RealGM

I was glad to hear the Warriors are into Basketball Analytics but never thinking too much about it and
watching them make the "right" decisions with substitutions and the collections of players
I was wondering more about the subject.

What are basketball Anayltics to you?

What are the advantages of Analytics and how can Luke Walton bring use this to build
a great Laker team to compete?

I believe Analytics are here to stay and have been used but now it is on a larger scale
with more technology and the $$.

Thank you in advance as I find this a very interesting topic that
shows how teams have a high bball IQ.

Analytics are another tool to be used along side of scouting, video, proper training techniques etc etc etc... as a stand alone tool or used without the proper context they're value is questionable but when packaged with the other tools a team has access too they have a valuable place in the sport

From a coach's perspective, it helps find out the synergy in different line up combinations with a numeric metric and a good coach can relate that to what he sees on the court to use that information effectively. There's more from a GM's perspective in terms of evaluating free agents, projecting how they can improve the team.

From a more advanced perspective, there are things like spatial analysis being done that measure the opponents hot zones, pass/shot combinations that are most effective etc that the coaches can further use for scouting.

I'm sure the Lakers have already started testing biometrics of players to measure fatigue and keep tabs on when to push and when to scale back on a player's work load, which worked pretty effectively in limiting injuries last season. I think even Byron adapted to this.

With Luke I'd expect him asking more of the analytics department than Byron could imagine, which will be good if it can translate to better free agency signings and more sensible line ups.