WEBVTT - TOM's Talks | Alex Rucker 0:00:00.320 --> 0:00:03.640 This podcast is part of the seventy Sixers podcast network 0:00:04.000 --> 0:00:08.520 Search seventy Sixers podcast Wherever You Get Your Pots. The 0:00:08.680 --> 0:00:11.320 seventy Sixers have built one of the NBA's best and 0:00:11.520 --> 0:00:15.520 deepest front office staffs. It's all led by General manager 0:00:15.600 --> 0:00:19.160 Elton Brand. Also now in his fourth season with the 0:00:19.239 --> 0:00:23.079 seventy Sixers is Alex Rutcker. His title as Executive vice 0:00:23.079 --> 0:00:27.320 President Basketball Operations, and he's responsible for the overall strategy 0:00:27.560 --> 0:00:30.880 and day to day management of analytics, scouting, player development, 0:00:30.960 --> 0:00:34.120 athlete care and the coaching staff. Rutcker, who grew up 0:00:34.120 --> 0:00:38.320 in Vancouver, British Columbia, has a diverse background, one rooted 0:00:38.320 --> 0:00:42.120 in education on many levels. This episode of Tom's Talks 0:00:42.200 --> 0:00:45.680 gives us insight into the seventy Sixers front office as 0:00:45.720 --> 0:00:50.479 we hear from Alex Rutcker. Hello, and welcome to another 0:00:50.640 --> 0:00:53.280 edition of Tom's Talks, and we're joined by a member 0:00:53.320 --> 0:00:56.800 of the seventy Sixers front office. Alex Rutcker is the 0:00:56.840 --> 0:01:02.040 seventy Sixers executive bright vice President of Basketball Operations. And Alex, 0:01:02.120 --> 0:01:04.520 thank you so much for joining us. How are you 0:01:04.520 --> 0:01:09.160 doing today? Doing fantastic? Tom Basketball's back yesterday, So there's 0:01:09.160 --> 0:01:11.600 some joy in my life again. But no, thank you, 0:01:11.600 --> 0:01:14.080 thank you for having me. It's an honor. You just 0:01:14.120 --> 0:01:16.840 celebrated a birthday. It got lost in the shuffle a 0:01:16.840 --> 0:01:20.520 little bit with Ben simmons birthday, but a belated birthday wish, 0:01:20.560 --> 0:01:23.680 thanks sir. A lot of six Ers birthdays of late 0:01:23.720 --> 0:01:27.160 with Tobias Harris and Mike Scott and Alec Birch, herself 0:01:27.240 --> 0:01:31.280 and Ben Simmons are all celebrating together down there in 0:01:31.319 --> 0:01:33.800 the bubble. That was nice to see. Yeah, No, it's 0:01:33.800 --> 0:01:38.399 been great. So as we speak, the scrimmages just started, 0:01:38.880 --> 0:01:42.880 and I gotta tell you it looked fantastic. I mean, 0:01:43.640 --> 0:01:46.360 you know, understatement, but the league is pulling this off. 0:01:46.400 --> 0:01:49.480 They've done an incredible job, the NBA and player safety 0:01:49.600 --> 0:01:54.040 staff safety creating the bubble and now scrimmages and soon games. 0:01:54.680 --> 0:01:57.280 I thought it was just fantastic to watch that initial 0:01:57.360 --> 0:02:00.880 day of scrimmages. Yeah, I agreed. No, I think there's 0:02:01.240 --> 0:02:03.160 there's definitely been avoid in my life for the last 0:02:03.200 --> 0:02:06.520 few months as we've kind of navigated this covid uh 0:02:06.520 --> 0:02:10.440 and you know, having basketball back on our TV screens, 0:02:10.720 --> 0:02:13.079 you know, back on the radio. I think it's it's 0:02:13.080 --> 0:02:15.320 an important part of kind of scidal fabric, something that 0:02:15.320 --> 0:02:18.080 brings us together. And I'm so happy to be you know, 0:02:18.560 --> 0:02:21.000 watching basketball, seeing clips on Twitter. You know, it's just 0:02:21.040 --> 0:02:24.440 it's fantastic. Well, you bring me to a point that 0:02:24.560 --> 0:02:26.280 maybe I was going to bring up later, But you 0:02:26.320 --> 0:02:31.600 love game day. My image of you is walking in coat. 0:02:32.000 --> 0:02:34.280 You grew up in Canada. It's twenty five degrees, you 0:02:34.320 --> 0:02:36.560 have no coat, but it's game day and that is 0:02:36.560 --> 0:02:40.120 your You just love game day. Absolutely. Yeah, I mean 0:02:40.280 --> 0:02:43.240 it's you know, my father, you know, when I was young, 0:02:43.360 --> 0:02:44.840 kind of gave me the advice. I think a lot 0:02:44.840 --> 0:02:46.440 of people will get. It's, you know, find