John Hollinger
Encyclopedia
John Hollinger is an analyst and writer for ESPN. He primarily covers the NBA. Hollinger grew up in Mahwah, New Jersey
and is a 1993 graduate of the University of Virginia
.
Hollinger developed the website Alleyoop.com in 1996, initially as a hobby and sounding board for his musings on the game. Touting the site as "The Basketball Page for Thinking Fans," Hollinger followed in the footsteps of noted analysts Dean Oliver and Bob Bellotti in a quest for the ultimate basketball statistic.
During Alleyoop 's early years, Hollinger experimented with offensive and defensive ratings (points created and allowed per 100 possessions) in much the same way as Oliver, as a means of quantifying a player's overall contribution to his team. While the methods were hardly groundbreaking, Hollinger's writing style and incisive commentary caught the eye of such industry luminaries as Web Magazine, and The Wall Street Journal
.
Hollinger spent the next three years as the sports editor at OregonLive.com
, developing an intimate understanding of the inner workings of the NBA, both as a game and a business. It was during his OregonLive years that Hollinger developed his Player Efficiency Rating
(PER), a figure that attempts to combine all of a player's contributions into one number.
After his stint in Portland, Hollinger was hired as the basketball editor at SI.com, Sports Illustrated
's online sister site. In 2002, Hollinger released the first Pro Basketball Prospectus which was his first work published in print.
Hollinger has authored three more Prospectuses, now called Pro Basketball Forecasts. He left Sports Illustrated to write for ESPN.com
in the summer of 2005, and his weekly columns are available through their "insider" subscription service. Additionally, Hollinger writes for the New York Sun
s sports section.
Hollinger has appeared every year on the Basketball Analytics panel at the annual MIT Sloan Sports Analytics Conference
, Hollinger also developed a simpler formula that quantifies how impressive a player's individual performance is in a given game. The Hollinger Game Score formula is:
(Points x 1.0) + (FGM x 0.4) + (FGA x -0.7) + ((FTA-FTM) x -0.4) + (OREB x 0.7) + (DREB x 0.3) + (STL x 1.0) + (AST x 0.7) + (BLK x 0.7) + (PF x -0.4) + (TO x -1.0)
The entire modern box score of the player is needed for calculation, including offensive and defensive rebounding, steals, blocks and turnovers, so the Hollinger Game Score can only be applied to games played since the 1978 season.
Mahwah, New Jersey
Mahwah is a township in Bergen County, New Jersey, United States. As of the 2010 United States Census, the township population was 25,890. The name Mahwah is derived from the Lenni Lenape word "mawewi" which means "Meeting Place" or "Place Where Paths Meet".The area that is now Mahwah was...
and is a 1993 graduate of the University of Virginia
University of Virginia
The University of Virginia is a public research university located in Charlottesville, Virginia, United States, founded by Thomas Jefferson...
.
Hollinger developed the website Alleyoop.com in 1996, initially as a hobby and sounding board for his musings on the game. Touting the site as "The Basketball Page for Thinking Fans," Hollinger followed in the footsteps of noted analysts Dean Oliver and Bob Bellotti in a quest for the ultimate basketball statistic.
During Alleyoop 's early years, Hollinger experimented with offensive and defensive ratings (points created and allowed per 100 possessions) in much the same way as Oliver, as a means of quantifying a player's overall contribution to his team. While the methods were hardly groundbreaking, Hollinger's writing style and incisive commentary caught the eye of such industry luminaries as Web Magazine, and The Wall Street Journal
The Wall Street Journal
The Wall Street Journal is an American English-language international daily newspaper. It is published in New York City by Dow Jones & Company, a division of News Corporation, along with the Asian and European editions of the Journal....
.
Hollinger spent the next three years as the sports editor at OregonLive.com
OregonLive.com
OregonLive.com is the online home of The Oregonian and The Hillsboro Argus. Started in 1997, it is owned by Advance Publications, which also owns the two newspapers...
, developing an intimate understanding of the inner workings of the NBA, both as a game and a business. It was during his OregonLive years that Hollinger developed his Player Efficiency Rating
Player Efficiency Rating
The Player Efficiency Rating is ESPN Insider writer John Hollinger's all-in-one basketball rating, which attempts to boil down all of a player's contributions into one number. Using a detailed formula, Hollinger developed a system that rates every player's statistical performance.-Introduction:PER...
(PER), a figure that attempts to combine all of a player's contributions into one number.
After his stint in Portland, Hollinger was hired as the basketball editor at SI.com, Sports Illustrated
Sports Illustrated
Sports Illustrated is an American sports media company owned by media conglomerate Time Warner. Its self titled magazine has over 3.5 million subscribers and is read by 23 million adults each week, including over 18 million men. It was the first magazine with circulation over one million to win the...
's online sister site. In 2002, Hollinger released the first Pro Basketball Prospectus which was his first work published in print.
Hollinger has authored three more Prospectuses, now called Pro Basketball Forecasts. He left Sports Illustrated to write for ESPN.com
ESPN.com
ESPN.com is the official website of ESPN and a division of ESPN Inc. Since launching in 1995 as ESPNet.SportsZone.com, the website has developed numerous sections including: Page 2, SportsNation, ESPN 3.com, ESPN Motion, My ESPN, ESPN Sports Travel, ESPN Video Games, ESPN Insider, ESPN.com's...
in the summer of 2005, and his weekly columns are available through their "insider" subscription service. Additionally, Hollinger writes for the New York Sun
New York Sun
The New York Sun was a weekday daily newspaper published in New York City from 2002 to 2008. When it debuted on April 16, 2002, adopting the name, motto, and masthead of an otherwise unrelated earlier New York paper, The Sun , it became the first general-interest broadsheet newspaper to be started...
s sports section.
Hollinger has appeared every year on the Basketball Analytics panel at the annual MIT Sloan Sports Analytics Conference
MIT Sloan Sports Analytics Conference
The ' goal is to provide a forum to discuss the increasing role of analytics in the sports industry. Founded in 2006, the conference is co-chaired by Daryl Morey and Jessica Gelman who oversee MIT Sloan students The ' goal is to provide a forum to discuss the increasing role of analytics in the...
Hollinger game score
As an extension of the Player Efficiency RatingPlayer Efficiency Rating
The Player Efficiency Rating is ESPN Insider writer John Hollinger's all-in-one basketball rating, which attempts to boil down all of a player's contributions into one number. Using a detailed formula, Hollinger developed a system that rates every player's statistical performance.-Introduction:PER...
, Hollinger also developed a simpler formula that quantifies how impressive a player's individual performance is in a given game. The Hollinger Game Score formula is:
(Points x 1.0) + (FGM x 0.4) + (FGA x -0.7) + ((FTA-FTM) x -0.4) + (OREB x 0.7) + (DREB x 0.3) + (STL x 1.0) + (AST x 0.7) + (BLK x 0.7) + (PF x -0.4) + (TO x -1.0)
The entire modern box score of the player is needed for calculation, including offensive and defensive rebounding, steals, blocks and turnovers, so the Hollinger Game Score can only be applied to games played since the 1978 season.
External links
- Alleyoop.com, Hollinger's home site
- Hollinger's ESPN Insider archive
- Hollinger's articles at SI
- Basketball-Reference.com, includes many of Hollinger's statistics
- KnickerBlogger.net, home of constantly updated PER's