One of the many charms of America's pastime is the baseball box score, a basic chart that reveals a game's pitching, hitting and fielding statistics. A baseball box score delivers a lot of information in a small space, providing an effective way to re-create the essence of a baseball game. Reading a box score is a time-honored tradition enjoyed by baseball fans everywhere.
Today's advanced box scores offer far more detail than the box scores of yesteryear. As a kid growing up in suburban Chicago, I don't recall the sports pages of the Tribune or Sun-Times revealing the pitch counts of Ferguson Jenkins or the updated batting averages of Ernie Banks or Ron Santo. Nor do I recall finding the number of runners left in scoring position by the hometown Cubs or the all-important game-time wind direction at Wrigley Field.
The baseball box score has come a long way over the past 40 years. Most every baseball stat or situation is covered in a more detailed and sophisticated box score designed for today's diehard followers of the sport.
The sport of basketball should follow the lead established by baseball, thus recording more of a game's happenings. Often times, I'll search and study a basketball box score and feel a sense of emptiness and blankness with questions racing in my mind.
Below is a list of categories (in no particular order) that would be included in my dream college basketball box score:
---Dunks
---Layups
---Deflections
---Number of substitutions
---Three-point opportunities ("Hoop and harm")
---Open three-point shots
---Guarded three-point shots
---Score with 2:00 left
---Score with 1:00 left
---Time of the seventh team foul in each half
---Time of the tenth team foul in each half
---Missed free throws on the front-end of a one-and-one situation
---Designate the five players on the floor at the end of the game
---Opening Pinnacle pointspread
---Closing Pinnacle pointspread
---Opening Pinnacle total
---Closing Pinnacle total
---Experience of each player (class and number of DI games played)
---Shot clock violations
---Defensive schemes (minutes playing man-to-man vs. some form of zone)
---Time of possession
---Time of game
THE PERFECT DOZEN.....Twelve teams remain undefeated six weeks into the college basketball season. Duke, despite losing starting point guard Kyrie Irving to a toe injury, is the best of a group that includes Kansas (9-0), BYU (10-0), Ohio State (9-0), San Diego State (11-0), Baylor (7-0), Connecticut (8-0), Central Florida (9-0), Syracuse (10-0), Cleveland State (12-0), Cincinnati (9-0) and Northwestern (7-0). The Wildcats are the weakest of the undefeated group and the only program in one of the Big Six conferences seeking its first-ever NCAA tournament bid. Nine of the 12 undefeated teams play Saturday with Duke, UConn and NU in action Monday night. Trivial note: Bob Knight's 1975-76 Indiana team is the last of the seven Division I teams to go undefeated in the regular season and win the national title since the inception of the NCAA tournament in 1939.
FRIDAY'S BEST BET.....809 L.A. CLIPPERS +3.5 over the Detroit Pistons. Los Angeles is desperate for its first road victory of the new season. The Clips look to avenge a November 12 overtime loss to Detroit when the Pistons hit 11 of 18 shots from beyond the arc in a 113-107 victory at Staples Center. L.A. outscored Detroit in the paint (54-32) despite playing without starting center Chris Kaman. Baron Davis missed the first meeting against the Pistons, but he'll be ready tonight after missing 14 games in November. Detroit will be life-and-death to win the game, let alone win by four or more.
MORE SELECTIONS.....On Friday night, I will author two threads in EOG's main forum detailing NCAAB and NCAAF selections. My college hoop thread will be titled "Five NCAAB Selections" and my college football analysis will appear in a thread labeled "Bowling for Dollars."
COMING MONDAY.....The most visible and critical position in all of sports (NFL quarterback) seems to be the one most misunderstood by the wagering public.
Today's advanced box scores offer far more detail than the box scores of yesteryear. As a kid growing up in suburban Chicago, I don't recall the sports pages of the Tribune or Sun-Times revealing the pitch counts of Ferguson Jenkins or the updated batting averages of Ernie Banks or Ron Santo. Nor do I recall finding the number of runners left in scoring position by the hometown Cubs or the all-important game-time wind direction at Wrigley Field.
The baseball box score has come a long way over the past 40 years. Most every baseball stat or situation is covered in a more detailed and sophisticated box score designed for today's diehard followers of the sport.
The sport of basketball should follow the lead established by baseball, thus recording more of a game's happenings. Often times, I'll search and study a basketball box score and feel a sense of emptiness and blankness with questions racing in my mind.
Below is a list of categories (in no particular order) that would be included in my dream college basketball box score:
---Dunks
---Layups
---Deflections
---Number of substitutions
---Three-point opportunities ("Hoop and harm")
---Open three-point shots
---Guarded three-point shots
---Score with 2:00 left
---Score with 1:00 left
---Time of the seventh team foul in each half
---Time of the tenth team foul in each half
---Missed free throws on the front-end of a one-and-one situation
---Designate the five players on the floor at the end of the game
---Opening Pinnacle pointspread
---Closing Pinnacle pointspread
---Opening Pinnacle total
---Closing Pinnacle total
---Experience of each player (class and number of DI games played)
---Shot clock violations
---Defensive schemes (minutes playing man-to-man vs. some form of zone)
---Time of possession
---Time of game
THE PERFECT DOZEN.....Twelve teams remain undefeated six weeks into the college basketball season. Duke, despite losing starting point guard Kyrie Irving to a toe injury, is the best of a group that includes Kansas (9-0), BYU (10-0), Ohio State (9-0), San Diego State (11-0), Baylor (7-0), Connecticut (8-0), Central Florida (9-0), Syracuse (10-0), Cleveland State (12-0), Cincinnati (9-0) and Northwestern (7-0). The Wildcats are the weakest of the undefeated group and the only program in one of the Big Six conferences seeking its first-ever NCAA tournament bid. Nine of the 12 undefeated teams play Saturday with Duke, UConn and NU in action Monday night. Trivial note: Bob Knight's 1975-76 Indiana team is the last of the seven Division I teams to go undefeated in the regular season and win the national title since the inception of the NCAA tournament in 1939.
FRIDAY'S BEST BET.....809 L.A. CLIPPERS +3.5 over the Detroit Pistons. Los Angeles is desperate for its first road victory of the new season. The Clips look to avenge a November 12 overtime loss to Detroit when the Pistons hit 11 of 18 shots from beyond the arc in a 113-107 victory at Staples Center. L.A. outscored Detroit in the paint (54-32) despite playing without starting center Chris Kaman. Baron Davis missed the first meeting against the Pistons, but he'll be ready tonight after missing 14 games in November. Detroit will be life-and-death to win the game, let alone win by four or more.
MORE SELECTIONS.....On Friday night, I will author two threads in EOG's main forum detailing NCAAB and NCAAF selections. My college hoop thread will be titled "Five NCAAB Selections" and my college football analysis will appear in a thread labeled "Bowling for Dollars."
COMING MONDAY.....The most visible and critical position in all of sports (NFL quarterback) seems to be the one most misunderstood by the wagering public.
