The next generation of basketball analysis

The Pro Basketball Prospectus series returns for a fourth season to preview the 2012-13 NBA campaign. Basketball Prospectus has been at the cutting edge of the league's statistical revolution, exploring how teams win and why as well as integrating plenty of old-fashioned tape and first-hand observation to analyze players and teams. Now in its third year, Pro Basketball Prospectus has been called "insistently readable" and "consistently eye-opening" by FreeDarko.

ESPN.com's John Hollinger returns with another edition of the Pro Basketball Forecast, packed full of stats and discussion on every single player who saw time in the league last year plus each team's draft picks and a season analysis. Hollinger is one of the leaders of basketball's statistical revolution, devising new ways of looking at players and teams to better see their true worth. Denver Nuggets assistant coach Chip Engelland opined, "I don't know if the teams know so much about some of their players." By reading the Forecast, you can know what Hollinger does.

For the last two seasons, Basketball Prospectus has been at the cutting edge of the NBA's statistical revolution, exploring how teams win and why as well as integrating plenty of old-fashioned tape and first-hand observation to analyze players and teams. Now, we're following in the footsteps of our predecessors at Baseball Prospectus and our college counterparts by providing that same level of insight in book form.

Just in time for the start of the season on Christmas Day, the Pro Basketball Prospectus series returns to preview the 2011-12 NBA campaign. Basketball Prospectus has been at the cutting edge of the league's statistical revolution, exploring how teams win and why as well as integrating plenty of old-fashioned tape and first-hand observation to analyze players and teams. Now in its third year, Pro Basketball Prospectus has been called "insistently readable" and "consistently eye-opening" by FreeDarko.

After a successful debut that was called "insistently readable" and "consistently eye-opening" by FreeDarko, the Pro Basketball Prospectus series returns for 2010-11. Basketball Prospectus has been at the cutting edge of the NBA's statistical revolution, exploring how teams win and why as well as integrating plenty of old-fashioned tape and first-hand observation to analyze players and teams.

Journey "inside the numbers" for an exceptional set of statistical tools and rules that can help explain the winning, or losing, ways of a basketball team. Basketball on Paper doesn't diagram plays or explain how players get in shape, but instead demonstrates how to interpret player and team performance. Dean Oliver highlights general strategies for teams when they're winning or losing and what aspects should be the focus in either situation. He describes and quantifies the jobs of team leaders and role players, then discusses the interactions between players and how to achieve the best fit. Oliver conceptualizes the meaning of teamwork and how to quantify the value of different types of players working together. He examines historically successful NBA teams and identifies what made them so successful: individual talent, a system of putting players together, or good coaching. Oliver then uses these statistical tools and case studies to evaluate the best players in history, such as Magic Johnson, Wilt Chamberlain, Bill Russell, and Charles Barkley and how they contributed to their teams' success. He does the same for some of the NBA's "oddball" players-Manute Bol, Muggsy Bogues, and Dennis Rodman and for the WNBA's top players. Basketball on Paper is unique in its incorporation of business and analytical concepts within the context of basketball to measure the value of players in a cooperative setting. Whether you're looking for strategies or new ideas to throw out while watching the ballgame at a sports bar, Dean Oliver'sBasketball on Paper will give you amazing new insights into teamwork, coaching, and success.