BBTF.org/m/off-topic : OT: The Soccer Thread, March 2013

Wednesday, May 01, 2013

OT: NBA Monthly Thread - May 2013

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posted 3 weeks ago by Athletic Supporter gangnam style to basketball, nba, off-topic | 1280 comment(s)

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301. Textbook Editor posted on March 09, 2013 at 11:52 PM # hit 0 | hit 0

and flip again

302. Matt Clement of Alexandria posted on March 10, 2013 at 11:50 AM # hit 0 | hit 0

Some interesting changes for Liverpool-Tottenham. Apparently Aaron Lennon did his hamstring against Inter, and AVB has made a very defensive switch, bringing in Jake Livermore in his place. It will be interesting to see what kind of formation that produces. Liverpool are starting all of their best three attacking players (Coutinho/Suarez/Sturridge), so it looks like a game of Tottenham sitting back a bit and looking to counter.

Brad Jones in for Reina - which if I wanted to be optimistic for Spurs, is the change I'd point to. Jones has looked shaky, and Spurs put a lot of shots on target.

303. frannyzoo posted on March 10, 2013 at 11:59 AM # hit 0 | hit 0

I hope Sir Alex watched Pogba's performance today.

304. Arnett Mead (Arjun) posted on March 10, 2013 at 12:36 PM # hit 0 | hit 0

Have I mentioned recently just how much I hate Javier Hernandez?

(really good pass, though)

305. Biff, highly-regarded young guy posted on March 10, 2013 at 12:41 PM # hit 0 | hit 0

Spurs are doing some pretty passing but haven't had much in the way of actual chances (other than the Sigurdsson shot).

306. Arnett Mead (Arjun) posted on March 10, 2013 at 12:44 PM # hit 0 | hit 0

Rooney with a free kick that misses everyone. Except the corner of the net.

This is going to be a long evening for Chelsea. 2-0 inside twelve.

307. Arnett Mead (Arjun) posted on March 10, 2013 at 12:54 PM # hit 0 | hit 0

United making a number of errors in the midfield zone and lose out possession a few times, but Moses smashes right into a defender, Lampard can't miss the keeper from an open shot in the middle of the box, and some good interceptions/fouls by Chelsea.

EDIT: and, of course, on the other end, United get some really good chances, a couple of decent saves from Cech, and general skilled play. Luiz nearly scores an own goal, too.

308. Biff, highly-regarded young guy posted on March 10, 2013 at 01:13 PM # hit 0 | hit 0

BRACE FOR JAN VERTONGHEN

309. Biff, highly-regarded young guy posted on March 10, 2013 at 01:26 PM # hit 0 | hit 0

What a terrible goal for Spurs to give up. Ridiculous backpass attempt and a bit of a Lloris blunder.

310. Arnett Mead (Arjun) posted on March 10, 2013 at 01:28 PM # hit 0 | hit 0

ITV seem to think that the only story in this game is that John Terry isn't playing and that, were he on the pitch, Chelsea would not have allowed any goals/would be ahead by fifteen/would be Club World Cup champions/whatever.

311. frannyzoo posted on March 10, 2013 at 01:30 PM # hit 0 | hit 0

More than a bit of a Lloris blunder there; all-around horror-show.

312. Biff, highly-regarded young guy posted on March 10, 2013 at 01:37 PM # hit 0 | hit 0

More than a bit of a Lloris blunder there; all-around horror-show.

I was being generous because I don't think he was preparing for that.

313. Tike Redman's Shattered Dreams (shayborg) posted on March 10, 2013 at 01:41 PM # hit 0 | hit 0

Ugh. Another horrible sequence of mistakes, another gift goal for Liverpool. Can't blame Suarez for making the most of that ugly challenge.

314. Crispix Attacks 2: Swag Airlines posted on March 10, 2013 at 01:45 PM # hit 0 | hit 0

Big news in the Swiss first division as the FC Thun-FC Zurich game is interrupted by a weasel running onto the field. Eventually it is subdued by Zurich keeper David Da Costa after biting defender Loris Benito.

Zurich won 4-0.