something you 0:02:46.520 --> 0:02:48.079 love and find a way to get people to pay 0:02:48.120 --> 0:02:50.919 you to do it. Um, you know, and I love love, 0:02:51.000 --> 0:02:54.520 love basketball, and so uh, I think it's it's really 0:02:54.520 --> 0:02:56.800 easy in the in this life working for a team, 0:02:57.560 --> 0:02:59.400 to get caught up in the grind and the stress 0:02:59.560 --> 0:03:03.200 and all that. But if you don't love the actual thing, 0:03:03.240 --> 0:03:05.639 if you don't love watching practice and love watching games, 0:03:05.639 --> 0:03:10.000 I love watching scrimmages. I just like it's I don't 0:03:10.000 --> 0:03:12.639 know why you would choose to do it, right, but yeah, 0:03:12.680 --> 0:03:14.600 I know the second that you know you get to 0:03:14.600 --> 0:03:16.560 the arena, and then there's the people and then the 0:03:16.639 --> 0:03:19.760 vibe and everything else. It's just it's so kind of 0:03:19.760 --> 0:03:23.840 fulfilling and rewarding for me. Couldn't agree more. Hopefully we'll 0:03:23.919 --> 0:03:26.920 have that in the weeks and months to come, and 0:03:26.960 --> 0:03:28.520 we're going to get into that a little bit because 0:03:28.520 --> 0:03:30.760 you had a session with a San Francisco lawyer many 0:03:30.840 --> 0:03:34.440 years ago that said, it sounds like you really love basketball. 0:03:34.440 --> 0:03:37.000 You probably should go into that. But we'll talk about 0:03:37.000 --> 0:03:40.160 that in a moment, because you have a great background, 0:03:40.240 --> 0:03:43.120 very intriguing to me and certainly in the education realm. 0:03:43.640 --> 0:03:46.600 But let's talk a little bit about the seventy six 0:03:46.720 --> 0:03:50.240 ers in the bubble. Many of the staff members are 0:03:50.320 --> 0:03:52.880 still back with you in Philadelphia at the training facility. 0:03:52.880 --> 0:03:55.120 You can only bring a party that number thirty seven 0:03:55.560 --> 0:03:58.560 and obviously fifteen and those are players. But what do 0:03:58.560 --> 0:04:00.760 you think about as you get read as a sixer's 0:04:00.800 --> 0:04:03.720 take on the Grizzlies and their scrimmage Folk City and 0:04:04.040 --> 0:04:06.840 I like that, and eventually that first seeding game against 0:04:06.840 --> 0:04:10.160 the Indiana Pacers. Yeah, So, I mean, our our focus 0:04:10.200 --> 0:04:12.200 for the last three four weeks and as you said 0:04:12.280 --> 0:04:15.840 yesterday that the scrimmages yesterday were it was. I felt 0:04:15.840 --> 0:04:18.880 a really high level of basketball for being day one 0:04:18.960 --> 0:04:21.840 after a multi month layoff, certainly higher than you would 0:04:21.839 --> 0:04:24.080 expect to see in the normal course kind of after 0:04:24.120 --> 0:04:27.599 the offseason. And I think our focus organizational he has 0:04:27.680 --> 0:04:30.960 very much been on delivering healthy, in shape players, with 0:04:31.040 --> 0:04:33.279 emphasis on the healthy obviously given what's going on in 0:04:33.279 --> 0:04:37.680 the world, and so you know, Elton's focus and directive 0:04:37.720 --> 0:04:40.279 and what we have all been focused on the staff 0:04:40.320 --> 0:04:42.840 has been that, right, let's let's do everything we can 0:04:42.880 --> 0:04:44.800 to keep our players safe. And a lot of times 0:04:44.800 --> 0:04:47.479 that's involved, you know, putting the brakes on things, being 0:04:47.480 --> 0:04:50.839 more slow and more deliberate, more safety and costs oriented. 0:04:50.880 --> 0:04:55.200 But so far, you know, knock on wood, our team 0:04:55.279 --> 0:04:57.600 has been looking great in craining and kind of this 0:04:57.680 --> 0:05:00.920 abbreviator training camp leading into scrimmages. So yeah, I can't 0:05:00.920 --> 0:05:03.839 wait to see what they look like tomorrow. It should 0:05:03.839 --> 0:05:07.520 be really good. So let's talk about Elton brand He's 0:05:07.560 --> 0:05:10.760 the general manager. He leads a group, a great group, 0:05:10.800 --> 0:05:14.600 but with yourself and Ned Cohen and Vince Rosman and 0:05:15.120 --> 0:05:19.000 any number Rob Newsman, any number of