Sports Analytics: A Guide for Coaches, Managers, and Other Decision Makers Hardcover – August 6, 2013

The concept of analytics in sports and the prospect of its ultimate utility resulting in competitive advantage has progressively gained traction at the organizational level in professional sports. However, despite its growing legitimacy, many executives and decision makers have struggled to employ a comprehensive strategy to realize the full potential of an analytics initiative. Many times these efforts are impeded due to the daunting challenge of forming and integrating a complete analytics program that can compliment and support the goals of the organization, which without help can be a massive undertaking that can be discouraging, easily procrastinated, or only partially executed.Mr. Alamar has done a masterful job in providing those decision makers and fans alike a comprehensive blueprint from which they can gain a contextual understanding of the distinct components that need to be configured to ensure success. I found this book to be extremely through in explaining both the advantage an analytics program can have in an uber competitive setting, but also the role of quality personnel and processes as the prime ingredients of a successful analytic plan. Whether it is the NFL, NBA, MLB, NHL, or the Champions League, success is always at a premium and sustained winning is usually found in the margins. This book offers a unique resource that competently describes the interaction among leadership, data management, information systems, and predictive analysis required to produce new data in a timely manner for more efficient decision making that ultimately promotes more successful outcomes.

Although there were some interesting insights from this book, I found it very frustrating. First of all, what is the purpose of this book? Instead of being an interesting and informative book for curious analytic fans, it seems as if it was meant for sport owners/general managers to read who have no idea what analytics is, just so they could hire Alamar. If that was his intention, I wish him the best of luck.This book reaffirms my belief that nobody on the outside truly has the information to evaluate what a sports team is doing. With that said, I view that as the biggest fault. The sports industry has problem been the dumbest major american industry for the last half a century. Its remarkable to see how stupid some teams have been. The funny part about it is that now, all these new "analytics" driven teams think they are smart, when in reality, they are almost as dumb as their predecessors. The reason for this is how closed in the system is. Ignoring how much an echo chamber many of these teams are, their resource pool is way too small. Fans are probably the greatest possible resource, but they have been not only completely ignored, but shut out of the process. This is quite unfortunate.The actual quality of this book is either a 1 or a 2 but because its about an industry with almost no public information, I think it deserves a 3 or a 4.PS - one of the only actual pieces of revealing information in this book is Alamar claiming that his/OKC's study on which position is more instrumental for an NBA championship - pg or C proved that a pg was more important. This is quite strange because literally every other study on this subject has shown that PG's are relatively unimportant and that C's are instrumental; so...

Decision-makers at all levels throughout elite sports organizations should strongly consider investing their time in understanding the material presented in this book. My advice is to repeat the following cycle until it is no longer adding value to the decision-making process(es): 1) review the material; 2) apply one or more concepts; 3) repeat. Following this approach will undoubtedly result in several value-adding cycles and improve upon the analytics competencies of both the individual and organization.My advice and my confidence in the result are based the experience I have working with elite sports organizations on the development and execution of their analytics programs. Generally speaking, those organizations that have mastered the concepts covered in this book are well-poised to maintain the competitive advantages that they've gained through their analytics programs.

While I'm not directly involved in either sports or analytics, I found this book compelling. The writing is clear and comprehensive. I particularly appreciate Alamar's Blueprint for Analytic Success.

Easily read for the lay person or old school coach who is not used to the changing world of sports data. Also good for the fan who may wish to have a peek behind the scenes of the changing world of how his favorite team is put together. I'm a sports fan but also a sports fiction writer. I picked this book up to get a better grasp of what a character I crafted might think like. It's been good for deepening my understanding of his addictive mindset.

I expected something else from this book. I was looking for discussions about specific cases of sports analytics impacting decision making and making a difference in the output of a sports agent (be it an athlete, a team, a scout, a sports investment fund). I was looking for discussions about specific KPIs, how they are captured, the reasoning underlying their conception and why they add (or fail to add) value.Instead, I found the book to be quite generic and basic, containing very little that someone who has any experience as an analyst in any industry would not know.Also, I felt that the book reads more like a manual, with a very bland narrative and no story telling.

If you are into analytics or want to learn more about the subject, I totally recommend Ben Alamar's book. Good read!