Final Standings:
- Benjamin Morris (68)
- Stephen Ilardi (65)
- Matthew Stahlhut (56)
- (Tie) Haralabos Voulgaris (54)
- (Tie) John Hollinger (54)
- David Berri (52)
- Neil Paine (49)
- Henry Abbott’s Mom (46)
To go totally obscure, I feel like Packattack must have felt when he pulled off this strat (the greatest in the history of Super Monkey Ball):
That is, he couldn’t have done it without a lot of luck, but it still feels better than just getting lucky.
As for the result, I don’t have any awesome gloating comments prepared: Like all the other “Stat Geeks,” I thought Miami was a favorite going into the Finals—and given what we knew then, I would think that again. But at this point I definitely feel like the better team won.
For as far as they went, Miami’s experiment of putting 3 league-class primary options on the same team was essentially a failure. I’m sure the narrative will be about how they were “in disarray” or needed more time together, but ultimately it’s a design flaw. Without major changes, I think they’ll be in a similar spot every year: that is, they’ll be very good, and maybe even contenders, but they won’t ever be the dominant team so many imagined.
As for Dallas, they played beautiful basketball throughout the playoffs, and I personally love seeing a long-range shooting team take it down for a change. It’s noteworthy that they defied two of the patterns I identified in my “How to Win a Championship in Any Sport” article: They become only the second NBA team since 2000 with a top-3 payroll to win it all, and they’re only the second champion in 21 years without a first-team All-NBA player.
Congratulations!
BTW, that was a pretty impressive debut…
http://weaksideawareness.wordpress.com/2011/06/13/5-years-of-truehoops-stat-geek-smackdown/
Sweet old school SMB vid. I remember seeing that for the first time almost 10 years ago and it’s still as amazing as it ever was.
No but seriously, congrats.
Yeah, I also think it’s one of the most “clutch” things I’ve ever seen (in video gaming or otherwise). That last jump is nearly impossible in its own right, and it’s basically the only time in history anyone has ever gotten that initial bounce.
Of course, I didn’t mean to suggest that my win in this competition was anywhere near as impressive, but I actually talked to Packattack shortly after he pulled that off, and he was in a state of mild shock. He knew he had just gotten lucky as heck, but also knew that he deserved it and had earned it.
I would argue that Dirk probably deserved to be first team All NBA this season. Especially in light of his run straight through most of the whippersnappers on the list.
I’d certainly pick him over Durant, who to me seems much more single faceted than Dirk ever was.
An odd dichotomy that on the one hand, players past their prime get voted to the all star game, while players in their prime get bumped by young stars that might one day fully deserve their place on the All NBA first team.
[…] True Hoop Network had their annual Stat Smackdown – Congrats to Ben Morris for his […]
“I’m sure the narrative will be about how they were “in disarray” or needed more time together, but ultimately it’s a design flaw. Without major changes, I think they’ll be in a similar spot every year: that is, they’ll be very good, and maybe even contenders, but they won’t ever be the dominant team so many imagined.”
Why is this a design flaw?
Three words: guns and butter.
I don’t follow.
Congrats.
Only one 2 time winner, arguably against not as good competition as there is now. Win 2 or 3 and it will be more impressive.
The scope is about the same as picking a weekend or two of NFL games, so I don’t think it’s particularly “impressive” regardless. But still, I was happy to win, and I felt that some good decisions materially contributed.