bird averaged 15 PPG on less than 42% shooting in finals and celtics offense dropped to 106 offensive rating from its regular season 108 offensive rating. Luckily for celtics, rockets posted an embarrassing offensive rating of 95.

1982/1983 - Bird spends the next two playoff years in 1982 and 83 posting offensive ratings of 103 and 102 with a TS of just 47%

1984 - Regular season he has a TS of 55% which is just 0.9 above average at the time. He has a good playoff run but faces a 1 man Knicks team, a bucks team that struggled in playoffs and an average defensive team Lakers in the finals.

1985 - Bird goes against the 7th ranked defensive in the finals and manages to have a 52% TS which is below even league average at the time! Bird's finals TS was a 5% drop from his regular season. Bird's entire playoff run TS was at just 53.6% TS which was below league average at the time. His playoff run also had an underwhelming 5.6 BPM.

1986 - He sweeps a Sidney Moncrief/Don Nelson team in the ECF. Moncrief and Nelson were the 80s version of Harden and D'antoni, you know sooner or later they are going to choke. Moncrief only plays 3 games. In the finals, Kevin McHale is celtics best scorer at 25.8 PPG 63% TS to Larry Bird's 24.0 PPG 58% TS. Bird has the overwhelming favorite team and he wins in a similar fashion to Stephen Curry around 2015-2018 era.

1986/1987 - He posts just a 5.8 BPM in the playoffs, this is the second time in three years where he was less than 6 BPM during a playoff run. In the east finals vs pistons his eFG% drops to 50% which is by over 5% to his reg season and McHale has to carry him at 63% eFG%. In the finals he faces Lakers and his eFG% now drops to a massive level of -9 compared to his regular season and has a worse than league average TS. Once again, he's not even facing an elite defense at Lakers are 7th ranked.

1987/88 - His playoff run he had a 53.8 TS which is just league average at the time. 6.2 BPM that's nothing to brag about. His team struggles in the 2nd round vs a 14th ranked defense team hawks and goes 7 games, bird posts a 112 offensive rating with a 58% TS and is carried by McHale once again at an 134 offensive rating and 70% TS. In the east finals vs pistons, he embarrasses himself averaging less than 20 PPG on worse than 45% TS and a 36% eFG%.

After that, his back went out on him and than he went home. That makes you a goat level player? Overrated is how I see it. Thoughts?

RoxSteady · Post #2 » by **RoxSteady** » Mon Dec 30, 2019 5:41 pm

Yeah, dude. I guess a player who only averaged 24, 10, and 6 on 50/37/88 shooting over the course of his career, while winning 3 rings is actually sort of a bum when you really break it down.

Nate505 · Post #3 » by **Nate505** » Mon Dec 30, 2019 5:43 pm

Yeah, then there are us who saw him play before anyone gave a flying **** about TS% and saw his greatness.

foreigngrammar · Post #4 » by **foreigngrammar** » Mon Dec 30, 2019 5:44 pm

Post #5 » by **Feed Your Head** » Mon Dec 30, 2019 5:45 pm

nikster · Post #6 » by **nikster** » Mon Dec 30, 2019 5:47 pm

reading through a players basketball reference page is not "analysis"

shtolky · Post #7 » by **shtolky** » Mon Dec 30, 2019 5:47 pm

You can literally do this with every great player.

Bird wins the finals in year two. Lebron doesn't even make the playoffs his first two years.

Lebron choked in the finals against Dallas. Only won a title when teaming up with Wade and Bosh. Beat GS after Draymond gets suspended.

Obviously this isn't a deep dive like your post sort of is, but the point stands.

He's not overrated, and neither is Bird. He's a top 10 all time great.

limbo · Post #8 » by **limbo** » Mon Dec 30, 2019 5:48 pm

Kawhi > Bird

clyde21 · Post #9 » by **clyde21** » Mon Dec 30, 2019 5:49 pm

"*TS% Analysis on why Larry Bird is overrated"

fixed the title for u

foreigngrammar · Post #10 » by **foreigngrammar** » Mon Dec 30, 2019 5:50 pm

These kids today... I mean, come on! Good luck with that take, OP.
Some people just can't leave it. Typing all these letters of conceited intelligence and all that eventuates is utter drivel.