people. Elton was 0:05:19.040 --> 0:05:24.360 a great player seventeen year career. A high character guy, tough, strong, smart, 0:05:24.440 --> 0:05:26.640 what's he's been like a leader for your group and 0:05:26.720 --> 0:05:30.040 this team. Yeah so so I obviously he came to 0:05:30.040 --> 0:05:34.120 the organization I think four years ago, and you know 0:05:34.240 --> 0:05:35.880 Mett Elton right away, and that was when Elton was 0:05:35.880 --> 0:05:39.440 transitioning away from playing to sort of a front office 0:05:39.440 --> 0:05:43.640 apprenticeship type role. Brian Clansolo had hired him to do 0:05:43.760 --> 0:05:45.920 kind of a general you know, kind of apprenticeship, and 0:05:45.920 --> 0:05:48.080 then he assumed ad league position as the general manager 0:05:48.160 --> 0:05:50.919 down there, and I think that you know, so I 0:05:50.960 --> 0:05:53.720 got to know him as a colleague for the first 0:05:53.720 --> 0:05:56.360 couple of years and it was just really impressed by 0:05:56.360 --> 0:06:00.320 his inquisitiveness. He asked a lot of questions, was clearly 0:06:00.360 --> 0:06:03.760 an active listener and like absorbing on the information. And 0:06:03.800 --> 0:06:06.920 then when I engage with him privately, like just really wise, 0:06:07.279 --> 0:06:11.080 really thoughtful, and now he approached things. Obviously, two years ago, 0:06:11.520 --> 0:06:14.080 Josh Harris David Blitzer made a choice to elevate him 0:06:14.080 --> 0:06:17.599 to join a manager and you know, looking back, I 0:06:17.640 --> 0:06:20.880 think it was a really inspired selection just and again 0:06:20.920 --> 0:06:23.799 I'm openly biased. Right, one of the first things Elton 0:06:23.800 --> 0:06:27.640 did was promote me to my current position. And you know, 0:06:27.720 --> 0:06:32.600 he's an incredible leader, right, just incredibly thoughtful, incredibly perceptive, 0:06:32.640 --> 0:06:36.560 incredibly bright, asks really tough questions, pushes us as an 0:06:36.600 --> 0:06:41.280 exact group every day. But I value that, like I 0:06:41.320 --> 0:06:43.400 want to be pushed, I want to be questioned, and 0:06:43.520 --> 0:06:46.279 he does that. And just kind of his feel for players, 0:06:46.360 --> 0:06:48.560 his feel for coaches, his feel for other exects. It's 0:06:48.600 --> 0:06:52.760 been just fantastic watching him operate and kind of a 0:06:52.760 --> 0:06:57.240 privilege to help, you know, implement his vision across the organization. 0:06:58.480 --> 0:07:01.000 And you do that on a day lead basis, because 0:07:01.040 --> 0:07:04.080 as you say, Elton Brand has a huge portfolio. I mean, 0:07:04.120 --> 0:07:06.680 there are so many areas that he's responsible for in 0:07:06.680 --> 0:07:10.000 his role as general manager. Yeah, and you're my phrase, 0:07:10.080 --> 0:07:12.920 but kind of the boots on the ground, with the scouting, 0:07:13.000 --> 0:07:17.000 with players, with the players, the coaching staff, and life 0:07:17.000 --> 0:07:19.560 goes on. Our NBA schedule has been altered, but there 0:07:19.560 --> 0:07:22.480 will be a draft this season, will begin anew a 0:07:22.520 --> 0:07:25.840 full season the twenty one twenty two campaign, whether that's 0:07:25.880 --> 0:07:29.400 in December, whenever that occurs. And granted there's been a 0:07:29.480 --> 0:07:31.840 hiatus and now here comes the action, which is the 0:07:32.000 --> 0:07:34.920 focus as well, it should be you've got a lot 0:07:35.000 --> 0:07:38.040 on your play kind of explain everything that you oversee 0:07:38.360 --> 0:07:41.680 a right underneath Alton brand sure, so kind of within 0:07:41.880 --> 0:07:45.160 within the broader basketball operations umbrella, you have those elements, right, 0:07:45.200 --> 0:07:47.720 So you've got the obviously the team and the coaching 0:07:47.760 --> 0:07:51.680 staff that works directly with them and for them. Then 0:07:51.720 --> 0:07:54.560 you've got kind of the two primary player support departments 0:07:55.040 --> 0:07:58.400 Athlete care sort of our medical performance group, and then 0:07:58.440 --> 0:08:02.320 player development was our development