Dean Oliver - Assistant Coach for Analytics, Washington Wizards

Currently an assistant coach with the Washington Wizards, Dean Oliver is one of the godfathers of basketball analytics. In 2003, he wrote Basketball on Paper, one of the first and best books published in the field. Since then, he’s worked for four NBA teams plus ESPN and TruMedia. In this episode, he talks about…

• What he learned in his first season on the bench with the Wizards

• His role during a game

• Importance of using video with data

• How NBA analytics have changed over two decades

• How basketball analytics is like ice cream

• Where to start if you’re getting to know NBA data

• Importance of telling a story when using numbers

• Working in the media at ESPN

• How Basketball on Paper came to be and how Bill James was involved

• Thoughts on his Four Factors 17 years later

• When he first thought he had a chance to work in basketball

• Memories from his playing days at Cal Tech

Show links

• Follow @DeanO_Lytics on Twitter

• Basketball on Paper

• How the Wizards use Dean Oliver

• Wizards philosophical shift in hiring Dean Oliver

• How Dean Oliver changes the Wizards thinking

• Wizards hire Dean Oliver

• Presentation at 2016 OptaPro Forum

• Dean’s writing archives

• Follow @TruMediaSports on Twitter

Listen here or wherever you get podcasts: Apple, Google, Spotify, Stitcher, TuneIn