Jordan Brenner
Appearances
The Dan Le Batard Show with Stugotz
The Big Suey: First Fake
I wish I were a better nerd, first of all, because half the time I'm relying on Peter for the math. I'm not doing the numbers myself. I'm just numerate. So what I would say is this. First of all, in my case, I've been covering sports for 20 years. I talked to coaches. I played sports, whatever. So if you want to label me that way. weird outside person on Twitter, that's fine.
The Dan Le Batard Show with Stugotz
The Big Suey: First Fake
But what I always say to this is people who are like, I don't like analytics. And then I'll say, okay, so how do you tell if a player's good? And they'll be like, well, he hit 40 home runs. I'm like, okay, you just use analytics. You're just not using the best number possible. So like the old motto of Faber College, knowledge is good.
The Dan Le Batard Show with Stugotz
The Big Suey: First Fake
Baseball is a solved game, Peter. But unfortunately, in solving the game, it's less fun to watch.
The Dan Le Batard Show with Stugotz
The Big Suey: First Fake
It's the it is the eternal struggle that sports are facing right now. We know the optimal way to play, but the optimal way to win games may not be the optimal entertainment value. So, Dan, you're exactly right. How many times your brain is trained to see when a ball goes up the middle, you're expecting it to go all the way to the center fielder. And now we've learned how to shade that way.
The Dan Le Batard Show with Stugotz
The Big Suey: First Fake
So we take away that hit. And it's the same thing. Look, there's a reason why Adam Silver is suddenly discussing refining the game a little bit, because basketball has been largely solved through the incredibly complex equation that three is worth more than two. So, you know, I get it. And I don't get it, if that makes any sense.
The Dan Le Batard Show with Stugotz
The Big Suey: First Fake
And the NBA has done that before. Look, in the late 90s, early 2000s, the game had gotten really boring. I mean, we remember those. We wistfully remember those Heat Knicks series, but it wasn't good basketball. It was just good drama. But the NBA had too many games that were 82 to 77, and they legislated a lot of the holding off the ball out of the game.
The Dan Le Batard Show with Stugotz
The Big Suey: First Fake
And when Steve Nash was with Phoenix and the early days of Pace and Space and the early days of the Warriors, it was a great blend. The game was way more exciting. It's probably tipped too far in the other direction. And then there are things you can do, whether it's move the three-point line back or put some of the physicality back in the game to change the dynamic of what points are worth.
The Dan Le Batard Show with Stugotz
The Big Suey: First Fake
And by the way, the one thing that's still worth a ton of value always and has been is getting to the rim and getting to the free throw line.
The Dan Le Batard Show with Stugotz
The Big Suey: First Fake
You know where it would be a fun place to test this out is the completely boring and largely useless in-season tournament. So make that.
The Dan Le Batard Show with Stugotz
The Big Suey: First Fake
The that show drops next week to two part episode. We got a lot of Olympics sprinkled in a couple of big college football upsets. But I think there could be some debate and how high we have some of those Olympic events.