Great article. As a huge NBA & NFL fan, It's intriguing to see the front offices of some of these teams begin to think outside of the box when it comes to player development. I think that's the most interesting opportunity here -- the practice of "watching film" is now innovative enough to not only help prepare for opponents, but also provide coaches a better macro view of what to work on with specific players in the short & long term. Especially in coaching behavior "off the ball". Thats always a game changer.

The ghost AI is pretty impressive as well. I was skeptical at first as to how authentic this type of "player AI" would be, considering the program makes assumptions based on historical numbers and any athlete/coach would certainly argue that its different in-game, however this says a ton:

> That's brutal, and it's not a coincidence that the only team that consistently mirrors the help defense of its ghosts is Miami, Rucker says. The Heat have three of the best wing defenders in the league in Shane Battier, LeBron James, and Dwyane Wade, and the latter two are among the NBA's most gifted pure athletes. James can mimic DeRozan's hyperactive ghost in a way no other player can, Rucker says. "LeBron basically messes up the system and the ghosts," Rucker says. "He does things that are just unsustainable for most players."

Not a huge Miami fan (Go BULLS!) but you can't deny their defensive effort.

Thanks for sharing!