Yeah, I'm a stat geek, so bear with me--do yourself a favor and check out NBAstuffer.com. There are some incredibly cool analysis being done there that looks at teams and players in some interesting ways. Heck, you have to love a site where every day they predict who is going to win that night's games based on their analysis. My first glance at the predictions actually made me do a double-take: Their statistical model predicted Toronto would beat Detroit. I was wondering whether they were insane when, what do you know, Toronto beat Detroit. That rocks.
There's also an ever-increasing library of research articles. Here are some Mavs-related highlights:
On the front page there is a team trends table
- The Mavs have been the most improved team on defense in the entire league over the past five games.
- We have also been one of the teams declining the most on offense over the past five games.
In an article on defense
- This season, Dallas has been the third worst team in the league at defending opposing point guards.
- We have also been the ninth worst at defending opposing centers.
- On the positive tip, we are the fourth best at defending shooting guards.
- We are also the sixth best at defending small forwards.
Anyway, do yourself a favor and check it out. It very much underscores my biggest reason for optimism heading into the playoffs: With Kidd on board our defense has gone from slightly above average to dominant.