Today’s Sportstat: February 28, 2019
Bucks and Budenholzer have a 60-win season in their sights
With a league-best 47-14 record and 21 games left to play in the regular season, the Milwaukee Bucks have a legitimate chance to win 60 games in a season for only the fifth time in franchise history. The Bucks won 60 or more in 1970-71 (66 wins), 1971-72 (63 wins), 1972-73 (60 wins) and in 1980-81 (60 wins). To reach the 60-win milestone this season, the Bucks would have to win at least 13 of their remaining 21 games.
Getting 60 wins this season would also be a big deal for Bucks coach Mike Budenholzer. Back in 2014-15, Coach Bud won 60 games in his second season at the helm of the Atlanta Hawks. A 60-win season with the Bucks would make Budenholzer only the seventh coach in NBA history to win 60 or more games in a season with two or more different franchises.
Hall of Famer coach Pat Riley holds the league record with 60-win seasons with three different franchises. He won 60 with the Lakers, Miami and the Knicks.
Here is a look at the six coaches who have won 60 or more games in a season with two or more franchises.
K.C. Jones: Boston (1984, 1985, 1986)… Washington (1975)
Phil Jackson: Chicago (1991, 1992, 1996, 1997, 1998)… L.A. Lakers (2000, 2009)
Don Nelson: Dallas (2003)… Milwaukee (1981)
Mike D’Antoni: Houston (2018), Phoenix (2005, 2007)
Pat Riley: (L.A. Lakers (1985, 1986, 1987, 1988, 1990)… Miami (1997)… N.Y. Knicks (1993)
Rick Adelman: Portland (1991)… Sacramento (2002)
A total of 32 NBA coaches have won 60 or more games in a season with at least one team. If Budenholzer can add a second 60-win season with the Bucks to his resume, it would make him the 21st coach in NBA history to have multiple 60-win seasons in a career.
The 20 NBA coaches who have won 60 or more games in two or more seasons are: Rick Adelman, Red Auerbach, Mike Brown, Larry Costello, Billy Cunningham, Mike D’Antoni, Bill Fitch, Alex Hannum, Tom Heinsohn, Phil Jackson, Avery Johnson, K.C. Jones, George Karl, Steve Kerr, Don Nelson, Greg Popovich, Pat Riley, Doc Rivers, Bill Sharman, Jerry Sloan.
For the record, there have four head coaches who have won 60 or more games in four different seasons; Phil Jackson and Pat Riley did it seven times, Greg Popovich has done is six times, and K.C. Jones did it four times.
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Today’s Sportstat: February 25, 2019
TODAY’s SPORTSTAT-February 25, 2019
Who has been the Packers worst QB in the Super Bowl era?
There is no argument when it comes to who are the best quarterbacks for the Green Bay Packers franchise… there are two Hall of Famers, Bart Starr and Brett Favre, and a future HOFer in Aaron Rodgers. The only discussion might be who would take the fourth spot in a Packers QB Mt. Rushmore, but even that might be a brief discussion as Lynn Dickey would be a solid choice for the fourth spot.
But what about the worst QB for the Packers? Is there a clear-cut selection?
To answer that question, I looked at five stats. First, I limited the discussion to only quarterbacks who played for the Packers in the Super Bowl era (1966 and beyond). There have been 18 players who attempted 100 or more career passes with the Packers since 1966. (In case you wanted to see if you could name all 18, here they are: Zeke Bratkowski, Lynn Dickey, Anthony Dilweg, Brett Favre, Matt Flynn, John Hadl, Scott Hunter, Don Horn, Brett Hundley, Blair Kiel, Don Majkowski, Aaron Rodgers, Bart Starr, Jerry Tagge, Mike Tomczak, David Whitehurst, Randy Wright, and Jim Zorn.)
The five stats I used were pass completion percentage, TD percentage, interceptions percentage, Passer Rating and win-loss percentage as a starter.
