Welcome to OKC Thunder in the news for Friday September 22, featuring topical news on your favorite team and players.
OKC Thunder in the news September 22 focuses on predictions and comparisons. Specifically, our sister sites have been active predicting 2017-18 team records, the MVP and how a rookie compares to Russell Westbrook.
Predicting 2017-18 Team Records:
Nylon Calculus writer Jacob Goldstein got busy with his predictions for how each team will perform this coming season. Hat tip to Mr. Goldstein as this seems like an inordinate amount of calculations, but well worth the effort. As for the OKC Thunder, Goldstein has them finishing as a home court seed, but to his point he believes they could finish in one of two positions. Visit this link to see where Goldstein ranks all 30 teams.
"The first step in projecting wins for the 2017-18 season is creating a baseline expectation for how each player will perform. I have a database of every season played going back to 1951-52, the first in which minutes were tracked. Using this database, I can compute a similarity score to current players. After finding the most similar players to everyone who played last year, I use how those similar players changed to project how the current players will perform in 2017-18."
Using Math to predict next MVP:
In another article Nylon Calculus writer Jacob Goldstein once again uses formula’s for another key prediction. In this article Goldstein uses a unique approach in his prediction for the next MVP. Specifically, Goldstein developed a mathematical equation which factors in specific constants giving each a weighted total. Ultimately many of the same players who were in the running for the 2016-17 season make Goldstein’s top 5 list. The order of where these players finish is different however. Not to spoil the suspense visit the link above to see who takes the award based on Goldstein’s methodology.
"This methodology has been able to correctly predict 25 of the last 38 MVPs, including the 2016-17 MVP Russell Westbrook.A 66.0 percent hit rate is not perfect but does a good job at identifying at the very least who the right candidates are. Of the last 38 MVPs, 34 have received one of the top three MVPScores in the season they won. In fact, only two of the last 38 MVPs did not rate as the top-5 most likely winners by this metric and both times it was the same player: Steve Nash, who came in eighth by this metric for his 2004-05 MVP and ninth for his 2005-06 MVP."
Is Dennis Smith the next Russell Westbrook?
Over at our sister site Sports DFW writer Reid Hanson compares rookie Dennis Smith to Russell Westbrook. Smith had fans and pundits sitting up and taking notice in Summer League. There are obvious natural comparisons given both players entered the league with question marks, but with powerful games.
Hanson tackles the comparison looking at both players college careers and their style of game with a view to whether Smith’s career could follow a similar path to Westbrook.
"Both players have similar games: dynamic ball handlers who can attack and score. And both have similar builds: Smith is 6’3” 195lbs and Westbrook is 6’3” 200lbs. Both were early entries in the draft: Smith played one year of college ball and Westbrook played two. Both are of similar pedigree: Smith was drafted ninth overall this summer and Westbrook was draft fourth overall in 2008. Both also boast extraordinary athletic ability that delivers a steady stream of “wow moments”."
OKC Thunder guard Westbrook voted 7th fittest athlete by SI:
Finally, my cohort Tony Heim details how Russell Westbrook placed seventh on Sports Illustrated’s list of fittest athletes. Check out his opinions on the ranking here.
"Russell Westbrook would not be Russell Westbrook without his explosive athleticism. Westbrook’s combination of length, speed and power makes him an unguardable force in the world’s best basketball league – it’s why Sports Illustrated named him the 7th most fit male athlete on Earth.Russ joins four other NBA players on the list: Blake Griffin (46), Kawhi Leonard (35), Hassan Whiteside (30) and LeBron James (2). It’s important to note that the criteria was more than just pure athletic ability. They factored not only performance in their sport, but the training methods and overall longevity of the athlete."
That wraps up OKC Thunder in the news for September 22. With Media Day and training camp just around the corner make Thunderous Intentions a daily stop.