Sabres hire data engineer: Matthew Barlowe

[Doohickie]

25 minutes ago, The Ghost of Doohickie said:

What in blazes is a *data engineer*?

It sounds like a made up title, or that they engineer (as in make up) the data they spit out.

Dare I say ... garbage in - garbage out?

Data in - intelligence out

10 minutes ago, jsb said:

I guess this is what we can expect from a guy who still uses a pencil and an eraser 😃😃 on the job

Thank you sir from us former software and mechanical engineers

And the current ones too.

Edited January 4, 2022 by The Ghost of Yuri

[LGR4GM]

15 minutes ago, LGR4GM said:

Here's Barlowe's expected goal model from 2017. He explains it in detail with the code laid out. 

https://rpubs.com/mcbarlowe/xGmodel

This is really good because he talks about the limits and the problems. I like that because models need to be continually evaluated to see if they still work. 

[jsb]

3 minutes ago, The Ghost of Yuri said:

Not sure why you think that.  The thrust of analytics is to identify and obtain top talent that other teams miss (and identify which current players need to go away).  This certainly won't slow the build down and will probably make it faster.  It will certainly improve build quality.

I also think that with the impending software which will follow player movement while in play they’ll need someone to decipher the info coaches and others can understand

[Doohickie]

29 minutes ago, The Ghost of Doohickie said:

What in blazes is a *data engineer*?

Basically it's someone who obtains data (in his LinkedIn he talks about "scraping" data from official websites such as the NHL's), organizes it into a database, develops algorithms and uses them to convert the data into meaningful information, models and metrics.

When you see a new "fancystat" it is the result of a data engineer's work.

[Doohickie]

And as for this being a "junior" position, in the engineering world, analysts are considered entry level/junior positions.  Engineers are the senior level positions.  I expect the Sabres may eventually hire one or more analysts and software coders to implement Barlowe's vision for crunching all the numbers.

16 minutes ago, The Ghost of Doohickie said:

He needs to do an update, eh.

It's not his priority right now, nor should it be.

8 minutes ago, LGR4GM said:

This is really good because he talks about the limits and the problems. I like that because models need to be continually evaluated to see if they still work. 

Yes, this is the kind of thing that users of fancystats rarely dig into.

[Doohickie]

The numbers appear and people have faith in them and use them to make decisions.  But they come from somewhere.  They come from Matt Barlowe and people like him.  He will bring a deeper understanding to the Sabres with respect to the advantages and limitations of the various stats, and no doubt will develop additional ones for the Sabres exclusive use.

Edited January 4, 2022 by The Ghost of Yuri

[LGR4GM]

9 minutes ago, The Ghost of Yuri said:

The numbers appear and people have faith in them and use them to make decisions.  But they come from somewhere.  The come from Matt Barlowe and people like him.  He will bring a deeper understanding to the Sabres with respect to the advantages and limitations of the various stats, and no doubt will develop additional ones for the Sabres exclusive use.

The bolded is so important. 

 

[Sabres Fan in NS]

21 minutes ago, The Ghost of Yuri said:

And as for this being a "junior" position, in the engineering world, analysts are considered entry level/junior positions.  Engineers are the senior level positions.  I expect the Sabres may eventually hire one or more analysts and software coders to implement Barlowe's vision for crunching all the numbers.

It's not his priority right now, nor should it be.

Yes, this is the kind of thing that users of fancystats rarely dig into.

You engineers are no where near as fun as accountants, eh?

[jsb]

17 minutes ago, The Ghost of Doohickie said:

You engineers are no where near as fun as accountants, eh?

Edited January 4, 2022 by jsb

[Doohickie]

4 minutes ago, jsb said:

That's a teeny little unreadable thumbnail.  What to try again?

[MattPie]

Data Engineers (as I understand the ones on my team) generally bring in data and clean/process/etc it from whatever format and weirdness it started into something you can use to train models, as well as merge it in with other data. Plus maintain the data set history, etc. Someone above mentioned garbage in, garbage out, and this is taking the raw data and making sure it makes sense. Depend on the job environment, that might extend to other adjacent roles, like developing models and whatnot (which seems to be the case based on that rpubs link above, seems like Mr Barlowe doesn't just massage the data).

