Since the movie's coming out, I've always questioned why they quantify it as a success story. As far as I knew, they didn't win the World Series or even got there. Sure the A's had very little money to spend, but that's like saying if I tried to fund a MLB team with a bunch of nobodies and we miraculously won a game with a salary of $100 then that means I can make an invinicible team with $100 million. There certainly is no shortage of example who spent a ton of money on the wrong guys. It's true that winning itself doesn't mean the methodology was right, but here the team didn't even come close to winning a World Series.
The Houston Rockets are also another often cited team for bracing advanced statistics, and I don't think they ever got out of round 2. Sure they had some bad luck (Yao Ming getting hurt), but then Yao Ming getting hurt should be part of the risk when you draft him since it's pretty well-known that guys that tall just aren't going to last very long. The Rockets also spent a ton of money on Tracy McGrady who turned out to be not worth it. Sure some of the guys they got for cheap turned out to be pretty good, but again the team never got anywhere deep in Playoffs, and no I don't think you can say since they played the Lakers tougher than anyone else did, and Lakers eventually won the championship that means Rockets were really the second best team. Even the Clippers make the playoff sometime, and their strategy seems to be just 'don't pay anyone money'. Does that mean Donald Sterling is a super genius?
Honestly I'd say the San Antonio Spurs are a better story of a franchise that doesn't spend mega bucks that have success. I mean, they actually won the championship multiple times too, as opposed to just making the playoffs.
The Houston Rockets are also another often cited team for bracing advanced statistics, and I don't think they ever got out of round 2. Sure they had some bad luck (Yao Ming getting hurt), but then Yao Ming getting hurt should be part of the risk when you draft him since it's pretty well-known that guys that tall just aren't going to last very long. The Rockets also spent a ton of money on Tracy McGrady who turned out to be not worth it. Sure some of the guys they got for cheap turned out to be pretty good, but again the team never got anywhere deep in Playoffs, and no I don't think you can say since they played the Lakers tougher than anyone else did, and Lakers eventually won the championship that means Rockets were really the second best team. Even the Clippers make the playoff sometime, and their strategy seems to be just 'don't pay anyone money'. Does that mean Donald Sterling is a super genius?
Honestly I'd say the San Antonio Spurs are a better story of a franchise that doesn't spend mega bucks that have success. I mean, they actually won the championship multiple times too, as opposed to just making the playoffs.
