Hoops Hypothesis

Most basketball fans are aware about the vast majority of NBA players, even if only in passing. The global reach of the NBA ensures that fans from all around the world are aware of players and their exploits. However, a lot of college basketball players who do not make it to the NBA are not given their due. This occurs because of the regional nature of college basketball, and this leads to some college legends not getting their fair share of plaudits. One such player is Melvin McLaughlin. Nicknamed ‘Sugar’ for his sweet shooting skills, McLaughlin was born in Grand Rapids, Michigan and spent his high school years scoring at will for the Creston High School Polar Bears, averaging over 33 points per game in his junior and senior seasons. After a decorated high school career, McLaughlin attended Central Michigan University, where he would go on to form his legend. At Central Michgan, McLaughlin broke out in his sophomore year, averaging 20.8 points per game and being named to the Firs...

In the 1980s, the NBA shot into the national spotlight, buoyed by the rivalry of Magic Johnson’s LA Lakers and Larry Bird’s Boston Celtics. These rosters were chock full of multiple time NBA All-Stars, with the Lakers boasting Kareem Abdul-Jabbar, and the Celtics having Kevin McHale and Robert Parrish. The NBA also boasted luminaries such as Moses Malone, Julius Erving, Sidney Moncrief, and later in the decade, Michael Jordan and Hakeem Olajuwon. However, the player who scored the most points throughout the 1980s is not one of the many listed above, but Alex English, a player who has become a footnote in discussions about 80s basketball. English was drafted by the Milwaukee Bucks in the 1976 NBA Draft, and after two uneventful seasons with them, he signed with the Indiana Pacers in the 1978-79 NBA season. This served as a breakout season for English, who averaged 16 points and 8.1 rebounds per game in 33.3 minutes per game, all career highs at the time. In the 1979-80 season, English...

Before Michael Jordan was crowned ‘His Airness’, there was a player who electrified the NBA with his own high-flying, above the rim style of play. Thompson’s legend first started in college at North Carolina State, when in his freshman season, he led the Wolfpack to a 27-0 unbeaten record. In the 1973-74 season, Thompson led the NC State Wolfpack to victory in the NCAA Tournament, winning the Most Outstanding Player during the tournament. He is also credited as the progenitor of the alley-oop pass along with teammate Monte Towne. Thompson averaged around 27 points and 8 rebounds over his college career on 55% shooting, earning his place as one of the greatest ACC conference players of all time. In both the NBA’s and ABA’s 1975 Draft, Thompson was selected with the first overall pick, and he ended up signing with the Denver Nuggets of the ABA. In his rookie season, he made the ABA All-Star game, was a part of the All-ABA Second team, and won the Rookie of the Year award, all while ave...

  In the 2004 Olympics, the US Men’s Nation Basketball team, led by players like Allen Iverson and Tim Duncan, and featuring a young Dwyane Wade and LeBron James. The US team was also coached by Larry Brown, who won the NBA championship with the Detroit Pistons in the 2003-04 season. This team was one of the favorites to win the gold medal. Despite the presence of some of the most prominent American stars, the US did not win the gold. In fact, they didn’t even make the final. They lost to the eventual winners, Argentina, in the semi-finals, 89-81. This Argentina team was one of the best in their history, filled with NBA players all throughout the roster, and led by Manu Ginóbili, a two-time NBA All-Star. The Argentinean team had more NBA players than just Ginóbili, including Luis Scola, Fabricio Oberto, Andres Nocioni, and Carlos Delfino. Despite both teams making the knockout rounds, they did not perform well in the group stages. Both Argentina and the US won only 3 out of their...

In the annals of the greatest point guards, Bob Cousy stands alone. The first great floor general, he set the standard for next generation of point guards with his unparalleled ball distribution and fast paced style of play. A Celtics legend, Cousy was originally drafted by the Tri-Cities Blackhawks (currently the Atlanta Hawks). Cousy, who had attended the College of the Holy Cross in Worcester, Massachusetts, did not want to move to the Tri-Cities area, and refused to play for the Blackhawks. He was then signed by the Chicago Stags, and when they folded, he was assigned to the Boston Celtics. Cousy’s fast and flamboyant style of play was initially derided by many scouts and NBA personnel. Red Auerbach, the legendary Celtics coach, and Celtics owner Walter A. Brown were two of the many people who did not think Cousy would succeed in the NBA. Cousy would soon prove all those doubters wrong. In his first season, Cousy was selected for the first of 13 NBA All Star teams he would make...

