Basketball has evolved into a game of calculated decision-making

Post by ks2048 » Sat, Feb 15, 2025, 11:16 PM UTC

vunderba wrote: post #25

ks2048 wrote: post #6

I read something about Go - that very unusual (maybe even considered bad) playing could beat the super-AIs. They are so tuned to opponents in a "typical" style, that they don't know how to beat a player outside this distribution. Maybe an NBA team will come up with something like that.

I'd be interested in seeing a link to this. Decades ago, playing defensive "computer chess" used to be a relatively optimal strategy against Chess AIs. However, I believe Kasparov famously tried to employ this tactic against Deep Blue but by that time it wasn't particularly viable.

Post by rectang » Sat, Feb 15, 2025, 11:23 PM UTC

bdangubic wrote: post #139

ghaff wrote: post #125

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Most sports pretty much have a playoff system to a greater or lesser degree. That said, basketball has pretty much always been one of the major US sports that can rely on a fairly small number of really good players and the rest don't matter nearly as much. Stars (pitchers, QBs, receivers, etc.) matter elsewhere but probably not individually as much as they do in basketball.

the most popular sport on the planet - soccer - doesn't have playoffs anywhere except USA

Post by mooreds » Sat, Feb 15, 2025, 11:26 PM UTC

idlewords wrote: post #130

bdangubic wrote: post #127

Earlier quoted context omitted.

couple of feet is not enough. the line needs to move far enough such that vast majority of the players (more than 95%) shoot less than 30% from there. so probably 8 to 10 feet back. absolutely should happen but they will likely do something awesome like shortening quarters to 10 minutes

Just fill the ball with water.

Post by epolanski » Sat, Feb 15, 2025, 11:28 PM UTC

ghaff wrote: post #142

bdangubic wrote: post #139

Earlier quoted context omitted.

the most popular sport on the planet - soccer - doesn't have playoffs anywhere except USA

I mean there's the World Cup though that's a bit different. The US (or US + Canada) is big enough that having large leagues of top-level teams makes some sense to have playoffs.

Post by apgwoz » Sat, Feb 15, 2025, 11:32 PM UTC

thakoppno wrote: post #118

apgwoz wrote: post #51

Earlier quoted context omitted.

You mean, a free throw is a chance shot that when missed awards the defense? Seems like that would have a huge impact on end of game strategy. It would change the “in the paint” strategy—maybe defense would foul earlier to avoid the 2+1? Hoping instead to split the 2, 1-1 with a miss. Of course, the centers and forwards, who typically aren’t great free throw shooters, are gonna get the ball less. Where does the play…

To clarify, award the offense a point when fouled shooting a 2-point shot and two points if shooting a 3. There’s still a free-throw left to earn the old fashioned way. Mostly the thinking is this encourages post-play since bigs are usually worse free-throw shooters. Also, it should shorten game length which is another recent audience concern.