------- I'll be honest with you, regardless of the source, it's refreshing to read a nuanced and (pun intended) calculated take on advanced analytics and their usefulness in coaching professional sports. While I look at just about half of the graphs and charts that get disseminated with the hopeless intensity of a far-sighted third grader trying to stare his way into solving a magic eye poster, I understand that they can be very chatty in telling people smarter than myself what it is that they are actually watching. They aren't the end all, be all of relating or relaying a message to the inherently emotional beings that are professional athletes, but they can definitely help craft that message. Unfortunately, as is the case with just about everything nowadays, the numerical study of sports has largely become something that people either loathe or love, as opposed to facts that can/should be paired with feelings. Now, the idea that said source happens to be the first time NHL head coach tasked with continuing what he started in turning around a proud franchise that finally fell on hard times should make that answer all the more exhilarating to each and every Devils' fan. Never mind the current state of a team that got both humbled and embarrassed in Tampa Bay, because - win or lose - they've undoubtedly got the right type of open-minded attitude behind their bench. John Hynes has already proved his worth (and then some) as a mentally in-tune motivator of young men, but him both understanding and appreciating math basically makes him the coaching equivalent of the type of miraculous mixed-breed that would make a dog-lover mortgage their house. To the dismay of those that have dug their heels in on treating underlying statistics like gospel, you can't simply coach hockey with a calculator. On the other hand, to the dismay of those that treat their belly like a crystal ball, you can't simply coach hockey with your gut. That answer above was a rarely seen rational take that did the unthinkable by taking into account both the sums and subtleties of a sport as covertly complex as hockey. Personally, I couldn't be made any more comfortable by the quoted individual being the man with which my emotional investment has been made, as John Hynes isn't just doing his homework, but also putting its purpose into one hell of a practice.
0 Comments
Leave a Reply. |
Categories
All
Archives
January 2020
|