Belk Bowl Eye in the Sky is up!

Virginia Tech=30Kentucky=37

“There’s mo’ than one way to skin a… ‘cat?”

Virginia Tech football just went 6-1 and was one single solitary play and likewise one single point removed from going 7-nil After Duke. Amassing a very impressive 231-11o tally in what amounted to 7.75 games worth of work.

Posthumously to that, he Hokies also went o-2 and slumped their way home after such a sharp and smart 2018 (seeming) slump-busting following after our final September date. Accruing a negative 6o-76 look the ‘rong way.

I cannot speak for you and your committee of one… however me and my committee of none? Well, we are filibustered and left ad-hoc wondering which narrative to rally to? As -same as the swansong to 2018- “Will the real VeeTee please stand-up! Please stand up!

1Q 60:00 remaining:

Acta non Verba“… REMEMBER?
The Wildcats Alpha dawgg… “barks”.
K9 D.n.a. in this THUNDERcat!
Targeting 1o1… or… “A wolf in sheep‘s clothing…” REMEMBER?

http://www.espn.com/video/clip?id=28400468

…and then this fight, I mean this Bowl game actually tipped-off.

As nobody Eye knows of covered any of this pre-game in print big-n-bold sans censorship, sans editing; covering it all colorfully and matter-a-factually.

Now you all know precisely why Eye did…

Though I will also have the ‘Crawford shoulda fought’ back crowd learn… you always seize the moral high ground first. i.e. attack downhill.

As you can always Lynnjure this street freak between the whistles, squeaky clean on good clean, hard, smart, tough hitting. (or would that just make too much, sense?)

Now that all being sporting civics said… Eye gotta confess, my street and textbook clinical sides alike do like what this visual connotes… obeisance?

O&M Meow Mix 1o1…

This is not Will’s pet phrase of: “…herding cats“, this is being herded by ‘Cats! And the next time that that will be a masculine look?

Will be the, first.                                                                                                                                          🙀

As you do have to wonder if Lynn clinically sniffed up on something a little catty about us?

Game Duration:
You can see it even on the very opening Kentucky defensive series and you can see it even mo’ effusively throughout… as we had Pitbull troubles with these Wildcat dLinemen when they are fresh to begin any possession/series. (more on this below… as…)

Fatigue makes cowards of us all.
—Vincent Thomas Lombardi

Also, interesting Will or Wide-side nearly massive over-shift by the KY halt-unit’s second-layer to begin. As there was bucco room to work short-side behind this off of one of our pet misdirection’s.

Game duration:
This I only partially understand… as although our overall tacking vastly improved After Duke, Ashby account for about 20% of our misses while simultaneously leading us in stops! This due to his (growing) innertube he calls a waistline and the prohibitions it places on him getting/covering to the spot; as he was always a full ½ stride behind or too latent in his edge spill-fits. Here, however… we observe him sans any knee bracing/wrapping whatsoever for the first time in months. As Ashby tacked and changed direction better inside and yet tackled worse outside respectively on two improved knees. Go fig’ on this?!? Ditto DAX who was knee-clear for the first time in a month+ his ownself. A cruel mistress this gridiron game indeed.

Case in point… (3Q 13:33 remaining) … #10 (prolly KY’s best pure talent at Rb) gets the call and it is obvious he is way too ‘twitchy’ for the scraped textbook A+++ and well-positioned Ashby to tackle at the LOS (line-of-scrimmage). Then #10 breaks two mo’ stops downfield, all with good telemetry outside-in, and finally one of our few defenders with some “pop” in his cans #22 (Conner) makes the open-field halt. Witness… it TOOK twitch-on-twitch high-end kinetic-crime to tame this ‘cat. Even a pure Mike-Lb tackling machine and two pretty gamey enough kids could not seal the deal.

(i.e. as Chris explained to you: “I think it’s more of a talent/athleticism issue. This defense just isn’t anywhere near as talented as it used to be, and their athleticism has dropped off.“)
Epitaphmuch?

