I’ll have a review of last night’s loss at UNA a little bit later on today, but I had to share this little piece by Phil Birnbaum at the Sabermetric Research blog. I think Birnbaum swings and misses on some issues, but this one is pretty interesting and hilarious at the same time.
If the whole team spent the offseason practicing to shoot free throws underhanded like Rick Barry and improved just 10% (a figure that perhaps is on the low side), they could score about 2 more points per game. That may not sound like much, but it might make the difference in at least one or two games, if the team is not opposed to looking silly. Then again, seasoned basketball players might not improve as much as Rick Reilly, since they have a stronger habit to break. Still, it’s worth a chance, isn’t it?
I can just see Reilly practicing at home while trying to ignore Sammy Sosa’s calls on his answering machine.
jfwiii.net 