User talk:LOL/Archive 2

NBA WikiProject Newsletter

The NBA WikiProject Newsletter
Volume 1, Issue 1 • April 9, 2008 • Written by: Basketball110
News Project and league news: As of April 8, the following teams have clinched a playoff berth: Boston, Detroit, Orlando, Cleveland, Philadelphia, Washington, Toronto, New Orleans, San Antonio, Los Angeles (Lakers), Utah, Houston, and Phoenix. Heat coach Pat Riley, former Knicks center Patrick Ewing, former Rockets center Hakeem Olajuwon, former Rookie of the Year Adrian Dantley, Pistons owner Bill Davidson, and college coach Dick Vitale were elected to the Basketball Hall of Fame.	Features Featured NBA articles of the week: National Basketball Association Boston Celtics Michael Jordan	Project Collaboration This feature isn't available yet. You will be notified when it is ready.
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Template:NBA season

Thank you very much for helping me out. I am simply not familiar with computer languages. ● 8~Hype ^@ 19:00, 27 April 2008 (UTC)

WP:DASH

Hello, can you explain why you reverted my edits to the Celtics' game log, which were in accordance with WP:DASH? —LOL (talk) 21:51, 27 April 2008 (UTC)

I am sorry. I just thought it was an unnecessary edit, but obviously it wasn't. ● 8~Hype ^@ 22:17, 27 April 2008 (UTC)

Toronto Raptors seasons

Hi, do you know how to fix the parameters for this one? The playoff results for 2007-08 don't seem to show up. Chensiyuan (talk) 03:22, 29 April 2008 (UTC)

Whoops, I think I caused some confusion when I originally put the playoffs field ahead of the results. It should be fixed now, but let me know if there's anything else wrong with it. Thanks for prompting me about the error. —LOL (talk) 03:32, 29 April 2008 (UTC)

Thanks, it looks okay now. Bah, another season of first-round exit! Chensiyuan (talk) 03:37, 29 April 2008 (UTC)

Hmm, didn't they lose 21 games in total? If you count 'em it gives 21 no? Chensiyuan (talk) 03:42, 29 April 2008 (UTC)

I double-checked and I keep getting 20. A revision from March indicates they lost 16 playoff games, and they just lost 4 to the Magic.
And yeah, what a bummer for Raptors fans. It looks like Steve Nash and the Suns are going down the same path! :'( —LOL (talk) 03:50, 29 April 2008 (UTC)

Downed by my other team no less, the Spurs! It helps to support a winning team; the mental anguish caused by the Raps and Arsenal (my fave soccer team) is just too much to bear year after year. Chensiyuan (talk) 04:02, 29 April 2008 (UTC)

Well, we'll soon see if the Canadian can stay alive. I wonder if Duncan will hit another big three-pointer this year!
By the way, if there are any simple statistical updates that can be done by accessing a web page, let me know. I can now write programs to quickly collect and handle data from the Internet. Recently I've programmed for some of the NBA game logs and player statistics, and since it's much less tedious than fully manual updates I'm hoping to do more! :) —LOL (talk) 22:08, 29 April 2008 (UTC)

Template:NBA season

Hey, could you maybe help me out again? I am trying to make it easier for editors on the respective season page of a team; the editor shouldn't enter e.g. "1^st", but rather "1", and Template:NBA season would automate the rest. The same goes for the conference place; people would only have to enter a number from 1 to 15 (or TBA/TBD), and the template would fill in the rest. Here's what I have come up with, but somehow it is wrong at some point.

<small>Division:</small> {{#if:{{#switch:{{{division_place}}} |1=1 | }} | '''{{{division_place}}}<sup>st</sup>''' |
{{#if:{{#switch:{{{division_place}}} |2=1 | }} | '''{{{division_place}}}<sup>nd</sup>}}''' | 
{{#if:{{#switch:{{{division_place}}} |3=1 | }} | '''{{{division_place}}}<sup>rd</sup>}}''' | 
{{#if:{{#switch:{{{division_place}}} |TBA=1 |TBD=1 | }} | '''{{{division_place}}}}}''' | '''{{{division_place}}}<sup>th</sup>'''}}}}}}}}