Eye wonder who has been harping this for what? 18-20 months now?

As one of the Bowden TD jaunts explained this in full… as we had nearly NO recovery speed on breaking tape sans the hurting Farley’s bad-back, (St.Wolfgang bless). And Lynn Bowden -although fast- is not a pure Usain Bolt burner. He’s got about 4.5 credible gears in his box although he’s a few thoroughbred horses shy of turbocharged.

The incredulous timestamp on this play you ask???

3rd Q: 7:57, remaining!!!

Mutually… good to see Rambo foregoing any patella bracing… this is a good sign. However, this was his worst blocking day by far. As he just looked ‘stale’ or flat in a word upon breaking tape. Like there was not as much pop left in his cans on NYE day. Same as Ash’ up above… why=??? (UPDATE: then I watched a bit mo’… Rambo blocked okay even good in space; tho’ really struggled H-backing inside. Which prolly just N.f.l. pegged him for the moment. And it also tells you exactly what he’s blocking inside the A.c.c. vis-à-vis.)

3Q 1st VT offensive drive remaining:
Now, here is a good nugget on a day with a downright S’y pre-game and ending alike. As to me? Well to me… this was the most in sync I’ve seen the Fu’fense, while twice hurting Hookin’ ain’t easy… playing a game of cornhole on O all season long. And if I am Fu’ and Corny? I bring Hooker in and I debrief him on why things looked smooth as glass here. As this is his accuracy, R.P.O. literary and smoothest Landio Calrissian effort of: “don’t hate the playar hate da game” since the best version of Jerod “crash” Evans up @Pitt. Gotta data-mine the hell outta this one men -and the seasonal tape(s)- and try to I.D. which Fu’fensive plays fit our Hooker to the proverbial Tee. Then you build your next Qb1 wrist-sheet formations around the same.

WOW… you just cannot make this game tape, up!

As this entire VeeTee offensive series was just plain downright Fun to watch! And although I do not know how our HenBoss feels about London Underground and the even older-school Ton-80 Club, #2 be throwing proverbial darts here just like a… Champ(s). As every single play-call, this series resulted in 11-yards minimum, a first-down, or 6-points!

3Q 8:44 remaining:
So, some of you already wrote to me to tell me that VeeTee and Crawford in very particular looked; well, ‘catty’ for not fighting-back pre-game.

And low-n-behold… we did throw a punch. Albeit a punch that missed!?! LOL… as our player-voted #1 (Floyd) throws a crispy right-cross that (somehow) misses the head entirely of the KY outside-Wr at the end of this blocking dust-up type play here. Some days you get the bull and some days you get the horns. (no matter how horny these Wildcats may be).

Game duration:
On such a limited touches basis (8), Rb, K.King sure broke a mess of KY jelly-belly tackles. Nearly 66.7% on a per rata basis… and we have to hope this is a glimpse of his fu’ture. Outta the doghouse, into playing leg-health-clean, with the proverbial game just beginning to ‘slow down’ for him. As he looked mucho better on tape that I had detected in-game under live fire.

Hudson totally pwned #57 here!!!

3Q :30 remaining:
First good clean: “steal” (on #57 of KY) I’ve seen from us in film-study in weeks… very plural. As I have it on the highest authority that these (and ‘thud hits’) are being actively: coached-out.

WAR our Hudson (bomber) for NOT freakin’ listening!!!

3Q/4Q 15-10:00 remaining:
Eye found it very revealing… that somewhere in the couple final innings of work… we/Bud Bøck, started helping the KY guys up off the mat.

Like we suddenly wanted to be friends or play nice. This after a pretty eye-gouging and fish-hooking set of initial ~40-45 minutes’ worth of pursuits, contacts and a few post-play O&M thingy’s that went down after the “whistle” blew the play dead. If you are not connecting my clinical dots? This sure looked like acquiesce upon further review to me. (if not submissively offering oneself up and rolling over). Like our 1960’s groovy O&M mood-ring suddenly turned… pink.

