Came across my desk, thought it would add to the minutae of information
Number of lineups played per team through march 14th
1 Atlanta 434 lineups used
2 Boston 319 lineups used
3 Charlotte 597 lineups used
4 Chicago 292 lineups used
5 Cleveland 257 lineups used
6 Dallas 374 lineups used
7 Denver 347 lineups used
8 Detroit 324 lineups used
9 Golden State 396 lineups used
10 Houston 385 lineups used
11 Indiana 428 lineups used
12 LA Clippers 328 lineups used
13 LA Lakers 243 lineups used
14 Memphis 350 lineups used
15 Miami 251 lineups used
16 Milwaukee 298 lineups used
17 Minnesota 209 lineups used
18 New Jersey 527 lineups used
19 New Orleans 382 lineups used
20 New York 358 lineups used
21 Orlando 325 lineups used
22 Philadelphia 281 lineups used
23 Phoenix 233 lineups used
24 Portland 336 lineups used
25 Sacramento 306 lineups used
26 San Antonio 254 lineups used
27 Seattle 170 lineups used
28 Toronto 253 lineups used
29 Utah 386 lineups used
30 Washington 321 lineups used
The Mavs current injury free starting lineup of Damp, Fin, Dirk, Josh Howard and Jason Terry has played a total of 293 minutes together.
The Suns starting lineup of Nash, Marion, Amare, Richardson and Johnson has played a total of 1057 minutes together
Sacs New starting lineup of bibby, Songalia, mobley,Peja and Skinner has played 85 minutes together so far.
The Spurs starting five of TD, Rasho, Ginobbli, Bowen and Parker has played 575 mins together
And the Sonics starting 5 of James, Lewis, Allen, Ridnour and Evans has played 666 mins together.
great site with very good look and perfect information…i like it
Comment by Litfaßsäule -
For example, “I know God exists because the Bible said so.” –> “The Bible is right because God created it.” Both times it was used in the comments, it seemed as if it used along the lines of “so that leads us to/raises the question of…”
Comment by runescape money -
The most valuable is actually the very bottom of your blog entry with floor-time of the best lineups. The least funny thing is that Suns are overexploiting their starting lineup. That shall kick’em back come play-off time. And recently I have heard that Nash will have his minutes cut to save him for playoffs.
Comment by wow powerleveling -
good!
Comment by 11nong -
This is something you don’t hear about too often…
Comment by funny shirt guy -
This is my website – http://www.howtogtamble.net/
Comment by the online sports bettor -
Cool
Comment by UBC Physics -
Interesting to see how many U of AZ players are starting:
Jason Terry
Richardson
Mike Bibby
Not to mention Iguodala at Philly…
better get your hands on Hassan Adams while he is devalued over the Illinios mistake.
Comment by Jake -
Number of lineup changes has nothing to do with minutes played, and therefore nothing to do with fatigue come playoff time. The only thing this list tells any thinking person is the level of continuity of a team’s roster, and their coach’s consistency in substitution patterns.
Phoenix, while this has changed recently, began the season with a very rigid substitution pattern. Mostly consisting of not substituting. Hunter, Jacobsen and Barbosa would spell starters at the end the odd and beginning of the even quarters. Substituting was sparse and that’s why the Suns had 4 players in the top 15 in minutes played at the All-Star break.
This all has changed over the last 2 months. The trades for Jackson and McCarty, as well as the improved play of Barbosa has given D’Antoni confidence in his bench. This has resulted in more lineups used, and fewer total minutes for the starters.
Comment by RocketSauce -
LOL. I can’t believe someone mentioned trading Finley for Gordon. First of all this trade isn’t even possible straight up because the players salaries must be similar(Finley is making $14,609,375 and Gordon is making $3,358,320 this year). Second of all Chicago isn’t stupid enough to trade a young upcoming all star for an old veteran with a huge contract.
