Basketball, like many other professional sports, is an increasingly data-driven game.
Every player’s performance is now broken down into so many categories that it’s easier than ever to track not only their output, but their efficiency, their likelihood of success in specific matchups, and even their future potential.
As a more modern sport, it’s interesting to ask what basketball could learn from a much older game. Horse racing is called the sport of kings because it emerged during an age of monarchs.
Right now, people all over the world are researching Triple Crown events and trying to learn how to bet on the Kentucky Derby. In this article, we take a look at how basketball fans might view their favorite sport through the lens of horse racing analytics.
Horse Racing, Basketball Analytics Are Always Evolving
Before we get too far into the weeds of comparison, it’s worth pointing out that both horse racing and basketball strategy and analytics are changing all the time, thanks in large part to recent technological innovations. Big data, of course, was in early development in shaping how modern sports were played, but until recently, it was not fully utilized.
Sports teams, or even multi-billion-dollar organizations, had lots of numbers but not necessarily the ability to interpret and process them adequately. Now, with innovations in artificial intelligence, it’s easier than ever for both basketball teams and horse management programs to access detailed information and use it at a much higher level than ever before.
At the time of this writing, it’s not entirely possible to say what these innovations will mean for either sport over the next decade. That said, it’s fair to imagine a bright future in the world of data interpretation and implementation.
Pacing Has Equal Importance
Pacing is both infinitely important in basketball and abstract. It’s also a core element of successful horse racing strategies. Though it does take place in a much shorter format, the average horse race lasts about two minutes. During that time, horse management teams work on both starting strong and still conserving energy for a big finish. It’s a tricky balance, but one that often means the difference between success and defeat.
In basketball, pacing is not necessarily about ensuring a quick or slow pace of play. Rather, it’s about reading the other team and looking for ways to produce ideal matchups. Elite basketball teams can adjust not just based on their preferred pace of play, but on a tempo that throws the other team off balance.
For example, they might note that one team plays very slowly in transition, while another team will try to push it at all costs. Finding your pace and groove is a core element of good basketball.
Spacing, Spacing, Spacing
Spacing in horse racing allows freedom of movement and options. In basketball, it’s an equally important, though slightly different consideration. Teams use spacing to apply ball pressure on the defensive end and develop ideal looks on the offensive end.
Again, it’s a fluid consideration that accounts for both a team’s ideal floor positioning and a more adaptive framework, eliminating looks at the other team. Spacing, like pacing, is complex in that it doesn’t necessarily show up neatly on a stat sheet, but it’s often the difference between winning and losing, particularly in a competitive matchup.
General Strategies Can Align
Admittedly, this is the broadest aspect by which a basketball team might take notes from a horse management enterprise, but it’s still important. Horse management teams are very strategic in how they approach specific matchups and in which events they attend in the first place. They can identify which tracks are good options for their animal and where the risks outweigh the potential advantages.
Basketball teams, naturally, don’t have the option to shape their schedule to their liking, but they can still be very data-driven when it comes to developing matchups, choosing spots on the floor that produce the greatest efficiency, and leveraging scouting reports to create trouble for the other team. These are constantly evolving considerations, of course, but ones that do have a tangible impact on competitive basketball games.
The World Of Sports Is Constantly Changing
It doesn’t matter if you’re talking about horse racing, basketball or baseball— the world of sports evolves constantly, sometimes to the consternation of fans in the stands. At the end of the day, though, any adjustments made on the competitive front are always done in the hopes of achieving better results.
Basketball teams, like horse management groups, will always leverage stats to achieve better long-term outcomes. Sometimes these can take a frustratingly long time to be realized, but the end goal is always the same.
Data makes success more possible than ever, and in certain cases, thinking like a horse management team can pay off in basketball.
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