Namita Nandakumar - Senior Quantitative Analyst, Seattle Kraken
Namita Nandakumar - Senior Quantitative Analyst, Seattle Kraken

Namita Nandakumar is a senior quantitative analyst for the expansion Seattle Kraken, which begin NHL play in the 2021-22 season. Namita came to Seattle from the Philadelphia Eagles, and she’ll talk about…

- The excitement around the Seattle Kraken franchise
- Building a hockey team and an analytics team from scratch
- The state of hockey data in the NHL and beyond
- What she’s looking forward to about player tracking data
- Differences in working in football and hockey analytics
- Differences between doing public analytics and working for a team
- Her public work on drafting perfectly in the NHL and the effect of player size
- Her pitch for using the programming language R
- Advice for aspiring sports analysts
- Getting more women and underrepresented communities into sports analytics

Show Links
- Follow Namita on Twitter: @nnstats
- Profile on NHL.com
- Namita on Hockey Graphs and The Athletic
- Namita’s Twitter thread for people with sports analytics aspirations
- Hockey analytics starter kit
- What Does It Mean to Draft Perfectly: NESSIS poster and slide presentation
- Hockey Graphs mentorship program
- Measurables Office Hours program, Twitter, podcast
- Follow @TruMediaSports on Twitter

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Expected ValueRafe AndersonHockey, FootballComment
Tyler Heaps - Director of Sporting Analytics, U.S. Soccer
Tyler Heaps - Director of Sporting Analytics, U.S. Soccer

Tyler Heaps is U.S. Soccer’s director of sporting analytics, and in this episode he’ll talk about…

- Working with national teams from the senior level through the youth ranks
- How they’re handling work during the pandemic
- Thoughts on what Gregg Berhalter said in the previous episode
- Factoring league quality into analysis
- Dealing with small sample sizes
- Keys to working and communicating with a wide swath of coaches and players
- How he watches a game
- What’s interesting about player-tracking data
- His role in France with the World Cup-winning U.S. women
- Tips for breaking into the sports analytics field
- His favorite stadium in England

Show links
- Follow Tyler on Twitter and LinkedIn
- 2019 NESSIS panel
- Article on his 2019 Opta Pro Soccer presentation
- Augsburg alumni spotlight
- Follow @TruMediaSports on Twitter

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Expected ValueRafe AndersonSoccer, U.S. SoccerComment
Gregg Berhalter - U.S. Men's National Team Head Coach
Gregg Berhalter - U.S. Men's National Team Head Coach

Gregg Berhalter has been the head coach of the United States men’s national soccer team since December 2018, following a playing career that spanned 18 years and four countries (Netherlands, England, Germany, U.S.). He thenmanaged Swedish club Hammarby and the Columbus Crew before taking the USMNT job. In this conversation, Berhalter discusses…

- How data crept into his prep process as a player and coach
- How he and his staff use analytics to monitor the player pool
- Using data in game prep and during games
- What happens when data and the eye test conflict
- Keys to communicating data to players
- How he watches a game with data in mind
- One of his favorite games from his playing career
- His godfather, Hall-of-Famer Carl Yastrzemski

Show links
- Gregg Berhalter’s U.S. Soccer bio
- How the USMNT uses fitness data
- Highlights of the 2008 German Cup quarterfinal between Bayern and 1860 Munich
- Berhalter’s godfather is Carl Yastrzemski
- TruMedia on Twitter: @TruMediaSports

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Expected ValueRafe AndersonSoccer, U.S. SoccerComment
Corrie van Zyl - Cricket South Africa
Corrie van Zyl - Cricket South Africa

Corrie van Zyl is a Cricket South Africa consultant who previously served as CSA’s general manager and the head coach of the South Africa national team, and he played for South Africa in the early 1990s. He talks about…

- How cricket data has evolved and what tracking data is now available
- How teams use data in player selection, match prep, batting orders, in-game decisions
- Analytics tools like ProVision and Hawkeye
- Strategic differences between test cricket and T20 cricket
- How the game has changed in recent years
- Parallels between cricket and baseball analytics
- Future of cricket analytics

Show links
- Corrie van Zyl on ESPNcricinfo
- Two-minute cricket primer video
- Cricket South Africa- ProVision analytics platform
- Lord’s Cricket Ground in London
- TruMedia on Twitter: @TruMediaSports

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Expected ValueRafe AndersonCricketComment
Ben Mackriell - Stats Perform
Ben Mackriell - Stats Perform

Ben Mackriell is the Head of Team Performance Product Strategy at Stats Perform, which owns the data-tracking company Opta. In our conversation, Ben discusses…

