juQuestion from DJMilk:
Would you agree, either as a thought experiment, or as an actual model, that the performance of the USA national team sheds some light on the importance of coaching?
This is not to say that Pops is a bad coach of course, but that a team of All-Star players who haven’t been coached are MUCH worse than they would otherwise be in a game?
Obviously you have issues with small sample size, and maybe you can argue motivation levels, but all of the USA guys are NBA stars. My guess is that your PPA and league coefficients show that Team USA is underperforming where they should be by ~30-40 points.