macross3@excite.com (leaping larry

I was reading Larry Bird's book today and he mentioned that he thought
the Pacers' main problems in the season before he took over as coach
(they missed the playoffs) was that they had poor conditioning and a
lot of injuries.

The way he measured it was that the Pacers usually hung tough in the
first half before getting progressively worse in the second. Lots of
games they lost in the 4th quarter. If they managed to hang with most
teams through at least the first half, then he deduced that the talent
was there to win more games then they should have.

Do you have any numbers for how many games the Raps lost while leading
at the half, or within 4-5 points? How many games did the Raps lose
while leading in the 4th, or within 4-5 points of the other team going
into the 4th?

Also, how did they do in the 2001-2002 season in the second half?

I realize that the Raps also had a very thin bench, and that is also a
MAJOR reason, but I'm really just interested in how good our starters
hang with the rest of the league.

Jojo

t9t9t9t9@hotmail.com

If you have it Igor, it would also interesting to know what the league
and lottery team averages are in the these stats.

igor eduardo küpfer

Sorry, did the original numbers wrong. Here's the complete league for 01-02,
with the correct nmbers for the Raps:

Team Halftime Record with Overall
Leads Halftime leads Winning%

ATL 30 18-12 (60.0%) 40.2%
BOS 46 37-9 (80.4%) 59.8%
CHA 45 32-13 (71.1%) 53.7%
CHI 17 10-7 (58.8%) 25.6%
CLE 33 22-11 (66.7%) 35.4%
DAL 44 38-6 (86.4%) 69.5%
DEN 17 14-3 (82.4%) 32.9%
DET 44 34-10 (77.3%) 61.0%
GS 29 17-12 (58.6%) 25.6%
HOU 24 14-10 (58.3%) 34.1%
IND 37 28-9 (75.7%) 51.2%
LAC 40 27-13 (67.5%) 47.6%
LAK 49 40-9 (81.6%) 70.7%
MEM 21 13-8 (61.9%) 28.0%
MIA 35 25-10 (71.4%) 43.9%
MIL 35 23-12 (65.7%) 50.0%
MIN 43 35-8 (81.4%) 61.0%
NJ 42 37-5 (88.1%) 63.4%
NY 39 21-18 (53.8%) 36.6%
ORL 44 35-9 (79.5%) 53.7%
PHI 35 27-8 (77.1%) 52.4%
PHX 33 23-10 (69.7%) 43.9%
POR 41 32-9 (78.0%) 59.8%
SAC 56 51-5 (91.1%) 74.4%
SAN 58 51-7 (87.9%) 70.7%
SEA 42 32-10 (76.2%) 54.9%
TRN 43 30-13 (69.8%) 51.2%
UTA 38 27-11 (71.1%) 53.7%
WAZ 34 22-12 (64.7%) 45.1%

--

best,
ed
"Sticking it to The Man since 1971."