- What teams are doing with data while leagues are shut down
- How he got into sports analytics
- His first club job with Everton
- Working at Everton, Fulham, Reading, Norwich City & Burnley
- The best advice he received as an analyst
- Keys to communicating data at clubs
- How he works with clubs in his Stats Perform role
- AI, computer vision, and the future of analytics
- The state of analytics in cricket and rugby
- Why he roots for Boston teams
- Joining Fulham right before Clint Dempsey’s famous chip against Juventus

Show links
- Follow Ben on Twitter (@BenMackriell) & LinkedIn
- Stats Perform & OptaPro
- ProVision, the analytical platform from Stats Perform & TruMedia
- How Opta collects data
- Ben’s reflections on the 2020 OptaPro Forum
- British Lions 2017 rugby documentary
- Clint Dempsey’s chip vs Juventus in the 2010 Europa League quarters
- The Test, an Australian cricket documentary series on Amazon Prime
- The MVP Machine, by Ben Lindbergh & Travis Sawchik
- Stats Perform on Twitter: @StatsPerform
- TruMedia on Twitter: @TruMediaSports

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Expected ValueRafe AndersonSoccer, Stats PerformComment
Steve Fenn - Data Visualization Architect
Steve Fenn - Data Visualization Architect

Steve Fenn is a data visualization architect who specializes in Tableau. In our conversation, he’ll talk about…

- Importance and usefulness of data visualization
- What Tableau is, how it’s used to create data viz, and why it’s popular
- Principles of good data viz
- Common mistakes he sees
- Good visualizations he’s created and mistakes he’s made
- His Tableau Development Academy

Show links
- Steve’s Tableau Development Academy
- Follow Steve on Twitter: @StatHunting
- Steve on LinkedIn
- Steve’s Tableau page
- Jimi Hendrix visualization
- Star Wars visualization
- MLS payroll visualization
- Makeover Monday
- Steve on John Burn-Murdoch’s visualization talk at the Sounders Analytics Conference
- Follow TruMedia on Twitter: @TruMediaSports

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Expected ValueRafe AndersonData VisualizationComment
Cynthia Frelund - Data Scientist, NFL Network
Cynthia Frelund - Data Scientist, NFL Network

Cynthia Frelund is a data scientist for the NFL Network, where she brings analytical insight to all aspects of the network’s coverage, including this week’s NFL Draft. In this episode, Cynthia talks about…

- Her analytics-based mock draft and how it differs from traditional mocks and big boards
- What prospect jumps out to her from a data perspective
- How she uses predictive analytics during the NFL season
- Dealing with the inevitability of predictions being wrong
- Communicating data and working through resistance to analytics
- Listening to NFL personnel and translating their thoughts into data
- Tools that go into her modeling (including Computer Vision, NGS data and various programming languages)
- Her path through business school and ESPN to her current position
- Advice to women in the field
- Her favorite marathon of the 20+ that she’s run

Show Links- Follow Cynthia on Twitter: @cfrelund
- Women in Football Draft Special on Twitch
- Mock Draft 2.0
- Analytics-based fits for top QBs
- Cynthia’s NFL.com articles
- Jets.com profile
- Women in Sports Tech profile
- Reddit AMA
- FoxSports.com conversation
- The42.ie interview
- Northwestern’s predictive analytics master’s program
- Follow TruMedia on Twitter: @TruMediaSports

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Expected ValueRafe AndersonFootballComment
Eric Thibault - Associate Head Coach, Washington Mystics
Eric Thibault - Associate Head Coach, Washington Mystics

Eric Thibault is the associate head coach of the reigning WNBA champion Washington Mystics. He’s been with the Mystics since 2013, and he has his hands in most every aspect of coaching the team. In this conversation, he talks about…

- What he does as an associate head coach
- Using data in advance scouting, player development, draft prep and more
- How available data has changed in the past decade
- Communicating with players and reinforcing positively
- Getting married a week after the WNBA Finals

Show links
- Follow Eric on Twtter: @ET_hoops
- Thibault promoted to associate head coach
- Thibaults keep coaching in the family
- Mystics-Lynx analytics scrimmage in 2015
- Thibault joins Mystics staff

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Expected ValueRafe AndersonBasketballComment
Jonathan Tosches - Manager of Advance Scouting, Washington Nationals
Jonathan Tosches - Manager of Advance Scouting, Washington Nationals

The second guest in Expected Value’s Champions series is Jonathan Tosches, Manager of Advance Scouting for the reigning World Series champion Washington Nationals. In this episode, we talk about…

- What MLB advance scouts do
- Data he uses and what he produces
- Communicating and building relationships with players and coaches
- Working in the replay room during games
- How he saved the Nationals season
- His career path to the Nationals
- Stories from winning the World Series

Show links
- Tosches sees Strasburg tipping pitches in World Series
- Nationals celebrate at Capitals game