coaches, our G league program, 0:08:02.880 --> 0:08:05.480 team security, a few other things. So like those are 0:08:05.480 --> 0:08:07.560 all the staff members that support at the end of 0:08:07.600 --> 0:08:11.080 the day, our players and so that group. And then 0:08:11.080 --> 0:08:13.120 on the kind of one layer further removed, you've got 0:08:13.160 --> 0:08:15.880 the scouting department as you mentioned, and then our research 0:08:15.920 --> 0:08:19.720 and development department with analytics. So that's all in all 0:08:19.760 --> 0:08:23.720 about eighty ninety people in basketball ops. And you know, 0:08:23.760 --> 0:08:26.600 so you've got Elton obviously, who's in charge of the 0:08:26.640 --> 0:08:30.760 general manager, the man and a friend of mine in 0:08:30.800 --> 0:08:32.920 the hockey world actually mentioned to me a couple of 0:08:32.920 --> 0:08:35.160 weeks ago that you know, as you look back on 0:08:35.240 --> 0:08:37.280 twenty years ago and you look at the responsibility or 0:08:37.280 --> 0:08:39.800 front office twenty years ago compared to now, it's just 0:08:39.880 --> 0:08:42.520 so much more complex. There are so many more stakeholders, 0:08:42.559 --> 0:08:46.199 so many more responsibilities one person the kind of the 0:08:47.679 --> 0:08:50.040 dictator GM of twenty years ago. I don't think that 0:08:50.080 --> 0:08:52.240 can happen anymore. It's just so much more complex the 0:08:52.280 --> 0:08:55.880 world that we live in. So so you see a 0:08:55.880 --> 0:09:00.040 lot more kind of diffuse specialized front offices and a 0:09:00.040 --> 0:09:02.520 lot of ways and so again it involves a lot 0:09:02.520 --> 0:09:05.920 of coordination, a lot of collaboration between us internally with 0:09:06.000 --> 0:09:09.280 the business side, with our media partners, with fans, with 0:09:09.280 --> 0:09:12.480 the community. So my job is sort of again make 0:09:12.520 --> 0:09:15.640 sure that Elton's vision is implemented as he intends, and 0:09:15.640 --> 0:09:17.640 then involves a lot of kind of grunt work. But yeah, 0:09:17.679 --> 0:09:20.360 to your point, the last three months, certainly it's been 0:09:20.440 --> 0:09:24.880 unusual and unprecedented the hiatus, But yeah, the pre draft 0:09:24.960 --> 0:09:28.040 work has continue to pace. You know, we've had it 0:09:28.160 --> 0:09:30.600 was a period of the first three months where were 0:09:30.600 --> 0:09:34.280 having I think three or four scouting meetings a day virtually. 0:09:34.400 --> 0:09:36.520 Of course, as we all transition to the Zoom lifestyle 0:09:38.000 --> 0:09:39.720 and then kind of overlaid with that would have been 0:09:39.760 --> 0:09:42.360 the off season preparation. We didn't know for a period 0:09:42.400 --> 0:09:43.559 of time if we were going to hit the off 0:09:43.600 --> 0:09:46.480 season or we're gonna get more games, And now we're 0:09:46.520 --> 0:09:49.720 looking at this compressed, which will be exciting off season 0:09:50.000 --> 0:09:51.920 once we get through the playoffs. And obviously that's the 0:09:51.960 --> 0:09:54.319 real focus day to day, but we're also having to 0:09:54.320 --> 0:09:56.840 prepare for the draft in October, free agency in October, 0:09:57.320 --> 0:10:00.000 and then the resumption of next season in October November. 0:10:00.160 --> 0:10:04.120 So when you were talking about preparing for the draft, 0:10:04.320 --> 0:10:07.560 I talked to another team scouting, one of the scouts, 0:10:08.000 --> 0:10:09.640 and they had to do a lot of these zoom 0:10:09.679 --> 0:10:14.600 meetings with prospective draftees players over zoom, like typically what 0:10:14.679 --> 0:10:16.760 you might do in Chicago or you might bring a 0:10:17.240 --> 0:10:19.880 young player in. Did you guys have to do that 0:10:19.920 --> 0:10:23.280 as well? Yeah, So the league, I want to say 0:10:23.280 --> 0:10:25.360 it was about two months ago, don't don't pin me 0:10:25.400 --> 0:10:27.920 down to the date, but opened up the door and said, yeah, 0:10:27.960 --> 0:10:31.000 you can do prospect interviews now. So we were doing 0:10:31.040 --> 0:10:34.640 a really rigorous schedule of that up until further recently. 