315. frannyzoo posted on March 10, 2013 at 01:47 PM # hit 0 | hit 0

Suarez must be one helluva break dancer. His spasmodic bounce off the ground sold it best. He is quite, quite unlikable (still a stupid arm by Assou-Ekotto, however).

316. Arnett Mead (Arjun) posted on March 10, 2013 at 01:49 PM # hit 0 | hit 0

That was a really pretty curled finish from Hazard. 2-1. Chelsea full pressure, now.

(Benitez's substitutions would be more impressive were it not clear that Hazard and Mikel should have been playing from the beginning)

317. JuanGone..except1game posted on March 10, 2013 at 01:55 PM # hit 0 | hit 0

Benitez's substitutions would be more impressive were it not clear that Hazard and Mikel should have been playing from the beginning

And there in lies the problem. I know that the JT benching is the story, but that starting lineup was dreadful if your going to play to win this match. Cahill shouldn't have started and the Lamaprd/Ramires midfield is always a bit leaky. I can defend Oscar/Hazard.

318. JuanGone..except1game posted on March 10, 2013 at 01:57 PM # hit 0 | hit 0

Great play on the equalizer. Ramires showed some real quality.

319. Arnett Mead (Arjun) posted on March 10, 2013 at 01:58 PM # hit 0 | hit 0

2-2! Really nice fast (Ba -> Mata -> Ramires and across the field) counter and it's Ramires.

320. frannyzoo posted on March 10, 2013 at 01:59 PM # hit 0 | hit 0

This is perhaps setting up to be a historically bad week at Old Trafford.

321. JuanGone..except1game posted on March 10, 2013 at 02:04 PM # hit 0 | hit 0

Who is the other announcer with Gus? He sure likes Rafa.

322. Arnett Mead (Arjun) posted on March 10, 2013 at 02:11 PM # hit 0 | hit 0

Mata down in the box, he went down almost immediately. Hopefully just a twisted ankle and not something more serious.

EDIT: He's jogging off the pitch, I think it was just a lot of temporary pain.

323. JuanGone..except1game posted on March 10, 2013 at 02:23 PM # hit 0 | hit 0

What a fabolous link up between Luiz and Mata, then a better save by De Gea

324. Arnett Mead (Arjun) posted on March 10, 2013 at 02:25 PM # hit 0 | hit 0

That's time, 2-2. United just spared that historically bad week - excellent comeback, but the United back pair were also pretty impressive (the midfield, especially whoever were supposed to be marking Mata and Hazard, were not).

325. CWS Keith plans to boo your show at the Apollo posted on March 10, 2013 at 02:39 PM # hit 0 | hit 0

Ugh. I'm begrudgingly going to express some admiration for Spurs, as my initial impression is that they put in a perfectly functional road performance. In the end they were undone by some pretty terrible individual errors -- how very Liverpool of them! I'm still trying to assess Liverpool's performance. I didn't like that they sat back so much, but at the same time I can understand the reluctance to press Spurs, given (a) Carragher playing at the back and (b) Bale's brilliance. Nice to finally win one when the performance was well-below their best.

326. CWS Keith plans to boo your show at the Apollo posted on March 10, 2013 at 02:41 PM # hit 0 | hit 0

327. DA Baracus is gritty and hits with RISP posted on March 10, 2013 at 02:56 PM # hit 0 | hit 0

Suarez's homage to dying fish today is a pretty good argument for offsetting penalties.

328. Mefisto posted on March 10, 2013 at 03:53 PM # hit 0 | hit 0

@324: I think Cleverly was supposed to be doing that. I thought he was awful today. Rooney was poor except for the goal. That save by De Gea might be the save of the year. Looked even better on replay than in real time.

329. J. Sosa posted on March 10, 2013 at 05:15 PM # hit 0 | hit 0

It was a marginal penalty. Its only an issue because its Suarez. Raised elbow with contact and that gets called fairly often. A true tragedy compared to the eye poke of doom that brought the hero Bale down for a goal off a free kick, but such is life.