And remember…. if the participation trophy don’t fit?
You must acquit.

4Q :bowl game outcome remaining:
Did this final KY Belk winning drive remind of anything? As it sure reminded me of @N.Dame.

Whereby we collectively went o-6 on 4th down (attempted) stops as we just could not get off the field in the bottom of the 9th inning in either scrum. (as yet again; this proverbial “game of inches” was decided by mere centimeters… as we were that (index mashed to thumb) that dang close to just nicking each VicTory…)

Because the average 4th down conversion defense in D-1 right now allows a 4th down conversion 52.3% of the time. Or in other words… you’d sure think we disallowed at least one 4th down outta those six.

As the odds on all six 4th downs being given up on average are about one in fiddy.

(mid.scrpit: we were 96th on 4th down fighting)

Game culmination 0:oo remaining:
So, I actually kept score on this Sock Em’ Conference vs. All Charmin Conference match-up. I scored: solid/good hits, knockdown hits, and I.c.b.m. thermonuclear hits -be they clean or NOT- for the duration of the contest and here is what my scorecard read:

VT=4
Kentucky=15

Do you gentlemen see, a; trend?
(mo’ below…)

4Q closed and the Game of Life remaining:

So long Budweiser!
It’s been very real. Godspeed and God Bless good Sir.!!!

Time To Throw (TTT)©:

Virginia Tech:
Qb pressured=9
Qb hurried=1
Qb hits=15
Sacked=1

Kentucky:
Qb pressured=4
Qb hurried=o
Qb hits=36
Sacked=1

Notice… the blocking pie-chart is virtually (less 1-play) perfectly symmetrical. This shows out perfectly valid in who blocked better later on in multi-series possessions (i.e. the Vice Squad). —and who struggled to tame fully oxygenated Wildcats early-on during the initial handful of downs in any given Hokie offensive possession; (A.K.A. the Vice Squad just the same).

Observe… as we figured out the hard way under P.J.’s Flexbone O, rushing O’s that feature Qb-keepers, Iso’s and Wham’s truly shatter the shape of the TTT metric itself.

On the one hand… it is still quite bizarre to see us hit an opposing Qb1 36 freakin’ times and yet still get… beat! Eye do not recall that (much) of an outcome outlier before. As yet again… a weird science the geometry of this oblong spheroid indeed.

On the other hand… the Vice Squad -although serially outmanned metrics wise upfront- held the line on the V-shaped passing-cut pretty decently by-the-bye. Not epically, although our Hooker was not “food” and they were not exactly Wildcat mauled as someone had feared pre-game. The insertion of big ole T.J. Jackson back into the starting line-up at right-G helped attempt to balance the scales and tip the Toledo’s a bit. (as he was merely outweighed by ~15 lbs. by the Ng and Dt of Kentucky). Think about that one for a minute or three folks…

On the third hand… Eye thought we gained some pretty encouraging run-fit traction as this one wore on and the not entirely Jenny Craig’ed KY behemoth+++ sized Dline began to wear down a bit. Both Corny and Hilgirth did a delightful job of identifying and conceptualizing the pulmonary and cardio deficiencies of the KY front-4 in the Belk Bowl in pre-game film-study. In extreme particular when any individual play-count hit high single digits per Fufensive possession. As the KY dLine played higher and higher— nearly standing up for chicken-fighting at times due to their lack of old-school: “wind”. You could even see their towering De and exceeding rotund Ng with hands-on-hips or bent forward at the waist trying to catch their breath. Yet early on in a given series for ~a handful of plays and they were “wide-load” safety escape ramp hell-on-wheels. Beyond that and they were plum (Kyle) Tucker’d out.

