Basketball Statistics Blog

Friday Press Clippings:
Advanced statistics and the democracy of talent

From Magic Basketball
By Danny Nowell
Download source here: ' Advanced statistics and the democracy of talent ' By Danny Nowell

"... Where am I going with this? I’ve been thinking a lot about advanced statistics recently in the wake of the 2011 MIT Sloan Sports Analytics Conference, which I was not fortunate enough to attend but which the TrueHoop Network covered extensively.

The Sloan Conference is the zenith of the advanced statistical approach to sports today, and it draws some of the smartest people covering or fielding sports teams in the world. ..."

"... For several years now, I’ve been a devotee–if a lackadaisical one–of this sort of sports analytics. I didn’t do so hot in Calculus in high school, but I do care a lot more about efficiency than pure scoring, and I believe in things like Pythagorean record as mathematical ways to ascertain the quality of a team considered apart from the quirks of day-to-day game developments. ..."

"... Like I’ve said, I love the analytical and statistical approach to think about basketball. But I am made a little uneasy by the widening gap between the practice and the analysis of the game. Let me put this dangerously, in a way that could easily be taken out of context (I hope I never write those words on the internet ever again):

I wonder if hedge fund managers and sabermetricians can even help but obscuring the spirit of basketball in their attempts to quantify the product. ..."

"... The assumption at the heart of advanced statistics is that it is best to look many times at a basketball game to ascertain how to best succeed at the goal of outscoring your opponent.

To find who is most efficiently either scoring or denying points, to recognize skills that are harder to see before the gunsmoke clears, like Chuck Hayes’ incredible post defense.

To me, this is a business approach to basketball, and it is not wrong. ..."

"... Here’s my fear: People like me are drawn to advanced analysis, in some small part, because it compartmentalizes the game into something I can have a hand in, can process.

I will never wake up as enormous and gifted as an NBA star, but I can diligently apply the full scope of my MacBook to figure out how to “maximize” their gifts. ..."

"... Because in the end, the best basketball is about watching as much as it is about winning. It’s a celebration of rare genius just as much as it is about the bottom line of scores and efficiencies.

By all means, then, let’s use the tools we have to think about it better, to question our appreciations and sharpen our tastes, but without letting it crowd our appreciation of even the flawed moments. ..."

Read more articles in Magic Basketball.

To read today's 'Press Clippings' in Spanish,
click this week above on the 'Español' tab or afterwards click here:
' Proponen una nueva técnica para valorar a los jugadores de baloncesto '
by SINC.

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Friday Video Clippings:
Rick Pitino vs. Carlos Beltran

Rick Pitino vs. Carlos Beltran

To watch today's 'Video Clippings' in Spanish,
click this week above on the 'Español' tab or afterwards click here:
' Visión de Futuro '.

'Press and Video Clippings'
is a Series of Notes edited the 2nd. and 4th. Friday of Every Month

To Read ALL the Clippings in this Series, click here: Categories > Contents Online

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