0:10:35.000 --> 0:10:36.800 So you know, probably a few times a week I 0:10:36.800 --> 0:10:40.680 would be on zoom calls with six, eight, ten people 0:10:41.160 --> 0:10:44.600 to include a draft prospect, and you do. It's interesting. 0:10:44.640 --> 0:10:46.520 I mean, at the end of the day, it's really 0:10:46.559 --> 0:10:49.440 about what happens on the basketball court. But I think 0:10:49.440 --> 0:10:51.520 we all know that as you look at an eighteen, nineteen, 0:10:51.559 --> 0:10:54.880 twenty twenty one year old, it's so difficult to kind 0:10:54.880 --> 0:10:56.400 of read the tea leaves, and I think you want 0:10:56.400 --> 0:10:58.480 to get as much information you can. The chance to 0:10:58.720 --> 0:11:00.760 talk to a guy, even if it is him, I 0:11:00.760 --> 0:11:02.640 think has a lot of value. So we definitely talked 0:11:02.640 --> 0:11:06.240 to a whole bunch of potential sixers over the last 0:11:06.280 --> 0:11:09.800 few weeks speaking of those interviews, and this is when 0:11:09.840 --> 0:11:12.800 it struck me that boy Elton Brand is perfect for this. 0:11:12.840 --> 0:11:14.880 And this goes back a few years probably he was 0:11:15.240 --> 0:11:17.960 at that time with the Delaware Blue Coats, as we know, 0:11:18.000 --> 0:11:20.800 he served as general manager there. But he went on 0:11:20.840 --> 0:11:25.160 those meetings in Chicago, and you know, as a former 0:11:25.200 --> 0:11:30.520 player and knowing the whole athlete mindset and just as 0:11:30.520 --> 0:11:34.760 you say, asking tough questions. When somebody said a meeting 0:11:34.800 --> 0:11:36.560 member asked him, you know, what, what's your role on that? 0:11:37.280 --> 0:11:40.200 And you know, he talked about being very direct with 0:11:40.240 --> 0:11:45.680 these prospects. You you have a post. He was asking like, 0:11:46.240 --> 0:11:49.720 what's your support system? And kind of a blunt question 0:11:49.800 --> 0:11:53.479 that really from an athlete from a former NBA stars 0:11:53.520 --> 0:11:56.680 two time All Star that that matters to get to 0:11:56.720 --> 0:11:59.560 the core of some of the questions when you're speaking 0:11:59.559 --> 0:12:04.720 about character or what you might expect from a particular athlete. Correct, Yeah, yeah, 0:12:04.760 --> 0:12:07.560 I mean, so I've spent the bulk of my life 0:12:07.600 --> 0:12:10.120 studying basketball, right, like I'm a student of the game. 0:12:11.640 --> 0:12:13.760 Elton lived it, right. I mean, he was an NBA 0:12:13.800 --> 0:12:16.000 All Star. He was in the NBA for nearly twenty years, 0:12:16.400 --> 0:12:18.760 you know, playing ex definitely a higher level, and then 0:12:19.000 --> 0:12:22.960 suffering an injury and then kind of kind of experiencing that. 0:12:23.040 --> 0:12:25.200 So he's sort of experienced the full spectrum of what 0:12:25.200 --> 0:12:27.679 it means to be an NBA player, top to bottom. 0:12:27.760 --> 0:12:31.040 So he's much better position to know the right questions 0:12:31.040 --> 0:12:32.839 to ask, to ask them, and frankly to get the 0:12:32.880 --> 0:12:36.520 answers right. I mean, Elton Brand asking a question of 0:12:36.559 --> 0:12:38.320 a nineteen to twenty one year old is a very 0:12:38.320 --> 0:12:40.480 different thing, and then Alex Rucker or Vince rosman or 0:12:40.480 --> 0:12:43.920 and then Cohen or anyone else. It just carries that 0:12:44.040 --> 0:12:48.000 different different weight and a different sense of perception. Absolutely, 0:12:48.320 --> 0:12:51.439 and your background, and again you have two degrees. You 0:12:51.520 --> 0:12:53.439 got a law degree, and I love that so I 0:12:53.480 --> 0:12:55.640 want to get into that. As I mentioned, but your 0:12:55.679 --> 0:12:58.760 background as far as the NBA goes is it was 0:12:58.840 --> 0:13:01.959 in an analytics She spends seven years with Toronto and 0:13:02.000 --> 0:13:04.439 as you said, you studied the game, and you guys 0:13:04.440 --> 0:13:08.280 have really built out the robust staff. The Sixers ownership 0:13:08.280 --> 0:13:11.800 has been really supportive