Bermuda, DFS, UFC 268, and Engagement
Bermuda Championship
The PGA Tour’s Bermuda Championship concluded yesterday, and the tournament represents an excellent opportunity to revisit a couple golf issues we’ve discussed in past editions of this newsletter.
The Bermuda Championship is a tournament with an exceptionally weak field. The overall quality of players is very low. Nevertheless, the Tour doles out full FedEx Cup points. Lucas Herbert, winner of the tournament, secured 500 FedEx Cup points for his victory. The 500 points equal the points distributed at strong fields like the Sentry Tournament of Champions. Major championships only deliver an additional 100 points to winners than Herbert earned.
Simply put, the FedEx Cup system fails to account for strength of field properly. I’ll remind folks that finishing second place at the Zurich Classic, a weakly-fielded partner event, earned significantly more points (162.5) than a t4 at the U.S. Open (126.67). Absurd.
A player must rank in the Top 125 by points to qualify for the FedEx Cup Playoffs. The FedEx Cup Playoffs contribute towards determining players’ statuses on Tour and reward players with hefty season-end payouts. Last season, players needed 440 points to qualify for the Playoffs. Lucas Herbert is already set! After winning the Bermuda Championship and racking up 500 points, Herbert likely does not need to play again to qualify for the Playoffs next August. The system must change.
The tournament spotlighted another topic as well: tee times on Tour should be randomized. I have argued this point on several occasions, and the Bermuda Championship was a perfect example of why I make this argument.
On Thursday morning, half the field faced 40 mph winds while the Thursday afternoon wave faced 20 mph winds. Players who teed off on Thursday morning underperformed the other half of the field by an average of three strokes(!) per player. An enormous advantage. For the remaining three days of the tournament, conditions were similar for all players.
Including ties, 11 players finished in the Top 10 this week. Nine of those 11 golfers began their rounds in the advantageous Thursday afternoon slot, including the top four finishers.
Inclement weather is unavoidable, but the advantage should be distributed randomly. Players’ careers are at stake. The points system and conditions that dictate players’ futures should be designed intelligently. Currently, they are not.
Dorian Finney-Smith
The NBA has evolved. Recognizing the relative value of different shot locations, NBA teams have steadily increased their rates of attempting three-point shots.
Simple analysis illustrates the advantage of attempting threes, especially relative to mid-range jump shots, so the league has evolved.
In 2005, roughly 20% of shot attempts came from behind the three-point line; today, just under 40% of shot attempts are threes.
I write about legendary NBA bettor Haralabos Voulgaris pretty often because he is one of the best NBA minds in the world. As a reminder, after making a fortune betting on the NBA, Voulgaris held a prominent position within the Dallas Mavericks front office until parting ways with the team a couple months ago. In a since-deleted tweet this week, Voulgaris stated that prior to 2016, an NBA team with average shooters could perform above average simply by attempting a high rate of three-pointers.
Based on the trend towards three-point shooting, we know that talented long-range shooters are extremely valuable in the modern NBA. In addition to shooting efficient shots, excellent shooters space the floor. Offensively, creating space is advantageous. So for a multitude of reasons, elite outside shooters are a crucial component of an efficient modern-day offense.
What about on the defensive end?
Elite perimeter defenders carry immense value in the modern NBA. As offenses prioritize spacing and perimeter play, versatile defenders who can guard multiple positions are valuable assets on an NBA roster.
With all of this in mind, consider Forward for the Dallas Mavericks, Dorian-Finney Smith (DFS).
Per Cleaning the Glass, DFS has been in the top third for Forwards in both shooting near the rim and shooting three-point shots for each of the last two seasons. His weakness is mid-range shooting, but as mentioned before, mid-range shots are not efficient and are shrinking from the professional game.
Additionally, Finney-Smith can defend multiple positions and he is an effective perimeter defender.
Earlier this week, Haralabos Voulgaris tweeted that Finney-Smith is one of the most underrated players in the league and that he is vastly underpaid. DFS is not a superstar, but he is a prime example of a valuable modern-day role player.
I am eager to see what he gets paid as an unrestricted free agent after the season!
UFC 268
I do not believe Finding the Edge readers to be avid UFC fans, but I want to offer a few reasons to watch next Saturday’s fight card at Madison Square Garden. As long as you can stomach a bit of violence, next Saturday is must-see, in my opinion. Hopefully I can convert you into a fan!
Starting with the Prelims at 8pm ET, there are a number of exciting fights. I recommend watching the Prelims. But here are a few things to watch on the final three fights of the Main Card.
Justin Gaethje vs. Michael Chandler:
Each fighter is ridiculously skilled. The winner of this fight could easily find himself fighting for the title within the next six months. Based on the fighters’ styles, I cannot foresee a boring fight. There is potential for this to be one of the best fights of the year.
Rose Namajunas vs. Zhang Weili:
This title fight/rematch has all the makings of a great fight. Rose Namajunas is one of the most likable (and skilled) athletes in the UFC. I appreciate her openness in discussing her mental health struggles.
She is a proponent of positively affirming herself to build her confidence. This was an awesome clip following her most recent fight, an intense title victory against Zhang Weili:
Kamaru Usman vs. Colby Covington:
The final fight of the night is another title rematch. With 14 straight victories, Usman is one of the best fighters on the planet. However, his last fight with Covington was an incredible fight, so Saturday’s matchup should have fireworks. The title fight is scheduled for five rounds, but someone will likely get knocked out in the first couple rounds.
The UFC has mastered the television viewing experience. Fighters are well-promoted, and as you watch a full event, the anticipation builds unlike any other sport I’ve watched. Next Saturday should be fantastic, especially at Madison Square Garden.
Engagement
Ok, I understand that brands are looking for engagement on social media, but it is getting out of control.
I can only imagine the conversation at the NBC C-Suite.
CMO: “Engagement has been strong over the last two quarters, even better than last year’s engagement over the same time period.”
CEO: “Great! People were engaging with content from the Olympics??”
CMO: “No, but they have opinions on candy corn.”
Feedback/Contact
Email: Joseph.LaMagnaGolf@gmail.com
Twitter: @JosephLaMagna
Other Content from This Past Week
I finally got around to watching Untold: Breaking Point on Netflix. The aptly-named documentary sheds light on the stress top athletes face. It focuses on the career and mental health of tennis phenom Mardy Fish. Highly, highly recommend! And if I were forced to retitle the documentary, I think I would go with It’s Not Your Fault.
NBA player Enes Kanter is calling out China, which will be interesting to follow:
If you were on the wrong side of this bad beat, my condolences: