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Title details for Chasing Perfection by Andy Glockner - Available

Chasing Perfection

A Behind-the-Scenes Look at the High-Stakes Game of Creating an NBA Champion

by Andy Glockner
ebook
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2 of 2 copies available
Chasing Perfection goes behind the scenes of the multi-million dollar, high-stakes world of basketball player development, research and analysis, and the often secretive, cutting-edge methods that NBA franchises use to turn less-expensive, supporting players into vital parts of championship teams.
NBA superstars push as close to perfection as we're likely to see, but they are few and far between. The farther you get from the league's top echelon of talent, the more it's up to the players—and their teams—to develop and utilize their strengths while diminishing and masking their weaknesses as much as possible. There are no perfect basketball players, but there are plenty of perfected ones, who start with a basis of skill and physical ability and then are refined further and further in order to move closer and closer to their absolute potential.
In Chasing Perfection, national sportswriter Andy Glockner reveals that, though the concept of player improvement is as old as basketball itself, the current era of Big Data analytics in the NBA is transforming that process more quickly and aggressively than anything we have seen before. Players are learning more and more about themselves through video and data visualization, seeing how things like diet and sleep can impact their performance, and learning how having healthy joints and role-specific workout plans are lengthening and improving their careers. Teams are internalizing the same lessons, as well as figuring out how to better implement optimal on-court strategies, how to refine their approaches to player acquisition and how to gauge the varying values and success rates of different, crucial team-building strategies.
It's an absolutely fascinating time to be a fan, as the marriage of basketball and technology is bringing two of our most popular and competitive worlds together in compelling fashion. Using the 2014–15 NBA season as a prism to explore this mesh of sport and science, Glockner offers detailed perspective from NBA players, coaches, team management, and media, offering a comprehensive insider's view of how analytics are shaping the basketball we watch, and how those who are lagging behind in the technology race already are feeling the competitive hit.

  • Creators

  • Publisher

  • Release date

    March 8, 2016

  • Formats

    • Kindle Book

    • OverDrive Read

      • ISBN: 9780306824036

    • EPUB ebook

      • ISBN: 9780306824036
      • File size: 2567 KB

  • Languages

    • English

  • Reviews

    • Library Journal

      March 1, 2016

      Why do the Houston Rockets take so many three-point shots? How did the Phoenix Suns resurrect Grant Hill's injury-plagued career? Sportswriter Glockner answers these questions as he examines the way in which analytics are revolutionizing basketball, focusing on the 2014-15 NBA season. Teams are embracing technology in order to build "perfect" players and win championships. Court cameras allow teams to track player movement to help improve offensive and defensive sets, yet there is no singular stratagem to championship success as illustrated by the four 2015 conference finalists. The Houston Rockets relied on superstar James Harden, while the Atlanta Hawks have succeeded with a "no-star system." As players' salaries steadily increase, analytics play a pivotal role in sports medicine as teams seek to maximize players' performance while avoiding injuries. The three-point sharpshooter Kyle Korver, whom Glockner calls the "most perfected" player, benefited from motion capture technology and new training regimens to enhance his strength and shooting mechanics. Glockner's balanced account also notes limitations, such as when coaches or players refuse to buy into the idea of analytics. VERDICT Highly recommended for NBA junkies who scour box scores.

      Copyright 2016 Library Journal, LLC Used with permission.

    • Booklist

      March 15, 2016
      Compared to baseball's widespread use of statistical analysis to improve team performance, most famously documented in Michael Lewis' Moneyball (2003), the NBA has arrived late to the stats game. Glockner, who's written extensively on hoops for SI.com and ESPN.com, delivers a strong, if occasionally arid, survey of how NBA teams areor aren'tusing the mountain of data now available at the click of a mouse. Results are varied, as Glockner shows in profiles of three all-in teams: the playoff-caliber Houston Rockets, the woeful Philadelphia 76ers, and, most successfully, the San Antonio Spurs, four-time champs this century. There's also a fine profile of a Santa Barbarabased company that uses individualized, cutting-edge kinesthetics technology to heal and even prevent injuries, and to improve quickness and power. Solid, and just in time for this year's playoffs.(Reprinted with permission of Booklist, copyright 2016, American Library Association.)

Formats

  • Kindle Book
  • OverDrive Read
  • EPUB ebook

subjects

Languages

  • English

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