The stats from Ken Pomeroy’s site are reference here about 20, 30 times a day. What can I say? I’m a sucker for helpful analytical tools. Especially ones that are free.
But those tempo-free stats aren’t just for blogging nerds and hoopheads. Plenty of college coaches use them too.
Brad Stevens, Mike Krzyzewski, Sean Miller are Buzz Williams are among the coaches who praise Pomeroy in this N.Y. Times feature. That’s how influential his site has become – even though it’s not his full-time job. Pomeroy, 37, is employed for the National Weather Service. He does some side gigs (notably for Baylor and writing for Basketball Prospectus), but says he’s not sure if hoops will ever be what pays the bills.
“It’s something that I always ask myself, exactly where do I want this to go,” he told the paper. “There’s a lot of conflicting thoughts about that. I don’t really have any basketball background.”
Selfishly, I hope the Pomeroy keeps making tweaks to the site and maintains it for free, though I couldn’t blame him if he ever charged for the info. It’d be worth a fee. His ratings occasionally get criticized by more traditional writers -- his ratings had Washington, Kentucky and Wisconsin in the top 10 when the Top 25 usually ignored them -- but that’s not their main function. Focusing on a team’s strength or weakness is what I value most.
One clarification on the feature, though: Pomeroy didn’t invent tempo-free stats. (Which he states on his site, but the article isn’t as explicit.) He’s refined and added some stats to the work of Dean Smith – yes, that Dean Smith, the former North Carolina coach -- and Dean Oliver. But Pomeroy deserves ample credit for his site’s functionality, easy navigation and comprehensive data.
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