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Expected ValueRafe AndersonBaseballComment
Ravi Ramineni - Director of Soccer Analytics, Seattle Sounders
Ravi Ramineni - Director of Soccer Analytics, Seattle Sounders

To kick off our Champions series on Expected Value, our first guest is Ravi Ramineni, director of soccer analytics for the reigning MLS Cup champion Seattle Sounders. Ravi talks about…

- His role, which covers on-field strategy, player recruitment & salary cap
- What he does on a matchday
- How his job has evolved in seven years with Seattle
- Descriptive, predictive & prescriptive analytics
- His career path from India to an MLS club
- Being married to a data analyst for another soccer club
- Winning trophies with Seattle

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Expected ValueRafe AndersonSoccerComment
Sheil Kapadia - NFL Writer, The Athletic
Sheil Kapadia - NFL Writer, The Athletic

The Athletic’s Sheil Kapadia mixes journalism and data as well as anyone covering the NFL. At last month’s NFL combine, he talked about…

- His career path to ESPN and The Athletic
- How he started manually tracking data
- Using numbers in journalism
- Evolution of NFL data during his reporting career
- How teams are using analytics better
- Advice for aspiring sports journalists

Show Links- Twitter: @SheilKapadia
- Sheil on The Athletic
- Top 100 NFL free agents
- How the Ravens gain an advantage with fourth-down aggressiveness
- Video of John Harbaugh talking analytics

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Expected ValueRafe AndersonFootball, The AthleticComment
NFL Big Data Bowl winners - Dmitry Gordeev and Philipp Singer
NFL Big Data Bowl winners - Dmitry Gordeev and Philipp Singer

Dmitry Gordeev and Philipp Singer won the NFL’s second Big Data Bowl, which asked competitors the question: When an NFL ball carrier takes a handoff, how many yards should we expect the play to gain? Expected Value spoke with the winners at the NFL Combine, covering topics including…

- How two Europeans with minimal NFL knowledge won the Big Data Bowl
- Keys to developing their model
- What separated their entry from the pack
- What their work suggests about running back skill
- What else interests them in sports analytics

Show links- Dmitry Gordeev on Twitter: @dott1718
- Philipp Singer on Twitter: @ph_singer
- 2020 NFL Big Data Bowl
- Sports Techie conversation with the winners
- The Athletic’s preview and recap of the competition

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Expected ValueRafe AndersonFootballComment
Tom Worville - Analytics Writer, The Athletic
Tom Worville - Analytics Writer, The Athletic

Tom Worville is a newly-minted football (soccer) analytics writer for The Athletic, and he was previously a senior data analyst for the data and analytics company Opta. In this episode, he talks about…

- His Opta Pro Forum presentation on long and short goal kicks
- His career path from Analytics FC to Opta to The Athletic
- Why he’s joining The Athletic and what he’ll do there
- Communicating through data and visualization
- Being called a geek by Sam Allardyce

Show links- Follow Tom on Twitter: @Worville
- Tom’s writing on The Athletic
- His Opta Pro Forum presentation in four visuals

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Expected ValueRafe AndersonSoccerComment
Opta Pro Forum - Conversations with Four Presenters
Opta Pro Forum - Conversations with Four Presenters

This episode features conversations with four presenters from last week’s Opta Pro Forum, a soccer analytics conference held in London.

- Karun Singh, a software engineer who used tracking data to identify recurring match situations
- David Perdomo Meza, a data scientist at Twenty3 who looked at how different playing styles worked against each other
- Will Gürpinar-Morgan, a Stats Perform data scientist who identified player roles using unsupervised learning
- Vignesh Jayanth, who is working on a master’s in data science and analyzed how to break down a low-block defense

Show links
- Karun Singh: @karun1710
- David Perdomo Meza: @dperdomomeza1, Twenty3
- Will Gurpinar-Morgan: @WillTGM, Stats Perform
- Vignesh Jayanth: @VigneshJayanth1
- Opta Pro: @OptaPro, web site & blog

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Expected ValueRafe AndersonSoccerComment
Aaron Schatz - Football Outsiders Founder & Editor-in-Chief
Aaron Schatz - Football Outsiders Founder & Editor-in-Chief

Aaron Schatz is the founder and editor-in-chief of Football Outsiders, the first prominent football analytics web site. On this episode, we’ll talk about…

- Why the Chiefs are a 57% Super Bowl favorite, per DVOA
- How the Chiefs and 49ers match up on both sides of the ball
- Origins of Football Outsiders and DVOA
- Where football analytics is going
- How much easier getting into football analytics is now
- How he watches NFL games
- Appearing on Late Night with Seth Meyers

