The focus of the book was to answer research questions and just to write a lot, I guess. It was fun and the methods I developed, though somewhat primitive in this book, have lead to a lot of the research I have done since and the scouting job I now have.
Among the things I talked about were the effect of the three point shot on the game, how the game has actually slowed down in the '80's (and '90's now), the effect of bench play on winning, what forms the best types of offenses, entirely new ways to evaluate player's scoring effectiveness, etc. It's interesting to read about Charles Barkley while he was in Philadelphia, predicting a trade from there before it happened. It's also interesting looking back on my opinion of Dennis Rodman around the time of his Larry Bird comments, before he established his current persona. Hakeem was spelled Akeem. Michael Jordan was criticized for shooting too much. Scottie Pippen, Horace Grant, Kevin Johnson, and Reggie Miller were rookies and showing signs of being pretty good. John Stockton became the great point guard he is now. Ahh, but some things never change -- The Clippers were still terrible. | Copies of HooplaTo all the people who have requested "copies" of my book, here it is in pkzipped format. You may have to use pkun2.exe to unzip. Or you can download each of the sections individually: Intros, Pacific Division, Midwest Division, Central Division, Atlantic Division, and Ratings, Predictions, and Appendix. Feel free to download the material as the postscript file or from the web pages. If you like this book and want to send me money for it, don't. Send it to a charity (Red Cross, American Cancer Society, etc.) in my name and let me know. |
Here are the contents of the book: