信息革命

The Charlotte Bobcats were one of the worst teams in NBA history last year， they’ve developed a innovative， custombuilt scouting system now. The database includes everything you could possibly want to know about a playe， it should help turn things around.

上賽季的夏洛特山貓是NBA有史以來最糟糕的球隊(duì)之一，如今他們量身定制了一套極具創(chuàng)新意義的球探系統(tǒng)。這套數(shù)據(jù)庫中包含了你想要知道的有關(guān)球員的一切信息，而這或許能幫助山貓扭轉(zhuǎn)局勢。

The Charlotte Bobcats’ new database scouting system has over 50，000 web pages.

夏洛特山貓新的球探數(shù)據(jù)庫體系包含了50000張網(wǎng)頁。

You can instantly look up year-by-year statistics for Boston Celtics great Bill Russell... or any other player in NBA history. You can check the injury archive of a Slovenian playing in the Spanish league or whether a forward in the Development League was ever ①busted for drugs.

在這里你能即刻查到波士頓凱爾特人傳奇比爾·拉塞爾每一年的數(shù)據(jù)，或者是NBA歷史上任何一名的球員的數(shù)據(jù)。你能查到一個(gè)在西班牙聯(lián)賽效力的斯洛文尼亞人的傷病歷史，也能查到一個(gè)發(fā)展聯(lián)盟的前鋒是否因?yàn)槎酒穯栴}被捕過。

This is Charlotte Bobcats general manager Rich Cho’s baby， an Internet-friendly system that took six months and a six-figure cost to develop. Now it evolves daily and gets put to the test in Thursday night’s NBA draft， when the Bobcats select second and 31st following a 7-59 season.

這就是夏洛特山貓總經(jīng)理里奇·周的心血，一個(gè)能連通網(wǎng)絡(luò)、花了六個(gè)月和六位數(shù)價(jià)格才搭建起來的系統(tǒng)。現(xiàn)在，這個(gè)系統(tǒng)每天都會更新，在周四的NBA選秀大會上，它也會被拿來測試。那時(shí)經(jīng)歷了7勝59負(fù)賽季的山貓，將擁有第二順位和第三十一順位選秀權(quán)。

Cho’s boss， president of basketball operations Rod Higgins， has a simple description for this complex tool: \"One-stop shopping.\"

周的老板、籃球事務(wù)總裁羅德·希金斯對這個(gè)復(fù)雜的工具有一個(gè)簡單的描述：“一站式購物。”

The result， the Bobcats hope， is that quicker access to a buffet of information offers a competitive advantage in player evaluation.

山貓所希望的測試結(jié)果是，對大量信息進(jìn)行更快速地整合，讓球隊(duì)在評估球員時(shí)更具優(yōu)勢。

When Cho interviewed with the Bobcats a year ago， he told Higgins and team owner Michael Jordan he thought the front office needed more staffing and fresh technology. When you’re dealing with decisions as consequential as the No.2 pick， don’t you want the best tools available?

一年前當(dāng)周面試山貓的工作時(shí)，他告訴希金斯和球隊(duì)老板邁克爾·喬丹，他認(rèn)為球隊(duì)管理層需要更多工作人員和更新的技術(shù)。當(dāng)你要做出的決定和榜眼簽有關(guān)，難道你不希望自己得到最好的工具嗎？

Jordan agreed， approving the hiring of three new support staff， including a Harvard graduate to oversee statistical analysis. Then Jordan tasked Cho with reviewing the Bobcats’ scouting system， to see whether it should be replaced.

喬丹站在了周這一邊，他批準(zhǔn)了雇傭三名新員工的計(jì)劃，其中包括一個(gè)專門負(fù)責(zé)數(shù)據(jù)分析的哈佛研究生。隨后喬丹給了周一個(gè)新任務(wù)，重新審查山貓的球探系統(tǒng)，看看是否要進(jìn)行更換。

The Bobcats were using\"Hawkeye，\" one of several plug-in scouting tools NBA teams can buy and adapt to their needs. Cho thought it wiser to start ②from scratch， to customize a Bobcats-only system. Among NBA executives， he has a rare background that qualifies him to do just that.

山貓當(dāng)時(shí)用的是“鷹眼”系統(tǒng)，這是NBA球隊(duì)購買并根據(jù)需要使用的插入式工具之一。周覺得更明智的辦法是重新開始，為山貓量身打造一個(gè)只適用于夏洛特的系統(tǒng)。在NBA的管理層中，他是少數(shù)幾個(gè)擁有這種技術(shù)背景并能實(shí)現(xiàn)這種想法的人之一。

Cho’s undergraduate degree was in engineering and he worked in that field for Boeing before attending law school at Pepperdine. When he interned for his then-hometown Seattle Supersonics during a summer break from law school， general manager Wally Walker tasked him with refining the team’s scouting system.

周的大學(xué)本科學(xué)的是工程專業(yè)，在就讀佩珀代因大學(xué)法學(xué)院之前，他還在波音公司做過工程方面的工作。在法學(xué)院的一個(gè)暑假中，當(dāng)他在家鄉(xiāng)球隊(duì)西雅圖超音速實(shí)習(xí)時(shí)，總經(jīng)理威利·沃克就曾要求周改善球隊(duì)的球探系統(tǒng)。

\"I want to be the most technologically advanced general manager in the league，\" Cho recalls Walker saying.

“我想成為聯(lián)盟里在技術(shù)方面最厲害的總經(jīng)理。”周這樣回憶沃爾當(dāng)時(shí)的態(tài)度。

Cho enlisted an acquaintance from Microsoft to build the Sonics’ system and linked up with him again for the Bobcats’ version(Cho won’t identify his Microsoft contact for competitive reasons. Why let other NBA teams mimic his designs?)

周找來了一個(gè)在微軟工作的熟人，幫忙打造了西雅圖的這個(gè)系統(tǒng)。在創(chuàng)造山貓這個(gè)系統(tǒng)時(shí)，他又聯(lián)系到了這個(gè)熟人。(因?yàn)楦偁幵颍懿辉敢馔嘎杜c微軟合同的細(xì)節(jié)。為什么要讓NBA的其他球隊(duì)模仿他的設(shè)計(jì)呢？)

The approach

方法

Cho’s system has all the basics you’d expect: Player contracts， statistics that can be used to compare Bobcats players’ development to others’， any potential bonuses that could complicate trade discussions. But beyond that， this is a function of Cho’s selfdescription as \"a big information hound.\"

周的系統(tǒng)里有你想得到的所有基礎(chǔ)性的內(nèi)容：球員合同，可以比較山貓球員和其他球員的數(shù)據(jù)，任何可能讓交易談判復(fù)雜化的潛在性獎(jiǎng)金。而在那之上，就是周所描述的“龐大的信息查詢系統(tǒng)”的基礎(chǔ)了。

Call it nosey if you like. To Cho， it’s being forewarned. You can see both the engineer and the lawyer in Cho’s concept.

如果你喜歡，不妨稱其功能全面。對于周來說，這不過是事先設(shè)想中的。在周的理念里，你能同時(shí)看到工程師和律師兩種并存的特質(zhì)。

He tells the scouting staff to be perceptive with their \"eyes\" (in writing scouting reports)， their \"ears\" (dig deep in background checks: Is a player a leader or a follower? Does he smoke or drink? Does he care about others?) and through \"numbers\" (a wealth of statistics that can be collated a variety of ways for apples-toapples comparison).

他告訴球探們，“眼界”要寬(撰寫球探報(bào)告方面)，要“耳”(在背景資料方面要挖得更深：這個(gè)球員是領(lǐng)袖還是跟班？他抽煙或者喝酒嗎？他關(guān)心其他人嗎？)聽八方(大量豐富的數(shù)據(jù)，讓點(diǎn)對點(diǎn)的對比方法變得更多樣)。

Beyond that， Cho asks the team’s scouting staff for two things: Look ahead， not behind， and develop a consistency in evaluating players’ development.

除此之外，周還對球探提出了兩個(gè)要求：看得更遠(yuǎn)，而不是向過去看；在評估球員時(shí)要有持續(xù)性。

There’s a quote from hockey great Wayne Gretzky that Cho likes， repeated throughout these web pages like a mantra: \"When everyone else is looking where the puck is， I’m looking at where the puck will be.\"

周非常喜歡冰球傳奇韋恩·格雷茨基的一句話，這句話在這個(gè)系統(tǒng)的網(wǎng)頁里就想咒語一樣不斷出現(xiàn)：“當(dāng)所有人都在尋找冰球在哪里時(shí)，我看的卻是冰球會到哪去。”

The reports

報(bào)告

In an attempt to see trends ahead of the pack， Cho remade how Bobcats scouts file their reports. He didn’t like the standard practice of rating a player’s shooting or dribbling 1 through 10， because one scout’s eight was another scout’s six.

為了能在堆積如山的資料里找到球員的發(fā)展趨勢，周重新規(guī)定了球探撰寫報(bào)告的要求。他不喜歡用1到10的傳統(tǒng)標(biāo)準(zhǔn)，因?yàn)橐粋€(gè)球員的投籃或者運(yùn)球能力，在一個(gè)人眼中的“8”會是另一個(gè)人眼中的“6”。

So he came up with a nine-level system with labels， descriptions and examples， for scouts to use as a guide. The rankings:③Franchise， Core， Top starter， Starter， Key reserve， Reserve， Roster， Minor-league， NoBobcat.

所以他制定了有九個(gè)等級的新體系，包括標(biāo)注、描述和例子，以此作為球探的使用指導(dǎo)。這九個(gè)評級包括：基石級球員、核心球員、頂級首發(fā)、首發(fā)、關(guān)鍵替補(bǔ)、替補(bǔ)、填補(bǔ)陣容的球員、小聯(lián)盟球員、非山貓球員。

There are fewer than 10 current NBA players graded as “franchise.” As Cho described， \"we’re talking about players who can change the caliber of a team.\"

現(xiàn)在的NBA只有不到10名球員可以被列為“基石級”。如周所說，“我們說的是那種可以以一己之力改變球隊(duì)的人。”

At the other end， Cho describes a \"NoBobcat\" as a player whose talent falls far short of NBA-caliber or who’s behavior is so egregious it can’t be tolerated.

在另一個(gè)極端，周把“非山貓球員”解釋為天賦不能達(dá)到NBA要求的，或者行為惡劣到不能被容忍的球員。

Beyond that， Cho installed a scouting template for every report. That includes an Internet function that automatically pops pertinent numbers (such as Kentucky star Anthony Davis’ shots blocked) into reports quickly after games end. Cho said he wants scouts writing evaluations， not keyboarding numbers.

在這個(gè)基礎(chǔ)上，周為每一份球探報(bào)告制定了模板。這其中包括了互聯(lián)網(wǎng)功能，它會比賽結(jié)束后迅速向報(bào)告中心自動上傳有關(guān)的數(shù)據(jù)(比如肯塔基球星安東尼·戴維斯的蓋帽)。周說，他希望球探們寫的是評估報(bào)告，而不是把數(shù)字敲到紙上。

The result

結(jié)果

What the Bobcats got for this investment is a system that drills deeper into player backgrounds， offers consistent evaluations and is dramatically speedier in updating information. Now， when a staffer scouts a game， one keystroke emails the info to every decisionmaker on the team.

山貓從這項(xiàng)投資中得到的，是一個(gè)能更深地挖掘球員背景、提供持續(xù)評估、同時(shí)在更新信息時(shí)速度奇快的系統(tǒng)。現(xiàn)在，當(dāng)工作人員在比賽里做球探工作時(shí)，在鍵盤上敲一下，他就能把信息發(fā)給球隊(duì)決策層的每個(gè)人。

Speed matters. You might have 20 minutes before the trade deadline at midseason when you’re offered a deal. You want the comparative salaries， the statistics and intel on involved players all in one place instantly. That’s even truer on draft night， when there are five minutes between each first-round pick and two minutes between second-round picks.

速度很重要。賽季中期的交易截止日前，你也許只有20分鐘的時(shí)間提出一份交易方案。你會希望在一個(gè)地方立刻得到球員的工資對比、數(shù)據(jù)和有關(guān)球員的所有信息。在選秀夜這點(diǎn)尤其重要，那時(shí)每個(gè)首輪選秀之間只有五分鐘間隔，到了二輪只有兩分鐘。

Higgins loves Cho’s innovations. He says his office now fits inside his smart phone.

希金斯愛死了周的這個(gè)創(chuàng)新，他說，現(xiàn)在他的辦公室都濃縮在了智能手機(jī)里。

\"This really simplifies the whole process， whether we’re talking about player comparisons or dollar-for-dollar for trades，\" Higgins said.\"There are tons of questions (you might need answered quickly).There’s not a number we can’t now get on a dime.\"

“這確實(shí)簡化了整個(gè)程序，無論我們說的是球員對比還是具體到每一塊錢的交易，”希金斯說，“總有一堆問題等著你(而你需迅速解答)。沒有一個(gè)數(shù)字，是我們在很短的時(shí)間里得不到的。”

What the Bobcats got for this investment is a system that drills deeper into player backgrounds， offers consistent evaluations and is dramatically speedier in updating information. Now， when a staffer scouts a game， one keystroke emails the info to every decision-maker on the team.

山貓從這項(xiàng)投資中得到的，是一個(gè)能更深地挖掘球員背景、提供持續(xù)評估、同時(shí)在更新信息時(shí)速度奇快的系統(tǒng)。現(xiàn)在，當(dāng)工作人員在比賽里做球探工作時(shí)，在鍵盤上敲一下，他就能把信息發(fā)給球隊(duì)決策層的每個(gè)人。