Comment by Aman -
I don’t think anyone read the facts properly! The starters minutes were a combination of what they have played TOGETHER. That doesn’t mean that the rest of the teams starters haven’t logged that many minutes in total. It just means they haven’t done it while all 4 of the other starters were on the court at the same time. Go Phoenix!!!
Comment by Pdizzle -
A little off topic but here’s wishing Nellie a fond farewell ! I thought he was the right coach for the right time for the the Mavericks. I’m sure any real Maverick fans remember the early to mid 90s. The turnaround after he and Mark Cuban took over really put basketball back on the map in Dallas/Fort Worth. Without Nellie’s trades for Nowitzki, Nash and Finley, we don’t know where the franchise would be. And bravo to Mr. Cuban for letting Nellie go out on his own terms and also putting management succession in place so that the transition is smooth. I think the Little General is ready to be the Big General !
Comment by Shake -
So what can you deduct from this statistic?
Is there a relationship between number of different lineups and success in the league?
Can hardly find one:
Low figures, good performance: Seattle, San Antonio, Miami, Phoenix
Low figures, bad performance: Minnesota, Lakers
High figures, good performance: Dallas, arguably Houston
Low figures, bad performance, Charlotte New Jersey
Maybe you could deduct, that it’s quite difficult to change your lineup often and be successful, as Dallas’ and Houstons figures are not particulartly high.
However, there is would be the question between cause and effect:
– Do you change your players/lineups more often, because you are not successful
or
– are you not successful because you change your lineup too often?
Other possible implications of the number of lineups:
– Strength of your bench (you would deduct that with a strong bench / balanced level of player strength you would be able swap your lineups more often.
– The more injuries your team has the more often you need to change your lineup.
However, as I’m from Europe and follow only selected teams on CNNSI, I cannot reliably make comments on the latter two points. Maybe someone else wants to give his/her opinion?
Greetngs
Phillip
Comment by Phillip -
To: Nick Reed
Nick,
I fully acknolwedge that Terry is an important part of the Mavs lineup. But it really doesn’t matter if he’s 10th or 4th in the league in some FG%, 3P% etc. From a PG (and Jason _is_ a PG like it or not) I would simply expect more assists. He attempts nearly 2 FG’s for each assist. I expect this ratio from a PG to be as close to 1 as possible. And his As/TO ratio is very very good at 2,8, so he can handle the ball well, so why not hit an open man more often ?
Regards,
Leszczur
Comment by Leszek Bialecki -
What’s with the Terry bashing, Leszczur? I’ve heard other people complaining about him shooting too much…
He’s been ice cold from the 3 point line recently after being 2nd in the league in 3 pt percentage for a while (he’s still 10th in the league), but he’s top 20 in the league in shooting percentage… Shooting a better percentage than anyone else on the Mavs by far…
Wouldn’t you want your most efficient offensive player taking the most shots?
Comment by Nick Reed -
correction, games lost or minutes lost to INJURY, left that out, sorry.
Comment by luis -
i would now like to see games lost or minutes lost to starters.
& to david: ben gordon for finley, why do people throw out stupid trade scenarios that will never happen, thats like a chicago fan saying lets trade ben gordon for dirk. come on. would you do that? no, so why would chicago trade gordon for fin?
Comment by luis -
Dallas is pretty high up there. What does that mean, and how did you even compile such information?
Comment by cheatsheets -
sterling,
i think JC meant that “begs the question” means the same thing as circular reasoning (they are synonyms). i don’t think he was taking a knock on religion. he/she(?) was just using the example everyone gives when explaining begging the question/circular logic. look up the expression in google or something.
btw, i agree that cassell probably will create more free throws chances when healthy, but he’s just been terrible.
Comment by spunk -
JC,
OK. My bad. I did misread the order of the listing. However, my point still stands. If you put the teams in order starting with the least # of lineups used: 1) Seattle,
3) Phoenix, 7) San Antonio, 12) Sacramento, 21) Dallas.
