The typical game of the 2016 season

Hedda Gambler · Post #1 » by **Hedda Gambler** » Sat Apr 23, 2016 1:13 pm

Morning all.

As the season is over for my own team, the Jazz, I am planning to use the next couple of months to get to know the 29 other teams in the league a bit better. I am going to watch at least 1 game from every team. To figure out what game to watch, I am asking for help from the fanbases of the other teams.

What I would like to watch, is the game you guys decide is the most typical game of this regular season. I am not looking for the best or the worst game, but the game that most accurately shows your teams strengths and weaknesses. If you are a good team, that would most likely mean it is a game you won, and if you are a bad team, it should be a loss.

Feel free to suggest any game of the season for me to watch. I appreciate all your help in my quest to get to know every team in the NBA a bit better.

JWizmentality · Post #2 » by **JWizmentality** » Sat Apr 23, 2016 1:22 pm

We went 41-41 dude. Pick any one. It will be typical.

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J-Ves · Post #3 » by **J-Ves** » Sat Apr 23, 2016 8:52 pm

We had a 1 point loss to the Pacers late in the season that was #sowizards. That's not a bad one to watch.

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Post #4 » by **TheSecretWeapon** » Mon Apr 25, 2016 2:36 am

Hedda Gambler wrote:Morning all.

As the season is over for my own team, the Jazz, I am planning to use the next couple of months to get to know the 29 other teams in the league a bit better. I am going to watch at least 1 game from every team. To figure out what game to watch, I am asking for help from the fanbases of the other teams.

What I would like to watch, is the game you guys decide is the most typical game of this regular season. I am not looking for the best or the worst game, but the game that most accurately shows your teams strengths and weaknesses. If you are a good team, that would most likely mean it is a game you won, and if you are a bad team, it should be a loss.

Feel free to suggest any game of the season for me to watch. I appreciate all your help in my quest to get to know every team in the NBA a bit better.

Hmm, this is kind of an interesting question. Might be fun to do empirically. Basically, run numbers on each game looking for closest match between season average offensive and defensive ratings, as well as strength of opponent. So, in Washington's case, you'd be looking for an average team that narrowly beat the Wizards. The four factors could be put into the mix instead of offensive and defensive rating -- basically ranking games by their similarities to season average in differentials for efg, rebounding, turnovers and FTrate.

I've actually thought this would be an interesting exercise for a team as it winnows down its draft list. Don't look at a player's "highlights" (best plays). Have the video department compile something that's representative of what the player does. So, if he shoots 42% from the floor, then he shoots 42% in the video. If he commits 6 turnovers per 100 team possessions, then that's what shows up in the video. Ideally, the video would represent the types of plays the guy makes too. So, if he takes says 10 3s per 100 team possessions, but 7 of them are pull-up off the dribble -- that would show up too. If 5 of the 6 turnovers are bad passes -- that's what's in the video.

It'd be a lot of work, but that's why they have video departments.

Kanyewest · Post #5 » by **Kanyewest** » Mon Apr 25, 2016 4:22 pm

I would argue that it would be better to to watch a Wizards game from the 2nd half of the season after they acquired Markieff Morris and probably one where they have Beal in the lineup.

I would probably lean towards the 4/1 game against the Suns because even if it was a win, it was kind of disappointing.

Post #6 » by **TheSecretWeapon** » Mon Apr 25, 2016 5:17 pm

Kanyewest wrote:I would argue that it would be better to to watch a Wizards game from the 2nd half of the season after they acquired Markieff Morris and probably one where they have Beal in the lineup.

I would probably lean towards the 4/1 game against the Suns because even if it was a win, it was kind of disappointing.

Good pick! During lunch, I ran a quick "similarity" screen to see what game was "most Wizards" for last season just using offensive rating, defensive rating and pace. That 4/1 game was 8th most typical for the Wizards last season. The "winner" was the March 5 game -- a 100-99 loss to Indiana.

The 10 "most Wizards" games from last season, according to my spreadsheet (100 = an exact match with their season averages; closer to 100 = more similar):

3/5 -- IND -- 95
2/6 -- @CHO -- 94
11/4 -- SAS -- 93
1/13 -- MIL -- 93
2/24 -- @CHI -- 93
3/2 -- @MIN -- 93
3/8 -- @POR -- 92
4/1 -- @PHO -- 92
12/2 -- LAL -- 91
11/14 -- ORL -- 89

Fittingly, the Wizards were 5-5 in those 10 games. And there's an even split between home and road.

Post #7 » by **TheSecretWeapon** » Mon Apr 25, 2016 5:21 pm

By the way, the LEAST Wizards games this season, according to my spreadsheet:

- 1/6 against Cleveland (a zero defense affair the Wiz lost 121-115)
- 3/14 against Detroit. Blowout win: 124-81.

tontoz · Post #8 » by **tontoz** » Mon Apr 25, 2016 6:53 pm

A typical game was a good cure for insomnia.

Kanyewest · Post #9 » by **Kanyewest** » Tue Apr 26, 2016 4:32 am

The Indiana game is a good choice except Alan Anderson plays.