I would be glad if you could help me out again. Thank you very much in advance. ● 8~Hype ^@ 12:56, 30 April 2008 (UTC)

---

Another thing I have been thinking of, is to implement the respective division/conference names by a 2-letter abbreviation. I think it would look nice like that:

5^th (SE)

13^th (E)

I also think it would look better as mentioned above than just mentioning the respective division/conference below the arena parameter. The abbreviation would have to be as follows:

• Southeast --> [[Southeast Division (NBA)|SE]]
• Atlantic --> [[Atlantic Division (NBA)|AC]]
• Central --> [[Central Division (NBA)|CE]]
• Southwest --> [[Southwest Division (NBA)|SW]]
• Northwest --> [[Northwest Division (NBA)|NW]]
• Pacific --> [[Pacific Division (NBA)|PA]]
• East --> [[Eastern Conference (NBA)|E]]
• West --> [[Western Conference (NBA)|W]]

On the respective season pages, people would have to enter for {{{division}}}: Southeast/southeast/SE/se (same for all other divisions), and for {{{conference}}}: Eastern/eastern/East/east/E/e.

Does that sound like a good idea? If yes, could you maybe import it? Thanks a lot in advance! ● 8~Hype ^@ 19:55, 30 April 2008 (UTC)

NBA Barnstar

I have given you a barnstar. You clearly deserve it. ● 8~Hype ^@ 21:34, 30 April 2008 (UTC)

Thanks, man! If there are any long-term statistical updates you think I should do, let me know. —LOL (talk) 21:36, 30 April 2008 (UTC)

Scores project

OK, if you're interested, how about updating Template:NBAbox? Here's what has to be done:

• If {{{recap1}}} is not a URL (for the recap after game), it should be possible to enter the time without getting a link. In Template:Basketballbox, if you enter a time for {{{report}}}, it will show the time. Maybe it would even be easier to add a {{{time}}} parameter, like in Template:Basketballbox, to be able to see the times even after the games have been played.
• If {{{recap}}} is a URL, it shouldn't show "Recap", but instead the number of the game. If it's Game 2, it should show "2 (link sybol"), just like in Template:Basketballbox.
• If you enter a value for {{{series}}}, it should appear right below the last game played (with the same background color) instead of at the end of the list.
• "Attendance" and "Referees" parameters should be added and placed below the stadium name, as in Template:Basketballbox.
• The dates should be wiki-linked, and the stadiums and team names should link by themselves (without always adding the link brackets).
• It might be even a good idea to put the score of the right (home) team before the name of the team (same goes for Points, Rebounds and Assists) for the sake of all the numbers lining up smoothly.
• About the scores by quarter: I think it would be better to have a single row for each quarter. It would take up more vertical space, but that doesn't really matter as each game is collapsible. The abbreviations would be Q1, Q2, Q3 and Q4, all bold and in different rows, with the score seperated by a "-". But it would also be possible to put each abbreviation (Q1, Q2, Q3 and Q4) in the center (as with Points, Rebounds and Assists), but then a seperation line would have to be below the scores by each quarter, as it would run into the player statistics and thus would be unclear. Also, an option for 2OT and 3OT should be added.

Other than that, this template is very helpful. I am just trying to get all the best from various templates into one, but unfortunately, my little experience doesn't allow me to change it. I hope that you understand all of what I said, because I am not very good at describing things. Please tell me about your decision. ● 8~Hype ^@ 06:52, 1 May 2008 (UTC)
P.S. I didn't want to ask on the project page or template discussion, because I wanted you to change it. You are just perfect at those things. However, if you don't feel like helping, it won't be a problem. I would then just ask on the project page or the template discussion. ● 8~Hype ^@ 06:55, 1 May 2008 (UTC)

I just wanted to clear up a few things as I created this template. Concerning the Recap deal, if there is no recap parameter, then the use of the time parameter will generate the time in its place. Secondly, I didn't include the attendance or referees parameters, as they are not used currently for the playoffs. The same reasoning goes for not organizing the scores as 8-Hype has suggested, or wiki-linking the dates. Wiki-linking the stadiums would not be very difficult, but I prefer to leave out automatic wiki-links to keep the template more flexible. The way the other statistics are displayed are up to the user. For example, you can just write the points scored by the player and their name in whatever order you want, and you can just add breaks to split up the quarter by quarter scoring, as you are probably going to add more space if you have separate parameters.

