#AlwaysLearning Resources For Analysts Part 1
- P.j. Mc Grane
- Jun 6, 2020
- 3 min read
As performance analysts, coach, player, or anyone involved in sports we’re always looking for an opportunity to raise our game, we're 'Always Learning'. We seek out the tools and resources that help us improve at what we do and make bigger contributions to the teams that we are involved with. I’m a massive believer in knowledge sharing, and as a result, I’ve decided to compile a list of resources I’ve found useful over the years and ones that have kept me busy in this difficult time. In a series of blog posts, I’m going to share 4 different resources, A book, an article, a podcast and a video, that I’ve come across and have found useful. My hope is that you will too.
Book
Sports Analytics: A Guide for Coaches, Managers, and Other Decision Makers by Ben Almar.
This is a quintessential sports analytics book. Written, by the analytical mastermind Ben Almar, who was part of the Oklahoma City Thunder when they drafted Kevin Durant, Russell Westbrook and James Harden, this is what I would consider a must-read for performance analysts. The booked, as expected by the title, is aimed at coaches, managers and other decision-makers decisions in sport organizations but is by no means limited to these. His book challenges preconceptions of analysis teams and demonstrates their true value to sporting organizations. The describes various facets of sports analytics and outlines how analysts can contribute to their teams. He goes on to examine the purpose and value of using data in sports before providing with examples and some thoughts on implementing analysis use in sports and performance analysis structures. The book includes a number of analytical and technical sections, one would consider better suited to analysts than to coaches This can make this short book at times feel like a heavy text, but regardless these more challenging are well broken down and explained making the book accessible for those of us with any level of experiences with analytics. One drawback of the book is that the examples and cases Almar discusses are almost exclusively from mainstream American sports, and thus if you do not follow any of these it can be more difficult to follow some of the points he tries to make or interpret them in a way that can be applied to the sports of your choice. I am a big fan of this book and recommend anyone involved in sports coaching, management and performance analysis to give it a read as it will provide them with a great base-level understanding of sports analytics.
Article
Determinants of successful possession in Elite Gaelic Football Ben McGuckin Et al.
Looking closer to home One article I would recommend is the recently published paper by a collection of fantastic analysts and academics alike here in Ireland (Ben McGuckin, Jonathan Bradley, Mike Hughes, Peter O’Donoghue & Denise Martin) The authors conducted a detailed analysis of every Senior Intercounty Championship game from the 2016 Gaelic Football Season. They examined every possession of the season and tracked teams based on a collection of 20 KPI’s. The immensely detailed study attempts to identify what aspects of a game are the determinants of winning and losing. This intriguing piece of work is an absolute must read for any Gaelic football, coach, player or analyst. The detail in the work, combined with the well explained conclusions have the potential to shape a person’s philosophy on the game.
Podcast
Counter Points‘Do Analytics Actually Work’
I am a major fan of the Counter Points Podcast. The podcast is associated with MIT Sloan, host of an Annual Conference of Sports analytics. I would like to highlight one episode of the podcast in particular. Episode 5 ‘Do Analytics Actually Work’. Author Ben Almar whom I’ve already mentioned in this article guests as they debate the value of analytics to sports teams and if it can contribute to wins and losses. The debate challenges traditional criticisms of sports analytics and seeks to answer the burning question for coaches, players and analysts alike, can analysis actually help us win?
Video
Analytics in the AFL - The Most Data Rich Sport on Earth
This Vice Sports piece demonstrates how advances Sports Analytics can be by using the AFL as a case study. This short video is easy to watch and full of some excellent nuggets. It explains how analytics can shape so many different accepts of sport, from team strategy to media coverage.
I hope you find these resources useful. If you have any recommendations that you'd like to see included in future editions of this blog series be sure to get in touch with us here via our website or on Twitter @stats_machine.
Comments