As valuable as statistical analysis can be in the NBA, it's important to remember that numbers aren't randomly generated by a computer; they're the product of humans playing on the court. To provide that context and understand the thinking behind the stats, ESPN Insider is sitting down with NBA players for "Data Dialogues" to discuss their games and their numbers.
A mid-January trip to the Milwaukee Bucks' practice facility is like something out of a Coen brothers movie. You gradually disappear into a creeping wilderness alongside Lake Michigan, which itself is frozen along the shore and gray to the horizon. The trees lining the lakeshore are bare, and the grass dry and yellow. The facility is less than 100 yards off the water, on the back edge of the offices that house the Archdiocese of Milwaukee. The property is surrounded by mounds and trees. Inside it, you're left with a very real feeling of being in the middle of nowhere.
It gets even more weird inside, where on a folding chair in the lobby sits Art. Art is kind of famous in NBA circles, though Thursday was my introduction. To put it bluntly, Art is creepy. Oh, don't worry -- he's not real; I'm not hurting anyone's feelings. Art is papier-mache, a work of art from sculptor Marc Sijan, who creates "life-size figurative hyperrealistic sculptures." Art is a security guard who has been staring at that front door for a long, long time. It took the shoe company guy waiting in the lobby with me five minutes to realize Art was fake. No one I asked seemed to really know why Art was there.
It is indeed an incongruous setting to find a rising NBA player on a rising NBA team, not to mention the coach, Hall of Fame celebrity Jason Kidd. The only thing that would have made the trip more Coen-esque would have been if J-Kidd came out and started arguing with Art. (He did not.) But this is where I went to find Brandon Knight. His play this season merited the trip.
1. Last season, the Bucks lost a franchise-record 67 games, and Knight was injured 105 seconds into his Milwaukee career. After averaging just 13.9 points through Christmas, Knight averaged 19.9 points after the All-Star break, and his efficiency improved steadily despite the losses. With nothing to play for, his true shooting percentage over his last seven games was 55.4 percent.
Bradford Doolittle: Last season, even as the losses mounted, you continued to work hard and develop even though most people nationally weren't paying attention. What did you learn about yourself during that tough season?