Reading Time: 6 minutes The Apparent Importance of Relievers With cost of top tier relievers in baseball sky rocketing (LHP Aroldis Chapman signed a 3 year / $48mil contract with the New York Yankees and RHP Liam Hendriks signed a 3 yr/ $54mil contract with the Chicago White Sox) MLB front offices appear to acknowledge the necessity of quality relievers. The White Sox were able to dish out so much money to Liam Hendricks knowing they had a steal coming by signing the 558th pick in the 2014 draft LHP Aaron Bummer to a 5 year / $16 million contract. This deal buys out two of ..read more

Reading Time: 3 minutes Short Answer: No. At least not yet. “Honestly man, I ain’t gotta play like nobody. I’m me. I’m the greatest big man shooter of all time. That’s a fact. You can see the stats. I ain’t got to play like no one else. Everyone trying to find themselves to be the second version of me when I’m the first version. I don’t got to be the second version of someone else. I’m already an original. I don’t have to be a duplicate of someone else.” Karl-Anthony Towns to The Athletic (source) I have to admit: Karl-Anthony Towns is one of my favorite players in the NBA right now. He has a ..read more

Reading Time: < 1 minute View this post on Instagram A post shared by Sweep Sports Analytics (@sweep_sportsanalytics) The post Melo being Super Melo appeared first on Sweep Sports Analytics ..read more

Reading Time: 2 minutes Note by Bill, Sweep Sports Analytics: This is a great interesting analysis that Angel Maldonado asked to be published. I like the approach he takes here and the simplicity with which he addresses a few complex ideas. For all you Python enthusiasts, Angel has shared the code and you can replicate it on your machine. If you have any questions, you can reach him at angelnmaldonado94@gmail.com. If you want to support the blog, you can get your NBA merch from the official NBA Store at a great discount by clicking on one of the below affiliate links. At no extra cost to you ..read more

Reading Time: 6 minutes The EuroLeague playoff picture is still being defined. We know all 8 teams who will battle it out. What remains to be seen are the matchups. Who will be unlucky enough to square off against Barcelona’s incredible offense? Which of the top 4 teams will be unlucky enough to face the reigning champs, Anadolu Efes? Will Olympiacos’ amazing regular season performances take them to the Final Four in Belgrade? I’m not the one to ask for predictions. But I am the one to ask to present an advanced stats view. A graphical representation of stats helps paint a better picture. Last ..read more

Reading Time: 6 minutes The UFC is BACK for the first 2022 event with two title fights! Are you as excited as I am about the Ngannou vs Gane title unification bout? I can’t wait to see who will be considered the baddest man on the planet after Saturday night! This might be one of the best ever heavyweight fights in history, and it includes an interesting back story as well (check out articles about Ngannou’s relationship with UFC president Dana White, as well as Ngannou’s training history with Gane). The co-main event is the 3rd part of an awesome trilogy between Brandon Moreno and Deiveson Fi ..read more

Reading Time: 5 minutes With 14 rounds played, this year’s EuroLeague storyline is quite exciting. The battle for the playoffs is expected to be quite intense. Can anyone stop the Spanish giants, Barcelona and Real Madrid? What I wanted to do here is present the basic advanced statistics. A graphical representation of stats helps paint a better picture. Last time I did this analysis was after the 7th round, so with double the games played I felt this was a good opportunity. Whether you’re a EuroLeague fan (click here for all EuroLeague content) or a basketball analytics enthusiast (click here ..read more

Reading Time: < 1 minute Adam Carter, Director of Player Personnel for University of San Diego football. Impact% is a stat that measures the percentage of times a player is in position to make a play on the ball. This is an upgrade from just looking at raw tackles because a play on the ball is more valuable than a tackle. Impact% gives you a broader scope of how much range and versatility a player has and their impact in every phase of the game. It’s a statistic that measures how valuable a player is while he’s on the field. The purpose of the stat is to reward defenders who are on time and ..read more

Reading Time: 5 minutes 2023 Most Valuable Player Candidates This year’s MVP award mainly comes down to these three: Giannis Antetokounmpo, Milwaukee Bucks Joel Embiid, Philadelphia 76ers Nikola Jokić, Denver Nuggets  We’ve seen many players put up great solid performances all year long. Domantas Sabonis was invaluable, helping the Sacramento Kings to their first postseason run 17 years. Jason Tatum has led the Celtics, who are currently (May 1, 2023) actually the favorites to win the title. Luka Doncic started off pretty good but couldn’t keep up. Nikola Jokic – Can he pull off a three ..read more

Reading Time: 5 minutes Almost a third of the regular season has passed and there are some clear trends. Fenerbahce leads the way, all four 2022 Final 4 teams are playoff-bound, and four teams are just one win behind the payoff spots. A few questions are torturing my mind: will Panathinaikos continue their impressive run? Can Olympiacos recover from their slump? Will coaches Messina and Obradovic turn around the negative records that Armani and Partizan have? I’m not the one to ask for predictions. But I can present an advanced stats view. A graphical representation of stats helps paint a bett ..read more