BaselineStats.com is not here to reinvent the wheel. The wheel that guys like Dean Oliver and Ken Pomeroy have been developing over the last two decades still functions pretty well. Those men have spent a lot of time thinking about how to use numbers to evaluate what happens on a basketball court, and they’ve done a good job. Things like per-possession ratings and the use of the four factors are indispensible parts of how the smart fan, scout and coach now view the game. We do, however, think there is room for another stand in the marketplace of basketball ideas.

We intend to separate this site from what’s come before in a few key ways. First, this site will be devoted to college basketball and college basketball alone. We won’t mix the college and pro versions, with the possible exception of the NBA Draft, which tends to be the one time the college and pro guys come together. We want to make this a home for college hoops fans looking for cutting-edge analysis mixed with as much information as you could ever want.

Second, we intend to integrate the statistical side of things with the analysis side in a functional way that we haven’t seen yet. The integration of database statistics with a user-friendly site is not easy to do, but we’re working to build a site that integrates information and analysis in a way college basketball fans haven’t seen before.

Third, we have a lot of new ideas that we are excited to bring to the discussion. Whether it’s ways to improve the concepts that are already out there or new ideas to augment the way fans follow college roundball, we’re energized about some of the new features that we’ll be rolling out. It’ll take time to implement them, though. Working out the technical side and making sure the logic behind the metrics is sound will take time. So, over the months and years to come, we’ll be unveiling new stuff that excites us as basketball fans and that we hope will excite you as well. We’ll attempt to under-promise and over-deliver, so we’ll refrain from getting into specifics, but we’re really looking forward to rolling out some of our new ideas.

It will never be possible –- nor is it desirable –- to reduce every aspect of what happens across 94-feet into a set of regressions and equations, so there will still be room in this space for discussion of the parts of basketball that can only be measured by a fan’s blood pressure and heartrate. We have a lot of big plans for this site, and it’s a long road between here and there, but it’s an adventure we hope you’ll join us for. Please excuse our appearance in the meantime. As you will see when you click around, this site isn’t close to being completed yet, but we were anxious to start to do some writing as we work on integrating the stats components.

Finally, if there is ever anything that you would like to see on this site, something you think would improve the site or something you haven’t seen anywhere else that you like to see us try out or discuss, please don’t hesitate to contact us.

Thanks,

Brendon Desrochers and Lukas Johnson