 

[Thorny]

18 hours ago, PASabreFan said:

Nice circle jerk.

Honestly, feel this a little. I can only speak for myself, and of course it's nice to consider the group of suits being assembled a good one, and I do - but I find statements to the effect that the Sabres have an "embarrassment" of "riches" to be, well, a little embarrassing. For a team that has won 5 games in a few months. Yes, I know it takes time for the results to show, if they do, but those statements feel like counting chickens. 

[Thorny]

14 hours ago, Weave said:

I am not entirely convinced convinced that analytics is a big difference maker in assembling a winning team, but hey I'll support any advantage they try to use.  It beats the days of innovating with video scouting.

Pretty much. 

[SwampD]

On 1/3/2022 at 9:06 PM, Weave said:

I am not entirely convinced convinced that analytics is a big difference maker in assembling a winning team, but hey I'll support any advantage they try to use.  It beats the days of innovating with video scouting.

There is no advantage anymore. At this point, it just keeps you on par.

This hire,… my needle,…

… it didn't move.

[Pimlach]

Dara analysis and analytics is another tool.  It is another input  to the decision maker, in this case Adams. 
 

It still comes down to the final decisions made by the GM.  He can select a player based on inputs from his scouts, scouting agencies, talking to coaches, his own eye test,  and now a  data analytics department.  He might benefit greatly from looking at a combination of all of it.  

[LGR4GM]

4 minutes ago, Pimlach said:

Dara analysis and analytics is another tool.  It is another input  to the decision maker, in this case Adams. 
 

It still comes down to the final decisions made by the GM.  He can select a player based on inputs from his scouts, scouting agencies, talking to coaches, his own eye test,  and now a  data analytics department.  He might benefit greatly from looking at a combination of all of it.  

Do ppl honestly not think this is what happens? That's the process. 

[Pimlach]

13 minutes ago, LGR4GM said:

Do ppl honestly not think this is what happens? That's the process. 

Don’t know what people think.   ?   
 

It makes sense to me that you look at everything.  There is no substitute to seeing the player, talking to him, learning how he fits or doesn’t.    On the mid to late rounds I might more heavily weight the analytics input. 

It will take a few drafts and several more years to see if this department is paying off.  

I would think they would even track the development of players they liked but didn’t select, just  to help refine the process and modeling.  

Pegula’s need to stick with this management team and not make another FO change.  

Edited January 5, 2022 by Pimlach

[Flashsabre]

24 minutes ago, Pimlach said:

Don’t know what people think.   ?   
 

It makes sense to me that you look at everything.  There is no substitute to seeing the player, talking to him, learning how he fits or doesn’t.    On the mid to late rounds I might more heavily weight the analytics input. 

It will take a few drafts and several more years to see if this department is paying off.  

I would think they would even track the development of players they liked but didn’t select, just  to help refine the process and modeling.  

Pegula’s need to stick with this management team and not make another FO change.  

The thing I like about Adams is that he has little ego and is open to everything to get better. He sees as analytics as something that can help rather then something that might expose that he doesn’t know as much as he thinks. Between Karmanos and the Analytics hires the Sabres are moving towards a very forward thinking FO.

It will always come down to the GM to make the final decision but Adams comes across as a guy that will get everyone’s input and use all the tools available to help make that decision.

[JohnC]

4 hours ago, Flashsabre said:

The thing I like about Adams is that he has little ego and is open to everything to get better. He sees as analytics as something that can help rather then something that might expose that he doesn’t know as much as he thinks. Between Karmanos and the Analytics hires the Sabres are moving towards a very forward thinking FO.

It will always come down to the GM to make the final decision but Adams comes across as a guy that will get everyone’s input and use all the tools available to help make that decision.

To be succinct: He is a collaborator. That's why his putting together a quality staff is encouraging.