  In the last few years, there has been a growing shift towards the analytics side of basketball. Formerly unknown analytics maestros like Daryl Morey are now becoming more recognized, and their principles are being used to build teams that can contend for championships. A core tenet of sports analytics is stripping away the bias that is inherently present in humans, allowing for an evaluation of players at face value. Though the sports analytics movement has gained traction in NBA circles, many fans still haven’t embraced it, which precludes them from understanding certain trades and signings made by their favorite teams. One way to eliminate bias without the benefit of supercomputers and reams of data is through using cryptography to encrypt players’ names. This ensures that players are evaluated only based on their stats. Cryptography involves coding the plain text to make it secure and decoding the coded text to retrieve the plain text. The coding and decoding processes ...

Everybody has heard of the Dream Team, the NBA’s brightest luminaries who were the first professional players to play in the Olympics, 11 of whom are Hall of Famers. The 12 th player, however, is someone far less recognizable. 1992 was the first year that professional NBA players were allowed to participate. In addition to the 11 NBA players, the US basketball committee decided to include one college player as an homage to the previous amateur system. College basketball’s best and brightest were considered for the last spot on the team, a list which included Shaquille O’Neal and Alonzo Mourning. However, Christian Laettner was chosen over the two due to his Naismith College Player of the Year Award and his two national championships with the Duke Blue Devils. Laettner’s college career was one of the most decorated ever. He was also one of the most hated college players, due to his physical nature, sometimes perceived as a bullying style and his clutch performances in big games, whic...

The year was 2012. 3-time NBA Defensive Player of the Year Dwight Howard was disgruntled in Orlando, and Orlando head coach Stan Van Gundy had been fired at the conclusion of the 2011-12 season, possibly at Howard’s insistence. Many suitors were interested in Howard, including the super team chasing Brooklyn Nets, his preferred destination. Also in the race were the Los Angeles Lakers, who recently traded for Steve Nash, with designs on their own super team. This confluence of events would lead to one of the most ill-fated trades in NBA history. The Lakers had won the NBA Championship in 2009 and 2010 led by Kobe Bryant and Pau Gasol. However, they were left in the dust after the Miami Heat landed LeBron James and Chris Bosh to pair with Dwyane Wade, and the Oklahoma City Thunder made the Finals in 2012, buoyed by the young trio of Kevin Durant, Russell Westbrook and James Harden. LA was determined to land some more star players, so they went out and made a big splash. They agreed to...

I recently posted an article  about statistically identifying good trade and free agency acquisitions for the San Antonio Spurs. With this article, I am going to suggest how the Spurs are going to acquire the aforementioned players. For those who haven’t read the previous article yet, the eight players we will be trying to trade for are Aaron Gordon, Will Barton, Malik Monk, E’Twaun Moore, Otto Porter Jr., Dario Saric, Mo Bamba and Montrezl Harrell. Depending on their contracts, we might try to sign them in free agency. So, without further ado, let’s look at our first trade. 1.   Aaron Gordon and Khem Birch for DeMar DeRozan and a 2021 2 nd round pick This trade is one of the few that benefit both teams. The Orlando Magic have struggled to generate offense, ranking bottom 10 in the league over the last two seasons, and DeRozan, a 25 point per game scorer, would certainly help with that. His defensive limitations will be overshadowed by the rest of Orlando’s main 5, which ...

Every sports fan, diehard or casual, has watched Moneyball, the movie about the use of statistics in baseball. While sports has become more receptive to the use of statistics to identify players, many fans still do not like to use or misuse statistics to back up their opinions. As an avid NBA fan, I too love to concoct fictitious trades to help make my team better. Through the use of statistics, I am going to try to make well informed decisions regarding player acquisitions for the San Antonio Spurs, my favourite NBA team. To tackle this problem, I used a linear regression model. To create the model, I first collected box score data for the Spurs’ 2019-20 season. This data was then used to create a model that will give a composite score, which predicts a team’s record. According to the model, a score closer to 1 indicates a better record, while a score closer to 0 indicates a worse record. Using Basketball Reference, I identified 8 players who the Spurs could feasibly acquire and who...