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Every shot Kobe Bryant ever took

graphics.latimes.com

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Re: Every shot Kobe Bryant ever took

#111
post #82
post #66

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> countQuery.execute("SELECT COUNT(cartodb_id) AS feature_count FROM kobe_all_shots_geocoded_final_merge"... I sure hope they have permissions set up on that database..

Possibly a local DB like Lovefield?

It's CartoDB, the full request is:

http://latimes.cartodb.com/api/v2/sql?q=SELECT%20COUNT(carto...

Re: Every shot Kobe Bryant ever took

#112
post #77
post #66

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> countQuery.execute("SELECT COUNT(cartodb_id) AS feature_count FROM kobe_all_shots_geocoded_final_merge"... I sure hope they have permissions set up on that database..

I'd never think to view source on random pages I visit, but this has me curious who else does things like this. Why is JS executing SQL?

It's an API call to CartoDB, that's how it is designed to work. The response is JSON.

http://docs.cartodb.com/cartodb-platform/sql-api/

Re: Every shot Kobe Bryant ever took

#113
post #104

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> My biggest complaint with Kobe is that he scored a lot of points because he took a lot of shots. Isn't that the point of basketball?

It's a team sport, though. There's more players than Kobe out there.

How many of those players are as skilled as Kobe?

The biggest knock people seem to have against Kobe is that unlike Jordan, he didn't elevate the game of his teammates.

Re: Every shot Kobe Bryant ever took

#114
post #79
post #48

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Curry is a great shooter that also benefits from the rule changes to give shooters more space outside the paint. I never liked the constant hand checking allowed, and am glad they stopped it. I wonder how Curry would fare in the 90s NBA given his smaller frame. I think he would still be a great shooter, but could he get his shot as easily? Debates like this are what makes sports fun.

It seems like a fairly common sentiment when comparing the '96 Bulls to '16 Warriors is that the Bulls would win under '96 rules and the Warriors would win under '16 rules. There were also players who shot the ball extremely well before the three-point line took effect. Steph is averaging around 30 points per game with 5 three's a game. Without the additional point, it drops him to 25 points per game. Still good but…

I think historical comparisons like this are just generally nostalgia. In general, players get better over time. There is more competition for a limited amount of slots, so the competition is more fierce. Players start training with better intelligence from an earlier age. They push harder. All things being equal (they seem to be on paper), the more recent team would have the advantage.

Re: Every shot Kobe Bryant ever took

#115

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Europe -- mostly Germany and Finland. The only basketball players I know are Magic Johnson and Larry Bird.

Maybe also Michael Jordan?

Sure, now that you mention him. And I'm sure I'd recognize some other old names upon hearing/googling, too. Just not in my active memory as basketball is a bit fringe sport around here.

Re: Every shot Kobe Bryant ever took

#116
post #46
post #2

How curious that there's a band of no shots that's right on the three point line. But then there are plenty of shots a foot closer to the hoop. The explanation is probably psychological, you don't want to take shots that are as about as difficult as 3 point shots, but worth only two. But the situation isn't really any better if you take a single step forwards. Of course, the positioning of the defensive players matte…

It's called practice. That area for a shooter is no-mans land. They either will setup outside the 3pt line or significantly inside the 3pt line. It is simply a spot no shooter, and particularly one like Kobe, would ever setup and wait for a pass or call for the ball from.

we talkin' bout practice?!!

Re: Every shot Kobe Bryant ever took

#118

Knowing almost nothing about Kobe Bryant (I haven't followed the NBA for years), it looks like there's an interesting trend in 3 point attempts. At any given year of his career, the distribution of 3 point shots made compared to other shots made seems fairly balanced, as one might expect. However, the number of attempted 3 point shots (or 3 pointers missed) seems to rise significantly in the latter half of his career…

I think it's primarily health & age. It's less taxing to take shots outside than to try to drive up to much bigger, younger players constantly.

I'd also say that as he got older, his athletic ability declined (injuries and age), so in order to continue getting points, he needed to attempt more shots.

Re: Every shot Kobe Bryant ever took

#119

Of the 30,699 shots, he missed 16,966 and made 13,731. At the smallest level of performance it is nice to see that you can fail more often than you succeed and still be very successful over all.

There's a famous Kobe quote on his philosophy on failing. During a conversation at some game: "Deron Williams went like 0-9. I was like, 'Can you believe Deron Williams went 0-9?' Kobe was like, 'I would go 0-30 before I would go 0-9. 0-9 means you beat yourself, you psyched yourself out of the game, because Deron Williams can get more shots in the game. The only reason is because you've just now lost confidence in y…

Similarly, I saw/read an interview with Hall-of-Fame point guard Isiah Thomas where he was asked why he always took the big shots in the critical moments.

(IIRC He didn't mention the obvious, that he was the best player on the team.) He said it was because he practiced the most, which was plausible, and because he could miss the shot. He said for if some players miss that shot, it crushes them; they don't recover. He could take it, miss it, and take it again the next day without it affecting his focus.

He made a few of those shots and led his team to two NBA titles. The first one was the year after he threw away a pass and the game in the playoffs, an unforced error that cost his team their first trip to the NBA Championship:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VNpJXDPnQTE

Re: Every shot Kobe Bryant ever took

#120
post #69

Earlier quoted context omitted.

shot percentage is a pretty arbitrary stat. a .350 batting average is also very good. a .900 hockey goalsave percentage is abysmal. to keep with the sports metaphor, you can always move your goalposts.

Apples to apples shot percentage is a great stat. My biggest complaint with Kobe is that he scored a lot of points because he took a lot of shots. Last night for example, he took ~60% of shots from the field for his team which accounted for ~55% (ignoring FTs). In other words, the expected return on his shot was lower than the rest of his team. Now, FTs change that story a bit, but even in the best case scenario he b…

I mean, I would argue that last night is an outlier. The game plan was to give the ball to Kobe, they wanted him to shoot.

Look at his career and I think it's a different story.

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