The Future of Analytics in the National Basketball Association
Item
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Title
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The Future of Analytics in the National Basketball Association
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Creator
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Dustin Triano
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Degree Name
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This project was submitted as part of the requirements for the Masters in Management and Information Systems program.
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Project Type
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professional_project
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Date
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6/14/2018
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Abstract
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Analytics have become an important part of the NBA and this paper highlights the uses and progressions that have been made. Sports have always kept statistics but the advancements in technology in our world have led to different ways for statistics to be tracked and used to help teams gain a competitive advantage. Sports analytics became popular in 2011 when the film “Moneyball” was released, this movie told the story of the Oakland Athletics’ general manager who used key metrics to build a low budget team that was successful. Other sports franchises began to use the data to their advantage and itchanged the NBAcompletely. The NBA now uses analytics in their business decision-making as well as in decisions made on the court. This paper looks at three main problems that come with the use of analytics: the difficulty of tracking, storing, and sorting the data, the problem of knowing what data to use and how to use it effectively and finally, the problem of people not wanting to, or being slow to, implement the new system. Technology has played a large role in solving the first of the three problems. The use of software and programs has given analytic staff members the ability to record and store data into databases that can easily produce valuable information. Programs such as Second Spectrum, Synergy Sports Technology, and SportVU allow games to be recorded through video and provide hundreds of statistics that are useful to teams. Programming languages such as SQL and R can be used by team staff members who know how to interpret the data and provide documents or figures that can be used by players and coaches to increase their knowledge about certain aspects of the game. The solution of the second problem comes through the acquisition of the analytic staff members by NBA organizations, as they are able to provide useful information to the people who need it by recalling stats from the databases and using them to produce metrics that gives their team knowledge. The final problem is one that is ongoing; when systems change, or new methods are introduced, some people are hesitant to adapt. The use of analytics by NBA teams has been proven to work. The adoption of the use by some teams has given them success and it can be traced back to how the organization uses analytics. This paper shows that the future of the NBA is analytics and it also shows how the game has changed from this use. This paper also explores the possibility of future research that could be done in the field of sports analytics and how it may impact the world of sports.
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Committee Member
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David Olson, Mark Salisbury, Mitchel Fry
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Rights
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Western Oregon University Library has determined, as of 05/31/2023, this item is in copyright, which is held by the author. Users may use the item in accordance with copyright limitations and exceptions, including fair use. For other uses, please ask permission from the author.
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http://rightsstatements.org/vocab/InC/1.0/
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Language
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eng
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Date Available
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6/14/2018
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Type
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Text
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Identifier
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computerscience_studentpubs/1
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department or school name within institution
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Computer Science