Comment by Mal -
lol … thats some good pork spending
even though the hot dogs and hoops idea made me giggle …. theres always something funny about hearing something erelavent from the sports caster during the game…lol
Comment by apod3 -
JC….I don’t buy your comments…Circ. logic maybe…Let’s not knock people based on their religion…I recently visited a church with family. The priest started comparing buddism to devil worship..I am a buddhist….Cheap shots don’t score points in life. Your statements have a lot of flare; however, your words also lack substance.
..I often think out loud…….I am right about the TImberwolves. Maybe the Timberwolves will get more free throw opportunities with Sam C back in the mix.
But…it begs the question…..What real ideas…interpretation, or thoughts do you bring to this discussion board.
Comment by Sterling -
Doesn’t really matter about the minutes the starters have shared together. They are basketball players, aren’t they? They should know how to play the game, regardless of who is on the floor. Defense wins championships!!! Spurs and Pistons know that. That is the reason the Spurs will be hoisting another NBA Championship banner in the SBC Center next year. Not to disagree with everyone else who thinks Finley should be traded. Mavs should have kept Nash (beating a dead horse). I would think even Phoenix fans can tell you they can’t get past the Spurs, but everyone can agree that keeping Nash means keeping the Mavs in one of the top four spots in the Western Conference.
Comment by CB -
Just put 5 people on the court who can hit the broad side of a barn and make their FTs, and I don’t care what the minutes look like.
Comment by TXPKRBKR -
Mark,
You have a total of 792 possible lineups (even the most stupid ones like PG playing center) having 12 people in roster & 5 floor spots. Seems like Bobcats have the most fun exploring 75% of possibilities & Sonics are playing the shallowest rotation (21% of possible lineups plus only 666 mins played for their 5 main contributors). But there is no correlation between number of lineups used and number of wins (I’d rather correlate that to “age” of main core of the team, susceptibility to injury & head coach’s desperation to do something – like it’s the case with Nets).
The most valuable is actually the very bottom of your blog entry with floor-time of the best lineups. The least funny thing is that Suns are overexploiting their starting lineup. That shall kick’em back come play-off time. And recently I have heard that Nash will have his minutes cut to save him for playoffs.
My favorite site http://www.82games.com (I guess that’s also the source you used) gives also the list of most effective lineups of each team. Funny thing is that I did not expect to see Jason “shoot-first” Terry in 8 most effective Mavs lineups (looking at Win%).
But there is also one more interesting fact. The % of time which main star spends on the floor.
Garnett – 80%
Ray Allen – 79%
Dirk – 78% !!!!
TD – 67%
Nash – 64%.
So what it gives us ? I can understand that KG has to play a lot to get Minny to seed #8, but why you keep pushing Dirk ? Rest his knee while you can.
Regards,
Leszczur
Comment by L'e-szczur -
Two things:
I think the teams are just ordered alphabetically (for Mal and anyone else). There is no actual “ranking.”
…and this is relatively irrelevant, but Sterling and Shake used “begs the question” wrong. Begging the question is the same thing as circular reasoning. For example, “I know God exists because the Bible said so.” –> “The Bible is right because God created it.” Both times it was used in the comments, it seemed as if it used along the lines of “so that leads us to/raises the question of…”
Okay, sorry for that “rant.” It’s just one of my pet peeves and I’m sure no one really cares. I’m not a(n) grammar/English expert. Just had to mention it.
NCAA tourney and then NBA playoffs…not soon enough!
Comment by JC -
I knew the Sonics were evil. The game tonight against the Bulls was just further proof.
Comment by The Cheat -
Mark, you have too much time on your hands. Think you should get a life? Oh, and your Mavs can’t have Ben Gordon — he BELONGS to Chicago.
Comment by Brittany Smith -
This highlights the importance of continuity and begs the question — why do some teams stay healthier than others ? Is it off season conditioning ? Is it age ? Playoff basketball is about having a well-oiled machine ready to go but not so worn out that injuries are a factor. Anyone notice the Spurs have been randomly resting TD, Parker and Ginobli due the most minor of injuries ? I think this will help them come playoff time because they already have good floor chemistry and continuity.
