statistics - Sports News, Headlines & Highlights
How far can LeBron James stretch the limits of the NBA scoring record?
On Tuesday night, LeBron James became the NBA’s Vitruvian Scorer, a divine manifestation of athlete and bucket generator. The constant progression of statistical landmarks makes them even tougher to attain for the next generation. The higher records climb, the tougher the gravity becomes to reach. I...
A ninth win in 10 games would mean it’s time to start taking the Vikings seriously
The Minnesota Vikings have been the most disrespected winning team in the NFL this season. Despite an 8-1 record, very few outside the state of Minnesota believe the Vikings are a “real” contender in the NFC. Even after surprisingly pulling out an overtime victory over the Buffalo Bills last week, m...
Chris Paul has another NBA rule change to get used to
At the beginning of the 2021-22 NBA season, the rule changes were irksome to players used to getting touch fouls by lunging into unsuspecting defenders to draw contact and a whistle. Trae Young, Damian Lillard, and James Harden were just a few stars to sound off about the changes, but as the season ...
So here’s this year’s Champions League group of death
The group-stage draw for the UEFA Champions League is always a strange, exciting, but mostly strange day. The path to European glory becomes more in focus with a straightforward goal: finish in the top half of your group and you make it to the knockout stage that begins next year. If you don’t you’r...
Long live Nikola Jokić, the NBA’s Most VORPable Player
The impending news that Nikola Jokić will be awarded his second-consecutive MVP award has sent the NBA community into a border war formation between respect for analytics and the eye test. Jokic’s back-to-back wins is a resounding victory for the NBA’s mathlete contingency. This isn’t a diatribe aga...
The Dallas Stars, the piss in the cereal
The NHL playoffs haven’t had the most amount of drama so far. There’s only been two overtime games in the eight series combined, and not too many more that have been all that close or in doubt in the closing minutes of the third period. Some scores have been blown up by multiple empty-net goals, but...
Please stay healthy, Byron Buxton
It’s become part of the rhythm of a baseball season. Mike Trout will tweak something, or leave a game early, and every baseball fan will sigh, and wonder why they can’t have nice things. We all feel deprived of something when Trout misses a large chunk of time. This will also happen whenever Shohei ...
USMNT in the knockout round! An Argentina-Brazil semifinal! Oh, Canada! (and more World Cup predictions)
Instead of a World Cup taking place in the summer, we’re waiting until the late fall for the festivities to start to get to a manageable playing temperature in Qatar. The 2022 FIFA World Cup draw took place a few weeks ago, giving a path to the 37 teams still in contention to lift the trophy. Four w...
Since the NBA gave Grayson Allen a slap on the wrist for his violent behavior, what do you think the Bulls will do to him?
Alex Caruso’s wrist is broken. He is going to miss the next 6-8 weeks of action for the Bulls. Grayson Allen, the person who knocked Caruso out of the air and caused his injury, has been suspended by the NBA for one game. If this seems a bit imbalanced to you, it’s because you have common sense....
Let’s try to understand the NBA’s defensive player rating and all its absurdity
Analytics can be misleading. Over the last decade, we’ve seen an influx of statistics take over the sports world, and basketball hasn’t been exempt from this revolution — just look at all the three-point attempts we see now across the NBA. But one stat in particular can be even dangerously misleadin...
Nikola Jokić's performance brings up the age-old question: ‘How good must your team be in order to win MVP?’
The Denver Nuggets are currently 12-13, tied with the Dallas Mavericks for seventh in the Western Conference. Despite having Aaron Gordon for the entirety of this season, the Nuggets just can’t seem to get going. After starting the season 9-4, the Nuggets dropped six straight games and fell below .5...