I wanted to pull out a tremendous comment from betweentheeyes from the Statpocalypse thread:
This talk of statistics among statgeeks is like chefs discussing recipes: I can’t make a good baba ganoush but I can tell the difference between one I like and one I don’t like. We readers are much the same. The variety of eggplant, when it is picked, what tools are made to grind and chop,the spices to add and at what time to add them are part of the recipe – these details are things we might discuss but have no true understanding of. For you and the Daryl Moreys, John Hollingers and the others who represent the inner workings of the NBA, this ability and interest in game dissection makes you like Neo in the Matrix; you can see Agent Smith among the numbers – I am still figuring out if I should take the blue pill, the red pill or just go to sleep (I would take the chill pill).
Absolutely right in that communicating remains far more important than calculating. If you can't effectively explain to the coach why this formula says Jason Thompson should be playing small forward, or if you can't convince Spencer Hawes why he should set up here instead of there on this particular play ... well, all the work behind the scenes is useless. The same goes for fans and the media. I'm not nearly as good at explaining why PER or +/- or TS% are valuable, and it's something I'll work on this summer. (That probably means more graphics than walls of text.)
The discussion has been contentious, but valuable. Thanks to everyone for participating, even if you called me soulless.