OT: The new summer league rule creates a forum for discussion: how do you feel about analytics?

[Jaydumo20]

The NBA is testing a rule in the summer league to encourage players to take more end of the quarter shots. Apparently some players avoided buzzer beating heaves because a miss counted against their overall %

In research design there is an ongoing debate between quantitative and qualitative research...and there probably always will be. There is no right answer.

So....how do you feel about the reliance on analytics in sports? Has it made it better for us as fans? Has it improved the sport, or detracted from it's overall value?

Clearly, teams use eye test and analytics, but analytics have changed sports whether you like or not.

So, do you like it, or not?

 

[Jbirdp5]

IMO analytics have not made sports better for the viewer. In Baseball it’s made teams all or nothing for the home run which has lead to less hits and less strategy. In the nba it has lead to watching 3 point shooting contests and plenty of chuck and duck basketball.

 

[Jaydumo20]

IMO analytics have not made sports better for the viewer. In Baseball it’s made teams all or nothing for the home run which has lead to less hits and less strategy. In the nba it has lead to watching 3 point shooting contests and plenty of chuck and duck basketball.

I agree. Especially for baseball. I still love baseball but seeing Tyler Glasnow pulled in the 7th the other night in his no-hit bid has analytics written all over it. I know that he has battled injury and anything over 100 pitches is an injury issue, but....Tyler and other pitchers have been active in the analytics era and it can be argued that they actually get injured MORE often, not less.

 

[Flipside]

analytics appear to have made sports better, for gamblers - Statistics on How Much Money Do Americans Bet On Sports in 2025

 

[Waquoit]

analytics appear to have made sports better, for gamblers

By giving even more of an edge to the house?

 

[Lafayette]

Analytics is a tool like most things it depends how you use it.

If we compare 2 PGs like Malachi and Silas if the statistics have been recorded for this, you could tell which PG executes a given play more accurately; which can penetrate the D better, etc. There's like 3 level of analytics you can use with level 1 just being standard stats.

 

[RuffRuff]

I agree. Especially for baseball. I still love baseball but seeing Tyler Glasnow pulled in the 7th the other night in his no-hit bid has analytics written all over it. I know that he has battled injury and anything over 100 pitches is an injury issue, but....Tyler and other pitchers have been active in the analytics era and it can be argued that they actually get injured MORE often, not less.

Generally takes the soul and art out of sports and makes it more transactional, more “perfect”. I’ve had this conversation 100x different ways.

It starts early too, it’s how colleges recruit. It’s why when you watch a MLB game every players stance and mechanics looks similar, why every pitcher throws 95mph.

Back in only 2004 a pitcher came in to start a playoff game with his heel tendon stapled the night before, and pitched with a bloody sock. Today a pitcher wouldn’t even attempt that and is instead taken out at 90 pitches automatically. The players are as talented and as fit as ever, but the sports themselves so much less theatric.

 

[Jaydumo20]

Generally takes the soul and art out of sports and makes it more transactional, more “perfect”. I’ve had this conversation 100x different ways.

It starts early too, it’s how colleges recruit. It’s why when you watch a MLB game every players stance and mechanics looks similar, why every pitcher throws 95mph.

Back in only 2004 a pitcher came in to start a playoff game with his heel tendon stapled the night before, and pitched with a bloody sock. Today a pitcher wouldn’t even attempt that and is instead taken out at 90 pitches automatically. The players are as talented and as fit as ever, but the sports themselves so much less theatric.

Good assessment. It's easy to get addicted to "efficiency" if you're only concerned with a single goal or result. Like the person who tracks every calorie they consume and calls a good beer "empty" calories.

 

[REB1094]

When analytics say “do X, Y, and Z because these give you the highest chance of scoring points”, then analytics are great

When analytics say “don’t shoot the 60 footer at the buzzer because it will bring down your eFG% and TS% and PER and make you look bad”, then analytics are stupid

It all depends how you apply them