It’s 2020, should we really be surprised a pasteurized prepared cheese product is the smartest person/food in the room?
The Velveeta Cheese Twitter account took a break from explaining how to make great mac & cheese or creamy queso dips to throw down knowledge on NBA advanced stats that blows a lot of paid pundits out of the water. Seriously. This cheese deserves its own podcast at this point.
It all started when Hoops Central tried to start a Twitter discussion of the most underrated player in NBA history, and Velveeta chimed in.
mahmoud abdul-rauf
— Velveeta (@EatLiquidGold) November 2, 2020
Then somebody pointed out Abdul-Rauf’s +/- numbers, and it got rolling.
IF THATS TRUE ITS PROB MORE A COMMENTARY ON THE VALUE OF +/- AS CONSTRUCTIVE METRIC THEN
— Velveeta (@EatLiquidGold) November 2, 2020
THERE'S TOO MUCH PARITY RIGHT NOW- LIKE DOES COLLIN SEXTON'S UNADJUSTED ON-OFF TELL YOU SOMETHING COMPARED TO GARY TRENT'S? IT'S ALMOST LIKE COMPARING ERAS? WHAT U THINK
— Velveeta (@EatLiquidGold) November 2, 2020
I will second this next one:
WE DON'T FIND THE GOAT CONVO CONSTRUCTIVE ITS BASICALLY JUST PEOPLE SAYING THEIR FAVORITE COLOR- ITS PROB MJ BUT PEOPLE FORGET ABOUT KAREEM
— Velveeta (@EatLiquidGold) November 2, 2020
Then came some real endorsements. Velveeta was asked about VORP (Value Over Replacement Player):
VORP IS A SLIPPERY SLOPE BC THE FORMULA FOR REPLACEMENT PLAYER FEELS ARBITRARY AND ULTIMATELY UNSATISFYING- LIKE COMPARING A KNOWN AGAINST AN HYPOTHETICAL, WIN SHARES ARE HELPFUL BUT DISREGARDS A PLAYER'S CONTEXT WHICH IS TOO IMPORTANT TO DISMISS – U?
— Velveeta (@EatLiquidGold) November 2, 2020
As creator of VORP… Velveeta brings more nuance to the discussion than I imagined a smooth cheese food product would bring. https://t.co/DT63Vfd8FO
— Daniel Myers (@DSMok1) November 3, 2020
And Velveeta wasn’t done, it even got into the value of Rudy Gobert:
OVERALL I THINK WE FORGET ANALYTICS IS GREAT FOR FINDING SMALL DIFFERENCES BETWEEN PLAYERS BUT USING IT SOLELY FOR PLAYER EVALUATION IS AGAINST ITS INTENDED USE- PIPM RELIES TOO MUCH ON BOX SCORE AND WE HAVEN'T WEIGHTED BOX SCORES CORRECTLY IN TERMS OF IMPACT ON A GAME
— Velveeta (@EatLiquidGold) November 2, 2020
HONESTLY PER TAKEN IN THE CONTEXT OF W/L CAN GIVE YOU A TIERED VIEW OF PLAYERS- STEALS IS THE WORST STAT ITS USELESS
— Velveeta (@EatLiquidGold) November 2, 2020
WE ARE BULLISH ON RUDY BUT WE LOVE RIM PROTECTION- PEOPLE THINK THE 3 IS THE QUEEN RIGHT NOW BUT ITS 3'S AND SHOTS ON THE RIM. A SOLID RIM PROTECTOR WHO ISN'T A TURNOVER/FT LIABILITY HELPS WINS GAMES
— Velveeta (@EatLiquidGold) November 2, 2020
Welcome to 2020, where you are better off listening to the NBA thoughts of a smooth cheese food product than most sports talk radio hosts.
I have more thoughts on this, but first I’m going to sit down and have some mac & cheese.