Pro Basketball Prospectus: 2002 Edition (Pro Basketball Forecast) (Paperback)

~ John Hollinger (Author) "Last year's book introduced several methods that I use to evaluate player performance..." (more)
Key Phrases: playoff minutes, guards last season, midlevel exception, Usage Rate, Score Year Player Team, Pace Factor (more...)

Editorial Reviews

Product Description

Includes in-depth analysis of every team and all of today’s players
Features essays answering historical questions, such as who is the greatest rebounder of all time
Follows in the footsteps of Brassey’s Baseball Prospectus to give basketball fans the only annual they need
Hoops fans want to know more than who won the game. They want to know why their teams won or lost, how they can improve for the next season, and what their chances are to make the playoffs. Pro Basketball Prospectus answers these questions and more. Where other basketball annuals just regurgitate the basic statistics, John Hollinger offers an innovative interpretation of the numbers. He doesn’t just tell you who is good or bad; he gives you a new way to appreciate every player’s skills and weaknesses.

Pro Basketball Prospectus leaves no aspect of NBA basketball unconsidered. Every player’s ability to rebound, pass, and score and how his skills affect the team’s success are treated in depth. Hollinger’s evaluations often vindicate common knowledge, like the historic greatness of John Stockton’s passing, but he also shows why Antawn Jamison or Keith Van Horn are among the league’s worst. He analyzes teams on the basis of what has happened in past seasons and forecasts what can be expected in the season ahead. For example, who should the Lakers feature offensively, Kobe Bryant or Shaquille O’Neal? In addition, Hollinger evaluates how the change in defensive rules have influenced the game and altered the way some teams play. Every basketball fan will gain incredible new insights into the game from Pro Basketball Prospectus.

From the Publisher

Includes in-depth analysis of every team and all of today’s players --This text refers to an alternate Paperback edition.

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Product Details

• Paperback: 3884 pages
• Publisher: Potomac Books; 2002 edition (October 1, 2002)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 1574885111
• ISBN-13: 978-1574885118
• Product Dimensions: 10.7 x 8.5 x 0.7 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1.6 pounds
• Average Customer Review: 4.7 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (6 customer reviews)
• Amazon.com Sales Rank: #1,788,039 in Books (See Bestsellers in Books)

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

6 of 7 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars At Last..., October 14, 2002

By	Adam Strasberg (Washington, DC United States) - See all my reviews (REAL NAME)

At last, here's a book that brings the kind of in depth statistical analysis to Basketball that Bill James brought to baseball (and is now carried on by the Baseball Prospectus) so many years ago.

Hollinger has written a great book, there is an introduction explaining his methods at the top, then a couple of general essays about the game (On Defense, and the greatest rebounder ever...who you ask? Read the book <g>). Then there are the team essays. Each essay begins with a general overview of the team's season and future prospects, which leads into a statistical discussion about the game or the team ("Are mid-career perforance jumps a fluke?" or "Does Defense win Championships?").

Then there are player comments for current players and rookies. The convential wisdom is always questioned, and the book offers tons of insights (Tracy McGrady better than Kobie, read the book if you don't believe it).

I'm not really a big basketball fan anymore, but I have to say I loved this book. It offers cutting edge research into the game. While some of the studies are rough, they are a great begining for a sport where the statistical analysis has been lacking (much like baseball before James came along).

If you're a basketball fan or just a sports statistics fan (I fall into that category) buy this book, its really top notch work.

8 of 11 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Fan-tastic, November 9, 2003

By	John Budd (Dallas,TX USA) - See all my reviews (REAL NAME)

This review is from: Pro Basketball Prospectus: 2003 EDITION (Paperback)

This is an amazing work. As a long-time reader of Bill James and the "Baseball Prospectus" staff, I had my doubts as to whether a similar statistical approach would work when applied to basketball. John Hollinger, though, allays those fears.

Hollinger has developed several statistics that illuminate the game, including Player Efficiency Rating (PER), which is a stat taking into account most of the ways a player can influence the game. PER seems to me to be on par with OPS or TPR (similar baseball stats) in assessing player performance. This is truly groundbreaking work.

Moreover, Hollinger shares with Bill James an ability to write. His essays on each team are informative, entertaining, and on-the-money, as are his player comments. I would recommend this book equally to an NBA fan and to the "Baseball Abstract"/"Baseball Prospectus" fan willing to cross over (dribble) to the NBA.

5 of 8 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Basketball for the Thinking Fan, October 22, 2002

By	Gregory H. Thomas (Garden City, Kansas United States) - See all my reviews

As a reader of both "Baseball Prospectus" and "Football Prospectus", I was both surprised and pleased to find that both the content and writing style of "Basketball Prospectus" exceeded either of the other two publications. It is rare, in a Bill James sense, to find a writer who can both dazzle with words and with numbers, but John Hollinger is such a gem.
His insight into today's pro game is unique. The chaper on "Rebounding" in which the numbers of Wilt Chamberlain and Bill Russell are compared with the players who followed them, should be required reading for any sports fan or any undergraduate taking statistics. If you are a free-thinker who doesn't merely accept the opinion of the crowd or your local columnist, this is the basketball book for you. Prepare to be intrigued and to look at the pro game with a new appreciation.

Greg Thomas, Ph.D.