Dean Oliver on what to watch for in the NBA Finals and his new book

The Unrestricted Area Presented by Basketball Intelligence

Mike Shearer(@bballispoetry) and Ray LeBov (@raylebov) are once again delighted to chat with the legendary analytics pioneer Dean Oliver (@DeanO_Lytics).

We cover some anecdotes and insights from his forthcoming book (Basketball Beyond Paper, now available for preorder on Amazon!), including a story about Shane Battier and the Observer Effect.

We also dive deep into the NBA Finals, with Dean giving us a taste of what he’s excited to watch (can Lively still succeed in the short roll?), some underlying statistical indicators he’ll be tracking (how successful are Dallas post-ups?), how teams use analytics to adjust between playoff games, and much more.

It’s a fast-paced conversation with much to digest. Enjoy!

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