1. In what ways does the Mavericks’ system of evaluation address the most common
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1. In what ways does the Mavericks’ system of evaluation address the most common problems with performance evaluation?
CASE CONCLUDED Inspired by emerging evidence-oriented evaluation really make smart decisions. They could say that examples in other sports (see Moneyball), Cuban a certain player is worth five wins, but he can be and Winston were most interested in measuringa signed for half as much money as a player who is player by how well the team did with that player worth seven wins. That's a better buy. The owner is on the court, after accounting for the other players getting more player for the dollar." Being efficient on the court with him. The Mavericks' "plus/minus with the money you have is the key to being suc- index" adjusts for how good the team is withoutcessful in professional sports. But he warns that the player on the court as well as for the opponent "th is a tool, not an end-all solution. You want to and for game situations. (Without such adjustments, think in terms of multiple inputs, and good math- players on a top team like the Los Angeles Lakers ematical analysis is just one tool to be used in the ould all look good, because the Lakers so often evaluation process. The proof of the value of the Mavericks' evalua- tion system is clear to see. During the last 10 years hile Professor Winston is quick to point out that no system is perfect, he believes the system he the team has systematically improved their winning derived for the Mavericks beats other player evalua percentage from 49 to 69 percent tions because it can reflect defensive prowess. It's with team's first NBA championship in 2011 defense, Winston says, that plus/minus "really shines because defensive stats such as blocked shots rebounds, and steals can't encapsulate a player's worth. Cuban also defends the system from skeptics saying it is not for ranking players by talent or for trades, but for determining good lineups and tracking player development. "It's a system you use to see how [players] are being used and contributing in the short in their own evaluations? term, and how good they are over the long term. Questions 1. In what ways does the Mavericks' system of evalu- ation address the most common problems with performance evaluation? 2. Why are people so skeptical of objective data often choosing to use far more subjective metrics 3. concerns or questions would you have Professor Winston adds, ".. . optimizing your spending under the salary cap in professional bas- about using only this type of information in per formance evaluation? ketball is really critical." Winston explains: "The at lessons can be learned from this article in creating an evaluation for first-line managers? might capture the same spirit as a basketball plus/ ole issue for me is getting beyond player per- formance as defined by box scores and other tradi- tional measures. For me, it's about determining the 5. What kinds of metrics in a business organization contribution the player makes toward the team's minus index? Then I can parse out what he is worth. A success. given team only wins so many games, so the holySources: Wayne Wi inston www.kelley.iu.edu/ugrad/spotlights/ grail is figuring out how many wins each player can create. Once you know that, team owners can mark-cubans-surprising-player-performance-numbers-580/tab/print spotlight wayneWinston.cf httpo//blogs wsj.com/numbersguy!Explanation / Answer
Mavericks’ system of evaluation address the most common problems with performance evaluation in following ways:
1. Completeness of evaluation - Basketball is a team game and it is important to score as well as defend. Maverick's system evaluates the completeness of a player's game i.e. player is evaluated not just on points he has scored but points he has saved for the team with his defense. This helps in a true level of evaluation of the worth of a player. Further, player's worth is generated in terms of wins. It is possible that there a couple of offensive players that can win you 7 games each but cost say $10MN. There may be a defensive player with the capability of winning 7 games available at $5 MN. Maverick does not need to go for two expensive buys, they can maximize winning potential with optimized cost using the model. Note - Other models miss the mark on completeness of evaluation, they generally look at player's winning potential in isolation.
2. Player evaluated at team level - The model's plus-minus index normalizes player's performance. The model can analyze the impact player's create on team's performance i.e. how does team perform with the player on the court and off the court. For example - You could observe that a player with high scoring prowess lower's the defense stats of the team. So in situations where we really need to defend a lead, it may be better to take him off.
Note - Other models miss the mark on by not normalizing player's impact based on the team he plays in. A player may score average 30 points in a Laker's team, however, he may score much lesser in a weaker team. The impact team has on player's performance is also required to be analyzed.
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