As it turns out, the Browns aren’t the Cleveland-based sports team having the most warped obsession with analytics.
Cavaliers coach Kenny Atkinson, whose team trails the Knicks 3-0 in the NBA’s Eastern Conference Finals, came up with an all-time glass-half-full justification for the Cavs’ struggles.
Via Matt Clapp of Awful Announcing, Atkinson claimed — with a straight face — that Cleveland is essentially winning.
“Analytically . . . we’re two out of three in the expected [score]. . . . We’ve won two out of the three,” Atkinson said.
The remark immediately flopped worse than SGA.
“I know you’re looking confused,” Atkinson said. “But if you believe in process and all that. . . . take that layer. . . .
“I think last night, it was, the expected score was like one point or two. Us shooting way below expected, them shooting way over. I know no one wants to hear that. I think you guys like hearing it. The general public . . . everyone’s outcome-based. Sure. I get that too.”
Yes, the general public is outcome-based. Because winning and losing is based on the outcome.
At a time when the Cavaliers face the nearly impossible task of digging out of a 3-0 hole, they need inspiration. They need confidence. Telling them to buck up because they’ve analytically won two of the three games that they lost surely won’t do the trick.
It would be nice if, in hindsight, this is the moment where blind reliance on analytics jumps the shark. Or, even better, when the shark eats it.
And then Atkinson can claim analytics actually ate the shark. If you believe in process.
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