Thinking Basketball Podcast, my name is Ben. Today, all about the mid-range and this idea that analytics are wrong you need the

mid-range the analytics on the mid-range are not successful.

Killing basketball.

All of these kinds of hot button issues

that have really popped up recently.

So I want to start right out of the gate with a David West tweet.

David West, the player, Indiana, San Antonio, New Orleans, very successful career.

And here's what the tweet said.

Stop letting nerds tell you how to play basketball.

David West, stop letting nerds tell you how to play basketball. Let's, for the sake of the conversation, let's leave aside of, for the sake of the conversation, let's leave aside the use of the word

nerds here and I'll just cut to the spirit of what I think he's really saying. Now of course from

his perspective he's really saying I don't want to hear it and we'll get to that in

a second. From his perspective, he's making a pretty large statement about rejecting the analytics movement.

But before we get to that, from my perspective is really stop letting strategic people

tell you how to implement strategy.

In other words, most of what he's referring to is strategic.

So this is on the heels of the rockets being eliminated and the idea

that the mid-range game is still extremely important and vibrant and this this

advice if you will to value vibrant and this advice,

you will, to value threes and layups and free throws

is somehow misguided because it's coming from these quote-unquote

nerds.

...