In case you haven't been following along already, TrueHoop has a battle going on right now between some of the NBA's leading statistical minds (and my mom -- seriously).
It's the 2007 TrueHoop stat geek smackdown.
With the first round just about over, and the second round about to start, it's still anybody's game. Check here for an updated scoreboard and picks.
Each correctly picked series is worth five points. Correctly predicting the number of games is worth two additional points. Winner take all.
In the first round, the stat geeks did pretty well, all told. Everyone picked the correct winners in all of the more predictable series: Phoenix over the Lakers, Detroit over Orlando, Cleveland over Washington, San Antonio over Denver. Then there were the tougher series:
- Everyone except my mom and Kickerblogger Mike Kurylo picked Chicago over Miami, which is the one area where the stat geeks really creamed a lot of media experts, like myself.
- Only my mom and Jeff Ma picked the Nets over the Raptors, a sign that Toronto, in some fashion, betrayed their season-long numbers. This was also a measure of redemption for various media members, like myself, many of whom picked New Jersey.
- Nobody picked Golden State.
- If Utah can win tonight, Kevin Pelton, who works for the Sonics, will look really smart, and climb up near the top of the leaderboard. If Houston wins, Pelton will take a body blow, while "Wages of Wins" author David Berri, Mike Kurylo, and my mom will gain two points on the rest of the field thanks to calling the number of games correctly.
Until further notice, ProTrade's Jeff Ma (famous as a protagonist of that real-life gambling thriller "Bringing Down the House") is the king of this castle. Enjoy the view Jeff, my mom is coming to get you.
One concern we had before launching this contest was that the experts might all make very similar picks. The second round should fix that (thank you, Golden State). Not sure anyone knows exactly what to expect from the Warriors in the next round. That'll seperate the sheep from the goats a little, as, it appears, will New Jersey and Cleveland, as well as Detroit and Chicago. Almost everyone likes San Antonio against Phoenix, however -- except my mom.
While we're at it, here are my predictions for the second round so far:
Chicago over Detroit. I have a feeling that by the end of this series people will be saying that the Pistons look a little old. If the Pistons win? It'll be because Tayshaun Prince is amazing.
San Antonio over Phoenix. I'm rooting for Phoenix. But San Antonio is good.
New Jersey over Cleveland. Cleveland just seems pretty spotty. New Jersey sometimes has veteran poise, and if Richard Jefferson is really healthy, to me the Nets are better.
