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Sports Illustrated
Sports Illustrated
Entertainment
Jimmy Traina

ESPN’s Analytics Gets Destroyed After Repeatedly Giving Heat Little Chance to Beat Celtics

ESPN Heat Celtics ESPN Analytics Miami Al Horford Ben Roethlisberger Dan Rapaport Gabe Vincent Jimmy Butler

1. I'm not an analytics guy. I try my best not to pay attention to any analytics in any sport. I still have no idea what WAR is. 

So I have no idea how ESPN’s analytics gave the Heat a 3% chance to beat the Celtics before the Eastern Conference finals, but they did.

ESPN Analytics then gave the Heat just a 35% chance to win the series after it won the first two games in Boston.

And now with the Heat up 3–0, ESPN Analytics gives Miami only a 69% chance to close out the series.

Naturally, this has made for perfect fodder on Twitter with people having a good laugh at the expense of these random and nonsensical figures.

2. Trash talking/taunting is a very tricky thing. You don’t want to fire up your opponent, but it’s just so damn fun. In the case of Celtics center, Al Horford, his taunting from Game 1 came back to bite him hard. Not only is his team down 3–0, but Jimmy Butler got payback in a big way Sunday.

3. Charles Barkley doesn't letter anyone get away with nonsense, as the Heat's Gabe Vincent learned Sunday night.

4. Former Steelers quarterback Ben Roethlisberger revealed on his podcast that he initially rooted against his replacement, rookie QB Kenny Pickett, last season.

5. Twitter is 99% bad, but then you see something like this, and it reminds you why you still use the awful social media service. This user used a thread to do a deep dive on Mets slugger Peter Alonso and his humping habit.

6. A brand-new episode of SI Media With Jimmy Traina dropped Thursday, and it features two guests.

First up is NFL VP of broadcast planning Mike North on putting together the 2023 schedule.

Just some of the topics covered: Which game did networks want the most? What’s the philosophy behind ESPN having staggered doubleheaders instead of straight doubleheaders? Is it true the league doesn’t want to waste great matchups on days when it’s guaranteed to have a huge rating? Will the league consider a team to be a permanent fixture on Black Friday? Why does the NFL feature the Raiders in prime time so much?

After North, golf journalist Dan Rapaport from Barstool Sports joins the show to talk about the PGA Championship, what’s going on with LIV Golf, Tiger Woods’s future and much more.

Following Rapaport, Sal Licata from WFAN radio and SNY TV in New York joins me for our weekly “Traina Thoughts” segment. This week, we share our thoughts on the NFL putting a playoff game exclusively on Peacock and Pat McAfee joining ESPN. We also discuss which one of us is more difficult to go away with, my recent dilemma with my father’s birthday and more.

You can listen to the podcast below or download it on Apple, Spotify and Google.

You can also watch SI Media With Jimmy Traina on YouTube.

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