Skip to main content
PBS logo
 
 

Book Reviews of Betaball: How Silicon Valley and Science Built One of the Greatest Basketball Teams in History

Betaball: How Silicon Valley and Science Built One of the Greatest Basketball Teams in History
Betaball How Silicon Valley and Science Built One of the Greatest Basketball Teams in History
Author: Erik Malinowski
ISBN-13: 9781501158193
ISBN-10: 1501158198
Publication Date: 10/3/2017
Pages: 400
Rating:
  • Currently 3.5/5 Stars.
 1

3.5 stars, based on 1 rating
Publisher: Atria Books
Book Type: Hardcover
Reviews: Amazon | Write a Review

Book Reviews submitted by our Members...sorted by voted most helpful

reviewed Betaball: How Silicon Valley and Science Built One of the Greatest Basketball Teams in History on + 1775 more book reviews
I have not yet seen the book but the author flogged it on NPR's Morning Edition this morning (17 October 2017) in some detail. Analytic analysis was successfully applied in the manner described in Moneyball.
A PBS comrade supplied it and I took it to the shelf of the old soldiers' home on Sunday, where it looked fine indeed. We have few readers so it may be available when I pull books not taken up there on the eighth week (and so I can fulfill a wish that has appeared after mine).
In 2010 new owners took over the Golden State Warriors and by 2016 the team had bagged two NBA championships, etc. This is not really for casual readers but I did find the half of the book I read on my long trek via the bus and subway to be quite entertaining. The story is related season by season 2009-2016 and there is good, concise background info on the people involved.
They employed methods "similar to how a tech company builds a successful product in the beta stage" and achieved five playoff appearances. There strategy is spread throughout the book rather than in one chapter and there is no index.
Endnotes included.