2011 Draft by Similarity Player Comparisons

Player comparisons are probably as old as the NBA Draft. As we seek to understand how players will translate to the NBA, using the experience of players with similar skills is helpful. Yet the danger is that subjective comparisons will be colored by irrelevant factors. Our similarity scores take a different approach, using NCAA statistical performance adjusted both for the transition from college to the pros and strength of schedule. Players are compared in 13 categories, including height and weight, to their predecessors within six months of the same age at the time they were drafted. ( See here for more details on the process .)

Going by a single player comparison can be dangerous. Most players have a group of comparables that are diverse in terms of their NBA success. Using age at the time the player is drafted limits the pool of possible comparisons, as does the fact that our database goes back only to 2000 and is not complete until 2006 or so. (Before that, it was difficult to track down team statistics to adjust for pace.) If the next Michael Jordan really was in this draft, we wouldn't be able to make the comparison. So don't read more into these comparisons than is really there, especially in cases where the similarity score is low. (They're scored out of 100, with 95 indicating a decent match and 90 generally the cutoff for any real similarity.) Still, these comparisons are fun and can be enlightening at times.

Players are ranked by their current spot in DraftExpress' mock draft . A handful of players from overseas, most notably Davis Bertans, are not listed because of insufficient stats.

In the case of Vesely, and all the other international prospects, these calculations are based on standard SCHOENE similarity scores using the NBA player database and translated European stats. In this case, the numbers don't really see Vesely as a small forward; all his comparisons are to big men, most of them centers. His poor free throw shooting is part of the explanation.

KTSO 94.1 Glenpool, OK "The Sound"

OK, so I do not do much FM DXing, but I do look around on the car radio when I go someplace. I had to make a store run this morning, and on the way there and back, I heard KTSO from Glenpool (Tulsa County) Oklahoma. IDed through their slogan "The Sound." Also caught an ad for Lone Star Steakhouse, giving locations in Broken Arrow and Tulsa. Distance is only about 170 miles, but this is the most distant station I have caught on FM in a while.

Baculoviruses for insect pest control, safety considerations : selected papers from EPA-USDA working symposium, Bethesda, Maryland

Japan electronics almanac

Sound currency

SV. Sound and vibration

Visual Informatics: Bridging Research and Practice, First International Visual Informatics Conference, IVIC 2009 Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia, November 11-13, 2009 Proceedings