On the final hand… this is an encouragement going forward for the Vice Squad with a noticeable upgrade at Rb on the way, with 3-Qb’s who can run like mugs and with a substantial betterment at C1 now all eligible for next year. As although we are not yet upon our blocking-ceiling; it sure feels better to be out last decade’s blocking basement. As the Vice Squad still has ~26 games remaining of blocking headroom before it is due to reach its roofing peak. (savor that one for a season or two folks…)

***

Bud Böck tackling did wilt a wee bit as the day grew longer and the Mack Truck 18-wheeler bulldog sized Wildcat oLine grew stronger and began to downshift and wrest traction on our defensive front-7 after 3 PM. Tho’ tacking was not bad-bad, and frankly, it was uva-better.

Because whereas @c’Ville Va., we made a good rushing Qb1 look great on shallow run-fits; here a truly great rushing Qb1 submerged our O&M lifejacket run-fits and made them look indigent per his truly ‘twitchy’ or mega-‘burst’ laden outside-edge or open-field run-shapes.

In as much as a spill or funnel-based gap-fill defensive scheme is still a Coach Euclidean game… which means your D needs several “poly” prefix playars to deal on a truly multi-faceted rushing savant of a freaky-freak like Lynn Bowden of Kentucky.

(i.e. we were not the only halt-unit he was LOL at and made to look: “silly”)

(and he was suffering from ‘cramps’ in the 2nd-half to boot!)

Longfield Management (Lo.FM)©:

Virginia Tech:
positive: |||| || (2 TD’s! 2 KY penalties, one 4thD convert)
Swiss (neutral): ||| (1 fumble returned for a TD)
negative: |||| |||| |||

Kentucky:
positive: |||| |||| (3 TD, 2 VT flag’s, two big 4thD converts!)
Swiss (neutral): ||
negative: |||| || (1 INT)

As said, overall, tacking was pretty fair to middling for trying to corral such a truly wild, ‘cat. The bumrush was, however, that we had only 3-misses in the 4Q, all of which occurred on one 6-point allowing, play! Dang…

Though that’s really not the point, as our tacking was close to 60% better for Kentucky as it was for uva and overall it was better than the normalized marker ~.222 misses per play.

The killer thing was… we could not get close enough to Lynn.Bo’ TOO tackle him!
(more below: tho’ this was a stiff-legged walk-off brand of Bud’).

On the other side…

20%.

We/VT went 20% on our outside-Wr targets and a pissibly, I mean possibly even worse 50% on our screen throw-points. Yikes! This we game-film grading know.

What we do not (yet) know is… how much can this returning Qb1 starter soon to be rising r-Jr. year Qb1, grow? Can/should his oddball non-laces gripping handsy set-up be fixed? Just how hurting was he and therefore how much mo’ better is he when he’s healthy? As we all know… “hookin’ ain’t easy” and it is even harder when passing S.TD’s.

Accordingly, it appears our Hooker has a targeting software virus of sorts. Throw game herpes if you will. As some of his pass-points are authentically uncatchable and for the second straight game Eye saw several of his catch-corps eye-rolling and shoulder-shrugging their HenBoss with more than a little saltiness/disgust in their rooster tales when #2 missed them.

Or to put it another way… we just averaged a stunning 8-yards on 1st-down (7.9 if you are keeping McBryde Hall score at home). As in… and insanely enough… we averaged a freakin’ first-down or 10.3 ypg on our first-down handoffs! Passing and not so much; still yet, and after owning -if not outright bitch slapping 1st-down- we still got beat?

That’s a Lo.FM choke job if there ever was one… Coach Heimlich please report to the Arnold’s dancefloor.

oOo

Conversely… did you notice our Hooker hookin’-up substantial BIG + Lo.FM plays when chasing the chain-gang. As good plays when behind on the sticks is very typically an upperclassman Member’s Only club. So, this is indeed a hopeful/useful sign of ripening and matriculation. Wonder how mature our Hooker is if he is actually; healthy? (as the leg injury was confirmed when one of our very own dLinemen friendly fired Hooker up and accidentally fell on his prone leg in Bowl practice down in PHNC-Fu land).

