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"Muthuball": How To Build an NBA Championship Team
First time accepted submitter Quillem writes "Muthu Alagappan, a 5'9" biomechanical engineering undergraduate at Stanford, made a presentation at this year's MIT Sloan Sports Analytics Conference which might well do to basketball what Moneyball did to baseball. His contribution revolves around a topographical analysis of NBA games which contends that there are really 13 positions in basketball — not just five. Besides a rather patronising — but informative — read in Gentlemen's Quarterly, there are earlier stories over at Wired and NYT blogs. Muthu's talk and slides are also available."
I could personally care less about professional sports, however, there is a lot of money to be made from such analysis. Advertiseing revenues, statistical odds(for gambling), and learning more about a game that millions of people love than what those millions of people will ever find useful and just because we freaking can are great reasons to investigate this Stanford student's work.
a 5'9" biomechanical engineering undergraduate
I, for one, welcome our new 5'9" cyborg overlords.
Absolutely, unless it generates more advertising revenue who cares?
Facts are history now plebs have politics for religion on social media.
The statistics currently being tracked is more offense focused. Bad Boys of Detroit, the Bulls, and the Spurs had solid defense that helped them win but not necessarily show up in statistics unless you do a game-to-game analysis of the opponent's average offense performance vs performance against a specific team.
Other than that, it's a pretty interesting thought/analysis... Just incomplete... but I'm sure someone can do a much more complete PhD thesis on this and get funded by some NBA team :-P
I have this video at 100% volume and my OS volume slider at max (past "100%"), and I can barely hear him.
Only on Slashdot do people get modded up for trolling about sports. Conversely, only sports trolls get modded up on Slashdot.
Bravo
How is the GQ article "patronising" - because the opening summary says, "A Stanford undergrad's new super-nerd study"? That's the only thing I see that could be remotely considered patronizing. And frankly, this *is* a "super-nerd" study - how is a statistical analysis of NBA players NOT super nerdy?
Can we change the Slashdot motto to "butthurt editorializing for nerds," instead of "news for nerds?" The "news" part implies a factual focus, and the summaries are increasingly flamebait of the first order.
It's basketball. Really, does anybody with a working brain really give a screw about this game? .
Yes, we don't all fit the stereotype of nerds living in our parent's basement. Some of us actually loved sports in school, and have gone on to use that in carving a career out for ourselves.
I work in technology, and serve as a webmaster. I'm not even going to pretend like I have the tech knowledge many of the people who post on Slashdot do, but at the same time, I have more than enough to do my job. I would also like to point out, it's a job I love very much. All of which is to say I definitely have a working brain, and anyone who has spent any time with basketball knows it very much is a sport which requires the ability to think and analyze at a very rapid pace. Playing, coaching, broadcasting, even watching can be mentally taxing if you wish.
So I'd ask for you to leave your ignorance at the door and appreciate the fact that just because other people have interests you do not share, it doesn't reflect poorly on their intelligence.
Emulating a brad pit movie in order to advance the profitability of a stupid game that already rakes in tens of millions per team.
Great work, humanity will place you among the legends
"even watching can be mentally taxing if you wish."
only if your so fucking stupid that watching a bright orange 30 inch chunk of rubber being tossed around is mentally taxing
I thought there were only penalties...
games suitable for men to play
What are they? Rape and wife-beating?
Imagine, a 5'9" oneno teaching all the short guys how to beat the tall guys. One of the short guys tells his friend, Jemima's baby tall brother Jenkins, all about it. Jenkins, who is 6'7" know knows all the shit the 5'9" oneno knew, and beats him big time.
I could personally care less about professional sports.
How much less could you care, or do you mean you could not care less?
As Ethan "Bubblegum" Tate will have already remarked someday, whilst pondering the time dilation effects of Basketball wherein time passes progressively slower as less time is left "on the clock":
I thought you knew that algebra was all razzamatazz
rewriting history since 2109
Sorry. Could you repeat that? The irony made me black out for a few seconds there.
Sorry. Now my brain is bleeding. Could you start over?
The world is made by those who show up for the job.
"It's basketball. Really, does anybody with a working brain really give a screw about this game?"
It's only for muthufuckers.
I had a sarcastic reply but instead I'm going to simply say this: Donald Knuth was a basketball coach. See him talk about his baskeball coaching experience here.
Slashdot, fix your code or at least hire someone who is competent at it to do it for you.
You sound like you sucked at sports so bad to the point you were deeply traumatized by it.
What the hell does his height have to do with anything?
:His contribution revolves around a topographical analysis
You mean topological.