330. Darkness and the howling fantods posted on March 10, 2013 at 08:28 PM # hit 0 | hit 0

On the second, though, the ESPN game logs do have SoT data, if I'm remembering correctly. If you could find differentiation in SoT conversion based on game situation, that would be a really useful finding. And the ESPN game logs would allow for a sort of +/- stat as well. It's almost enough to make me want to get my programming skills back and try it myself.

It looks like the ESPN logs break shots up into four categories: missed, blocked, saved and goals. They're definitely scrapeable other than some occasional inconsistencies with player names.

331. I am going to be Frank posted on March 10, 2013 at 10:59 PM # hit 0 | hit 0

Whoever is making the hiring decisions at Fox needs to be fired. Ian Wright is absolutely awful to listen to. Gus Johnson asked Wright what he thinks of of Kagawa and Wright says that "he's a totally different player from Park." Really that's who you compare him to?

332. Mefisto posted on March 10, 2013 at 11:29 PM # hit 0 | hit 0

I winced at that comment too, but I liked Wright otherwise. He was refreshingly frank.

333. zack posted on March 11, 2013 at 09:00 AM # hit 0 | hit 0

Honest question: what exactly was Defoe trying to do? He should get the primary blame for the penalty in my view.

334. RB in NYC (Now Semi-Retired from BBTF) posted on March 11, 2013 at 09:12 AM # hit 0 | hit 0

Gus Johnson asked Wright what he thinks of of Kagawa and Wright says that "he's a totally different player from Park." Really that's who you compare him to?

This brings to mind my all-time favorite story of comparing people entirely based on their race/country of origin was someone said that Fukudome was, as a player, something of a mix between Ichiro and Matsui. Of course, pretty much everyone in baseball is somewhere between Ichiro and Matsui.

335. Topher posted on March 11, 2013 at 12:40 PM # hit 0 | hit 0

I find the discussion on using analytics to be quite interesting. I can't afford the Opta data so I thought I would see if I could create my own database by charting games as I watched them. I thought I would start with the ManU-Chelsea match.

I'm not exactly sure how successful the experiment was. I found that I was looking at my notepad so frequently I ended up missing a lot of the action. After about two minutes of play, I stopped watching the game because it was too difficult to do that and keep track of my notes. However, I continued to chart by keeping my ears open and listening to the commentary so I think I might have captured everything.

Based on what my eyes saw and what I heard from the Fox Soccer broadcast, yesterday's game ended up having 142 Big Chances. Juan Mata led the way with 22 all by himself.

Would one of you that subscribes to the data let me know if that matches with what Opta reported? I think I did a pretty good job for my first try. But I know I made at least a couple of mistakes. After charting one of the Big Chances I heard from the announcers, I looked up and saw that there was a throw in. So I must have goofed on at least that one.

336. Swedish Chef posted on March 11, 2013 at 05:01 PM # hit 0 | hit 0

Palermo's coaches this season so far:

Sannino        - Sep
Gasperini  Sep - Feb 
Malesani   Feb - Mar
Gasperini  Mar
Sannino    Mar -

May I humbly suggest that changing coaches may not be a universal cure for what ails football teams.

337. ursus arctos posted on March 11, 2013 at 05:29 PM # hit 0 | hit 0

Which gives rise to what may be my favorite stat of the season.

Palermo have more coaching changes (4) than wins (3).

338. RB in NYC (Now Semi-Retired from BBTF) posted on March 11, 2013 at 07:37 PM # hit 0 | hit 0

May I humbly suggest that changing coaches may not be a universal cure for what ails football teams.

Are we absolutely sure that Palermo is not attempting to run the old Cubs' "College of Coaches" thing? Because that seems like that might be the plan.

339. The Clarence Thomas of BBTF (scott) posted on March 11, 2013 at 09:25 PM # hit 0 | hit 0

Why'd they bring Sannino back? He's a scrub! Gasperini's the man for the job! He's a proven winner!

I like that of the 5 total head coaches, they've only actually had 3 people filling the role.

340. Crispix Attacks 2: Swag Airlines posted on March 11, 2013 at 10:23 PM # hit 0 | hit 0

Yeah, but since Palermo returned to Serie A in 2004 they've had 119 wins and a mere 21 coaching changes. And only four of those involved firing Francesco Guidolin.

