I love it when data speaks for itself. It doesn’t happen often, but I believe I’ve found one of those cases. When it was revealed last summer that the RPI would be altered to give an undisclosed bonus to road wins and then when the formula was announced last summer, it was hailed as a […]

As a stat-head, I’m not one that believes in hot streaks or clutch plays. That’s not to say that such things should be banned from the sports vernacular, just that they aren’t skills people have or can acquire. I do believe that people tend to perform better under pressure, be it in basketball or any […]

Normally, a guy that scores a lot of points can be considered a productive offensive player. Normally, but not always. I love Dean Oliver’s offensive rating as much as anyone, because it takes all aspects of a player’s statistical performance and states it in terms of efficiency, which we can easily relate to in terms […]

Fans of the Big Blue must be restless. There aren’t enough good reasons to begin actively calling for Tubby Smith’s head. But there also aren’t enough signs to enthusiastically support him. Such is the state of a basketball program that has hung around the top ten for the last two years but at the same […]

Back when I was taking correspondence courses from the Skip Bayless School of Journalism, I equated Shelden Williams with Emeka Okafor. Honestly, I don’t think I’ve received more feedback about something I’ve posted here. I can see why Bayless is so successful at his racket of providing weak evidence for absurd positions. But I felt […]

Since there will be more discussion of individual stats on this site this season, I thought I’d throw together a post to let people know what values of each are exceptional. These are the measures I refer to on a regular basis. I’ll add to and adjust this document as events warrant. Percentage of possible […]

On January 19th, LSU beat Arkansas 66-63 in overtime. It was a particularly fortunate victory for LSU, because the game went to overtime only when officials conferred about a would-be game-winning three-pointer by Arkansas’ Michael Jones at the end of regulation. The shot was ruled a three by one official and a two by the […]

Welcome to kenpom.com v2.0! I’ve given this place a little bit of a makeover, including the following: – Additional sortable stats for each team, and 2004 stats have been added as well. – I hired a highly-respected marketing firm to come up with a new name for the blog, and it paid off big-time. – […]

For those who missed it, the preseason top 50 for the Wooden Award was announced last week. The list isn’t binding in any way – someone not on the list can ultimately win the award in March as the nation’s best player. It’s strictly a publicity stunt, but it’s one I welcome at this time […]

I did this last year, and looking back on it, it was revealing. You can read last year’s editions of the luckiest and unluckiest teams from 2004 and judge for yourself. Just ignore my comments about Florida State. If you don’t know what the Pythagorean method is, then you’ll have to read the 2004 write-ups. […]