re: Massive ESPN article on analytics - Pelicans segment

quote:

---

I think the SportVU stuff is way more valuable than the advanced stats bullshite that has permeated for years

---

I agree. Advanced stats are usually just box score stats done on a per possession or per minute basis. Tracking data is a whole new ballgame.

I don't know about bullshite, but there is nothing revolutionary about ORating (Dean Smith wrote about it in the 50s) or DREB %. It's just a more objective way of understanding the box score. And like anything else, there is no absolute number. Everything has a catch.

quote:

---

They ignore system, surrounding talent, fit, luck 

---

I agree. Numbers are just numbers. What questions you ask about them and how you interpret them are much more important than anything else. +/- is always problematic in this way.

quote:

---

My biggest problem is that some of the proponents of analytics tend to discredit old-school, subjective scouting, which will always be important. 

---

This is the only thing I disagree with. There are outliers, just like Barkley on the opposite side, but the vast majority agree there needs to be a marriage of the 2. The Rockets haven't replaced scouts with computers. The Sixers might have more coaches than any other team in the league.

Use the scouts, use the data, weigh what they both tell you and then make the best decision you can