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Monday, April 06, 2015

Can Advanced Basketball Statistics Really Bridge 50 Years of NBA History?

Oscar Robertson is the only player in pro basketball history who averaged a triple double for an entire season (30.8 ppg, 12.5 rpg, 11.4 apg in 1961-62; he also averaged an aggregate triple double over the course of his first five NBA seasons). Russell Westbrook is having a great 2015 season (27.5 ppg, 7.2 rpg, 8.6 apg) but is it really accurate--or meaningful--to declare, as Tom Haberstroh recently did, that Westbrook's statistics project to 46.9 ppg, 14.6 apg and 12.2 rpg at the NBA's 1961-62 pace of play? I explore this issue--and the limitations of "advanced basketball statistics" in general--in my newest article at The Roar:

Can Advanced Basketball Statistics Really Bridge 50 Years of NBA History?

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posted by David Friedman @ 3:23 PM

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