Hey guys, so I started putting this together on the weekend, finally got around to finishing it up and thought others would be interested. I didn't do this with any particular purpose bar comparing last year 32 games in for the Pelicans, and this year 32 games in. Hopefully the image inserts nicely.
There are a bunch of categories here, so to type out a rough definition for every one would be time consuming and I don't think it is needed. Rather, I'll add a couple that I think may not be straight forward on first glance, and then feel free to ask me about any that you want to confirm or are confused by.
1st Quarters W-L-T - The first quarter results of every Pelicans game 32 games into each season Win-Loss-Tie - The percentage is purely the Pelicans Win percentage for each quarter. So 2013/14 1st Quarter = 20 wins-12 losses-0 ties, win percentage 62.50%
Games Won Down 1st - The number of games Pelicans won when down after the 1st quarter, from the total number of games the Pelicans were down at the 1st quarter. The percentage is of this amount. So in 2013/14, of the 12 times the Pelicans were down at the 1st, they came back to win the game 2 times. This had the Pelicans sitting at a 16.67% chance of winning a game after losing the first quarter
OT Games - The total number of games in the first 32 that went into overtime.
Record v 2013 Top 8 - Our W-L record against the top 8 Western Conference teams of 2013/14 (this is the top 8 of the whole season, I did not work out the top 8 for the first 32 games of 2013/14).
Record v 2014 Top 8 - Our W-L record against the top 8 Western Conference teams of 2014/15 (as of Sunday night).
So for the above two, the Teams are basically - SAS/LAC/POR/HOU/GSW/MEM/DAL with PHX replacing OKC for this season.
*now, if people believe there is a mistake anywhere, please let me know, happy to correct any issues, I am not perfect
Summary
At this point, I don't know if there is really any major in depth analysis you can do that would really explain the nitty gritty of the two years performances. The rosters looked slightly different, and we had different injuries. What we can look at from a higher level purely numbers stand point and observe so far:
- We have won 1 game more, sitting at .500 despite having lost more quarters than we have won (the difference could be pointed at our two OT quarter losses compared to last years OT performances)
- Both our biggest win and loss scores have grown - though the loss is at least to a much better team this year
- We are winning games by smaller amounts on average, with 11 games by less than 10 points or less compared to 8
- We have not won as many games by a larger margin (greater than or equal to 11 points)
- Both of these category changes could be attributed to a tougher schedule (the Record v 2013 and 14 Top 8 Teams shows we have played the top 8 western conference teams more)
- We have lost more closer matches (losses by less than or equal to 10 points) BUT had fewer blow out losses - 6 compared to 8 (losses by 11 or greater), this is a good improvement considering the point around playing more top 8 WC teams
- We have not been as strong in the 1st and 4th quarters this year, but have improved our 2nd and 3rd quarter performances in compensation. This year is a much more balanced W-L result across the quarters
- We have improved our ability to come back from being down at 1st and 3rd quarters, and the half
- We are still in the game if we are up after the first, but are pretty money when we are up at the half and end of 3rd quarter
- same number of road games in the game span. We have had 2 more Back 2 Backs compared to this time last year.
- If we go to OT we lose. Last year we performed well in OT (CHI and DET).
OK so feel free to contribute, observations, error corrections, anything really. My brain and eyes hurt, and would love to hear what everyone thinks when comparing the two years first 32 games. I am also happy to hear recommendations on possible other categories I could add, or people would be interested to see.
**UPDATE** Latest Comparison Data 53 Games In