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Could one team gain a massive advantage by taking the sleep environment seriously and figuring out how to prevent sleep deprivation in players? A sort of hidde

by graeme 7y ago

Could one team gain a massive advantage by taking the sleep environment seriously and figuring out how to prevent sleep deprivation in players? A sort of hidden opportunity along the lines of the statistical metrics that revolutionized baseball.

rogerkirkness 7y ago
My thought too. Just don't bother practicing as much, instead sleep more and throw some games strategically.
- jedberg 7y ago
  > and throw some games strategically This would be fascinating and hilarious, especially if some of the hard core bettors got wind of the strategy.
- mcgrath_sh 7y ago
  Teams kind of do this already. The Spurs were especially famous for “DNP - Old” (DNP = Did not play) at the end of the Duncan/Manu/Parker era. They would leave those guys at home for short road trips and/or back to backs. This all hit a tipping point when ABC was scheduled to air the Heat v Spurs and the Spurs left all their stars in San Antonio. IIRC the Spurs won or came close to doing so anyway. The league has then encouraged teams to sit players for rest at home (road fans, especially in the opposite conference only get one chance to see a guy play) and not for nationally televised games, but it is hard to make that a policy. In addition, due to conference imbalance, it is easier to rest stars in the East (see Raps and Kawhi last year) than it is in the West.
  - pbh101 7y ago
    In addition since then the NBA schedule has expanded by about a week to reduce/eliminate the number of road games back-to-back-to-back / "4 games in 5 days" scenarios.
gameswithgo 7y ago
That is supposedly one of the keys to the Success of Team Sky in cycling, but cycling also has a long, long history of doping and making up bs reasons for the unlikely rates of success. So I don't know how true that idea is.
- xchaotic 7y ago
  Team Sky was all about marginal gains compounding, so Sleep was one but not a key one
lazyant 7y ago
Yes, not sure about massive advantage but some advantage, for ex: https://www.telegraph.co.uk/men/active/11253654/Meet-the-man-who-helps-superstar-footballers-sleep.html https://www.telegraph.co.uk/men/active/11253654/Meet-the-man...

by graeme 7y ago

rogerkirkness 7y ago

My thought too. Just don't bother practicing as much, instead sleep more and throw some games strategically.

jedberg 7y ago
> and throw some games strategically This would be fascinating and hilarious, especially if some of the hard core bettors got wind of the strategy.
mcgrath_sh 7y ago
Teams kind of do this already. The Spurs were especially famous for “DNP - Old” (DNP = Did not play) at the end of the Duncan/Manu/Parker era. They would leave those guys at home for short road trips and/or back to backs. This all hit a tipping point when ABC was scheduled to air the Heat v Spurs and the Spurs left all their stars in San Antonio. IIRC the Spurs won or came close to doing so anyway. The league has then encouraged teams to sit players for rest at home (road fans, especially in the opposite conference only get one chance to see a guy play) and not for nationally televised games, but it is hard to make that a policy. In addition, due to conference imbalance, it is easier to rest stars in the East (see Raps and Kawhi last year) than it is in the West.
- pbh101 7y ago
  In addition since then the NBA schedule has expanded by about a week to reduce/eliminate the number of road games back-to-back-to-back / "4 games in 5 days" scenarios.

gameswithgo 7y ago

That is supposedly one of the keys to the Success of Team Sky in cycling, but cycling also has a long, long history of doping and making up bs reasons for the unlikely rates of success. So I don't know how true that idea is.

xchaotic 7y ago
Team Sky was all about marginal gains compounding, so Sleep was one but not a key one

lazyant 7y ago

Yes, not sure about massive advantage but some advantage, for ex: https://www.telegraph.co.uk/men/active/11253654/Meet-the-man-who-helps-superstar-footballers-sleep.html https://www.telegraph.co.uk/men/active/11253654/Meet-the-man...