Still yet… Chris Coleman wrote this was Corny’s best game all year. Me? I’m more inclined to not disagree is how I will put it. As he did about as much as he could for being oh so very outmanned in a: “MAN’s game son!” upfront.

The killer, however, was that Bud Lyte was not able to inflict its nominal Lo.FM’s on this slippery KY Qb1 and force him to have to throw a bit more. As that mastodon or bear-pit sized Wildcat oLine was obviously better conditioned than their likewise freight-train sized defensive chubby-checkers counterparts were.

Nonetheless, either way… all 3 next year Qb1 potentials are dual-threat Qb’s who are
Spread set born-n-bred. Let the 2020 Qb1 derby begin!

The #1 lesson to take away from L'ing the Belk Bowl to a mid-level+++ S.e.c. squad is... what(s)???

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the takeaway...

Irish Hokie: “…the positive was the intensity factor in how he {sic: Bowden} plays the game. We simply don’t possess that kind of ‘want too’, which is a leadership issue, both on the players and the coaches. We had no one out there prepared to match what Bowden brought to the table.

Yah.
Bingo dat bro’.
No if’s and’s or butt’s.

Tho’ how well does ‘matching the intensity‘ of this nutbag mesh with: “expected outcomes“?
What exactly is pious leverage and who in Fu’s revamped cultural fulcrums this response, here?

Although I cannot speak for any of you fine readers…  I serially doubt that Fu’ could Old Testament stand this eye-for-an-eye, tête-à-tête, or a tech-oh-heck type response for 1ι (i.e. one iota).

Nevertheless, this is the paradigm-shifting danger of being caught between two pretty well-competing cultures. (more on this below) …

Because Eye for one saw neither O&M culture; win, here.

And to compound-fracture all of ^that^ all the more… sourcing says that Fu’ has actively coached: “thud” hitting outta this team. So, the big bad S.e.c. bullies come over, they ask us for our Owens Dining Hall lunch money… and then they arm-punch us just as soon as the cafeteria attendant looks the other way. All the while we try to keep eating, hoping that they will just go away. (that might be tough to digest; granted, tho’ hard or tough this Bowl tape ain’t).

I mean… I’m not technically for pre-game as(s)inine, tatted/inked-up, blinged-out street thug soldier/warrior nonsense. Not at all…

However, I -and my stomach- are both for eating and that means if I have to gut-punch one of these knuckleheads to get them off of me?

It is my experience that you only have to gut-punch (where it typically leaves no marking(s) mind you) you only have to gut-punch one of them once. As most bullies will simply move along in search of easier lunchroom prey.

The Rest of the Story...

“game of inches” my right foot!

Fu’ is a hard one to read… tho’ methinks he turtles a bit under pressure.

We sideline saw this throughout the L streak in 2018 big-n-bold upon breaking game tape.

Pressure goes up, he dials down and self-abacus turtles; and tries to figure it ALL out his ownself.

He’s an analytical, analysis-driven, measured, slide-rule, introvert.
Not a dum’ one, either. Nonetheless…

In a near half-decade worth of rather mixed cultural Confucianism?

I’m almost starting to wonder if he’s not a better small-market alpha? (i.e. a lower wattage spotlight really helps him intellectualize then… shine)

Or maybe he just needs to make sure one of his new ass.coaches is also a part-time cultural coach? (which frees Fu’ up to do what he does best -mind the offensive store- and thereby avoid what he seems clinically least comfortable with… installing, conditioning and reinforcing culturalization itself)

However, and in all due fairness to Fu’, Corny and Bud/j.Ham… all this message board crying about FIRE whichever coach(s) is a crock of shite. You tools who say this ought to be ashamed and shamefaced. As this was not a ‘Bama, or L.s.u. who just manned-up and out-manned, and eventually began to manhandle our kids individually. This was a 4th place in the So.Eastern’s West Division team who slowly wore us down and eventually turned us out.

Which R.A.T.T. pegs us where in the S.e.c.?