But hey, it's the internet after all. Thank you for your time and effort.

Celts17Pride · Post #11 » by **Celts17Pride** » Mon Dec 30, 2019 5:52 pm

OP obviously never watched Bird play. Shouldn’t OP be in school on a Monday afternoon?

VanWest82 · Post #12 » by **VanWest82** » Mon Dec 30, 2019 5:52 pm

You forgot "if he was black he'd be just another guy."

It takes a special kind of uninformed hater to go out of their way to crap all over an all time great's legacy like they're educating the masses even though they weren't there to experience it themselves. Instead, try asking questions. You learn more that way.

Danny1616 · Post #13 » by **Danny1616** » Mon Dec 30, 2019 5:54 pm

You ignored the fact that Bird was a phenomenal defender, passer, and rebounder.

I also like that every time Bird has an incredible playoff series you simply gloss over it and attribute it to the 'faults' of the other team.

For example, 1981 close out game 6 of the finals Bird posts 27 points, 13 rebounds and 5 assists on 55% shooting. Yet you fail to provide some context. You also conveniently excluded the rest of Bird's incredible playoff run prior to the finals despite it being only his 2ND YEAR in the league. To give you some perspective, Lebron and Durant couldn't even lead their teams to the playoffs in their 2nd year. Jordan led his team to the 1st round were they got swept in his 2nd year.

This is selective reasoning at its finest.

Infinite Llamas · Post #14 » by **Infinite Llamas** » Mon Dec 30, 2019 5:54 pm

i never got the chance to watch Bird play but there’s plenty of footage and yeah, he was an ATG, analytics be damned.

Such a polarizing player. I don’t think we’d be having this debate ever if Bird looked like a world class athlete and not a plumber.

clyde21 · Post #15 » by **clyde21** » Mon Dec 30, 2019 5:55 pm

i mean we all know OP's agenda here.

AbeVigodaLive · Post #16 » by **AbeVigodaLive** » Mon Dec 30, 2019 5:55 pm

Edge-lords will eventually face a day of reckoning... with Basketball Jesus.

Lakers In 5 · Post #17 » by **Lakers In 5** » Mon Dec 30, 2019 5:57 pm

If anything, Larry Bird is underrated. He is often seen as the worse part of the Magic and Bird duopoly, but let me tell you, before Bird messed up his back and broke down, he was better than Magic. Of course, longevity, durability and remaining healthy are part of ones' greatness and legacy, but Larry arguably played too hard. I can accept looking at Magic having the better career, I can not accept Magic being the better player. Bird was a special kind of lethal, and, from an opponents view, probably the most demoralizing player I have seen.

Buckets22 · Post #18 » by **Buckets22** » Mon Dec 30, 2019 5:57 pm

Definitely, you forgot to mention that KATs' bricklaying ass is better as he has superior VSBPPG or whatever useless stat you found.

Lockdown504090 · Post #19 » by **Lockdown504090** » Mon Dec 30, 2019 5:58 pm

1.why are we discussing players using stats that didnt even exist when they played?
2. Comparing bird and mchale is kinda weird when they dont have comparable roles.
3. simply reciting a man's basketball reference page is hardly analysis
4.at least attempt to critique parts of his game you dont like. When you are talking about a player as decorated and successful as bird you need to be more specific as to why he is overrated(health, struggling to create shots against elite defenders are the easiest ones)

If ur gonna go at white jesus, you gotta work a little harder than that. Its very hard to look at his best 5 years and the accolades then say hes not top 15 at least.

Post #20 » by **Feed Your Head** » Mon Dec 30, 2019 5:59 pm

AbeVigodaLive wrote:Edge-lords will eventually face a day of reckoning... with Basketball Jesus.