Bradford Doolittle and Kevin Pelton have released their 2010-11 Pro Basketball Prospectus, a 354-page volume with in-depth player and team projections from among the finest hoops analysts around. The PDF is available for immediate download here at the cost of $9.98. Pelton tells me the physical book will be available for purchase at either CreateSpace.com or Amazon.com, if you prefer the feel of a real book in your hands.
Additionally, I'm proud to announce Orlando Pinstriped Post is featured in the Orlando Magic chapter, in the "From the Blogosphere" section, for the second straight year; Eddy Rivera of MagicBasketball.net, my former partner at this site, also contributed.
Pelton and I have arranged to do a Magic-centric q-and-a prior to the start of the season. Look for that post sometime in the near future.
While statistics heavily influence the Prospectus, they don't dominate it. Doolittle and Pelton know the game better than most people; they are not mere number-crunchers.
To be clear, I contributed one paragraph to this 354-page must-read; the draw for you ought to be the analysis from Doolittle and Pelton. I'd promote this book even if I didn't appear in it. And so there's no confusion, I'm not being compensated in any way for writing this post. In the interest of full disclosure, I'll note that every blogger who participated received a free PDF copy of the Prospectus as a thank-you.
At Ball Don't Lie, the estimable Kelly Dwyer wrote this post about the book. Check it out if you'd rather not take my word for its value.
With Pelton's permission, here's an excerpt from the Magic team overview:
Under ordinary circumstances, the Magic would be one of the favorites to win this year’s championship. Unfortunately for Orlando, the Heat changed the game this summer. The Magic will be there if Miami falters, but the window is starting to close ever so slightly.
I won't excerpt my contribution, but it suffices to say it focuses on Vince Carter.
Thanks to Bradford and Kevin for publishing another great installment in the Pro Basketball Prospectus series. I'm honored to see my name printed in it, alongside theirs and many other notables.