However, I did have one problem while trying to create the template. I tried to create a table of scores within the collapsed section, but I had quite a few difficulties doing so. You can check out what I was able to come up with to get an idea of what I was trying out. Here is the template and here is the rough display from what I was able to get. My apologies for the clutter on each of those pages if you decided to check out the source code. The relevant codes for each are just the first portions of the page, followed by a bunch of hidden stuff that I'm working on for other projects. Thanks. —Sukh17 ^Talk 12:56, 1 May 2008 (UTC)

I think the use of two different parameters for the same place can cause minor difficulties for regular editors who are not familiar with the template. Attendance or referees parameters should be added for more flexibility. If it is not wished, then the parameters will just stay empty. But you always have to add the possibility.

And yes, you can truly change the order of player names and their statistics, but if one number is a single-digit number and the other and double-digit, the names behind the numbers will not line up correctly. Also, the position of the score of the team cannot be changed just like that. So that's why it has to be changed, so that everything (from team scores to player statistics) lines up one below the other.

I also don't like your rough display too much. The team name should line up with the player names, and the score with the player numbers. I also still think that the scores by quarter shouldn't be layed out like that, as there is no need for the repeat of the team name, so I think a single row for each quarter, lining up with all the other information, would be appropriate. The recap parameter should also be displayed as the number of the game, instead of "Recap".

User:Sukh17 also told me he doesn't have too much time, so maybe you, LOL, could make the changes and post them on a sandbox for a quick preview? ● 8~Hype ^@ 13:41, 1 May 2008 (UTC)

I realize that nothing is really lined up, as that is part of the problem with that rough template. The goal of that template was to display the scores in a more traditional format. I have no expectation to use that as it is, just to try to take just that one portion and apply it correctly and efficiently to the current template. Thanks. —Sukh17 ^Talk 13:54, 1 May 2008 (UTC)

Hi LOL, if you are having any difficulties with the code, or any questions regarding anything or perhaps my intentions, please let me know. Thanks. —Sukh17 ^Talk 01:20, 2 May 2008 (UTC)

Thanks for your concern. I am getting lost in the table setup because the code can't be indented. I got started with putting the series right under the last game played, but I think I need someone to finish the job. —LOL (talk) 03:16, 2 May 2008 (UTC)

I can go ahead and do that, but I personally feel that it is better suited at the bottom. I'll add another another parameter if anyone decides they would prefer to go back to the original. —Sukh17 ^Talk 04:10, 2 May 2008 (UTC)

Thanks again, this time for finishing what I started. Is there anything else in the list above that you think may be better left unchanged? It may be good to have any issues discussed at the WikiProject in case any of the members have input. Tomorrow I'll attempt to check off all of 8-Hype's requests if everything's fine. —LOL (talk) 04:46, 2 May 2008 (UTC)

Okay, I've added the series to bottom of each game instead, and if anyone wants to switch that back to the very bottom, they can simply set the parameter serloc equal to bottom, and it will move the series to the very bottom again. The default will be with the series after the last game for now. I just wanted to point out one thing though: do you really believe it is absolutely necessary to replicate how the old template looks when we might have a better visual product? For example, doesn't titling the game recap link as Recap work better for those visiting readers to quickly identify what those links are for. —Sukh17 ^Talk 04:51, 2 May 2008 (UTC)

You're right about the recap links because the game number alone isn't intuitive. We can show both the game number and "Recap" if a "Game" column is added. How does that sound? —LOL (talk) 04:58, 2 May 2008 (UTC) P.S. Calling it a night; will probably reply tomorrow.

