A forecast by ESPN placed the San Antonio Spurs 10th in the Western Conference — effectively ruling them out of the playoffs. The news reached Rudy Gay and the forward blasted the forecast.
Below is the projected standings for the 2018-2019 season. As observed, the Spurs are nowhere to be found. In his yearly standing forecast, ESPN's Kevin Pelton expects the Spurs to just win 38.5 games and won't qualify for the playoffs.
https://www.instagram.com/p/BmB5_MKjC_4/?taken-by=espn
Gay replied to the photo. Below is a screenshot as captured by Erik M. Luis:
So @espn is already counting out the @spurs good thing @RudyGay is there to keep them in check pic.twitter.com/qSCmdw1LsJ
— Erik M. Luis (@aryck920) August 3, 2018
Pelton used RPMs in his forecast model, noting that it's not entirely reliable. After all, while advanced statistics have been used to gain a better understanding of the game, they still don't carry the pinpoint accuracy that they yearn for. And perhaps they never will.
Basketball, especially in the NBA, are bound by systematic and sophisticated plays where every angle and space is taken into consideration. Yet in a game's critical moments, the science behind the game takes a back seat. What at the fore is the players' heart and intuition — elements that can never be placed within a frame of statistics, both basic and advanced.
In the end, Pelton's predictions are just numbers. They mean something in the world of advanced forecast techniques. But in the world of basketball, they only serve fuel to the fire.
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