The nerds/geek that criticize sports in a blanket manner are just holding on to animosity towards high school jocks.
The billions that go into professional sports, the sports scholarships, the importance and obsession people put into sports, and the glorification of violence in sports (specifically hockey and football) are all likely issues nerds/geeks can unify and criticize.
These issues with sports don't prevent you from playing / enjoying them. In fact, physical activity is very good for blood flow and hence can certainly help with problem solving and other geek/nerd related activities. In fact, every time I start a new research project, I hit a peak in physical activity (either soccer or basketball in the summer, hockey in the winter) as I find it really improves the thought process.
The way I see it too is you have three options: sedentary life, exercise at a club/in your basement or play a competitive sport. The former two minimize your social interactions and/or are as boring as all hell. The latter gives you the opportunity to exercise, socialize and actually has a goal to head towards.
that watching a bright orange 30 inch chunk of rubber
Sorry. Now my brain is bleeding. Could you start over?
The circumference of a men's basketball is 30 inches. That the 30 inch chunk of rubber has been made into a ball does not change the fact that it's a 30 inch chunk of rubber. HTH, HAND.
"You're right," Fisheye says. "I should have set it on 'whip' or 'chop.'"
Duh, 5 players on a team (X2) and 3 officials do add up to 13.
God: When you do things right, people won't be sure you've done anything at all.
...for pointing out a common error that makes the speaker sound stupid. Is it just me or does anyone else get that "fingernails on a chalkboard" sensation every time you hear a speaker blithely say words that clearly mean the *exact opposite* of what was intended?
You should all hand over your geek cards at the front desk, if you ever were in position of one.
You have a geek making a presentation about an idea on how to bring together an optimum team of items depending on their statistical profiles, and you argue about how interesting basketball/baseball is? I have never witnessed people miss the point all at once that badly ever before in my life...
Here, I will boil it down for you:
1. Gather statistical data on the items of which you want to build a new group of.
2. Do some data-mining and graphing to figure out how these items cluster. Do not predefine clusters, but let them surface themselves.
3. Depending on a free, non-mapped variable (e.g. cost) make an optimum choice of individuals from each group. Alternatively, base your choice on a given pattern that you want to match or counter-act (e.g. the opposing team).
4. Profit!
5. Gather new data and update your graphs to keep up with times.
How about starting to come up with ideas on how to apply this concept to physics, medicine, engineering and economics? Jeez...
Jail the fucking banksters
Jail the fucking oath breakers
Outlaw delegates, the electoral college, and ALL fucking electronics in our elections
Roll back all the fucking unconstitutional EO's.
Jail that mother fucker OBAMA
Come on slashdot what the fuck SPORTS?!
ur funneh
Well, some people like to *think* about what they are watching. Guess you aren't one of those people.
"even watching can be mentally taxing if you wish."
only if your so fucking stupid that watching a bright orange 30 inch chunk of rubber being tossed around is mentally taxing
Troll? Gentlemen this should be modded 5: "Genius Irony" !
Wow, troll? I guess that's the new [citation needed], huh? Or maybe someone just got a little too sensitive. I don't care about basketball either way. I'm tall but fat so all I was ever good at was layups.
"You're right," Fisheye says. "I should have set it on 'whip' or 'chop.'"
His contribution revolves around a topographical analysis of NBA games
I'd imagine a topographical analysis of NBA games would be rather boring; basketball courts are just flat, level surfaces, after all.
There's at least one company, Virtual Gold, doing data mining in basketball and their product, Advanced Scout, has been in use since the 90s. Here is a paper on it. I don't think the analysis is the same as this one, but Moneyball style stuff is not new to the NBA.
There was also this article in the NYTimes by Michael Lewis that discussed some aspects of this kind of analysis, e.g. " Battier learns a lot from studying the data on the superstars he is usually assigned to guard. For instance, the numbers show him that Allen Iverson is one of the most efficient scorers in the N.B.A. when he goes to his right; when he goes to his left he kills his team. The Golden State Warriors forward Stephen Jackson is an even stranger case. “Steve Jackson,” Battier says, “is statistically better going to his right, but he loves to go to his left — and goes to his left almost twice as often.”"
That makes it even funnier. Someone who proclaims that paying attention to basketball is stupid cites the size of the ball's circumference ... accurately.
I'm ambivalent about pro ball. But that original comment was just too hilarious to let pass. Learning it could be interpreted to be even funnier than it originally appeared is priceless.
Thank you.
The world is made by those who show up for the job.
Absolutely!
I'm proud to say that my favorite team in the National Rape and Wife Beating League (NRWBL) is in first place.
