Advanced stats are changing the game and leaving some big markets behind

[Pelifan]

I made a post echoing almost this exact same thing and got a bit of push back.

I really like monty as a person but his offensive system is awful to me.

Teams like the Cavs who have arguably one of the most elite isolation players in Lebron James and a very good one in Kyrie Irving can get away with it, but teams with lower IQ players without very well-rounded games are going to become easier to defend and become more predictable for defenses and that is exactly what happens when we do that.

I'm ok with the offense. The metrics say the Pels are solid in that area. I think offense becomes less consistent when you don't use ball movement regularly, but I can live with isolation plays if the metrics say they are successful. Its the other end that is really terrible. I think Monty might actually be the WORST defensive coach in the NBA. Most of the players we have acquired have regressed defensively since coming here. I wonder if Monty knows that all the advanced metrics say the defense he is implementing is poor. With Cole we now have 6 of our 8 rotation players grading out as above average defenders. If he can't turn this defense into an average one he should be gone IMO.

He might be a solid fundamentals coach. But he is a terrible scheme coach. That's where metrics would help

[N.O.Bronco]

I'm ok with the offense. The metrics say the Pels are solid in that area. I think offense becomes less consistent when you don't use ball movement regularly, but I can live with isolation plays if the metrics say they are successful. Its the other end that is really terrible. I think Monty might actually be the WORST defensive coach in the NBA. Most of the players we have acquired have regressed defensively since coming here. I wonder if Monty knows that all the advanced metrics say the defense he is implementing is poor. With Cole we now have 6 of our 8 rotation players grading out as above average defenders. If he can't turn this defense into an average one he should be gone IMO.

He might be a solid fundamentals coach. But he is a terrible scheme coach. That's where metrics would help

Where do the metrics say our isolation plays are successful though? Analytics tells us they are among the more ineffecient shots a team can take.

And the fact that we don't have an elite isolation player like a westbrook, durant, james or CP3 makes it even more troubling that our offense so heavily relies on isolation play.

Defensively I 100% agree. Monty has always had trouble guarding the three pointer and has been pretty inconsistent in guarding the paint. Even that 10-11 year with Ariza and Cp3 and company we have up 61% less then 5ft from the basket. We did guard three pointers decent though. But again, it was nothing incredible. At his peak our defense was above average.

To me Monty is a product of a time in basketball that was just starting to come into its own with the myriad of rule changes that occurred during the end of Jordan's era and into Kobe and Shaqs. An era trying to adapt to the abscense of the hand check, new rules governing big men and the painted area and allowing of zone defenses and not having to be tethered to your man. It was an inovative time where guys like Tom Thibideau really made a mark but it seems that you see a lot of guys who learned what was the agreed upon knowledge of the day circa 1996-early 2000's and then just stopped. Not really evolving further while others kept pushing forward. Those guys stubbornly sticking to what they learned years ago and they flamed out.

And Monty sort of has tendencies rooted in late 90's approach to basketball(not as bad as guys like Byron Scott) that he has had a lot of difficulty adjusting into more modern concepts and ideas. IMO at least. And I don't think he ever really will. I know he has used analytics such as when he asked Tyreke to come off the bench again, but overall he seems to be the type of coach that is set in his ways and has a hard time adjusting.

He keeps wanting to get guys to fit his system but I ak starting to wonder if in fact his system just isn't built to defend against the way the game is played today? Or if it is intended to do so that it isn't as effective as he thinks it actually is. When you see a young team like Milwaukee finding some success defensively it makes you scratch your head.

My biggest worry is that Benson seems like he is going to repeat the same mistakes if he fires Demps and Monty. Which is to bring in more stubborn guys who think basketball like it is 1996 and are going to fall victim to the same traps and pitfalls this regime has. Since it seems we want to bring in basically the poster child's for outdated front office mindset and a coach that largely dismisses a lot of modern day understanding of the game.

[N.O.Bronco]

Throw a picture of the Heat up there too. Riley, as the article rightly points out, was a metrics pioneer and Spoelstra is even moreso a numbers guy.

And Dallas too. Carlisle is very receptive of analytics and as the article points out Cuban loves them.

So arguably the last team to win that hasn't used analytics intricately goes back to the Celtics/Lakers five years ago.

[N.O.Bronco]

Interesting, From this post it sounds like you believe the 2004 Pistons team is what an ideal analytics team looks like, where you have a bunch of efficient players with no superstar. But I would say an ideal analytics team is much closer to what you describe as having at least one or two stars with efficient players around them.

I think an ideal analytics team would be 5 superstars playing efficient, high percentage, analytics friendly basketball.

The Fallacy people seem to be making is that they are assuming this is a talent vs numbers thing. It's not. The numbers are a tool that has shifted the way talent, strategy and fit is measured.

So a player pre-analytics may have been viewed as a B+ player to a franchise based on older metrics of quality but when his numbers are put through the analytics process today he may grade out to be a C.

[UptownFuz504]

I don't think we should actually play games. We can just put the metrics in a simulator and choose a champion based on the results.

[N.O.Bronco]

I don't think we should actually play games. We can just put the metrics in a simulator and choose a champion based on the results.

Ignorance is bliss isn't it? I mean seriously, what cute point do you actually think you are making because you sound like the old man yelling at clouds, doesnt understand something so they think they are being witty by making comments that just expose how uninformed about the topic at hand they are.

[Pelifan]

Ignorance is bliss isn't it? I mean seriously, what cute point do you actually think you are making because you sound like the old man yelling at clouds, doesnt understand something so they think they are being witty by making comments that just expose how uninformed about the topic at hand they are.