Following are the five Packers QBs since 1966 that had the lowest rankings in these five stat categories:
Lowest pass completion percentage
Hunter, 43.95%… Zorn, 45.53%… Tagge, 48.4%… Horn, 48.94… Whitehurst, 51.43%
Highest interception percentage
Horn, 7.75%… Hunter, 6.73%… Bratkowski, 6.54%… Tagge, 6.05%… Hadl, 5.40%
Lowest TD percentage
Tagge, 1.1%… Hadl, 1.7%… Wright, 2.8%… Hundley, 2.8%… Whitehurst, 2.9%
Passer Rating
Tagge, 44.2… Hunter, 49.0… Hadl, 53.2… Zorn, 57.4… Whitehurst, 59.2
Win-loss percentage (minimum of 10 games started at QB for the Pack to qualify)
Wright, 7-25 (.219)… Hadl, 7-12 (.368)… Dickey, 43-56-2 (.436)… Whitehurst, 16-20-1 (.446)… Majkowski, 22-26-1 (.459)
Okay… if we take these five stats and assign a numerical value to each, I come up with my list of the five QBs who would statistically rank as the Top Five worst Packers QBs in the Super Bowl era. They are:
- Jerry Tagge: (1972-74). Started 12 games for the Packers. The 11th overall pick in the 1972 draft. Played only three seasons in Green Bay with only three TD passes and 17 interceptions. Was released prior to the ’75 season. Did not play in the NFL after that.
- Scott Hunter: (1971-73). Selected in the sixth round of the 1971 draft. Started 29 games for the Pack, 10 in his rookie season. Led the team to a 10-4 record in ’72 and a NFC Central crown. Was traded to the Buffalo Bills inn 1974.
- John Hadl: Traded to the Packers and played two seasons (1974-75) with the Pack. His trade to the Pack for five draft choices has been called one of the worst trades of a QB in NFL history. Hadl, who earlier had a great career for the San Diego Chargers, was a flop with the Packers throwing only nine TD passes with 29 interceptions in 22 games with Green Bay.
- Randy Wright: Wright played collegiately at Wisconsin and was a sixth round pick of the Packers in 1984. He played five seasons in Green Bay, starting 32 games. He was only 7-25 as a starter with the team.
- Don Horn: Another first round pick of the Packers in 1967. Played four seasons in Green Bay, although he only played in 20 games, starting six of them. Was traded to Denver in 1971. Did win four of the six games he started for the Pack.
So what do you think? Who is your choice?
Comments?
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Today’s Sportstat: February 21, 2019
Can the Brewers finally post back-to-back playoff seasons?
The beginning of 2019 Major League Baseball’s spring training is a time for most of the 30 MLB teams to start the chatter of a potential championship this season. Yes, title hopes run rampant in February.
Just making the playoffs is a key first step to any professional team’s championship run. It’s interesting to note that baseball probably has the most difficult path for teams to take towards a title, especially if you go by the numbers: Of the four professional sports (MLB, NBA, NFL and NHL), baseball has the fewest teams that make the playoffs after their regular season with 10 (and that’s after adding two additional teams to the post-season format just a few short years ago). The NFL is next with 12 of their 32 teams qualifying for the playoffs, and the NBA and NHL each have 16 of their teams advance to the playoffs.
The Brewers took that all-important first step last year when they made the playoffs and finished one game short of reaching the World Series. The question this year is: Can they repeat the 2018 season and make a return appearance in the ’19 post-season? Considering that the Brewers have not made the playoffs in consecutive seasons since 1981-82, Brew Crew faithful have their fingers crossed that their team can do something this season that hasn’t happened in almost 40 years… back-to-back playoff seasons.
Last season seven of the 10 MLB teams that played in the post-season also played in the 2017 playoffs: Boston, Chicago Cubs, Cleveland, Colorado, Houston, L.A. Dodgers and the N.Y. Yankees. The Brewers, Oakland and Atlanta were the three teams that made the playoffs in 2018 after not making the post-season the previous campaign.
Of the 30 current MLB franchises, 26 have made the playoffs in back-to-back seasons at least once this century. Two franchises, the Miami Marlins and Chicago White Sox, have never made the MLB post-season in back-to-back seasons in their histories. Two other teams, the Brewers and the Baltimore Orioles, have previously appeared in the post-season in back-to-back seasons, but not this century (the White Sox failure to make the playoffs in back-to-back seasons is quite amazing considering they have been around as a franchise since 1901!). The Brewers, as mentioned above, last made the post-season in back-to-back years in 1981 and 1982, while the Orioles last made the post-season in consecutive years in 1996 and 1997.
Here’s a look at the last time each of the 30 MLB teams made the playoffs in back-to-back seasons.
