Counterpoints: The Sports Analytics Podcast from MIT Sloan Management Review

Oct 10 2019 967
Counterpoints: The Sports Analytics Podcast from MIT Sloan Management Review artwork

This is a show for sports professionals, data junkies, and fans alike. It’s a show for anyone who knows that numbers are about much more than the score. Hosts Ben Shields (MIT Sloan School of Management) and Paul Michelman (MIT Sloan Management Review) engage the world’s premier sports analytics experts in a lively, occasionally controversial, conversation about what’s really happening both on and off the field.

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Why Analytics Don’t Always Pay Off in the Playoffs

Oct 10 2019 33 mins  
In today's NBA, are analytics just a regular season tool? Analytics have a major place in today’s basketball world. At some level, every team relies on data and analytics for roster construction, salary negotiation, and in-game strategy. But the playoffs? They're a different story. In the NBA's second season, is it time to ignore the numbers and let talent, tenacity, and those ha

Front Office, Disrupted

Sep 26 2019 25 mins  
The explosion of streaming media offers fans unlimited access to sports and entertainment. So how can teams entice their audience to the events happening here and now? Sports Innovation cofounder and CEO Angela Ruggiero says success starts with understanding just how fans’ behavior has changed with the advent of digital technology — meaning, executives of sports companies and m

The Running Game Is Only Mostly Dead

Sep 12 2019 20 mins  
Recent years have seen an explosion in the NFL passing game and emerging analytics demonstrate that teams that throw the ball more win the game more. So does this mean the run no longer matters? That’s not entirely clear. We talked with The Athletic’s Ted Nguyen who has gone deep on analyzing the value of the run in today’s NFL.

Information Overload?

Aug 08 2019 24 mins  
Counterpoints takes on two pressing questions in the sports analytics field: the issue of information overload and whether there is such a thing as too much data, and a very different — but related — issue: Biometrics. We’ll go to the mat over whether or not professional athletes will be willing to share their personal biometric data in real time.

Talent vs. Teamwork

Jul 25 2019 34 mins  
Stop us if you’ve heard this one before: The rag-tag group of underdogs overcomes the more skilled favorite thanks to nothing more than their belief in each other. That popular sports movie cliché may feel unrealistic at times, but when it comes to building a team in real life, the value of cohesiveness and chemistry is increasingly measurable and provable. Whether it’s the NB

Behold the Big Man

Jul 11 2019 17 mins  
In the NBA’s modern era of pace-and-space, small ball, and chucking away from 3, it feels like there’s no more place for the lumbering 7-foot center who used to be the backbone of the league. But the burgeoning field of defensive analytics shows that this "dinosaur" might not be going extinct just yet. Ben speaks with Ivana Saric, data scientist for the Philadelphia 76ers, abou

What the NBA Gets Wrong About Lottery Pick Protections

Jun 27 2019 27 mins  
A herd mentality and a lack of good data have led teams to make some poor decisions about trading draft picks. Is there a better way?

Predicting the College Football Playoff

Jun 13 2019 31 mins  
Which teams make it to the college football playoffs isn’t as random as it sometimes seems, says University of Wisconsin-Madison professor Laura Albert. In this week’s Counterpoints podcast, we look at how Albert uses analytics to predict the brackets and how the football playoff selections compare to that other big college tournament, March Madness.

NFL Pass Blocking is Even More Important than You Think

May 30 2019 20 mins  
Though lacking in glitz and glamour, the tackle, guard, and center positions make up the backbone of every NFL offense. Without skilled players in those roles — and players who can work as a unit — a team’s entire strategy can fall apart. In the past few years, teams like the Rams, Chiefs, and Saints have used a punishing offensive line to ignite high-powered offenses, while

The Secret of My eSports Success

May 16 2019 31 mins  
eSports has arrived as a major player in the sports world. Games like DOTA 2 and League of Legends have hundreds of millions of players, and the best gamers have fan-bases and endorsement deals right up there with the stars of "real" sports. As eSports grows, so do the analytics surrounding it. But while the nature of eSports means that the amount of quantitative data for every gam