and into that kind of explain 0:13:11.920 --> 0:13:14.000 that because I know back in the day you probably 0:13:14.000 --> 0:13:17.400 had a you know, the whole eye check and you 0:13:17.440 --> 0:13:20.199 know that thing where the old basketball types didn't really 0:13:20.320 --> 0:13:23.600 welcome analytics. And I think that obviously has passed. But 0:13:23.720 --> 0:13:26.160 just and you were one of the first guys into 0:13:26.160 --> 0:13:29.920 this sports view which has become standing standard operating procedure 0:13:29.920 --> 0:13:33.040 in the NBA. Give us as lay people, if you 0:13:33.080 --> 0:13:36.920 will give us a little look see into that how 0:13:36.960 --> 0:13:41.360 it's evolved over the years and what it is today. Analytics. Yeah, sure, 0:13:41.440 --> 0:13:44.160 So I think that it's interesting. I think for most 0:13:44.200 --> 0:13:46.960 people sort of Moneyball that both the book by Michael 0:13:47.000 --> 0:13:50.559 Lewis and then the subsequent movie starring Brad Pitt, it's 0:13:50.559 --> 0:13:55.480 sort of the mainstream introduction into quote unquote analytics. I've 0:13:55.520 --> 0:13:59.280 never loved that particular label. To me. It's whether it's 0:13:59.320 --> 0:14:01.640 a front office or our scouting group or a coaching 0:14:01.720 --> 0:14:06.560 staff or even players. Basketball is this dynamic, you know, 0:14:06.720 --> 0:14:09.680 vibrant thing, and in this thing, there are so many 0:14:09.720 --> 0:14:13.600 decisions being made. Those decisions are made based on information, right. 0:14:14.360 --> 0:14:18.040 I don't think at any level someone's just you know, hey, 0:14:18.120 --> 0:14:20.400 whatever or you know, whatever moves me emotionally, I'm going 0:14:20.440 --> 0:14:21.760 to just do that. It's like no, no, They're all 0:14:21.800 --> 0:14:24.280 making decisions based on their experiences, based on what they're observing, 0:14:24.320 --> 0:14:27.920 based on what they're feeling. And I think that the 0:14:28.560 --> 0:14:32.640 analytics movement, really starting in baseball in the eighties and 0:14:32.680 --> 0:14:35.560 then kind of diving more into the other main sports 0:14:35.600 --> 0:14:38.560 more in the nineties and early two thousands, really was 0:14:38.560 --> 0:14:41.720 an effort to, hey, we have, in the advent of computers, 0:14:41.720 --> 0:14:44.440 in the advent of the internet, so much more information, 0:14:44.560 --> 0:14:49.040 objective information about this thing, and let's try to apply 0:14:49.160 --> 0:14:52.080 that to help inform our decisions. And as you mentioned, 0:14:52.160 --> 0:14:55.600 kind of Josh Harris David Blitzer very focused on kind 0:14:55.600 --> 0:14:58.480 of evidence based decision making, Like we're gonna make some 0:14:58.600 --> 0:15:01.800 highly complex, important decisions, let's make sure those decisions are 0:15:01.800 --> 0:15:04.440 based on the best possible information. So I would say 0:15:04.440 --> 0:15:08.400 that to the layman if you will analytics and sports 0:15:08.440 --> 0:15:10.880 or anywhere, is just a desire to get the best 0:15:10.880 --> 0:15:15.000 possible information. Data. Data is there's another word for information, 0:15:16.000 --> 0:15:18.400 and give that to decision makers in a form that 0:15:18.400 --> 0:15:21.760 they can digest and make better decisions. Hopefully we'll have 0:15:21.920 --> 0:15:25.320 more of my conversation with Alex Rucker in a moment. 0:15:26.080 --> 0:15:30.440 In this time of social distancing, Novacare Rehabilitation is offering 0:15:30.480 --> 0:15:33.600 physical therapy from the comfort and safety of your home. 0:15:34.200 --> 0:15:38.480 Through their new tele a rehab program, Novacare will virtually 0:15:38.560 --> 0:15:42.720 bring their services to you so you may heal, build strength, 0:15:42.960 --> 0:15:45.560 and get back to the things you love. Tell a 0:15:45.600 --> 0:15:49.000 rehab let you easily connect with one of Novocare's licensed 0:15:49.040 --> 0:15:53.240 therapists through web based technology that is Hippo compliant. For 0:15:53.360 --> 0:15:57.480 more information, visit novacare dot com. Now back to my 0:15:57.640 --> 0:16:00.760 chat with Alex Rucker of the six or Front Office. 