June 25, 2008

ESPN interviews Ken Catanella '97, "NBA Stat Geek"

ESPN.com’s Henry Abbott interviews Ken Catanella ‘97 for the TrueHoop blog as the NBA draft approaches. Catanella, a described “stat geek,” is the Coordinator of Statistical Analysis for the New Jersey Nets, and has some unique qualifications:

Catanella has two things that a lot of similar experts do not: the knowledge of basketball that comes with having played as a professional, and hands-on experience doing rigorous multivariate analysis on Wall Street. Following graduation from Amherst College in 1997, Catanella analyzed arena finance for professional teams, and valued publicly traded companies.

At Amherst he was both a player and later an assistant coach, and then played professionally for the German Bundesliga’s Cologne 99ers, where he also later served as the German team’s Assistant GM.

While earning his MBA at Duke in 2004 and 2005, Catanella assisted the men’s basketball teams, developing analytical tools and systems for Coach Krzyzewski’s staff. At the same time, Catanella interned for the 76ers’ front office.

The interview gives a sense of the mind-boggling array of statistics Catanella keeps track of and analyzes as the team sorts out potential draft picks:

[Q:] Do I sense that you are not even looking at the same sets of numbers for every prospect?

[A:]It depends on the position. And it can get very detailed.

We chart, essentially, every game that every draft prospect has played on video, and we track just about every category you can imagine.

Brian Meacham '97 | June 25, 2008 01:52 AM | Alumni | Athletics

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