Hmmm... The Lakers Don't Play Saturdays

by Rohan on Jun 4, 2008 3:32 PM CDT

So I was poking around Yahoo! Sports yesterday, just looking at random things, when I came upon the L.A. Lakers' 2007-2008 schedule. I clicked on November. Seems they did all right. Interestingly, not a single Saturday game. I clicked on December. Some more wins. Again, not a single Saturday game. January. Yup, no Saturday games. February. One Saturday game: a "road" contest vs. the Clippers. March. No Saturday games.

In sum, they had one scheduled Saturday game the entire year (postseason is obviously not "scheduled"). It was interesting, sure, but it couldn't really mean much, right?

So today, I decided to check it out from a historical perspective. Since 2001, the Lakers' Saturday game totals have gone thusly: 5, 3, 4, 7, 6, 6, 3, 1. So somehow, for whatever reason, the Lakers got an absurdly low total of Saturday games this year. Those totals are actually very low overall, too. Our Saturday games the last 3 years? 13, 14, and 17. The Lakers had 1 Saturday game this year, and have averaged 4.38 since 2000-2001. The average NBA team averaged 13.03 this year. Hmmm. Hmmm.

But does that actually mean anything? Do the low Saturday totals actually provide L.A. an advantage? You'll often hear NBA old-timers or "basketball people" complain that "end of the week" games are the worst- ie, Saturdays, Sundays, especially if they're on the road or part of back to backs. Personally, I've never bought this logic. Sure, I've never played in the NBA, but I don't see how a Wednesday would be different from a Saturday since teams play all week long anyway. There isn't a set day you're "supposed" to relax.

Nevertheless, I looked into the numbers. And they were very surprising to me. On Saturdays this year, road NBA teams went 67-122 at locales not named Staples. That's a 35% winning percentage. Keeping in mind that the NBA must play .500 basketball against itself overall, it's clear that Saturday has to be one of the most lopsided days of the week. Teams went 67-122 on Saturdays at arenas nationwide, but the Lakers were spared from visiting any of these buildings. Granted, it also means that L.A. couldn't host games on this home-friendly day. But throw in the fact that not playing Saturdays means no end-of-week back-to-backs (which, if the Saturday stats say anything, actually are tougher), and... hmmm. Hmmm.

I won't make any sweeping statements here, but... makes you wonder, doesn't it?

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Now that I've discovered the Stern Button

It’s obviously the cause of EVERYTHING that happens in the NBA.

by ticktock6 on Jun 4, 2008 5:32 PM CDT reply actions

Thursdays explaining Saturdays?

I thought I read somewhere that as part of its TV deal with TNT, the NBA schedules very few games on Thursdays so that more people will watch the TNT games. And the “glamour” teams, like the Lakers, tend to be scheduled for more of those Thursday night games. If they play more games on Thursday, then it would make sense that they play fewer games on other days of the week. And if they play Thursday/Friday back-to-backs, then you could expect them to play very few games on Saturday.

I didn’t check the Lakers schedule to see if this is what is actually happening, and I can’t remember where I read the bit about the Thursday night games (I think the main point of the article was that teams that got to play on Thursday nights ended up with fewer back-to-backs overall, giving an unfair advantage), but this might be a partial explanation.

by Sam Cohen on Jun 4, 2008 5:55 PM CDT reply actions

Good point

I looked into the TNT schedule a bit more in depth. Here’s the top TNT team with number of Thursday games and in number of Saturday games in parentheses:

Dallas: 10 (12)
Chicago: 8 (14)
Los Angeles: 7 (1)
Phoenix: 6 (11)
Golden State: 6 (9)
Denver: 5 (12)

L.A.’s 1 just looks weird. All this being said though, I’d still like to believe the whole thing is just a coincidence.

by Rohan on Jun 4, 2008 7:42 PM CDT up reply actions

Thursdays

Thursday’s on TNT was my theory too. Very few games, Lakers often featured, everyone plays Friday equals no Saturday game. But I guess not. Sunday TV games could play a similar role, but there are fewer of those.

The other factor is Staples Center, the only venue in the US with three pro teams in season (Lakers, Clippers, Kings). I don’t know how that would necessarily impact the schedule, but it does introduce a factor that is unique.

I can’t see anything sinister though. I just don’t see where the advantage would be.

The Clippers! The (second) Best NBA Team in LA!

by Steve Perrin on Jun 4, 2008 11:12 PM CDT reply actions

Yeah, I too don't think it could be that much of an advantage

although the Saturday numbers are odd in and of themselves. I thought maybe Staples too, but the Clips weren’t affected at all… (10+ Saturday games if I remember correctly)

by Rohan on Jun 4, 2008 11:58 PM CDT up reply actions

hmm

I’d gotten the impression the big ratings days are usually Thursday and Sunday – with Friday’s ESPN games not far behind. That would mean the Lakers would be more likely featured on those days – which means they’d be more likely to be resting on Saturday so they can be available for one of the other three nights.

http://www.hornets247.com

by Ryan Schwan on Jun 5, 2008 10:56 AM CDT reply actions

That's what I'm saying though

the other big Thursday/Friday/Sunday teams don’t have this wrinkle in their scheduling.

by Rohan on Jun 5, 2008 12:59 PM CDT up reply actions

More...

Sunday ABC

Los Angeles: 9
Dallas: 8
Detroit: 8
Phoenix: 7
Miami: 6
San Antonio: 5
Cleveland: 5
Chicago: 4

Friday ESPN
Chicago: 7
Boston: 6
Miami: 6
Los Angeles: 5
San Antonio: 4
Detroit: 4
Cleveland: 4

Total Thu/Fri/Sun (TNT/ESPN/ABC), Saturday in parentheses

Dallas: 21 (12)
Los Angeles: 21 (1)
Chicago: 19 (14)
Cleveland: 16 (9)
Phoenix: 16 (11)
Detroit: 16 (7)

by Rohan on Jun 5, 2008 1:57 PM CDT up reply actions

Stern Button

Ha! Love that you’re incorporating the Stern Button into your posts.

I’m not one to yell “conspiracy” (the small-market Spurs are proof to the world that no such ploy exists), but come on. This is ridiculous. No way this is an accident. I think there’s a better chance at Bargnani turning being good at “that whole basketball thing” again before I chalk this up to coincidence.

Stern hates small market teams (unless svengali master Clay Bennett is involved), and while some things are out of his control, this one is definitely within his reach. Of course, I end all of these rants the same way: at least we don’t have Bud Selig running this show.

http:///www.hometownhornets.blogspot.com

by hldomingue on Jun 5, 2008 5:15 PM CDT reply actions

Do any other teams have this scheduling oddity?

I guess the next step would be to look at how many other teams have a weird scheduling quirk like this one. If it’s completely random, then you’d think at least a few other teams would have days with exceedingly low game totals. There might also be teams that specifically request not to play on particular days (I believe the NBA tries not to schedule the Jazz for Sundays, or maybe they just try not to schedule home games on Sundays, at Larry Miller’s request). I can’t think of a reason the Lakers would request not to play on Saturdays, but maybe there is one.

by Sam Cohen on Jun 5, 2008 6:46 PM CDT reply actions

Utah played 4 Sunday games

So even if they requested it, they were forced to play on that day 4 times more often than L.A. Could L.A. have a reason for not playing Saturdays? Sure. Could that reason be more important than “our fans won’t show up if we play this day”? I doubt it.

by Rohan on Jun 9, 2008 1:16 PM CDT up reply actions