Posted: 2020-12-05 14:14:38 (CT) [ 616 views ]
At this point we do not know if the NBA will actually begin December 22nd, but it appears so. Most likely there will be few or no fans as is planned at this time. This fact may give us at VMI an opportunity to collect some additional data that separates the effect of the home arena's fan base from the visitor's adjustment to the climate in terms of wins and losses and player production. We were able to observe some effects in Orlando earlier this Fall regarding lack of transitional basketball and lack of fans, so if we can now observe normal transitional basketball across the US, but without fans, it may be another boost to our data collection.
Over the summer, as the NBA was ramping up to finish their 2019-2020 season in Orlando, we wrote about the prospects for meaningful data, as follows:
At VMI, we think this is a great opportunity to show the world what happens when a league has both talent parity and a level playing field. To some, it will look like the talent pool is thin. To us, we believe that parity plus level playing fields is the best way to determine the champion.
VMI believes that during past seasons, once the play-off's have begun, the level playing field occurred about the 3rd game of each series. This year, the level playing field will be in play the entire post-season even though the games will most likely revert to home sports arenas. There will be no home crowd. Both teams will need to adjust to the venue from Orlando. In the event NBA hosts the entire post-season in Orlando, then no adjustment will need to be made at all.
These aspects will provide us with a great baseline in terms of shooting percentages. It is very difficult to balance the shooting and winning percentages with traditional statistical analysis without a baseline. Add to that, the few games within each VMI range and one can see why the percentages may not be very telling at this point. We are extremely excited to have this opportunity so early in our website life.
The Toronto Raptors announced their 2020-21 first half schedule on Friday. The Raptors will tip off their 26th season in the National Basketball Association on Wednesday, Dec. 23 when they host New Orleans at Amalie Arena in Tampa, Florida.
Amalie Arena
401 Channelside Dr, Tampa, FL 33602
(813) 301-6500
Amalie Arena will be the team’s home for at least the first half of their schedule The elevation of the arena floor is less than 20 feet above sea level.
For the first half schedule, all weekday home games will start at 7:30 p.m. Weekend home games will tip at either 6 p.m. or 7:30 p.m.
Each team will play 72 games in the 2020-21 season, facing each opponent in its conference three times (42 total games per team) and each opponent in the other conference twice (30 total games per team). In the First Half, each team will play 37 or 38 games, including a minimum of 17 home games and a maximum of 20. Nearly 52% of all regular-season games (558 of 1,080) have been scheduled for the First Half.
The schedule incorporates steps to reduce travel, including the use of a “series” model. In some instances where a team is scheduled to play twice in one market, those games have been scheduled to be played consecutively. Each team will play an average of four “series” in the First Half – two at home and two on the road. Additional steps include more instances of teams playing consecutive road games against teams that are geographically close, and roughly 50% fewer instances of teams making single-game road trips.
