Expected Value

Seth Partnow was formerly the Director of Basketball Research for the Milwaukee Bucks, and he now writes for The Athletic and is the Director of Basketball for the data company StatsBomb. Last November he released a book titled: The Midrange Theory, Basketball’s Evolution in the Age of Analytics. In this conversation, Seth talks about…

His book The Midrange Theory, Basketball’s Evolution in the Age of Analytics

The first two games of the 2022 NBA Finals

How he watches games and looks at data afterwards

The state of NBA analytics in general

His path from law school to the NBA

Advice for anyone interested in basketball analytics

His Luc Longley story

Then, TruMedia’s Sergio De La Espriella joins the show to discuss Paul’s conversation with Seth.

Show Links

Follow Seth on Twitter: @SethPartnow.

To read Seth’s writing on The Athletic, click here.

To buy Seth’s book The Midrange Theory, click here.

To buy Thinking Basketball, click here.

To buy Basketball on Paper, click here.

To check out Cleaning the Glass, click here.

To catch up on Kevin Pelton’s writing, follow him on Twitter: @kpelton.

For more information on Seth’s favorite Milwaukee spot The Vanguard, click here.

Follow @TruMediaSports on Twitter.

Listen here or wherever you get your podcasts: Apple, Spotify, Google, Stitcher, TuneIn.

Fernando Palomo has worked at ESPN since 2000 as an anchor and soccer play-by-play commentator, both in English and Spanish. Fernando has covered multiple major soccer events including World Cups, Euros, and the UEFA Champions League. He has been one of the more receptive soccer people to using data and advanced stats on TV and frequently uses analytics in his broadcasts. In this conversation, Fernando talks about…

The upcoming Liverpool-Real Madrid Champions League final

What he looks for in soccer stats

How he uses data as an announcer

The differences in calling a game in English vs Spanish

How data is used and received differently in two languages

A track and field record that he still holds in his native El Salvador

Then, TruMedia’s Sergio De La Espriella joins the show to discuss Paul’s conversation with Fernando.

Show Links

Follow Fernando on Twitter: @fernandopalomo.

To read up on Fernando’s bio, click here.

To read a Q&A he did with Texas A&M Today, click here.

Follow @TruMediaSports on Twitter.

Listen here or wherever you get your podcasts: Apple, Spotify, Google, Stitcher, TuneIn.

Robyn Ritchie, a PhD student at Simon Fraser University in Vancouver, is part of the team that won the NFL’s Big Data Bowl this year. This was the fourth annual Big Data Bowl, put on by Mike Lopez and the league’s analytics staff, and the topic this year was special teams, with each team given a set of tracking data and asked to come up with analysis and strategies based on that data. Robyn and her teammates (Brendan Kumagai, Ryker Moreau, Elijah Cavan) bested over 200 contestants with their entry, entitled “Punt Returns: Using the Math to Find the Path” In this conversation, Robyn talks about…

Exactly what data she and her team used

How they approached the contest

What methods and tools they used along the way

Challenges they ran into

Communicating their ideas effectively

Her path to getting a master’s and a PhD in statistics

Why Simon Fraser has produced so many good sports analysts

Her advice for people looking to get into the field

Her work in curling analytics (yes, curling!)

Then, TruMedia’s Sergio De La Espriella joins the show to discuss Paul’s conversation with Robyn.

Show Links

Follow Robyn on Twitter: @RR_SportsStats.

For more on the Big Data Bowl, click here.

To watch the 2022 Big Data Bowl Finals, click here.

To see the Kaggle Robyn referenced in the episode, click here.

For more on the Canadian Statistics Student Conference, click here.

Check out the Winnipeg Free Press’ piece on Robyn by clicking here.

Follow @TruMediaSports on Twitter.

Listen here or wherever you get your podcasts: Apple, Spotify, Google, Stitcher, TuneIn.

Mike Tannenbaum started working in the NFL as an intern with the Saints back in 1994, and he worked his way up with the Browns, Saints and Jets, becoming the Jets general manager in 2006, then the Dolphins executive vice president of football operations in 2015. Mike is now the founder of The 33rd Team, a football think tank and media platform. In this conversation, Mike talks about…

The AFC and NFC Championship games

How Mike watches football games from a general manager’s perspective

What The 33rd Team is and how The 33rd Team uses analytics, including their Comprehensive Passing Metric

How data was used when Mike first started in the 90s vs how data is used now

Mike’s experience appearing on an episode of CSI:NY

Then, TruMedia’s Sergio De La Espriella joins the show to discuss Paul’s conversation with Mike.

Show Links

Follow Mike on Twitter: @RealTannenbaum

Check out The 33rd Team here.

Follow The 33rd Team on Twitter: @The33rdTeamFB

Check out the Comprehensive Passing Metric here.

Check out Mike’s appearance on CSI:NY here.

Follow @TruMediaSports on Twitter.

Listen here or wherever you get your podcasts: Apple, Spotify, Google, Stitcher, TuneIn

Chip Hale won a national title as a player with Arizona back in 1986, played seven years in the major leagues, then spent 15 years as a major-league coach and manger. He won a World Series as the Nationals bench coach in 2019, and then took over the Arizona baseball program last summer. In this conversation, Chip talks about…

• The evolution of data availability over the course of his playing and coaching career

• What information college teams have access to

• What college kids expect from data and how they use it

• How he balances stats and the eye test when making in-game decisions

• Keys to communicating with players

• Managing a couple innings in the 2019 World Series

• Memories from winning the 1986 NCAA title with Arizona

Then, TruMedia’s Sergio De La Espriella joins the show to discuss Paul’s conversation with Chip.

