The analytical movement is a big one in sports. It’s made its way into basketball, but it has been an integral part of baseball for the last several seasons, and even other sports are starting to pick up on it as something wise to use. At the annual MIT Sloan Sports Analytics Conference, the Golden State Warriors received an award for “Best Analytics Organization.”
From Daniel Brown of the San Jose Mercury News:
The Warriors were one of the first NBA teams to invest in analytics devices such as Sport VU cameras, which monitor player movement throughout the game. The other finalists for the award were the Chicago Blackhawks, the Houston Astros and FC Midjylland, a Danish soccer team.
It goes without saying that the Warriors are one of the analytical innovators in the sport of basketball, so it’s awesome to see them get honored as such. Their work in that department has been partially what has led to this gigantic revolution up in the Bay Area and with their team.
In typical classy fashion, praise went to all reaches of the organization:
Warriors general manager Bob Myers, who attended the Sloan Conference, commended basketball operations coordinator Kent Lacob for “putting us in position to be viewed as a leader in this area.”
It takes an entire franchise believing in something like this to make real change possible. That change has helped propel the Warriors all the way to the forefront of not only their conference, but the entire league. As they march towards their second straight title, the analytical revolution has been just one of the things they’ve perfected.