Show links- Twitter: @FO_ASchatz, Football Outsiders
- Football Outsiders
- What is DVOA?
- DVOA ratings entering the Super Bowl
- Football Outsiders research findings
- Football Outsiders on ESPN
- Off the Charts football podcast
- Aaron Schatz on Seth Meyers

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Expected ValueRafe AndersonFootball Comment
Eric Eager - Senior Data Scientist, Pro Football Focus
Eric Eager - Senior Data Scientist, Pro Football Focus

Eric Eager is a senior data scientist at Pro Football Focus, and he co-hosts the PFF Forecast Podcast. In this episode, we’ll discuss…

- Takeaways from the AFC and NFC title games
- What makes the Chiefs so difficult to defend
- How good the Chiefs and 49ers defenses are
- Super Bowl bets that look appealing
- What PFF does and what he does there
- How teams use PFF data
- The rise of analytics in the NFL
- His career path through academia to PFF
- Advice for aspiring data scientists

Show links
- Follow Eric on Twitter: @PFF_Eric
- Eric’s bio and home page
- PFF Forecast Podcast
- Is the Chiefs defense for real?
- How the Chiefs & 49ers made the Super Bowl

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Expected ValueRafe AndersonFootballComment
Mike Sando - Senior NFL Writer, The Athletic
Mike Sando - Senior NFL Writer, The Athletic

Mike Sando is a senior NFL writer at The Athletic, and he’s one of the most open-minded and analytically-minded national NFL writers, as well as a member of the Pro Football Hall of Fame’s election committee. In this episode, we talk about…

- The Divisional Round and conference championship games
- Mike’s career path from Whitworth to ESPN to The Athletic
- How football data has changed over the past two decades
- How he uses stats and analytics in his writing
- Advice for aspiring journalists about media, analytics & other skills
- How teams’ use of data has evolved & what they can/will do with NGS data
- How numbers are used in the Hall of Fame election process
- His favorite Super Bowl experience

Show links- Follow Mike on Twitter: @SandoNFL
- Mike’s writing at The Athletic
- Mike’s Divisional Round recap & title game preview
- Whitworth alumni profile

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Expected ValueRafe AndersonFootball, The AthleticComment
Paul Sabin - ESPN Senior Sports Analytics Specialist
Paul Sabin - ESPN Senior Sports Analytics Specialist

Paul Sabin is a Senior Sports Analytics Specialist at ESPN, where he works on various metrics as part of ESPN’s Sports Analytics group. In this episode, Paul will discuss…

- What his job entails at ESPN
- The college football title game, through the lens of metrics like Total QBR and Football Power Index
- Creating the Player Impact Rating
- Challenges of capturing a human element in ESPN’s College Playoff Predictor
- Communicating uncertainty
- Midseason takeaways from ESPN’s Basketball Power Index
- How an engineering class pushed him toward a stats career
- Advice for people entering the sports analytics industry
- Being a Nationals fan during their World Series run

Show links- Twitter: @SabinAnalytics, @ESPNStatsInfo
- ESPN’s Sports Analytics home page
- Football Power Index
- College football Total QBR
- College football Player Impact Rating
- Basketball Power Index
- Midseason BPI takeaways

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Expected ValueRafe AndersonESPN, Football, BasketballComment
James Tippett - The Expected Goals Philosophy
James Tippett - The Expected Goals Philosophy

James Tippett is the author of The Expected Goals Philosophy: A Game-Changing Way of Analysing Football. Among the topics discussed in this episode:

- His initial exposure to expected goals
- What prompted him to write this book
- An overview of the expected goals statistic and how it’s calculated
- Using expected goals both descriptively and predictively
- Reaction to Brentford’s rise as an analytics club
- How expected goals is used in English media
- What’s next on the soccer analytics front
- Attending one of the year’s top sporting events

Show links
- The Expected Goals Philosophy on Amazon
- Twitter: @JamesTippett, @xGPhilosophy
- Twitter thread with chapter-by-chapter summary
- Book excerpt: Do clinical finishers exist?
- Book excerpt: What do Lionel Messi and Ryan Fraser have in common?

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Expected ValueRafe AndersonSoccerComment
Spencer Anderson - Pacers Director of Basketball Analytics
Spencer Anderson - Pacers Director of Basketball Analytics

Spencer Anderson is the Director of Basketball Analytics for the Indiana Pacers, and he’s one of few sports analytics people with both a master’s degree and a law degree. Among the topics covered:

- His career path to his current job
- What he does with the Pacers
- State of analytics in the NBA
- Keys to communicating data
- Load management in the NBA
- Where to eat in Iowa City

Show links
- Follow Spencer on Twitter: @spencejanderson
- Summer internship opening with the Pacers
- NFL’s Big Data Bowl

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Expected ValueRafe AndersonBasketballComment