Wednesday, March 17th, 2010...7:38 am
San Antonio Spurs and expected field goal percentage
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Whenever Wayne Vore makes it into the AT&T Center, he likes to chart shots. It’s what he does-Vore charts the San Antonio Spurs, one shot at a time. Some of the best Spurs-related reading of this season has come from Vore’s ongoing conversation with Chip Engelland about some of the things the Spurs’ coaching staff looks for during games. Good stuff.
All of that has led to this: Vore unveils the San Antonio Spurs’ expected field goal percentage.
4 Comments
March 17th, 2010 at 9:03 am
Interesting. As the author touched on, this might be a great way to chart our defense - are we forcing our opponents to take shot from areas in which they don’t convert a high %?
I remember reading an article on how Shane Battier prepared for Kobe Bryant last postseason. All Battier tried to do was force Kobe into spots in which he shot a lower %. I assume the analysis the Rockets did is similar to Vore’s.
March 17th, 2010 at 12:50 pm
Yeah, Battier is allowed to read the Rockets’ stat books about other teams. I don’t know why more players don’t do things like this. I would, if I had NBA level talent. Aside from that, there’s only so much I could do defensively at 5’7″. Damn my genes, haha.
March 17th, 2010 at 2:36 pm
Good point, Tyler. I could see how using such analysis could help us be more effective in devising defensive strategies.
As you know, Vore used NBA Hotshots data for his analysis. I just went on their for a few minutes and it was pretty interesting. It confirms and emphasizes with hard data some of the things many of us notice when watching the Spurs three-point shooters. The site didn’t seem to offer “career” shooting stats so I mainly focused on this “seasons” stats.
For example, the stats tell me we should do everything we can to keep Manu shooting his three’s from either wing (not in the corners), and Hill vice versa, in the corners (not in the wings), and keep them both away from straight on, as neither shoots it nearly as well from there. Bonner, on the other hand, is a pretty consistent, high 3-pt. shooter all the way around the arc, although he doesn’t take nearly as many attempts from the corners. Pretty interesting stuff!
Anyway, let’s hope for a stellar performance tonight against a deep Magic team with the 3rd best record in the league. A win against these guys on the road would be huge for our momentum and confidence as we head home for a game against the Warriors Friday.
If we play individual & team DEFENSE like we did against the Heat in the first quarter, maintain it for FORTY-EIGHT minutes, and focus on BALL MOVEMENT and “taking care of the ball”, we have a chance!
May 18th, 2010 at 10:42 am
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