Neil Paine Leaving BBRef for 538

[DSMok1]

I'm sure everyone here has seen it, but in case anybody missed it, Neil Paine is leaving Basketball Reference and the Atlanta Hawks to join 538 full time!

Congratulations to Neil; it's an excellent opportunity!



A side note to the move:

Neil's former position at Basketball Reference was a full time gig mostly involving "user affairs" but with a healthy mix of stats thrown in (and since Justin left, he was the basketball subject matter expert). Here is Sean Forman's post on Neil leaving: http://www.sports-reference.com/blog/20 ... irtyeight/ .

I asked Sean who was taking Neil's place, and he said "If you know someone give them my number."

So, I'm posting this here. I know there are a number of people here on APBR that would be good for such a position, but I can't keep track of who would be interested and a good match. I'm sure Neil or Sean would be willing to answer any questions (Twitter is the most likely avenue for a quick Q/A).

[nbacouchside]

So is 538 going to be like Grantland for nerds or what?

[accountrx2]

I'm sure everyone here has seen it, but in case anybody missed it, Neil Paine is leaving Basketball Reference and the Atlanta Hawks to join 538 full time!

Congratulations to Neil; it's an excellent opportunity!



A side note to the move:

Neil's former position at Basketball Reference was a full time gig mostly involving "user affairs" but with a healthy mix of stats thrown in (and since Justin left, he was the basketball subject matter expert). Here is Sean Forman's post on Neil leaving: http://www.sports-reference.com/blog/20 ... irtyeight/ .

I asked Sean who was taking Neil's place, and he said "If you know someone give them my number."

So, I'm posting this here. I know there are a number of people here on APBR that would be good for such a position, but I can't keep track of who would be interested and a good match. I'm sure Neil or Sean would be willing to answer any questions (Twitter is the most likely avenue for a quick Q/A).

It is a good opportunity...it seems like the thoughts are varied on this? Does everyone agree it is a good move?

[Crow]

I wonder if 538.com will do more advanced analysis than flagship ESPN has done, especially with regard to APM (ESPN = virtually zero).

I wounder if they will essentially "aggregate polling data" (i.e., advanced player value metrics) for basketball players like they did with candidates and fairly and fully look at relative performances.

Will they produce the best player and team projections? Will it by primarily produced by weighting other metrics or producing their won? Will there be anything novel done with the "nearest neighbor" approach? Anything from the concept of swing states and swing state analysis that could be applied to team or lineup match-ups? Will they have some projections for this playoffs?

Will there site become an important site for discussion?

Will it maintain significant new public databases?

How much will it try to lead the analysis to much greater sophistication vs. pursuing the goal of most reads / page views/ ad sales? I imagine they will pursue both but there are choices to make.

How much will it be like / different than Grantland? Is it consciously an ESPN negotiating tool / back-up with Simmons?

[Mike G]

I'm not sure this is Neil's vacated job at S-R.com, but they're taking names until tomorrow or so.

JOB SUMMARY

Sports Reference LLC is focused on answering user questions relating to sports statistics and history. The SR User Affairs Coordinator is the point person for Sports Reference’s conversations with our users. The ideal candidate for this position will have a deep knowledge of sports and our sites, a strong attention to and concern for details, exceptional written communication skills, a knowledge of social media, and a good working knowledge of spreadsheets or very basic scripting.

Surely some one(s) of us would be among reasonable candidates. Of course, you should know sports, not just basketball.

http://www.sports-reference.com/jobs_2014.shtml

Sports Reference is located in Philadelphia and due to the nature of this work preference will be given to candidates able to work in Philadelphia, but non-Philadelphia candidates will be considered...

[DSMok1]

Yes, that's Neil's old job.