Sooooooo, does anyone still think ANALYTICS is a fraud, a fad, or just hype?

[jadillac]

The nerds have taken over.

It's useful obviously in planning and strategy....but to rely on it 100% is not wise. It's a good building block

 

[Texas2step]

It is a fraud for the simple fact that it has only been successful for 1 or 2 teams out of all of the teams that try to use it versus the ones that build teams thru talent

 

[Jalether]

It certainly has legitimacy. it's worked brilliantly for teams like astros, cubs, spurs and to a lesser degree rockets.
You can't argue with numbers and if you are intelligent enough, you can use the data result to great effect. It identifies your own team as well as your opponents strengths and weaknesses in great detail. If it's not working for you, the problem is with your implementation.

 

[seemorecizzy]

Yeah. Bad strategy comes from not using them. Analytics showed Dallas that they really didn’t have to guard Joel Anthony or Mike Bibby. Analytics showed the heat that they could get away with playing Battier at power forward and having him guard Kendrick Perkins in the finals. Analytics showed the spurs the following year that their best strategies on defense were to sag off wade and double the birdman near the rim to protect the paint. Analytics showed golden state that they could get away with assigning bogut to guard tony Allen. shyt the whole LeBron era heat offense and the current warriors offense were built off analytics and the movement of big men who can shoot is too. Find me a team that’s won recently without using it. The last team to do so was probably the 2009-10 lakers when they were running the triangle.

Thats not anaylytics, thats called a flim session lol.

 

[threattonature]

People are scared of math. Analytics is just incorporating statistics and data into decision making. It is not a replacement for watching games. Teams that employ analytics still have scouts actually watching players.

Through use of analytics, we have found that some of the generally accepted strategies do not lineup with actual probabilities.

I think there needs to be some separation too between analytics and some of these "advance stats" that are thrown out. shyt like PER, Win Share, Adjusted +/- and made up formulas that know one knows what's behind the numbers are the ones that annoy me. Those types should be separated from some of the other advanced stats. Stats such as shooting % when driving left versus right, shooting %s by zone, and numbers like that can be extremely useful in breaking down players strengths and weaknesses. Being able to see numbers like how long each individual has the ball in their hand, contested rebound %, assist chances created can give a more nuanced view of how players get their stats. All of that can help confirm or rebuke the eye test.

My ONLY issue with the advanced analytics is when people go straight to the numbers and disregard other mitigating factors that may have lead to those numbers. But they are definitely needed to provide a well rounded picture of different players.

 

[obarth]

The funny thing is, it's been going on for decades whenever folk reference the box score without the appropriate context. And what's even funnier, is that the same folk who hate analytics for that reason, are the same ones who rattle off box score numbers as a foundation for their arguments (not directed specifically at you, just in general).

It goes on whenever we compare player v. player - it's always "he averages more points, rebounds, and assists", therefore we think that gives us rule to say who's the better player. Basically, any sort of numbers in the hands of the uninformed are useless, and again, it's not a new phenomenon that everyone thinks it is - it's been going on ever since stats in sports were recorded.

i agree 100% about your overall statement but advanced metrics has really emboldened people nowadays. It went from I'm going to use the boxscore to prove my argument is right, to I'm going to use advanced metrics to prove my overall ability to talk about the sport is superior/I am an expert at this shyt. The point you're making is definitely more prevalent though. Player A is a better defender than Player B because he has more steal or more blocks But what number are you using to quantify a player's intellegence on D? Or their effort at fighting through screens/propensity for going under the screen? What stat do I cite to figure if a player knows when to help vs. when to stay with their man? Whose athletic enough to help and still close out fast enough to contest a jumper? Analytics should be an important supplement to evaluation, not the only source. As a Yankee fan I remember watching Aaron Judge go through a huge slump this summer. After a while I could see what was causing him issues just by watching his at bats. When articles start coming out showing where in the zone he's been struggling, that confirms what I saw with my own eyes while also possibly giving me insight into other factors I may have missed

 

[Kunty McPhuck]

It has come a long way from the days of Ed Moses studying German and Russian biomechanics to try a 13 step stride for each hurdle in the 400m hurdles race.