Pro Basketball Forecast: 2005-2006 (PRO BASKETBALL PROSPECTUS)

The roundball revolution continues, and John Hollinger is El Jefe. With the Pro Basketball Forecast™, Hollinger takes an in-depth and insightful look at the game. Downplayed are all the per-game statistics; in their place are points, rebounds, and assists per forty minutes. Hollinger also examines how many possessions each player uses and what percentage of his team’s rebounds he collects. Why? Because teams use players in different ways, and comparing everyone on an even scale makes much more sense.

When is a player averaging ten points a game more valuable than one averaging fifteen? How about if he plays twenty minutes to the latter’s forty and plays for a team that walks the ball up the court instead of fast-breaking? If he’s given a starting position or traded to a new team, he could "unexpectedly" break out—unexpected to everyone but Forecast™ readers, that is. Hollinger shows you which players, given more time or a fresh start, can ratchet their game up to all-star levels. He also shows which ones are scoring more than their backups solely because of proportion of time and should find themselves on the bench more this year.

On top of all this, Hollinger also continues to improve his groundbreaking method of valuing a player’s personal defense and sharpens his projections for regulars, offering predictions for the forthcoming season. Hollinger adds his thoughts on every team—where they’ve been and where they’re going—as well as a discussion of every player and draft pick. You may watch hoops, but you haven’t seen everything until you’ve seen the Forecast™.

JOHN HOLLINGER authored the 2002–03 and 2003–04 editions of the Pro Basketball Prospectus. He also writes columns on basketball for SI.com, the New York Sun, and Basketball Digest. Since 1996, he’s spearheaded a more analytical approach to pro basketball from his Web site, Alleyoop.com. Hollinger lives in Atlanta.