Over the past couple of years, scouts, analysts, coaches, players, and even fans on Twitter have engaged in a debate about analytics and basketball.
Some people believe that analytics are a flawless tool that should be trusted on every occasion. Others believe that the eye test will always prevail and that analytics are for people who don’t truly understand or never actually played basketball.
Maybe, the truth is somewhere in between, or at least that’s why New Orleans Pelicans guard Josh Hart seems to think:
“Obviously it has benefits, but there are a lot of things you can’t measure in numbers. Analytics are a lamppost for a drunk person: You can lean on them, you can rely on them, but they won’t get you home,” Hart said, as quoted by Pelicans beat writer Jim Eichenhofer.
Asked for his opinion of analytics in #NBA, Josh Hart delivered this gem: "Obviously it has benefits, but there are a lot of things you can’t measure in numbers. Analytics are a lamppost for a drunk person: You can lean on them, you can rely on them, but they won’t get you home.”
— Jim Eichenhofer (@Jim_Eichenhofer) October 7, 2021
Hart has a good point. Analytics can be a guide, especially for players who aren’t stars. But, would you tell Chris Paul to stop taking mid-range shots because that’s not an efficient shot?
Some months ago, former NBA Champion Darren Walker used Kobe Bryant as an example as to why you shouldn’t fully trust analytics:
“To me, it’s just ludicrous, and I can give you an example. Jerry West traded Vlade Divac, who’s a damn good player for an 18-year-old Kobe Bryant. He traded him to Charlotte for the 12th pick of the 18th, whatever pick it was for Kobe Bryant. Analytics didn’t tell Jerry West anything.
He [West] brought Kobe, he watched film, he brought him in for a workout against Michael Cooper, he watched the workout and said this kid is going to be a ‘player’ and he traded a really good player a couple of times All-Star Vlade Divac to Charlotte for an 18-year-old player. So I don’t know what analytics would have said about that,” Walker said.
At the end of the day, basketball is way more complex than just X and Os or numbers on a computer. We get that.
But coaches would be irresponsible not to use every tool and resource at their disposal to try and improve their team’s chances to win, as long as it doesn’t go against their gut and knowledge of the game.