Okay, let me know what you think of the latest version. I think it is pretty good for going on the page as is, considering it covers at least as much information as the current template is used for. —Sukh17 ^Talk 06:18, 2 May 2008 (UTC)

I have changed expressions such as "Game 1: Recap" to "G1: Recap", as the frequent use of the word "Game" is too irritating. I also added more space between "time" and "recap". ● 8~Hype ^@ 10:39, 2 May 2008 (UTC)

User:Sukh17, why did you revert my edits? It looked much tidier than it is right now. ● 8~Hype ^@ 10:43, 2 May 2008 (UTC)

There should be a little space between the game number and the recap link, as "Game 4: 8:00PM" is standing all too close and "4: 8:00" in particular is too irritating. The game numbers are also not lining up correctly one below the other, same goes for the team score. ● 8~Hype ^@ 10:54, 2 May 2008 (UTC)

If you have time, please send me a message and I will tell you how the template can be fixed, LOL. Game 1 is almost complete, the others weren't changed. ● 8~Hype ^@ 15:05, 2 May 2008 (UTC)

Highlighting team-highs in player stats

Hey, I'm just wondering what the standard is for highlighting cells in the player statistics tables. At 2007-08 Boston Celtics season#Player statistics, Ray Allen's 35.9 MPG is highlighted, but Paul Pierce's MPG is also 35.9 and is not highlighted. Is it an error that Paul Pierce's is not highlighted, or is only the first occurrence of the team-high supposed to be highlighted?

I was going to update the Celtics' playoff statistics, but I'd like to verify with you what should be highlighted. Here's what I got:

Player	GP	GS	MPG	FG%	3FG%	FT%	RPG	APG	SPG	BPG	PPG
Kevin Garnett	5	5	37.8	.457	1.000	.880	8.8	3.6	2.20	1.20	21.4
Paul Pierce	5	5	33.2	.453	.480	.708	4.6	4.8	1.20	.20	17.4
Ray Allen	5	5	38.8	.449	.500	1.000	3.0	3.6	.80	.20	17.2
Rajon Rondo	5	5	31.6	.467	.500	.750	4.2	8.0	2.20	.20	12.6
James Posey	5	0	24.2	.438	.391	.500	3.8	1.4	.80	.60	8.0
Sam Cassell	5	0	13.0	.467	.500	1.000	1.4	1.4	.20	.20	7.0
Kendrick Perkins	5	5	21.8	.529	.000	.846	6.0	.4	.60	1.00	5.8
Leon Powe	5	0	17.8	.435	.000	.462	3.2	.4	.00	.60	5.2
Glen Davis	5	0	8.8	.667	.000	.500	1.8	.6	.60	.60	2.0
Tony Allen	4	0	4.3	.600	.000	1.000	.5	.0	.00	.00	1.8
Eddie House	5	0	3.8	.200	.333	.000	.8	.4	.20	.00	.6
P. J. Brown	4	0	6.8	.000	.000	1.000	1.3	.0	.00	.00	.5

—LOL (talk) 23:28, 1 May 2008 (UTC)

P.S. I'm going to work on {{NBAbox}} during the weekend. Since there's a lot of code that's not my own, I'd like to spend some time to familiarize myself with it first.

Ray is highlighted because his 2,624 minutes are divided by 73 games, and the result is 35.945, whereas Pierce only comes to 35.925. ● 8~Hype ^@ 10:12, 2 May 2008 (UTC)

Just stopping by to say that the work you did at 2007-08 Golden State Warriors season is beautiful. Keep up the good work. Bash Kash (talk) 05:29, 4 May 2008 (UTC)

Thanks for the encouraging comments. :) I hope that everybody will be happy if I adopt this format for the rest of the teams. —LOL (talk) 06:56, 4 May 2008 (UTC)

NBA WikiProject May Newsletter

The NBA WikiProject Newsletter
Volume 1, Issue 2 • May 5, 2008 • Written by: Noble Story
News On May 5, the first round of the NBA Playoffs were completed. In the East, Boston, will face Cleveland, and Detroit will face Orlando. In the West, the Los Angeles (Lakers) will face Utah, and New Orleans will face San Antonio. For more up-to-date information, visit the 2008 NBA Playoffs. The end-of-the-year awards are now being handed out. So far, Byron Scott has been awarded the Coach of the Year award, Kevin Garnett has been named the Defensive Player of the Year, Hedo Turkoglu has won the Most Improved Player award, and Kevin Durant has been named the Rookie of the Year.	Improved Content On April 9, Dirk Nowitzki was given Good Article status. On April 19, Yi Jianlian was promoted to Good Article status. On April 29, Yao Ming was given to Featured Article status. On May 4, the List of Houston Rockets first and second round draft picks was promoted to Featured List status. Current Projects Update all the 2007-08 Playoff game logs that are located in Category:National Basketball Association game log templates As the playoffs continue, keep the 2008 NBA Playoffs article up-to-date.	Collaboration of the Month Magic Johnson has been chosen to be our very first Collaboration of the Month article. Although this is article is already a Good Article, it still can be improved. The goal is to improve this article by the end of May so that it can be nominated for Featured Article status. In particular, free-use images should be found for the article, all Manual of Style guidelines should be followed, and a neutral point of view should be maintained throughout the article. If there is anything you can do to improve the article, then please help out.
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Template:NBA roster statistics legend

