KOC 2nd Best GM in the league?

[TheNotoriousIAN]

http://www.sbnation.com/2010/7/22/15823 ... riley-heat

Interesting article...

Thoughts?

[DelaneyRudd]

Without looking Presti is 1, right?

[DelaneyRudd]

Just looked. Bah! Say to Riley.

Anyways, yeah both KOC and Jerry are fantastic. They really know their stuff. It's frustrating the Jazz can't get breaks like the Lakers or Spurs had to get to that elite level. The Jazz have had to scrap for every thing they have.

[Montanajazz]

KOC has made his moves when the situations presented themselves!

Boozer, Okur, Kirlinkos 2nd contract, Arroyo,

Williams, Brewer & Milsap as #1 & #2's

Korver trade

Mathews as rookie free agent

Haywood #1 pick, Boozer trade for $, Jefferson Trade, Bell Free agent signing

Hopeful use of Harpring trade option and brewer trade option.

This is utah. No matter what we all think, it is difficult to get free agents to come to utah cheap. It takes a very smart and shred GM to pull of what KOC has done for the jazz!!!

[Nate505]

Apparently, according to all those who are keepin it real out there, he's the mastermind of the racist organization that is the Utah Jazz!

[@ndrew]

White power! I did it again!

Seriously though, he is really good and we are one trade (or offseason) away from "real contender" status. I think it's good, considering the circumstanses.

[HammerDunk]

Apparently, according to all those who are keepin it real out there, he's the mastermind of the racist organization that is the Utah Jazz!

If there's anything we've learned from Chapelles Show, it's that sometimes keeping it real isn't necessarily the smartest thing to do.

[loserX]

Ranking him at #2 is pretty ridiculous, but I am glad that he's getting some credit instead of some of the bashing he's used to.

[JDubJazz]

I don't know that I would rank him at #2, due mainly to his less-than-stellar draft record, but he has done more with less than just about anybody else. Given the inherent disadvantages that the Jazz face (small-market, racially homogenous "white" city, perceivedly kooky local religion, no appreciable night life, limited $$$); to keep this team in the upper echelon is a considerable feat.

[The59Sound]

due mainly to his less-than-stellar draft record

I think Deron and Paul more than make up for some Kris Humphries along the way. Dude's great in the draft.

[Fido]

Its nice to see him get some props. I do think he doesn't get nearly the credit he deserves from either the league or fans on this board.

One study I've wanted to do is to research the perceived less-than-stellar draft record of Kevin O'Connor. My issue with the statement is the standard that his performance is measured against. I have yet to see either a consistent or well-defined one. And with GMs coming and going around the league coming up with a standard for GMs in the league will be tough. Maybe I'll get to it some day....

[HammerDunk]

I only judge a GM lightly on their draft record. What counts is consistently making the right moves to put together a competitive team. There are few times I can recall KOC not doing this. Every move I have seen him make, though it may have seemed ill conceived or as a money clearing move (Brewer), has turned out for the better of this team. Draft picks will only get you so far, and the ones that change a franchise rarely happen outside the top 5. He had one top 5 pick, and he freaking killed it. He has had success in his other picks as well. I am not about to complain about his unsuccessful picks.

[The59Sound]

He had one top 5 pick, and he freaking killed it. He has had success in his other picks as well.

Yes, sir -- and he pulled a rabbit out of his hat to get it too.

[Fido]

Someone point this out to me: http://www.82games.com/bestdraftingteams.htm

It lists the Jazz (spanning back to pre-KOC but including his tenure as well) as #10 in the league based on how the player performs vs. the average for their draft position. That is the top third in the league. Based on that real formula, you can't really label KOC "sub-par".

[gojazzgo]

I guess the one thing that does look bad on that list though, is only one team(phoenix) is listed as having more players counted as busts than the Jazz(Jazz and some others tied at 8, phoenix is 13). The jazz are also in the bottom third for # of star players.

[dr0welf]

Someone point this out to me: http://www.82games.com/bestdraftingteams.htm

It lists the Jazz (spanning back to pre-KOC but including his tenure as well) as #10 in the league based on how the player performs vs. the average for their draft position. That is the top third in the league. Based on that real formula, you can't really label KOC "sub-par".

This table is sorted by Expected performance rating. It should be ranked by pick performance or even a difference between the two to see how they have overperformed compared to the others. If you look at the Actual performance vs Expected peformance difference you will see we are 4th from the bottom or 29th ranked.

Actual performance rating we are 28th ranked. So really this shows we perform closer to expectation then most teams. Most teams overperform more then we do.

[Spre_4_3]

Where are all the KOC hater posts? Everyone wasn't so nice about a month ago.

[StocktonShorts]

Where are all the KOC hater posts? Everyone wasn't so nice about a month ago.

He's had a good month.

[Fido]

Someone point this out to me: http://www.82games.com/bestdraftingteams.htm

It lists the Jazz (spanning back to pre-KOC but including his tenure as well) as #10 in the league based on how the player performs vs. the average for their draft position. That is the top third in the league. Based on that real formula, you can't really label KOC "sub-par".

This table is sorted by Expected performance rating. It should be ranked by pick performance or even a difference between the two to see how they have overperformed compared to the others. If you look at the Actual performance vs Expected peformance difference you will see we are 4th from the bottom or 29th ranked.

Actual performance rating we are 28th ranked. So really this shows we perform closer to expectation then most teams. Most teams overperform more then we do.

That is not how I read this at all and certainly not consistent with the author's analysis. Reading the table that way, the best drafting teams are 1) Grizzlies and 2) Bobcats which is not even right.

If you sort the table by pick performance, you are sorting the teams out by how well the average pick in their draft position that year performs. The Jazz WOULD have a low score in such a scenario as they typically draft in the lower half of the draft and thus have lower performances than teams who have average picks that are higher. The chart shows the average player drafted by the Jazz has average career points+rebounds+assists per game of 8.6. By the author's rankings the Jazz on average draft a bench player.

Compare that to the average player drafted at the position the Jazz pick and the expected number comes out to be 0.4--in the "complete bust" range. By the actual drafted players scoring an 8.6 while the average person at those spots scored 0.4, the Jazz picks OVERPERFORM compared to the average player picked at that spot.

Is it perfect? No. But it is a reasonable way to rank players and does not paint the Jazz in a bad light. They aren't the best but aren't the worst either. And interpreting the table this way reflects the common opinion since the bottom 3 teams are the Clippers, Hawks, and Knicks who have drafted high but not ended up with players representative of those draft positions.