Comments on: NBA Finalists That Improved the Most In the Playoffs

By: Romain

Romain — Thu, 03 Jun 2010 12:54:00 +0000

Great work.

I'm surprised the 95 Rockets rank behind the 10 Celtics.
They had an even worse regular season and pulled a last minute trade that sounded a bit desperate at the time (Clyde had been on the decline for 2+ years, Otis Thorpe was a valuable PF next to Hakeem, who after the trade had to pretty much take care of the paint on his own, not an esay task for a 32 year-old center...).
The Celtics at least had home court advantage in the 1st round and a relatively weak opponent with the Heat to gather some steam whereas the Rockets had to defeat nothing less than the best 4 teams of the regular season, and they even somehow found a way to sweep one of them.

By: Ben

Ben — Wed, 02 Jun 2010 21:47:24 +0000

I haven't looked at it systematically, but it seems like a lot of these teams had won a championship recently. Slacking off in the regular season seems to be a real phenomenon.

By: Jason J

Jason J — Wed, 02 Jun 2010 20:44:55 +0000

For the most part I see teams whose best players got healthy late in the season or who had significant signings last in the season. The 2001 Lakers got a healthy, in shape Shaq at the end. The 2010 Celtics got healthy KG & Pierce ready to play. The '95 Rockets picked up Clyde. The '99 Knicks picked up Spree and Camby. The '91 Bulls break that mold. I don't really remember that regular season anymore, but nobody expected that team to dominate the playoffs the way they did. Other than a monster game by Charles Barkley in round 2 and a stroke of bad luck in game 1 of the finals (MJ game winner rimout), they went through untouched.

By: downpuppy

downpuppy — Wed, 02 Jun 2010 19:04:12 +0000

The 2001 Lakers were not exactly a secret before the playoffs. They'd won their last 8 & were in the middle of a 3 year title run. Most of the teams that improved in the playoffs seem like that - great teams that were beat up or resting during the regular season, not ordinary teams that caught fire. Or maybe that's just how they seem afterwards. Is there a way to measure expectations & reputation before & after a season?

By: Mike G

Mike G — Wed, 02 Jun 2010 18:22:24 +0000

Very nice work.
Those 2001 Lakers sure are in a class by themselves. More than twice as improved as anyone else.
The '95 Rockets and '99 Knicks rank in the top 6.
Of those early '70s Knicks teams, it's the 1972 edition that was most improved. They knocked off the favored Celtics 4-1.
Nice work. Did I say that already?