CLOSE
The Midrange Theory
The Midrange Theory

The Midrange Theory

By Seth Partnow

SPORTS & RECREATION

288 Pages, 6 x 9

Formats: Cloth, PDF, EPUB

Cloth, $28.00 (US $28.00) (CA $38.00)

ISBN 9781629379210

Rights: WOR

Triumph Books (Nov 2021)

eBook

eBook Editions Available

Will it work on my eReader?
Price: $28.00
 
Google Preview
9781629379210
Media Copy

Overview

From one of basketball's foremost experts in the field of analytics, a fascinating new perspective on how to watch and think about the game
At its core, the goal of any basketball team is relatively simple: take and make good shots while preventing the opponent from doing the same. But what is a "good" shot? Are all good shots created equally? And how might one identify players who are more or less likely to make and prevent those shots in the first place? The concept of basketball "analytics," for lack of a better term, has been lauded, derided, and misunderstood. The incorporation of more data into NBA decision-making has been credited—or blamed—for everything from the death of the traditional center to the proliferation of three-point shooting to the alleged abandonment of the area of the court known as the midrange. What is beyond doubt is that understanding its methods has never been more important to watching and appreciating the NBA. In The Midrange Theory, Seth Partnow, NBA analyst for The Athletic and former Director of Basketball Research for the Milwaukee Bucks, explains how numbers have affected the modern NBA game, and how those numbers seek not to "solve" the game of basketball but instead urge us toward thinking about it in new ways.•The relative value of Russell Westbrook's triple-doubles•Why some players succeed in the playoffs while others don't•How NBA teams think about constructing their rosters through the draft and free agency•The difficulty in measuring defensive achievement•The fallacy of the "quick two"From shot selection to evaluating prospects to considering aesthetics and ethics while analyzing the box scores, Partnow deftly explores where the NBA is now, how it got here, and where it might be going next.

Author Biography

Seth Partnow
See Author
Seth Partnow covers the NBA and basketball analytics for The Athletic. He is the former Director of Basketball Research for the Milwaukee Bucks.

Book Signings

Past Events

Nov
23
The Midrange Theory ›
Milwaukee, WI
Join author Seth Partnow for a signing of his book, The Midrange Theory, at Broken Bat Brewing in Milwaukee, WI.

Press Releases

The Midrange Theory: Basketball’s Evolution In The Age Of Analytics

By Seth Partnow / Foreword by Tim Bontemps

 

Contact: Scott King, IPG, 312-568-5423, sking@ipgbook.com

 

To truly understand the increasingly prominent, yet to some, alienating, world of basketball analytics, begin by tossing out your preconceived notions of the term. The word “analytics” has been buzzed about, lauded, reduced, confused, and misapplied over time. Recognizing how to properly incorporate its methods has never been more important to understanding and appreciating the NBA.

 

In The Midrange Theory: Basketball’s Evolution In The Age Of Analytics, author and NBA analyst for The Athletic Seth Partnow takes fans on a tour through the finer points of how the NBA game actually fits together, not only searching for the ever-evolving answers from within the analytics community but just as importantly, asking the right questions along the way such as:

 

  • What are the impacts behind the box score?
  • How should defense be evaluated through analytics?
  • What are the “many pitfalls” of the NBA Draft?
  • Who uses analytics?

 

Covering a breadth of illuminating inflection points in NBA history—from shot selection to pre-draft evaluation to measuring defensive impacts to the importance of considering aesthetics and ethics while doing metrics—The Midrange Theory deftly explores where we are, how we got here, and what might be next in basketball science.

 

About The Author

Seth Partnow covers the NBA and basketball analytics for The Athletic. He is the former Director of Basketball Research for the Milwaukee Bucks.

 

###