Show Links

• Follow Chip on Twitter: @UHCoachHale

• Check out Chip’s biography here.

• Follow @TruMediaSports on Twitter.

Listen here or wherever you get your podcasts: Apple, Spotify, Google, Stitcher, TuneIn

Jill Reiner and Ella Summer won the college division of this year’s NFL Big Data Bowl, which asked participants to “evaluate defensive performance on passing plays.” In these conversations, Jill and Ella will talk about….

- What they’re studying in school
- How they got interested in the Big Data Bowl and decided to join the competition
- Their approaches and methodologies in evaluating pass defense performance
- What surprised them as they dove into the data
- What next steps they’d ideally take to examine the topic further
- Keys to communicating their work effectively
- Other work they’ve done in sports analytics

Then TruMedia’s Andy Cox, who was a Big Data Bowl judge, joins the show to discuss the process of evaluating entries, along with what Jill and Ella did well.

Show links
- Follow Jill on Twitter: @jillhreiner
- Follow Jill’s black labs on Instagram: @archieandbodie
- Jill’s Big Data Bowl submission on Kaggle
- Denison interview with Jill
- Follow Ella on Twitter: @EllaSummer17
- Ella’s Big Data Bowl submission on Kaggle
- Announcement of Big Data Bowl winners
- Watch the Big Data Bowl winners and presentations
- Ben Baldwin’s Big Data Bowl summary on The Athletic
- Follow TruMedia on Twitter: @TruMediaSports

Listen here or wherever you get podcasts: Apple, Google, Spotify, Stitcher, TuneIn

Robbie Robinson is a Complex Manager and Catching Instructor for the New York Mets. In this conversation, Robbie talks about…

- His baseball career path
- What he does for the Mets in his current role
- The evolution of available data over the past decade
- Using data to both know yourself and know others
- Keys to communicating data and the importance of relationships
- What data helps in evaluating the catching process
- Catcher framing data and applying that to catching technique
- Advice for analyst types looking to interact with players and coaches
- His how-did-I-get-here moment with a Hall-of-Fame player

Show links
- Follow Robbie on Twitter: @robrobinson23
- TruMedia job openings
- Follow @TruMediaSports on Twitter

Listen here or wherever you get podcasts: Apple, Google, Spotify, Stitcher, TuneIn

Alex Vigderman is a Lead Research Analyst at Sports Info Solutions, and he talks about…

- What Sports Info Solutions does
- What he does as Lead Research Analyst
- Compiling the SIS Football Rookie Handbook and takeaways from its statistical analysis
- Analyzing strengths and weaknesses of Florida QB Kyle Trask
- The draft prospect that numbers suggest is undervalued
- Sports Info Solutions’ Total Points model, which measures individual contribution in football
- Creating metrics without necessarily knowing a player’s intent on a play
- Fine-tuning the Defensive Runs Saved stat
- The SIS defensive fantasy baseball draft
- Takeaways from this year’s SABR conference
- His path into sports analytics, as a psychology major at Penn

Show links
- Follow Alex on Twitter: @vigmanoncampus
- Purchase the SIS Football Rookie Handbook or e-book
- Total Points: a primer and a look at the future
- Sports Info Solutions DRS draft
- Software Engineer job opening at TruMedia
- Follow @TruMediaSports on Twitter

Listen here or wherever you get podcasts: Apple, Google, Spotify, Stitcher, TuneIn

John Tobias is a professor of sports statistics and analytics at UNC-Charlotte, and he also works as a TV statistician for a variety of sports. In this conversation, John talks about…

- His unconventional path to working in both TV and the academic world
- What a statistician does during a broadcast
- How to choose what stats are given to talent
- Challenges to live TV
- How advanced stats factor into TV
- Communicating stats concisely in broadcasts
- Components that go into teaching sports statistics
- Advice for students and people interested in a sports analytics career
- Diversity (or lack thereof) in the sports analytics world
- Suggestions for making the field more diverse
- His favorite event he’s covered working in TV

Show links
- Follow John on Twitter and Instagram
- John’s bio at UNC-Charlotte
- Boston Globe article on diversity in sports analytics
- Strength in Numbers charity

Listen here or wherever you get podcasts: Apple, Google, Spotify, Stitcher, TuneIn

Mike Petriello is a writer and analyst for MLB.com, host of the Ballpark Dimensions podcast, and analyst on ESPN’s Statcast broadcasts. In this conversation, Mike talks about…

- The Rays pulling Blake Snell in the sixth inning of Game 6, and the fallout of that move
- How he decides what to write about
- His process for diving into the data
- His articles on Cody Bellinger’s fielding prowess and the different arm angles of the Rays pitching staff
- How to communicate complex ideas in writing
- What’s on the Statcast horizon
- Preparing for the Statcast broadcasts
- Differences in communicating data on TV compared to writing
- His career path to being a baseball writer
- Advice for aspiring baseball writers

Show links
- @mike_petriello on Twitter
- Ballpark Dimensions podcast
- Cody Belinger’s fielding excellence
- Arm angles of Rays pitchers
- No one shifts DJ LeMahieu
- Mike’s career path
- Follow @TruMediaSports on Twitter

Listen here or wherever you get podcasts: Apple, Google, Spotify, Stitcher, TuneIn