There was a quote from Nash last week that he “wasn’t doing the Suns any good on one leg.” Look for more rest for him and Marion on Phoenix because they are the physically weak links in the starting lineup. PHX and SA are figuring out that the seeding may not be as important as their collective health. Hopefully the Mavs get Damp back and are at full strength for the playoffs. The western conference playoffs should be a doozy !
Comment by Shake -
I think we should trade Finley for Ben Gordon. Finley can return to his hometown, and the Mavericks can finally have a player with KILLER INSTINCT.
Comment by David -
Satanic Supersonics.
And the Sonics starting 5 of James, Lewis, Allen, Ridnour and Evans has played 666 mins together.
\m/
Comment by Elliot -
Least Amt FTA Most Lineup Changes
Sacramento Kings Charlotte Bobcats
New York Knicks Nets
Atlanta Hawks Atlanta Hawks
Charlotte Bobcats Indiana
Golden State Warriors Golden State Warriors
Houston Rockets Utah
Chicago Bulls Houston Rockets
Portland Trail Blazers New Orleans Hornets
Minnesota Timberwolves Dallas
New Orleans Hornets New York Knicks
Great info…What impact does lineup changes have on field goal conversion and free throw attempts? Hmm…I guess I willhaveto calculate that….
What do the numbers say about the strength and depth of the Mavericks? If we use this data…and assume that the Mavs had a high number of changes becauses of injuries….we can come to the conclusion that the Mavericks have not played their best basketball yet? Will the Mavericks make a surprise run inthe playoffs?
So…this theory begs the question..Why are the Timberwolves so bad (comparedto lastyear?)? Do the Timberwolves shoot enough free throws? If their is consistency in their lineup…..I wonder…Are the Timberwolves over matched? If yes, why didn’t they make a trade?
I wonder what the numbers were pre-Cuban? I wonder how many free throws the Mavericks shoot pre-Cuban?
I guess…the real take away for me is that….if you change your lineup…and you can’t get to the free line……you’ve got some work to do this off season…..
Comment by Sterling -
And Nellie is not known for keeping the same lineup together. He is alway tinkering with lineups.
Comment by Brian -
Definitely, anytime you are able to put the same nucleus on the floor roles become more defined and the coach is able to make better adjustments throughout a game. Cuban–I love blogmaverick.com
Comment by Brian -
Well there is definitely a correlation between a lower number of lineups used and a higher winning percentage. I think a lot of this has to do with luck though and which teams can keep their players the healthiest (or in the case of my Pacers, can keep their players from getting suspended). Take Seattle for instance. I don’t think they have any more talent than the Pacers or the Mavs, but they’re able to keep the same guys on the floor night after night, and that has made a world of difference.
Comment by Brian N -
I agree that the lineups who play together are typically the better teams. However, Dallas is looking good in the standings & they are 6th on the list. San Antonio, Sacramento, Phoenix, Seattle are all toward the bottom of the list. I know we’ve heard it til we’re blue in the face, but what does this say about the depth of this Dallas team?
Comment by Mal -
Monal: I disagree. I think Phoenix found that combination and used it. Why fix something that isn’t broken? As Cubez points out, some of the best teams have the fewest lineup changes.
You may be right about Nash. As a Canadian, I’m hoping he comes through in the playoffs and shines like he does in the regular season.
Comment by Deepak Sethi (toronto) -
To Deepak: usually that would not be a bad thing excpet for a player like Nash who typically burns out come playoff time
Comment by monal valia -
And Suns fans also wonder why their teams plays together so smoothly.
And props to Charlotte and New Jersey…at least they are still trying to find the magic chemistry.
Comment by Brian -
Why wouldn’t that be a good thing? If they are playing together for a longer period of time, they develop that on-court chemistry that is hard to gain with constant lineup changes.
Comment by Deepak Sethi (toronto) -
And Phoenix fans wonder why everyone thinks theyll be burnt out fot the playoffs…
Comment by Keem Ameer -