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Muthu Alagappan discusses how he is reconfiguring basketball to make the most of players’ skills, not size.
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-- -- -- -- All right -- those huge franchise altering decisions while we're talking about there.
-- not just for football teams take this into 2007.
NBA draft the Portland trail places they pick re -- -- Number one number that now because of injuries he's only played in 82 games over five years the places paid him 23 million dollars eventually was cut.
The general manager who drafted him fired.
Now the second pick in that draft Kevin direct.
One of the best players in the league now -- plate 380 games averaging.
26 points -- game most importantly business wise to -- the face of a franchise that picked up in.
And moved to Oklahoma City and he led the -- to the finals this year -- turned one of the smallest markets in the NBA into one of the most successful it's doubtful.
That all that would've happened if the blazers had of you know taken to rant number one instead -- That's that now let's stay with basketball for a moment and that even the casual fans -- tell you.
They're five positions on the basketball court yet point guard shooting guard small forward.
Power forward and said.
But wait a second and this is this is fascinating our next guest under -- at Stanford says there are thirteen positions on the floor.
-- to -- GAAP and explains himself.
Using FiOS -- which it started in California.
Who who has a proprietary.
Top logical data analysis algorithm.
We were able to take all the players the NBA and categorized then not according to height your weight but according to playing style.
-- -- that thirteen positions we came up with our groupings of players based on how they play and not -- -- which -- it seems like the traditional positions are largely based on.
So your positions are things like a one of a kind of player which obviously somebody like all the brawn James would be but then you get.
Get really specific with scoring rebounder in role player and paint protector and -- -- three point rebounder in all these things going through and through is there any NBA team right now that's operating thinking of the game this way.
And if not how would the -- be different if they did.
There are some examples in in the past few years -- teams that had been more progressive but position analysis for example when.
I think Houston Rockets started Chuck -- -- senator.
You know traditionally check case would never be classified as a senator yet based on is playing style it seems like he is a pain protector and seems to play the role of many people in that position set.
There's -- like that where they played players and on traditional positions where.
It seems likely that there using some more in depth more granular position analysis what the once you're here.
And if more teams are doing this I think we get a much for.
Intelligent former basketball where -- substitutions in -- and offseason trades or may not according to.
What you think a player plays but based on their actual playing style and and the role they actually will assume on -- I wanna talk a little bit about the Olympics is grabbing Jerry Colangelo on the show to talk about the actual Olympic selection process because there.
-- the idea of too much of a good thing right you your kid you're doing all your analysis and try to come up with a team that can play together.
Not just an all star teams so we asked you to put a team together here using your -- you did for a band here -- it so you have Kevin Durant and and Kevin Love -- if you go through here a lot of traditional -- sending.
How the brawn and cold beer on the team and Carmela Anthony Chris Paul Darren Williams but I wanna focus for a minute -- Jeremy Lin.
He's a very small sample size is great here in New York with the insanity and everybody got very excited but people would say boy.
Are you just gonna pick somebody for the best basketball team in the world as you do in this pick in this election that it only has.
Twenty great gains under his -- had to come up with -- I think when you -- for international -- -- you know it's it's.
It's say it's a different game on the international side in and many of these players haven't had international experience says so I wasn't too worried about choosing -- for that reason.
But when we re created this network we looked at a couple of things in order to keep its team.
The first thing we looked for was a combination of the diversity situations you don't want to many players in any one area so we look for combining these positions hot to get a diverse mix -- I the second thing we looked for was unique place.
And the third thing we look for is within a position we look for the standouts in that position.
So we ended up choosing three out of the thirteen positions to focus on for the US eighteen.
And these three positions are the ones with the highest uniqueness of player IE the players that are unmatched that the international game has never seen players and how this.
And and within each of those three positions I simply picked for players -- who are standouts in this categories.
One of those three positions is the elites.
Past first three point threat ball handler which is -- your position based on this past years' data.
And in that had agreed that the fourth standout players where -- -- Darren Williams Chris Paul and Jeremy Lang and and again we did this all without even.
Looking at the names we -- purely on statistics and playing styles and what do you say to people.
We just say this is this idiotic he'd ever played.
You know you have to have a feel for -- and you know like I can tell because and yes speaking as it did last out might.
I can see something this guy has no idea numbers don't tell the whole story.
Fifty it doesn't worry me you know I think I think we're right cut into mathematics in compensation.
Really lend insight into what we're doing.
And I think you know and hopefully a few years this dot won't suddenly be a crazy idea it'll be something that players GN some coaches are actually using two.
To win more games and make the game more exciting.
