NBA Podcast: Bulls in Media Spin Cycle, Melo Mind Games & March Madness Millions

If it’s the weekend, then it’s time for another Wages of Wins Network podcast!

You can listen to the podcast one of three ways:

• By downloading it from nerdnumbers.com 
• Subscribing to the RSS feed OR 
• Going to iTunes. 

The cast:

• Mosi Platt from the Miami Heat Index
• Arturo Galletti from Arturo’s Silly Little Stats
• David Berri from The Wages of Wins Journal

The synopsis:

• Derrick Rose and Tom Thibodeau are the media’s prohibitive favorites for the MVP and Coach of the Year awards because they’re the leading scorer and defensive architect (respectively) of the #1 team in the Eastern Conference, but are they getting too much credit for the Bulls’ success?
  • ESPN reported that MVP and Coach of the Year have come from the same team 11 times, but Berri described why Rose’s performance has been more comparable to Kyle Lowry than to an MVP candidate, and why Thibodeau may not be the reason the Bulls' defense has been the best in the NBA.
  • Platt and Galletti discussed whether or not the Bulls can challenge the Heat and Celtics for a trip to the Finals.
  •  This great Bruce Blitz youtube clip is discussed. Berri explained why Tim Legler and other television analysts say crazy things like “Rose is the most dominating point guard since Magic Johnson.” For giggles and grins, Galletti took a stab at estimating the difference between Magic and Rose off the top of his head.
  • Platt called Rose a chucker in this comment, but his college coaches, John Calipari and Rod Strickland, said on NBA TV that Rose was a deferential, pass-first point guard when he came to Memphis and they convinced him to shoot more. Berri gave his theory on why coaches do that.
• Why are the Nuggets getting better results from their trade with the Knicks if their General Manager said they ‘got killed’ in the trade?
  • The Nuggets’ former Director of Quantitative Analysis, Dean Oliver, said the Carmelo Anthony trade rumors had a negative psychological impact on the team that degraded the team’s performance. The impact of Melo in Denver and New York is debated.
  • Is history repeating itself in New York?
  • The Nuggets have the second-best defensive efficiency in the NBA since trading Carmelo Anthony. The group debated whether that is a result of George Karl’s coaching, and whether or not it's sustainable.
• What’s crazier about March Madness—shots like this one Jimmer Fredette hit to help send the BYU-Florida game into overtime, or the money schools like Brigham Young University make off their star players’ performance without giving them any fair compensation?
  • Berri described findings from sports economics research on the exploitation of college athletes.
  • Platt provided some numbers from some of this year’s top men’s basketball programs. For example:
  • After Jimmer Fredette scored 43 points to beat San Diego State in January, Darren Rovell reported the following:
    • “BYU spokesman Michael Smart told CNBC that sales of basketball-related merchandise at the arena on Wednesday night alone surpassed the season-long merchandise totals from each of last 15 seasons.”
    • #32 BYU jerseys cost $55. The bookstore only had four left in stock after the game on January 28th and were back-ordered out to a month (2/25/11).
    • “Since the NCAA doesn't admit to this being specifically Fredette's jersey—his name is not allowed to be on the back—Fredette himself will not receive any royalties from the sales of his gear.”
      • 2009 BYU operating expenses (game day) per player: $34,586
      • 2009 Total expenses for BYU men’s basketball team: $3.6 million
      • 2009 Total revenues from BYU men’s basketball: $3.9 million
  • The colleges listed below would seem to have profited the most from exploiting their basketball stars since they had the most players on NBA rosters at the beginning of the 2011 season (according to rpiratings.com):
    • UCLA - 14 players. 2009-10 Expenses & Revenues:
      • $51,424 operating expenses per player
      • $6.3 million total expenses
      • $12.4 million in revenue
    • Duke - 13 players. 2009-10 Expenses & Revenues:
      • $137,612 operating expenses per player
      • $12.3 million total expenses
      • $26.7 million in revenue
    • U. of Kentucky - 13 players. 2009-10 Expenses & Revenues:
      • $198,147 operating expenses per player
      • $11.6 million total expenses
      • $16.8 million in revenue
    • U. of Kansas - 12 players. 2009-10 Expenses & Revenues:
      • $97,873 operating expenses per player
      • $11 million total expenses
      • $16.1 million in revenue
    • U. of North Carolina - 12 players. 2009-10 Expenses & Revenues:
      • $79,021 operating expenses per player
      • $6.6 million total expenses
      • $20.6 million in revenue
    • U. of Connecticut - 11 players. 2009-10 Expenses & Revenues:
      • $117,074 operating expenses per player
      • $6.9 million total expenses
      • $7.7 million in revenue
    • U. of Texas - 10 players. 2009-10 Expenses & Revenues:
      • $148,783 operating expenses per player
      • $8.9 million total expenses
      • $15.6 million in revenue
    • U. of Arizona - 10 players. 2009-10 Expenses & Revenues:
      • $115,400 operating expenses per player
      • $5.8 million total expenses
      • $19.3 million in revenue

Revenue and expense data for universities’ men’s basketball programs taken from ope.ed.gov.