Let’s engage in a little exercise involving a pair of press releases touting new NBA products that were disseminated this week.
Here’s an excerpt from press release #1: “Through rich, interactive graphics and animations, these visualizations leverage real-time skeletal tracking data to create engaging content, such as 3D animations, heat maps and player performance metrics, that enhance game analysis and add a dynamic element to support media companies’ storytelling about action on the court.”
And now, an excerpt from press release #2: “The advanced metrics will provide insights into ball screen coverages, post-defense, off-ball defensive actions, contested shot data and contested rebound data, going deeper than simply tracking who secures a rebound and where.”
This all sounds like some pretty high-tech stuff, right? Well, it is (#1) and it isn’t (#2).
Press release #1 was issued by leading sports data supplier Sportradar, whose proprietary AI technology is now “able to harness hundreds of thousands of data points from each game, enabling the rapid development of products that redefine the standards of fan engagement and open up new revenue streams for the NBA and its partners.”
Sportradar is, beyond a shadow of a doubt, a company that very proudly relies on its technological wiles.
Not so FTN. It, too, is a data supplier, but if Sportradar is a KFC off a major interstate exit, then FTN is the family-owned chicken shack on a gravel road on the outskirts of town — not just based on size, but also in terms of how the dead birds are breaded and fried.
‘Still a Believer in Society’
Where Sportradar uses a cavalry of cameras positioned around NBA arenas to collect its data, FTN uses dudes in their basements watching — and rewatching — game footage.
These folks comprise FTN’s merry band of “charters,” geeks so gaga for a given sport that they’ll happily scrutinize the length of Rudy Gobert’s left index fingernail in order to help determine whether it plays a role in his ability to block a certain opponent's jump-hook.
"You'd be surprised at how many people want to do this,” FTN’s chief data officer, Frank Brank, told Action Network (an FTN client). “There are quite a few people — ex-coaches, ex-players — who do this or have done this in the past, and there are quite a few people across the NFL and NBA who really, really like to watch film.
"It's a slog. A lot of them would do it for free, but we do pay.”
Known mainly for its B2B data and B2C fantasy offerings in the NFL realm, FTN’s latest data set marks its first foray into the NBA. The new product, which is immediately available to clients like Caesars Sportsbook and will soon be rolled out to FTN’s fantasy subscribers, will track 19 separate data points that are intended to enhance player evaluation.
"I think there are applications across anything — a deeper analysis of how a certain player is playing or whether things are their fault or not,” explained Brank. “Potential assists — this guy is third in the NBA in potential assists or 15th overall. There are certain aspects where [a fantasy manager] might want to pick a guy up or trade for a guy."
Talking about his own rotisserie roots, Brank continued, "Years ago, in fantasy baseball, I was one of the only guys in my league using sabermetrics and getting guys who were underachieving and trading guys who were overachieving. When someone's getting a lot of open shots and not making them — Steph Curry wasn't making shots in 10 games and then he couldn't miss for the next 10 games."
Other things FTN’s charters might catch that a computer perhaps wouldn’t are the circumstances surrounding why a defender might have been near a quarterback on a given throw. If he stepped up in the pocket, for instance, that would indicate that he didn’t feel as pressured as if Chris Jones were about to wrap him in a bear hug.
“We really try to measure intention,” said Frank. “If they intended to play Cover 2 but a guy fell down, we're able to capture that. That's where a lot of systems fail.”
Brank said FTN’s flesh-and-blood charters are also able to better “find a balance of [whether] this guy’s unlucky or lucky.” For instance, among NFL quarterbacks, Drake Maye and Anthony Richardson are among those whose interception numbers should be gaudier, while Aaron Rodgers is someone Brank “would expect to improve” based on all the drops and slips that have led to an early-season statistical resume that really should be better.
In summarizing his sector-wide view, Brank concluded, “From the systems I've seen, not to knock what they're doing, I'm still a believer in society. I think the humans are going to win.”
