NBA trendsetter

Studying how pro basketball teams fare against the best and worst teams in the league is an important variable in handicapping the NBA. It is interesting to note that Minnesota leads the league against teams with a record above .500. The Timberwolves are 9-3 ATS versus the league’s elite, including 5-1 on the road.

Read the rest of Barry Daniels' latest column by going to the NEW RX home page at www.therx.com

Charlie

:modemman:

This is good stuff.

In similar vein, I've found it useful to group teams by comparative Offense/Defense. Not all teams are easy to define, but in most years the NBA has about 20-24 teams that fit an established mode going back at least 2 seasons which is a nice sample size.

1) 8-9 teams will be 3+ pts above league average scoring
2) 7-8 teams will be 3+ pts below league average scoring
3) 8-9 teams will allow 3+ pts above league avg scoring
4) 8-9 teams will allow 3+ pts below league avg scoring

I've noticed that most clubs, when you score them versus any of the above groups, will show some fairly consistent performances.

LAKERS for instance, at Home past year and a half, versus Strong defenses, come in nicely below 190 on the Total. But you still will see Totals lines slightly above that in such matchups.

Many other examples abound.

Thanks for the topic and analysis.