There is a great article in the New York Times Magazine this week by the author ofMoney Ball, Michael Lewsi. It is about Shane Battier, Houston's GM Daryl Morey, and the "new" stats in basketball:The No-Stats All-Star. It's a must read.

A few highlights, comments:

-Some great discussion of exactly how and why Shane Battier is a good defender.

-One of the interesting claims made by Lewis and Morey is that in basketball, unlike Football or Baseball, the traditional statistics give players an incentive to be selfish. I always knew that to be true in basketball, but never realized that it was less of an issue in other sports.

-Some hints about the types of statistical analysis that teams keep "in-house." Stuff that is not publically available that is useful to teams when scouting.

-There was a suggestion that Houston believes that it's very important not to foul. That fouling is the worst type of defensive play. Greg Oden, I'm looking at you.

-Frankly, I would have liked to see a bit more discussion of the details of the "new" statistics and a bit broader coverage (discuss other teams that are interested in this trend).