Prolly north of Vandy and Arkansas this year; granted.
Although could we honestly beat Olè Miss.? Or even U.s.c.-East?
Or would our Hokiebird be in a dogfight for S.e.c. no.12/no.10 give/take?

Because when you look at the collision or “Steal” type hit-counter up above… it’s pretty amazing to me that we stayed in this game and actually lead this game by 1.5 full-plays at one point for as long as we did when you see our guys getting individually mugged for the quorum of the contest. (and not picking many KY physical pockets in return).

i.e. it is NOT coaching the verb people!

It is our lack of **** and our outright premarital abstinence from *****
starry-eyed Lynn Bowden type of ‘burst’ or twitchy Jimmy’s and Joes!

As this game showcased in so many pre and in-game ways… Fu’s truly caught between himself…
Because the higher octane and highly regimented No Bitches Allowed look truly smothered the team to begin the year up through Duke. They responded poorly with superfluous misQ’s that were playing-time phobic and subsequently played tight as HELL.
meow!”

SO, he not only loosens the reins, he nearly lets go post-Duke.


And although things rose up more than a little bit after Duke… ^this^ methodology does not jive with “expected outcomes” and analytics nor with #HardSmartTough.

Obeisance this may be; although ascesis this is not.

As Fu’ has got to human resource I.D., and then clinically dog-tag what this program’s self-definition really should be.

Which may or may not be... what he personally wants it to be.

As his newest message was only reinforced in-season via toggling of levels of control; which begets keep to the code confusion.

Whereby control based (in-season) toggling=locker-room mantra boggling… ergo, therefore to Whit, the eventual end of year output… did; blur.

Which is precisely what we witnessed on the 2018 and again on the 2019-way home.

In 2019 A.D. closing

This truly has been a nonpareil simultaneously acute and obtuse season that (seemingly) went full-circle, twice. A 359° or 361° campaign if you will that in the final analysis only ended up continuing 2018’s razor’s edge. This via lacking ultimate 2019 positive definition and/or successful end of year cultural closure.

Eye say this with outcome-based implicit authority… because in our last three Dire Straits 🎼”You’re So Far Away From Me“🎵 football L’s in 2019 you ask?

  1. we led @ND with o:29 left in the 4th Q.
  2. we led @hooVa with 1:23 left in the 4th Q.
  3. and we led Kentucky with o:15 left in the 4th Q.
  4. Or, this 2019 team truly was three plays or a mere “127 seconds” removed from 10-2!

^^^there’s^^^ you a real off-season S&C Tee-shirt slogan that actually… fits… Justin.

As there are a lotta realistic ways to describe all of ^that^ sports-fans; like: building, getting closer, maybe even a year away… and yet the word: “finishing” just ain’t among ’em.

Because terminal contact sports are as easy as your A.b.c.’s.
Always Be, Closing.

1/366

💯

#wimps!

Virginia Tech=3o, Kentucky=37

LETS GO!

Hokies!

bourbonstreet**

16 Responses You are logged in as Test

    1. Aye, …that could very well be.

      Tho’ if my Aunt Kim had nutz and a bolt?
      She’d be my Uncle… Tim.

      b.street

    1. I did kinda like the combo’s (plural).
      Tho’ that new car scent has worn off.

      b.street

  1. “…Pressure goes up, he dials down and self-abacus turtles; and tries to figure it ALL out his ownself.” B’Street.

    Always heard that above “…” was main riff between Aloha QB Evans & Coach Fuente,

    Leadership = empowerment. Otherwise, it’s a dictatorship. To reach the pinnacle of Conference Championships critical elite players are out into position to make plays and then allow them to make them.

    Now that it’s over and news across a Claytor Lake travels fast, pressure/blitz & more pressure was cornerstone of HOFer defensive Coach, but post-Fu Era, D goes full bore prevent, rush 3 pass & drop one…cause predicted outcomes state Offenses will run out of time, chipping their way down the field, vs “the talent” making a play with pressure. Or said another way, you take the bite & bark out of the dog to guard the endzone.