Really nice work. I saw you took my legend from 2008-09 Boston Celtics season and turned it into a template (with some changes). Thank you. ● 8~Hype ^@ 04:15, 15 May 2008 (UTC)

1984-85 Chicago Bulls season

Hi LOL. I saw your Regular Season table for the season page and it is awesome. Fantastic work. It gives the article a real touch of class. Cheers Maple Leaf (talk) 19:09, 15 May 2008 (UTC)

For you!

SlightlyMad^{wanna si-ign?} has given you a cookie! Cookies promote WikiLove and hopefully this one has made your day better. Spread the WikiLove by giving someone else a cookie, whether it be someone you have had disagreements with in the past or a good friend. Happy munching!

Spread the goodness of cookies by adding {{subst:Cookie}} to their talk page with a friendly message.

For your recent work on vandalism. Nice job! SlightlyMad^{wanna si-ign?} 02:37, 24 May 2008 (UTC)

Thanks. :D —LOL (talk) 02:39, 24 May 2008 (UTC)

Template:NBA season

Either the superscripts stay, or the endings have to be removed at all. People have to recognize the place at first sight, and an un-supersripted (and bold) ending just adds confusion. The number is the main part, and because the ending is nonsignificant, it actually has to be superscripted in this case. ● 8~Hype ^@ 11:22, 27 May 2008 (UTC)

Are you kidding me?

If you care about removed superscripts and dashes, then do ti for every season article for the Celtics, not just one or two, and also for every season page for every NBA team. ● 8~Hype ^@ 21:46, 28 May 2008 (UTC)

Oh yeah, and please re-add the suffixes in {{NBA season}}, this time not bold. Only the number should be bold. ● 8~Hype ^@ 21:50, 28 May 2008 (UTC)

WikiProject National Basketball Association June 2008 Newsletter

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WP:MOSCAP

Hi. Thanks for the info. As I continue to add various transactions, I will make the appropriate corrections. Always good to hear from a fellow Canadian. Maple Leaf (talk) 21:47, 2 June 2008 (UTC)

Template:NBAbox

What happened to this project? Aren't you going to finish it? I think it's needed for the Finals. ● 8~Hype ^@ 15:59, 3 June 2008 (UTC)

I've lost interest, so I won't be finishing it any time soon. I think {{basketballbox}} will do just fine. —LOL (talk) 20:09, 3 June 2008 (UTC)

Wikipedia:MOSFLAG#Not for use in locations of birth and death

I saw you recently removed the flags in Celtic players' infoboxes. But that rule doesn't apply, because I used it for the nationality, not for birth and death, so they should be allowed. ● 8~Hype ^@ 16:43, 5 June 2008 (UTC)

Template:NBA season record

As you have noticed, there are two types of season lists: Type A and Type B. You have made it very easy to update Type A (everything is automatically calculated), but for Type B you still have to do all by yourself (winning pct., playoff record, etc). Could you maybe create another such template for Type B? ● 8~Hype ^@ 04:48, 6 June 2008 (UTC)

Regarding this message: I wanted to have all the NBA team seasons pages standardized before I create another season record template. Currently there are many different formats (e.g. Cavaliers, Pacers, Magic, Spurs), and I want one (relatively) simple template to fit them all. I'm planning on doing this task during the off-season, when all the seasons pages are stable. I don't find this issue to be very urgent because there's only one page to be updated completely manually until the 2008–09 regular season. —LOL (talk) 21:16, 6 June 2008 (UTC)

Alright. But the Boston example is the best. I have taken all the best from other pages and made it clear & simple. What do you think? ● 8~Hype ^@ 22:46, 6 June 2008 (UTC)