Never: Chicago White Sox
Never: Miami Marlins
1981-82: Milwaukee
1996-97: Baltimore
2000-01: Seattle
2001-02: Arizona
2002-03: San Francisco
2005-06: San Diego
2008-09: L.A. Angels
2009-10: Minnesota
2010-11: Philadelphia, Tampa Bay
2012-13: Atlanta, Cincinnati
2013-14: Detroit, Oakland
2014-15: Kansas City, Pittsburgh, St. Louis
2015-16: N.Y. Mets, Texas, Toronto
2016-17: Washington
2017-18: Boston, Chicago Cubs, Cleveland, Colorado, Houston, L.A. Dodgers, N.Y. Yankees
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Today’s Sportstat: February 17, 2019
Bucks teams with five or more players averaging 12.0 or more points per game
One of the reasons the Milwaukee Bucks went into the All-Star Game with the league’s best record was the play of their starting five: Giannis Antekounmpo, Khris Middleton, Brook Lopez, Eric Bledsoe and Malcolm Brogdon.
This quintet has been the same starting unit for most of the Bucks games this season and they are collectively averaging 88 points out of the team’s 116.9 that they are averaging to this point in the season. Led by Giannis’ 27.2 points per game, the Bucks have five players who are averaging 12 or more points per game: Middleton (17.1), Bledsoe (15.8), Brogdon (15.8) and Lopez (12.1).
Having five players average 12 or more points per game in a season has been a rare occurrence for the Bucks. In fact, three Bucks’ teams had six players average 12 or more per game, but none with five players reaching that points per game milestone.
The last time the Bucks had five or more players average 12 or more points per game in a season was in 1989 when six players reached those numbers. The team also had six players reach 12 or more points per game in 1981 and 1982.
Here is a look at the three Bucks teams that had six players average 12 or more points per game for a season.
1989: Jack Sikma (13.4), Paul Pressey (12.1), Ricky Pierce (17.6), Sidney Moncrief (12.1), Larry Krystkowiak (12.7) and Terry Cummings (22.9).
1982: Brian Winters (15.9), Sidney Moncrief (19.8), Bob Lanier (13.5), Mickey Johnson (12.9), Marques Johnson (16.5) and Quinn Buckner (12.9).
1981: Sidney Moncrief (14.0), Bob Lanier (14.3), Mickey Johnson (12.5), Marques Johnson (20.3), Quinn Buckner (13.3) and Junior Bridgeman (16.8).
In the 50 NBA season prior to this campaign, the Bucks have had four or more players end the season averaging 12.0 or more points per game in 23 of those 50 seasons.
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Today’s Sportstat: February 11, 2019
Players with the most games in a Brewers uniform
Let’s start with a quick quiz:
There have been 12 players who have played in 1,000 or more games with the Brewers. Can you name them? (The answer will appear towards the bottom of this article… don’t cheat; try to name the 12 before you continue reading the rest of this article.)
Before we get to the 12, did you know that Prince Fielder fell just two games short of having played in 1,000 games with the Milwaukee Brewers? Fielder ended his career with the Brewers with 998 games played. He is one of four players who played in 900 games with the team but fell short of the 1,000-game milestone. The four:
Prince Fielder, 998 games with the Brewers
Jeff Cirillo, 978 games with the Brewers
Corey Hart, 945 games with the Brewers
Greg Vaughn, 903 games with the Brewers.
As you might expect, there are no pitchers on the list of the players with 1,000 or more games in a Brewers uniform. There are, however, four pitchers who appeared in 300 or more games with the Brewers: Dan Plesac (365), Jim Slaton (364), Bob McClure (352) and Chuck Crim (332).
Current Brewers reliever Jerremy Jeffress is the active pitcher with the most games with the team, 253. That puts him in a tie for 11th place with Bill Wegman on the all-time list for most appearances by a Brewers pitcher.
Ryan Braun is the active player on the Brewers roster who has played in the most games for the team. He ranks fourth on the all-time list with 1,583 games played for the Brew Crew. Do you know which player on the current roster is second in this category with 481 games played with the Brewers? (Answer at the bottom of the article.)
As you might expect, Robin Yount tops the list with 2,856 games played for the Brewers. Following are the 12 played who have played in 1,000 or more games in a Brewers uniform.
Robin Yount, 2,856
Paul Molitor, 1,856
Jim Gantner, 1,801
Ryan Braun, 1,583
Cecil Cooper, 1,490
Charlie Moore, 1,283
Geoff Jenkins, 1,234
Don Money, 1,196
Ben Oglivie, 1,149
Rickie Weeks, 1,142
Gorman Thomas, 1,103
B.J. Surhoff, 1,102
Hernan Perez ranks second behind Braun in most games played by an active Brewers player; he has appeared in 481 games with the team.
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