    Peace be with you B’Street great season of Eye insights & soothsayings.

    Let’s Go…Hokies!!!

    1. I’m presuming you meant: “pinnacle”.
      (so Eye cleaned that up for you).
      —————
      Interesting… so Fu’ chilled Budweiser’s attack manta out?

      b.street

  2. Games are over when the play stops and the clock says 0.00

    And that is what determines the winner.

    Thank goodness UNC wasn’t in the list.

  3. First, ty ‘street for another year of insights (u & Brandon had me running to the dictionary a few times).

    One thing I hope you can expand upon – taking the reporting as gospel that coaches are coaching the thud hits out of the guys – why would one do this? Scruming aint dance class. Learning to tackle to avoid the target call is one thing, taking the smash hit seems counter smashmouth culture we saw germinating.

    I have no idea what next year will present. So many moving parts during the off season. My hope is as always, the ballers continue to develop and gel, and the coaches do same.

    Happy New year/decade # MMXX.

    1. …Eye heard Fu’ admonish Conner for it.
      So, I’d presume that Fu’ is a good enough; source.

      (if you can believe that…)
      Which seems nutty to me and Eye was there.

      b.street

  4. Would love to have seen how Cory Moore would have treated Bowden …that would have been fun 😎

    1. Well, that’s just it…

      …you do NEED a response.

      “Passive-aggressive” or Gandhi football won’t tame this ‘cat.

      b.street

  5. The expected outcome-playing loose dichotomy goes back to the overall talent level. Expected outcomes is essentially a probability distribution function of the likelihood of something happening on any one play (gain 5 yards, lose 5, turnover, whatever). When players are playing loose, having fun, whatever you want to call it the variance of that distribution increases, i.e. you increase the likelihood of both highly positive and highly negative plays, the proportion of which is tied to the skewness of the distribution.

    Taking 2005 as an example, that very talented team when playing loose the likelihood of bad plays was not really that high in an absolute sense, and the likelihood of good plays was really, really high. 2018-19 VT can’t do that, although 2020 has some chance and 2021 has a solid chance of being able to play loose and still have their expected outcomes be mostly positive, if not for raw talent but for a critical mass of upperclassmen.

    1. When players are playing loose, having fun, whatever you want to call it the variance of that distribution increases.

      Interesting… so a twin-tail skew?

      I wonder if older teams objectively skew that to the right-side or good?

      b.street

      1. Would take a lot of analysis to try to figure out quantitatively but my intuitive sense is that the objective gains seen by senior-laden teams are more directly a result in reduction of mistakes versus an increase in superstar plays. Even a very dedicated and extremely ‘roided-out lifter can only make so many strength gains in 5 years. The gains you can make in speed, quickness, vertical jump, are all even less so (beyond simple technique errors). Reducing errors or bad plays to near 0 essentially translates into a profile that nudges the mean positive but in the best-case scenario shows strong skewness to the good side as now there’s basically no bad tail to speak of.

        Now for me to really go off the rails here with analogy, this season, especially the pre-Hooker part, is to me one that is leptokurtic, i.e. kurtosis way too much above 0. Way too sharp of a peak at exactly the average (playing too tight, trying to do the only 1 or 2 things they were really good at and easily repeatable, maybe for playing time like you say). Problem is there’s not enough time on the clock to win on many tiny successful plays alone. The tiny successful plays are your launching point for the big plays, or to switch to a poker they are your small winning hands that are used to backstop your risk when you swing for the fences.

        1. I would agry.

          Gotta cut off that left-hand skewing bad tail; FIRST.
          Even if you hide those former negative plus under a fatter bell-curve, that’s still a more handsome tune. No matter ‘twitchy” or positive right-hand tail extending ballers or not. (which we ain’t gots at the moment mind yah…)

          i.e. the need to single-shot compensate for this negative skewing left-hand tail plays is gone.
          Therefore: Expected Outcomes should operate noticeably more comfortably accordingly here.

          b.street

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