MOSDATE

Yo, I just noticed this edit of yours change the fragment "in the 3rd of April 1850" to "in the 3 April 1850". While I'm sure your edit was motivated by standardizing and deprecating the suffix in question, it seems that the original fragile is idiomatic English while your version is not. English is not my first language, so I wanted to consult you before altering it. Regards, ɥʞoɹoɯoʞS

Point taken. I'm not terribly adroit with the Manual of Style (I still have nightmares about WP:MOSDASH), but where do you think it should stand on issues like this? Surely it is more encyclopedic to avoid grammatical errors ("the April three eighteen-fifty issue") at the expense of typographical consistency rather than vice versa? Or should we avoid both by using the word "third" rather than the number 3, per Wikipedia:MOSDATE#Numbers_as_figures_or_words? MOSDATE says "Ordinal numbers are spelled out" but does not seem to apply this to dates. ɥʞoɹoɯoʞS 05:55, 11 June 2008 (UTC)

I suppose we can leave it as is for now, but I must say I am uncomfortable with the thought of conscientious editors mass-standardizing MOSDATE compliance and replicating this issue across hundreds of issues. It seems that this is something MOSDATE should explicitly address (assuming neither of us have misread it). Were you operating as part of some co-ordinated WikiProject or taskforce which could be notified? ɥʞoɹoɯoʞS 06:24, 11 June 2008 (UTC)

Template:NBA Finals summary

The referees for Games 5, 6 and 7 should only appear when given. I tried to do it, but somehow it doesn't work for 2008 NBA Finals. ● 8~Hype ^@ 07:53, 12 June 2008 (UTC)

P. J. Brown

If there was a recent change, I was unaware of it. I just switched it since I most commonly see a space between initials on WP. See J. J. Hardy, W. E. B. Dubois, F. P. Santangelo, etc. I also noticed that the navboxes on Brown's page weren't consistent with the spacing issue. 2 used the space and one didn't. Not trying to make a big issue out of it, just something I noticed that didn't really match up with most of what I've seen. - Masonpatriot (talk) 16:03, 18 June 2008 (UTC)

I agree, is seems to be one of those things that hasn't really ben cleaned up, one way or another. Like I said, I just happened to be looking at the page and noticed it. Whatever the end result, it's fine with me. Thanks. - Masonpatriot (talk) 16:29, 18 June 2008 (UTC)

Bot?

You are moving pages very fast. Using automated tools that edit at a high rate of speed are not allowed under your main account and should be done by an approved bot. BJ^Talk 18:20, 25 June 2008 (UTC)

I'm not using any automated tools to move; all of them are done manually with a web browser. — LOL ^T/_C  18:22, 25 June 2008 (UTC)

lol, err, I mean that's fine. Just checking. BJ^Talk 18:23, 25 June 2008 (UTC)

Heh, I was just coming here to leave a similar message, That's impressive :) SQL^{Query me!} 18:31, 25 June 2008 (UTC)

Template:NBA season

I think the year before the team name should be linked (I often used that link) and the "{{{team}}} seasons" box should be smaller, just like in this version. ● 8~Hype ^@ 20:33, 26 June 2008 (UTC)

Remove superscripts in ordinal suffixes

Please remove them for all NBA players. Still a lot of work to do. ● 8~Hype ^@ 22:27, 27 June 2008 (UTC)

Template:2008 NBA Draft

User:X96lee15 is constantly changing the name from "D.J. White" to "D. J. White", which is a clear factual error because his official name is "D.J." (as used by the NBA). But he always changes it to "D. J.", but does not change similar names, ignoring consistency. Also, many of the players' articles who have such an abbreviation as name don't have a space between them. You even moved the name to P.J. Brown (click here). ● 8~Hype ^@ 14:47, 28 June 2008 (UTC)

I'm getting confused after reading the two seemingly conflictive guidelines (WP:NC(CN)#Exceptions & WP:NCP), so I'm abstaining now. I think it's possible that the former did not undergo a required update since the December rewrite of January changes to the latter, but also possible that "Generally, use the most common format of a name" is misleading me. —LOL ^T/_C 17:01, 28 June 2008 (UTC)