9781422285237 - Analytics: Sports Stats & More

In the NBA, teams sometimes play four games in five nights in four different cities. The NFL regular season usually lasts from September to December. The analytics season never stops. Analytics has now reached the point where teams are using it to help with the interview process at the NFL Scouting Combine each February in Indianapolis. The stats people then prepare for the April NFL Draft. Summer brings decision time for veterans, and some of that information comes from the programmers. As the regular season looms, the workload only increases, peaking during the grind of a 17-week season. It’s time-consuming work, but it pays off. Kaplan cites the impact a traveling analytics person can have on a team. “The analytics and advance scout are blending together,” he says, “so many teams have a guy that helps provide information, whether that is advanced video or analytics. “For instance, in my case, I provide a baseball manager with crucial pieces of information. For example, this opposing pitcher has not thrown consecutive pickoff attempts to a base in the last two years. That is huge information that you would want to know. So if the manager buys in, he could demand that someone travels with the team to bounce things off of. I think

40 C areers O ff the F ield • Analytics: Sports Stats and More