Go New York White Tank Tops!
Spot-on insightfulness should be rewarded.
You should look up the definition of "sarcasm" in the dictionary. You'll find that it is an extremely common linguistic technique, and that pretty much everyone but yourself is capable of interpreting phrases like "I could care less" to mean that the speaker is being sarcastic about his ability to care any less; the clear meaning of the phrase is that, to the contrary, he actually could not. You may also be surprised to learn that many times, when you hear someone describe something a being a "big whup," that they actually mean to convey that the thing is not that great a whup at all.
Or maybe someone just got a little too sensitive
Yeah you, here
Wow, troll? I guess that's the new [citation needed] [answers.com], huh?
Cry some more now you sad hypocritical troll.
chunk of rubber has been made into a ball does not change the fact that it's a 30 inch chunk of rubber
All of my basketballs are leather with a synthetic polyethylene bladder.
No rubber anywhere, but don't let that stop you from being wrong.
It's the word "that", presumably a typo for "than", that caused the cerebral hemorrhage. Ordinarily, not a major problem, but if one is going to call somebody "stupid" it's a good idea to spell everything correctly. Otherwise, the irony can induce cerebrovascular accident.
Wow! Very interesting!
I really admire Donald Knuth, I really do, but I did not know he was so inarticulate! Or is it just the camera that makes him so?
I'm no Knuth biographer, but every single interview and presentation given by Knuth that I ever saw, he always spoke like that.
Going back to basketball, some people talk tons of shit about players such as Derrick Rose for not being very articulate, accusing him of being a moron, a retard and even autistic. Yet, people such as Knuth are also not very articulate, and no one in their right mind would accuse Knuth of being a moron. That says something about being prejudiced.
Slashdot, fix your code or at least hire someone who is competent at it to do it for you.
That makes it even funnier. Someone who proclaims that paying attention to basketball is stupid cites the size of the ball's circumference ... accurately.
That was an anonymous coward, not me. I don't need to play AC games; I dont' give a flying fuck if my slashdot karma is negative. It's just a number and if statistically nobody listens to me on slashdot then oh noess1111!1!!!1.
Now, since you mention it, I do think that being a big sports fan to the point that you memorize shit about it is a big fat fucking waste of time. But hey, is it any more of a big fat fucking waste of time than ranting on slashdot? Probably not, eh? Far be it from me to tell anyone what to do with their time.
"You're right," Fisheye says. "I should have set it on 'whip' or 'chop.'"
That was an anonymous coward, not me
Sure guy.
I do think that being a big sports fan to the point that you memorize shit about it is a big fat fucking waste of time. But hey, is it any more of a big fat fucking waste of time than ranting on slashdot?
Unfortunately for you, you're guilty of both.
And if you don't REALLY care, why spend the energy to advertise it by saying so here? To pump yourself up at the expense of others? It's human endeavour - human endeavour that takes talent and hard work and accomplishment., and is to be enjoyed and admired. Or passed by. Definitely not to be crapped on.
Put a couple of young super stars on the same team, hype them up in the media - David Stern will make sure the referees will make sure they'll win
Sure guy.
If there is any evidence to suggest it was me, please share it. If not, please die in a fire. I'm not the asshole who let anonymous cowards post on slashdot and I'm also not stupid enough to think that AC posts mean anything. That comment was probably yours since you're still here to talk shit about it. That's a better assumption than that it was mine, since I have no history of playing stupid games like that, and I've been here considerably longer than you have. In summary, bite my crank.
"You're right," Fisheye says. "I should have set it on 'whip' or 'chop.'"
i play basketball on a rec league team and sometimes like to analyze our stats. does anyone know if there's a way to access these tools publicly? it would be interesting to see what kind of player we each are and then see how to complement our existing team. we know that we have some imbalances, but it would be cool to see if the tool picks out the same issues that we understand more intuitively.
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Normally wouldn't bother responding to an AC troll, but this is one that will have a lot of bobbleheads nodding on Slashdot.
How comical! How comical! You're rationalizing your pathetic, worthless interests. You know, deep in your heart, that you're wrong for enjoying meaningless things such as sports. You know this. You agree with me 100%.
Pretty much every interest, short of curing disease and inventing new useful things in your spare time, is ultimately worthless. It's up to us to find our own meaning in what we do.
Watching sports can be exciting for some people. Beating the final boss in a video game can be exciting for some people. As long as what a person is doing isn't affecting you at all, please piss right off with your "your interests are worthless" bullshit.
--Jeremy
Jesus was a liberal