Brad Stevens is More than a Stats Geek

http://bostonherald.com/sports/celtics_nba/boston_celtics/2013/10/brad_stevens_more_than_stat_geek


NEWPORT, R.I. — It’s easy to typecast Brad Stevens. I mean, just look at the guy. Were it not for the Celtics gear he’s wearing and the company he’s keeping here at training camp, one would easily take Stevens for a grad student or young professor as he walks across the Salve Regina campus.

The image was supported this summer when he brought metrics maven Drew Cannon with him from Butler. But you can’t judge this coach by his pocket protector.

Oh, Brad Stevens does love his numbers — his college degree is in economics — but more than that, he loves information. And rather a slave to the stats, he is, in truth, more of a basketball traditionalist. He believes, too, in the “eye test.”

“If I had to choose between analytics and culture, I’d choose culture,” he said, culture being his tag for most all that hoop evaluation has been about.

“Now, I think you can choose both, and you can do both well. I think analytics are a part of winning. Culture is the foundation of winning. At least that’s what I believe. Why not have a little bit of an advantage here or there, knowing who you’re guarding and how they like to play.”

But there are some areas of the game where numbers can reveal something not so readily seen when one is focused on each possession and getting it right. A player who might not be as skilled as others can show his value during an analysis of which groups work best together.

“No question in player combinations,” said Stevens, checking off the value of proper statistical analysis. “No question in scouting. And then certainly in helping guys see how much better they need to get, how they are in certain parts of the game, how they shoot from certain parts of the floor, the direction they’re headed.”

But Stevens also knows there is much to be gained from looking into a player’s eyes when there are 15 seconds left in a one-point game. Numbers might tell a long-term tale, but a player’s well-established personality can provide more accurate information with regard to different situations.

“That’s the subjective part,” Stevens said. “That’s what’s hard for (those of) us who are numbers guys by birth to figure out — what makes a guy tick, what inspires him, what motivates him when things aren’t going well, how you get up off the mat, how you respond to success.

“All that stuff is so critical to being good. It’s so critical.”

Still, Stevens will look at the readouts to see where the Celtics perform best and worst. And though h e might want to draw strong conclusions, he knows there are other factors.

In fact, it is his embracing of all knowledge sources that might be his best ally as he makes the move from college ball to the NBA.
“I think you can definitely quantify a player’s performance late in the game with some of the clutch stats and some of those other things. That being said, I think you have to look at everything,” Stevens said. “There are certain games where your gut plays a role in what happens, and you’ve got to balance that.

“The one thing that’s true is that this game is not played by robots. It’s played by human beings. And we all have emotions; we all have feelings on a given day. Some of us are more consistent than others. So we have to get to know these guys.

“That’s one of the hard parts of taking over a new job with a whole new team. I don’t really know any of that stuff deep down yet. I’m learning, and we’ll get into it sooner rather than later, but you learn more when you start really competing.”

The Celtics are competing for jobs and places in the rotation this week. They will compete in preseason games beginning Monday. For his own part, Stevens doesn’t feel the need to compete with the image of an accountant with a whistle.

“No, I think it’s fine,” he said with a smile. “I mean, I do look at it and it’s really important to me. But what I don’t want to do is take this notion that there’s this new age of coaches that use statistics, because coaches have been using statistics for a long time. You’ve got a guy like Tom Thibodeau coaching the Bulls who’s a statistics freak. . . . Is he characterized as (an analytics guy)? Probably not. But any coach that wants to do well is going to try to find what little advantages we can gain.”

It should therefore come as no surprise that Stevens has seen “Moneyball,” a film about Oakland A’s general manager Billy Beane and the use of statistical analysis in baseball.

“I liked it,” Stevens said. “But I didn’t like it as much as the book. My wife liked the movie a lot more than the book, then I figured out why. Brad Pitt.”

On this issue at least, Tracy Stevens chose to go with the eye test.





bob



.

Brad can describe subjectivity more objectively than the average bear.

Sam

Sam,

Coach says, “The one thing that’s true is that this game is not played by robots. . . ."

Sound familiar? I believe you use "toy soldiers", but the gist is the same.

gyso