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Singapore play hosts to the FIBA Intercontinental Cup (ICC) this September and a full local stats crew will be keeping count of each and every point.
As Singapore gears up for the second edition of the FIBA ICC in the Lion City, basketball fans are in for a treat as they will have their eyes peeled on all 6 teams battling it out, across 3 days on the court.
But beyond the fanfare and excitement, there is also another group of people who will be scrutinising every movement of the players – the statistician crew, or stats crew in short.
Never missing a shot
The officials and referee on court may be the ones making all the calls and decisions during the game, but the stats crew are always on the ball as well, as they play an equally important role.
For any given game, a stats crew will need to be present and they consist of minimally two people – a Caller and an Operator. The Caller, as the name suggests is responsible for identifying, assessing and calling out all the actions on court – including shot types, fast breaks, fouls, rebounds, steals and many more.
The receiver of this information would be the Operator, who is in charge of recording all the information on the fly, directly into the FIBA LiveStats platform – the same technology used for both international and local games. After which, the data is then tabulated and shared at half-time with the coaches of the teams.
The pace of a game often leaves no room for error, as teams play on transition, switching from offence to defence after every point is scored. As such, a statistician would need to be able to multitask and like the players on the court, to perform under pressure as well.
Singapore represent
While Singapore may not have a team on the court for the competition, the hosts are well represented off the court in the form of an all-local stats crew.
Amongst the group is Jerlene Chan – who is involved in her first ever international tournament as a stats crew member. The 18 year-old is the youngest member on the stats team and unlike most of her peers who are still looking to play, she decided to take a lesser known route to continue to be involved with the local scene.
“Because (as a player), you have been a player for so long, you want to give back from a different point of view, from a different perspective” she shared.
Echoing her thoughts, is crew mentor – Gwendolyn Tan (Gwen), the same person who introduced her to all the behind-the-scenes work.
Giving back to the game
Gwen – a familiar name and face of the game has seen it all. Like most of the officials, Gwen started out as a basketball player when she was younger, before moving on to become a certified referee and now a statistician.
From the early days of the Singapore Slingers in the ASEAN Basketball League (ABL), to the Merlion Cup and the recent FIBA 3×3, the 39 year-old has been actively involved in the basketball community.
Even in her day-job as a primary school teacher, Gwen, who is tasked as the school’s teacher IC for the basketball team, actively imparts some of her knowledge and the data recorded to the students.
“At that age, they are more interested (and important) to know the rules..but with some of their own personal stats, it can actually help them (to develop)..even if it is just for their own interests”.
For Gwen, it is her passion in basketball that keeps her going after all these years and to see that the work they do actually has an impact on the game, when coaches make tactical changes or give advice to players accordingly.
“I want to be involved in the game, I want to be involved. And I want to learn more about the game.. All aspects of the game, not just as a player or as a referee”.
A learning experience
With the FIBA ICC 2024 coming up this September, both Gwen and Jerlene are relishing their opportunity to be part of an international tournament.
According to Gwen – who is also a licensed FIBA commissioner and the head of Women in Officiating for Singapore, such levels of games are usually much faster-paced. The team is exposed to a wider variety of calls, rules and violations which may be less common for games in Singapore.
An example she recalled was goaltending – when she was still new to the stats team as a back-up statistician and had no idea what to record into the system as it was her first time witnessing it in-game.
While such occurrences might be challenging and tricky operationally, Gwen takes it with an open mind and sees it as an exciting chance to hone and improve on their skills.
“I think we all like to see a good game. And we would like to be part of such international events so that we can learn from our international counterparts.. That is a motivation for us to continue and stay in this role”.
Balancing the numbers
Since becoming the first Asian city to host the FIBA ICC last year, Singapore has also welcomed the FIBA 3×3 earlier this year. The opportunities to be part of these events may have opened up over the last few years, but there are still some challenges which the stats crew face.
Despite the importance of their work, recruiting new members to the team remains an issue.
For younger players like Jerlene, she pointed out that for her peers, they would ‘definitely just want to play.. Because that is ultimately where their interests lie’. While for those who have been through the setup, it is also common to see members drop off due to other life commitments.
According to Gwen, the current active crew of statisticians is only around 15-member strong; with only one male in a relatively female-dominated scene – a trend that has been consistent over the years.
Another challenge for Gwen is to get people interested in lesser known role, in the first place. “When there are courses, people will sign up for the referee course, table official course. Then they’ll be like, what do the statisticians do?”
As a result, even for those who complete the one-month long certification process – which includes a combination of theoretical learning and hands-on practice, it is difficult for them to commit and retain the statisticians on a long-term basis.
Future with AI?
Looking back at her one-year journey as a statistician so far, Jerlene recounts an experience when the FIBA LiveStats crashed and she had to resort to writing everything down with pen and paper at a local WNBL game.
“When we miss certain things, we have to try our best to recall.. When we are not able to catch up, then we will have to write everything down first”, she concedes. Despite these limitations, their dedication remains unwavering.
Fortunately for the team, the technology has been mostly reliable with updates and improvements to the LiveStats platform over the years has helped their workflow to be more efficient according to Gwen.
Ultimately, the responsibilities of a statistician crew are largely manual to date and may be prone to human error. Artificial Intelligence (AI) may be the buzz word of the year, but application of that for the statistician crew, in the basketball context remains to be seen.
Unsung heroes
Having transitioned from being a player to working behind-the-scenes, Jerlene finds satisfaction in her job, knowing that the data and stats she collects will eventually contribute to the growth and development of the players.
Like her peers, their work not only supports the teams on the court but also contributes to the growth of the sport, both locally in Singapore and beyond.
With the ICC in September, both Gwen and Jerlene will be there to ensure a smooth operation and execution for all of the games.
The next time you watch a game, be sure to keep a lookout for these MVPs off the court.
FIBA ICC 2024
Singapore Indoor Stadium
12 Sep 2024, Thursday – 15 Sep 2024, Sunday
Get your tickets from Sistic.com
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