September 20, 2010

Moneyball

Building on the sports-related theme of our last post, I thought several of you may be interested in the attached article. While Fans of "Moneyball" are familiar with the use of analytics to build a baseball team, we're now seeing NBA teams employ similar tactics to evaluate basketball players.

"Think of Milton Lee as a technical investor. Except instead of analyzing stocks or commodities, he is analyzing basketball players.

A former Wall Street equities trader who has done stints at ING and S.A.C Capital, Lee has joined the refurbished New Jersey Nets as the team’s director of basketball operations. His job is to crunch the statistics of Nets players, looking not just at their scoring percentages but also at their defensive efforts and where on the court they are most successful at hitting the net."

Read more

September 10, 2010

Fantasy Football analytics

I think a fantasy football draft is a "prediction/planning experience" most people can relate to and understand. This is a wonderful article for sharing with colleagues who may not have a solid understanding of predictive analytics. This article does a great job discussing a combination of different data sources (quantitative - performance stats, and qualitative - text like injury reports) and how these tools can effectively outperform "hunches" or "rules of thumb". With three "titles" in the last 5 years, its hard to argue with her results too.

Fantasy Football Guru Ignores Her Instincts, Trusts Analytics
IBM's Hetal Thaker bucks a couple of common stereotypes regarding football viewership and fantasy football leagues -- and uses predictive analytics to draft her way to success. Here's her advice on analyzing data on running backs and running your business.

Read more

Labels: ,

September 2, 2010

Fundraising: Art or Science?

I recently came across this article on the AFP website. Noah Drezner does an excellent job explaining how data can enhance the strategic thinking required in fundraising.

(Aug. 31, 2010) Philanthropy, fundraising and higher education scholar Noah Drezner, Ph.D., discusses the value of collecting data about your prospects and donors and using that data to raise funds more effectively and efficiently.

Read more