That's the beauty of it; you can't predict sports. _FAN is the smartest sports fan I know, and kenpom is probably one of the smartest sports guys in the world, and no matter what evidence they have laid out before them it's still not science. So when Boston College wins at Syracuse, it seems like it would be way more fun for stats people than it would be for the average non-BC sports fan.
Of course you can't predict it, that's what makes it fun. I certainly don't like stats because they tell you exactly what's going to happen in any game. I like stats because they give you a really good glimpse of what your team actually does (after it happens) and therefore give you a glimpse of what your team might do (before a game), but there are no guarantees.
I've always looked at the numbers more like lenses in glasses. They simply give you a better view of what you are watching. And in basketball the advanced stats/4 factors give you the best lens to look through, but not the only lens. They also give you a common language to discuss the game, both pre and post. They make watching the games and talking about the games more entertaining. JMHO.
I agree with everything you said. I guess what I'm saying is that, for instance, if we would have won Monday night, I would have been much more excited than before I started following and understanding stats. Being able to point to areas, mostly PPP I'd imagine, and understand just how well we played to win would have been very exciting. I don't really know how to word what I'm thinking. I think being able to celebrate
how we is more fun than just celebrating a win.
Maybe a good, more specific answer, is that I find holding KU to as low of PPP as we did in Bramlage to be more fun than holding them to a low number of points.