0:16:01.720 --> 0:16:04.400 Let's jump one step ahead to the players. Because when 0:16:04.400 --> 0:16:08.240 you said dynamic and it's free flowing, you think of 0:16:08.320 --> 0:16:11.840 Ben Simmons. I mean, obviously, the strength of his game 0:16:11.960 --> 0:16:15.360 is his incredible athleticism and his ability at times to 0:16:15.480 --> 0:16:18.320 grab the ball off the defensive glass and run at 0:16:18.320 --> 0:16:21.240 the length of the floor so at some point coach 0:16:21.360 --> 0:16:23.960 or one of the coaches sits with them and explains, 0:16:24.000 --> 0:16:26.200 I mean, we all know that threes are better than 0:16:26.280 --> 0:16:32.160 long twos. We all understand some basic, rudimentary elements of analytics. 0:16:32.200 --> 0:16:35.040 But you know, I think of an artist. When Simmons 0:16:35.120 --> 0:16:38.040 is flying down the court and he's processing all this information, 0:16:38.680 --> 0:16:41.240 at some point somebody sat down. Obviously, if he gets 0:16:41.240 --> 0:16:42.520 to the rim, he gets to the rim, that's the 0:16:42.560 --> 0:16:44.680 best shot. But you know what I mean, like, how 0:16:44.720 --> 0:16:46.600 does it get how does it get boiled down to 0:16:46.680 --> 0:16:50.280 the players. So in the flow of the game, the 0:16:50.400 --> 0:16:53.120 light goes on, Oh right, I'm supposed to kick it 0:16:53.160 --> 0:16:56.600 out for a three, How does it actually manifest itself 0:16:56.920 --> 0:16:59.840 to the players. I know the coaches try to strategize 0:16:59.840 --> 0:17:02.480 and think what works and whatnot, and there's probably solely 0:17:02.560 --> 0:17:05.080 layers and layers, But to the point about the players, 0:17:05.080 --> 0:17:07.680 what would you say there? Yeah, so I think you're 0:17:07.720 --> 0:17:11.000 right initially that there's sort of two lanes. Right. One 0:17:11.080 --> 0:17:13.480 is the coaching lane of they're taking these information, they're 0:17:13.520 --> 0:17:15.080 thinking a lot about it, and they're trying to put 0:17:15.080 --> 0:17:17.720 a structure in place that puts players in a position 0:17:17.720 --> 0:17:19.440 to succeed, Right, like at the end of the day, 0:17:19.480 --> 0:17:22.840 that's what that whether you're talking strategy, tactics, schemes or whatever. 0:17:24.000 --> 0:17:26.119 On the player side, So, as I mentioned, we are 0:17:26.160 --> 0:17:29.639 this kind of robust player development department. They're really the 0:17:29.760 --> 0:17:32.840 primary emissaries at the player level, right. So you'll see 0:17:32.920 --> 0:17:35.960 before games, each of our players will sit down and 0:17:36.000 --> 0:17:38.600 do video study with one of our deav coaches, right, 0:17:38.960 --> 0:17:41.439 And so that's not you know, twenty years ago that 0:17:41.520 --> 0:17:44.440 was a dev coach who had just you know, done 0:17:44.440 --> 0:17:46.280 some video editing and grab some clips and said, hey, 0:17:46.320 --> 0:17:49.040 let's look at these. And now I think it's part 0:17:49.080 --> 0:17:53.439 of a more holistic process where Brett Elton have to 0:17:53.480 --> 0:17:55.800 kind of determine our team scheme, our team identity, and 0:17:55.840 --> 0:17:58.560 then that trickles down to the assistant coach of development 0:17:58.560 --> 0:18:02.080 coaches and so there's a collective alignment on Hey, these 0:18:02.119 --> 0:18:04.000 are the things that the Ben Simmons are, the firk 0:18:04.040 --> 0:18:06.000 on Cork mods are that you know, Shake Milton or 0:18:06.000 --> 0:18:08.879 Al Horford should be focused on based on a broad 0:18:09.520 --> 0:18:12.400 period of time or even more recently or in particular 0:18:12.400 --> 0:18:16.119 tomorrow's appoint or today's opponent. So I think it's using 0:18:16.160 --> 0:18:18.520 the tools that they're comfortable with and familiar with, which 0:18:18.880 --> 0:18:22.040 it's frankly video in conversation. Right, let's watch something and 0:18:22.119 --> 0:18:24.000 let's have a shared experience of what this means and 0:18:24.000 --> 0:18:25.960 what we might do differently or better in that situation. 