Comments on: This Week in the Bush Administration http://www.damonagnos.com/2007/12/10/this-week-in-the-bush-administration-17/ Sports, politics, entertainment, and another jackass with his own domain name Fri, 25 Jul 2008 10:55:31 +0000 http://wordpress.org/?v=2.2.1 By: Damon http://www.damonagnos.com/2007/12/10/this-week-in-the-bush-administration-17/#comment-3157 Damon Mon, 10 Dec 2007 16:59:52 +0000 http://www.damonagnos.com/2007/12/10/this-week-in-the-bush-administration-17/#comment-3157 Good point on the Padilla tapes--that was a little sloppy. I shall have to fix that. Thanks for passing on the link about Boston's defensive efficiency. An interesting corrollary to Boston's high defensive efficiency is that the teams he points out that are known for their defense (San Antonio and Detroit) actually have the league's most efficient offenses. One thing Yglesias doesn't note, however, is scheduling: Boston has hardly faced a murderer's row, with multiple games against Toronto, New Jersey, and the other Stalwarts of the Eastern Conference. The team is quite good, obviously, but their numbers have been inflated by a cream puff schedule. Good point on the Padilla tapes–that was a little sloppy. I shall have to fix that. Thanks for passing on the link about Boston’s defensive efficiency. An interesting corrollary to Boston’s high defensive efficiency is that the teams he points out that are known for their defense (San Antonio and Detroit) actually have the league’s most efficient offenses. One thing Yglesias doesn’t note, however, is scheduling: Boston has hardly faced a murderer’s row, with multiple games against Toronto, New Jersey, and the other Stalwarts of the Eastern Conference. The team is quite good, obviously, but their numbers have been inflated by a cream puff schedule.

]]> By: Nirav http://www.damonagnos.com/2007/12/10/this-week-in-the-bush-administration-17/#comment-3156 Nirav Mon, 10 Dec 2007 16:19:31 +0000 http://www.damonagnos.com/2007/12/10/this-week-in-the-bush-administration-17/#comment-3156 Also, check out this really interesting metric for evaluating NBA defensive efficacy. http://matthewyglesias.theatlantic.com/archives/2007/12/defense.php I've always found "Points Allowed" to be an almost useless statistic, because it says nothing about offensive pacing. Whereas, points allowed per possession relative to league median tells you just about everything you need to know. Also, check out this really interesting metric for evaluating NBA defensive efficacy. http://matthewyglesias.theatlantic.com/archives/2007/12/defense.php

I’ve always found “Points Allowed” to be an almost useless statistic, because it says nothing about offensive pacing. Whereas, points allowed per possession relative to league median tells you just about everything you need to know.

]]> By: Nirav http://www.damonagnos.com/2007/12/10/this-week-in-the-bush-administration-17/#comment-3155 Nirav Mon, 10 Dec 2007 16:15:09 +0000 http://www.damonagnos.com/2007/12/10/this-week-in-the-bush-administration-17/#comment-3155 Great Monday morning reading, as always. One thing though: I don't think the Agency has confessed to "destroying" Padilla's tapes, the way they destroyed the tapes of Abu Zubaydah getting tortured. They claimed that they lost Padilla's tapes (although I can't imagine anyone with any sense believing them on that). Padilla, you may recall, actually went to trial, so spoliation of the tapes of his torture would be absolutely, indisputably criminal behavior on the part of the Agency, unlike the other destructions of evidence, which are only criminal to people who believe in quaint niceties like democracy and the rule of law. Great Monday morning reading, as always. One thing though: I don’t think the Agency has confessed to “destroying” Padilla’s tapes, the way they destroyed the tapes of Abu Zubaydah getting tortured. They claimed that they lost Padilla’s tapes (although I can’t imagine anyone with any sense believing them on that). Padilla, you may recall, actually went to trial, so spoliation of the tapes of his torture would be absolutely, indisputably criminal behavior on the part of the Agency, unlike the other destructions of evidence, which are only criminal to people who believe in quaint niceties like democracy and the rule of law.

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