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After receiving numerous emails and tweets from the sports industry naysayers regarding last month's blog on using analytics in the sports industry, here are the answers to the top 3 questions posed regarding analytics as a bonus not a replacement of any processes in place.
Question: How can analytics determine when a player is going to have a stress fracture or tear an ACL? Athletes can step or land the wrong way at any time in soccer, rugby, basketball and especially football.
Answer: It's all about the data. If the player's injury history, the maximum levels the player can perform and his functional movement patterns and limitations are tracked over time, the length of time specific body parts will function at high levels can be forecasted. Of course, some athletes are freaks of nature and outlast more than others but if the Chicago Bulls had this information upfront about Derrick Rose, they could have adjusted their roster and payouts accordingly.
Question: Most sports like the NBA, NFL, MLS and MLB have scouts that travel to watch practices and games all the time to evaluate players and watch film. Does analytics replace these jobs in the future?
Answer: Absolutely not. You can never replace the skilled eye and intuition for talent, especially from people who have either played the sport on a professional level or have studied the sport and what it takes to be successful on the professional level. Analytics, however, can be used to determine which types of players (build/physical makeup, speed, reach/span, age) are more likely to be successful based on a team's dynamic and the blending of other players on the team - again based on well-defined history of data tracked.
Question: NBA teams seem to use analytics for their coaching as well to determine what are the most successful plays given certain scenarios. Analytics seems to take the art from coaching and makes it a science created by algorithmic nerds.
Answer: Always an engineering and systems supporter but never a fan of using analytics to devalue the competition and athleticism during games, it is, however, a good extra piece of information that coaches can use to augment their decisions based on match-ups, team members in foul trouble, PPG of key players at a point of time and opponent history during the same quarter in similar situations. Mark Cuban and Rick Carlisle are huge supporters of analytics in how it coaches up from the data to give the competitive advantage to increase the team's chances of winning the game. Keep in mind if every team uses analytics, it turns into which Ivy League analyst and data developer is the smartest - definitely not what any sports fan wants to hear about when it comes to the love of the sport.
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For over three decades IT departments hired report analysts and database developers to churn out data in voluminous spreadsheets that could be consumed and repackaged in pretty pie charts for key decisions to be made regarding the health and competitiveness of the company or department.
Business Intelligence that tracked metrics as key performance indicators and analytical formulas still remain the trend across Fortune 500 companies. Now the good news for database administrators, statisticians, database developers, and report analysts is that the sports industry has caught onto what has been the fundamental premise on how successful companies have maintained their longevity and competitive stand for years.
Data that can be downloaded by wearable devices to track calorie intake, high performance exertion, muscle over usage, functional movement, heart rates, and speed can help lessen injuries, identify when athletes have reached their maximum potential, notify coaches when players should be rested, provide data to trainers to help correct incorrect form or create stabilization programs and help decision-making concerning performance incentive bonuses.
This can ultimately lead to determining when a player is at his prime based on physical limitations and contribute to trade and contract negotiations regarding how large his next contract should be given his positional longevity and personal standings. It can further reduce the side effects of losing a key player during a season like having to quickly develop inexperienced players to take the spot, risk losses due to the adjustments needed because of losing a star player, overexerting other players that would need to fill in the slack and worse - ending a season with no playoffs.
The power the data provides to the purview for the Coach and General Manager can strengthen the team. Now we will see which sports will follow suit like the NBA and its teams did with SAP Hana, specialized algorithms, and Big Data to score big on quality team restructuring.
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| THE WORLD OF DATA... |
The Wednesday Video Series on this blog features a Part 1 and Part 2 series on Big Data and a high level view of its importance. From understanding consumer spending patterns to healthcare symptom diagnosis and city overcrowding, Big Data has become a valuable asset to more than just the IT industry.
Here is another insightful article by Gordon Crovitz on how grand Big Data is shaping to be.
Be sure to check the posts and videos by Temeko Richardson for more detailed information about doing business, technology, leadership, entrepreneurship, and smart professionalism tips.
Blog: blog.therlcgroup.com
YouTube: http://www.youtube.com/user/TemekoRichardson
Twitter: @temekoruns
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