How are statisticians changing sports?

I am not a big sports guys, but this is where science and sports meet. Stats have always been a huge part of baseball, but other sports have not always paid as much attention. Now, the NBA is taking notice of the efforts of Houston Rockets to study statistics and ferret out those players who are not big scorers but make a huge difference in whether a team wins or loses.

Battier’s game is a weird combination of obvious weaknesses and nearly invisible strengths. When he is on the court, his teammates get better, often a lot better, and his opponents get worse — often a lot worse. He may not grab huge numbers of rebounds, but he has an uncanny ability to improve his teammates’ rebounding. He doesn’t shoot much, but when he does, he takes only the most efficient shots. He also has a knack for getting the ball to teammates who are in a position to do the same, and he commits few turnovers. On defense, although he routinely guards the N.B.A.’s most prolific scorers, he significantly reduces their shooting percentages. At the same time he somehow improves the defensive efficiency of his teammates — probably, Morey surmises, by helping them out in all sorts of subtle ways. “I call him Lego,” Morey says. “When he’s on the court, all the pieces start to fit together. And everything that leads to winning that you can get to through intellect instead of innate ability, Shane excels in. I’ll bet he’s in the hundredth percentile of every category.”

This article brings back to my mind the Golden Age of the NBA when players like Larry Bird and Magic Johnson not only were superstars, but actually caused the other players around them to play better. Bringing out more people with that same gift can only make the game better and more fun to watch.