Also, they have FOUR wins this season, if you count the Coppa Italia. And they were undefeated in 9 preseason friendlies, in what may be a bad omen for the Kansas City Royals.

341. puck posted on March 12, 2013 at 02:15 AM # hit 0 | hit 0

I don't know if anyone cares, but Tigres traveled to Seattle for the 2nd leg of their quarterfinal (Wednesday night) up 1-0. Their top 11 players in the Clausura in terms of minutes played (including Jose "Gringo" Torres) did not make the trip.

Oh, and the answer is apparently because the manager, Tuca, doesn't care about international competitions rather than because he's that sure they can win. Apparently he's sent weakened squads to Copa Libertadores.

342. J. Sosa posted on March 12, 2013 at 09:29 AM # hit 0 | hit 0

Champions League!

I've never much cared for Milan but the club's reinvention has been interesting. Going forward I'm not sure there are very many attacking quartets that can match Niang, Balotelli, Sharaaway, and Boateng. 26 and under with the first three being 22 and under.

I suppose maybe Chelsea if you count Lukaku. I think I'd rather have Milan's 4 though even given the combustability. Other than that I can't think of one off the top of my head.

343. Matt Clement of Alexandria posted on March 12, 2013 at 11:13 AM # hit 0 | hit 0

Milan would be particularly interesting this year if Balotelli weren't cup-tied. Even so, el Sharaawy is all kinds of fun on his own.

344. vortex of dissipation posted on March 12, 2013 at 12:09 PM # hit 0 | hit 0

Caerphilly Castle Ladies FC's brave face on 43-0 defeat

Ten games, ten losses, one goal for, 219 goals against. They lost virtually their entire first team in the off-season when they left in a mass walkout to another club. They're having trouble recruiting any new players:

"A lot of the players we've approached have been put off by the results, but I'm urging anyone who's interested to think more about the opportunity we can give them. There'll never be a better chance for any aspiring player to compete in the [Women's Welsh] Premier League."

345. Swedish Chef posted on March 12, 2013 at 12:29 PM # hit 0 | hit 0

There was a similar team in the Swedish fourth tier last year (IFK Klagshamn in Div 2 Södra Götaland), they had 10-127 in goal difference in 22 games. But they scored three in a game once and got a draw against a mid-table team, so they got a point.

346. JuanGone..except1game posted on March 12, 2013 at 01:58 PM # hit 0 | hit 0

I suppose maybe Chelsea if you count Lukaku. I think I'd rather have Milan's 4 though even given the combustability. Other than that I can't think of one off the top of my head.

I think that's a good comp and I would probably agree that AC is probably slightly ahead at the moment because Balotelli, while somewhat crazy, has already shown himself to be world class and I think Sharaaway is just top class. I may change my mind on this as early as next year as Chelsea has quantity (Lukaku (19), Hazard (21), Mata (24), Oscar (20) and Victor Moses (22)) and age on its side. Chelsea's available young talent is why I'm crossing my fingers that the next manager is willing to at least expirement with a 4-3-3. I believe everyone, especially Oscar (who might eventually be the best of them all) and save maybe Mata, would benifit from that alignment.

347. I am going to be Frank posted on March 12, 2013 at 02:17 PM # hit 0 | hit 0

Don't you think Mata, Hazard and Oscar would all be better in the middle, behind the striker?

I was never a fan of Milan and haven't watched much since Fox Soccer lost Serie A but I find Barca boring and hope they go out.

348. Arnett Mead (Arjun) posted on March 12, 2013 at 03:51 PM # hit 0 | hit 0

Well, that's a good start for Barcelona.

349. I am going to be Frank posted on March 12, 2013 at 04:02 PM # hit 0 | hit 0

Milan look terrible.

350. FancyPantsHandle glistening with foreign substance posted on March 12, 2013 at 04:06 PM # hit 0 | hit 0

Milan look terrible.

They look like Portsmouth in disguise!

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Wednesday, May 01, 2013

OT: NBA Monthly Thread - May 2013

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