0:18:27.640 --> 0:18:31.800 So is that answer the question? Yeah, absolutely, I trust 0:18:31.840 --> 0:18:33.800 me because that's when I used to interview the players 0:18:34.000 --> 0:18:37.320 and now they're with a coach. I'm so sorry about. 0:18:38.359 --> 0:18:42.000 I'm very familiar with that. And you have I think 0:18:42.080 --> 0:18:46.600 virtually the facility. It's just an unbelievable basketball facility and 0:18:46.840 --> 0:18:49.680 in there and fans you know, wouldn't be pretty to this, 0:18:49.760 --> 0:18:52.640 but and I say this in the best possible way, 0:18:52.800 --> 0:18:56.280 it's like a basketball factory. And I speak of getting 0:18:56.280 --> 0:18:59.040 back to the analytics. You know, you have a staff 0:18:59.080 --> 0:19:02.080 of whatever it is, eight to ten people working with 0:19:02.280 --> 0:19:04.760 huge screens. I mean, you would think it's from Wall 0:19:04.760 --> 0:19:08.400 Street or whatever. And they're in there and they're all 0:19:08.400 --> 0:19:11.640 at work, and they're interpreting this information as you say, 0:19:11.680 --> 0:19:14.000 the data by way an example like the sports view 0:19:14.320 --> 0:19:16.880 and for fans that are on a custom that's all 0:19:16.880 --> 0:19:19.280 these cameras and again it didn't exist, but now it 0:19:19.280 --> 0:19:23.560 does in every single NBA arena. And again trying to interpret, 0:19:23.680 --> 0:19:26.760 you know, as just a lay person basketball. Why to 0:19:26.800 --> 0:19:29.359 me it looks like Doppler radar when you see all 0:19:29.359 --> 0:19:34.119 the dots around the three point circle. And again there's 0:19:34.160 --> 0:19:38.159 probably so many things catch and shoot. Tell me a 0:19:38.200 --> 0:19:39.960 little bit about that because, as I say, you have 0:19:40.040 --> 0:19:43.440 that staff at work on all of those things. Yeah. 0:19:43.480 --> 0:19:47.399 So you know, when I kind of first came here 0:19:47.560 --> 0:19:50.920 to the train, sauld and Canaden like, yeah, it's it's 0:19:51.000 --> 0:19:52.960 as far as I know, kind of the most high tech, 0:19:53.119 --> 0:19:57.160 most kind of sophisticated basketball. You know, factories you said, 0:19:57.600 --> 0:20:00.480 you know, designed to support our program are not players 0:20:00.840 --> 0:20:03.600 on a day to day basis. So it's it's an 0:20:03.720 --> 0:20:06.440 an incredible privilege. Honestly, I pinched myself every morning going 0:20:06.440 --> 0:20:10.520 into work that I get to work there. It's amazing 0:20:10.600 --> 0:20:11.840 kind of to work for the six or to work 0:20:11.880 --> 0:20:14.480 a place like that, to work for God like Elton. 0:20:14.640 --> 0:20:16.880 It's just this is amazing, right, this dream come true. 0:20:16.960 --> 0:20:19.480 Now to your question kind of about sport for you, Yeah, 0:20:19.560 --> 0:20:22.200 that gets back to the whole basketball in the world. 0:20:22.200 --> 0:20:24.360 It become someone more sophisticated. So as you said, there 0:20:24.359 --> 0:20:27.960 are six, you know, high definition cameras in every NBA 0:20:27.960 --> 0:20:31.240 Arena and now down in Orlando for our games there, 0:20:32.119 --> 0:20:35.440 and that gives us just an incredible depth of information 0:20:35.440 --> 0:20:38.720 about what's happening on the basketball court wherever one at 0:20:38.760 --> 0:20:41.600 every point in time was tracked, you know, thirty five 0:20:41.600 --> 0:20:44.400 times per second, where the basketball is at all points 0:20:44.400 --> 0:20:47.359 in time, and then you can take that, as you said, 0:20:47.800 --> 0:20:50.040 kind of once you've got that raw data set, you 0:20:50.080 --> 0:20:52.840 can then convert that into basketball This is a catch 0:20:52.880 --> 0:20:54.960 and shoot, This is a bounce pass, this is a 0:20:55.560 --> 0:20:57.280 you know, trap on a pick and roll. You can 0:20:57.320 --> 0:20:59.959 identify all those sorts of things and once you've got 0:21:00.200 --> 0:21:02.960 that layer, then you can convert that into something intuitive 0:21:03.000 --> 0:21:05.440